Posts Tagged Fun Stuff
The Top 2′s, plus This Week in Pictures (Fun Stuff, This Week in Pictures)
Posted by Tom in Uncategorized on January 9th, 2010
It seems that everyone else is publishing their end-of-year lists; why shouldn’t I? I don’t have energy to do a top 3, much less a top 10. A top 1 list seems lazy. Let’s try some “Top 2″ lists…
Top 2 Movies
Up – If you haven’t seen this one yet, then I couldn’t urge you strongly enough to watch it. It came out in May, when Deb and I were still reeling from our loss. At the heart of this movie is a message about what to do when you have to let go of one dream, and how to accept a new one. It fit well with our lives. Everything surrounding that is pure Pixar, which is to say that the humor is top-notch, the animation is incredible, and the voices are spot-on.
Avatar – The story itself is only good, the message might make your eyes roll, but the method of story telling is nothing short of revolutionary. Rather than using the 3-D effect to reach out into the audience, Cameron uses it to create a true window into another world. If you can see it in an IMAX theater in 3-D, then do so.
Top 2 Albums
Sara Groves: “Fireflies and Songs” – Sara created an album about living the Christian life in this world. She doesn’t flinch from subjects such as a marital fight or her own stage anxiety, but also celebrates relationships and the joy found in our everyday routines. The music is a work of quiet craftsmanship. I started using this to unwind at bedtime, but I found that I wanted to stay awake to hear all of the songs.
Jason Gray: “Everything Sad is Coming Untrue” (Special Edition) – We were introduced to Jason at a ministry conference this past summer. His music has ministered to us since then, but this album is something special. The hope that everything we hate about life is currently in the process of being rectified has given us something to cling to. It’s one of the most hopeful records I have ever heard.
Top 2 Books
Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years – How often do you get a chance to re-write your life? When working with a director and cinematographer, to turn his earlier book “Blue Like Jazz” into a movie, Donald realizes that his past life seems lacking. When you start viewing your life not as a set of tasks to be done, but as a story, the results become much more fulfilling. This one was extremely timely, as I’ve been doing a great deal of re-evaluating of my life this year.
Randy Alcorn’s Heaven – This is not a narrative, but more of a question-and-answer book. It’s an examination of the concept of Heaven, based on what is in scripture. And, by getting a clearer picture of what is in store, it causes the believer to naturally reconsider how to live hear and now. Plus, have a clearer idea of what was in store for Ian made it less difficult to let go.
* * *
I’m introducing a new (hopefully) weekly feature, called “This Week in Pictures.” I’m going to try to take at least one picture per day during 2010, and see if anything blog-worthy gets written. (The more observant among you will notice that I’ve already missed a day. Don’t worry–nothing really happened that day.) It’s an experiment to see if I can develop a photographer’s eye, too.
Celebrating New Year's Day with Brian and Mary Krupski at the Lake Elmo Inn
2010 was kicked off with an incredible brunch at The Lake Elmo Inn. The food was delicious, but the company was even better. We got to know The Krupski’s through Hope Kids, an organization that creates fun activities for sick children and their families. Brian and Mary have been the kind of friends that make life wonderful.
We enjoyed good food and good company with friends
The party continues, this time at Casa de Henderson. Everyone contributed something, and a good time was had by all.
I got to attend my first in-person hockey game
I’ve lived in the icebox known as Minnesota for 16 years, but only now have attended a hockey game. To me, it seemed more like chess. The key is being in the right place at the right time and taking the initiative.
I get together with a group of men to determine why we were put on Earth.
This was a snapshot from my Focus of a Warrior group. We’re going through the program to use our past, our skills, our gifts and our passions to determine our purpose in life. On one hand, I wish that I could have done this twenty years ago. Then again, I don’t think I would have had enough life experience in order to effectively evaluate myself.
Home Depot, where projects begin
I spent some time at lunch trying to find a way to suspend my center channel speaker from the screen in the basement. I gave up, and decided to make another speaker stand.
A fun drive into work
On Thursday, we got another snowstorm. Also, another opportunity for people to demonstrate that they have no clue how to drive on snow and ice.
Dinner with the Bourgonds
Last night, we had the joy of seeing Dr. Bourgond (who wrote the Heart of a Warrior curriculum), and to meet his lovely wife Debby.
I Feel Rather Obsolete (House Projects, Fun Stuff)
Posted by Tom in Uncategorized on January 1st, 2010
2010 was ushered in not with a bang, but with a snore. Deb and I enjoyed a take-out supper from a fantastic local Italian restaurant by the fireside. We talked, watched part of a John Pinette comedy video…
…and then, time for bed.
To be honest, both of us were anxious to be shed of 2009. It has been perhaps the worst year of my life. In retrospect, I wish I could have traded it in for 2006. I probably shredded the receipt, so tough luck.
Today, we met some dear friends for brunch at the Lake Elmo Inn. Our appetites sated, we talked until the manager asked for our table back (honest!). The food was excellent, but the company was more nourishing.
The friends also gave me a gift that they had laying around their house unused: A Denon AVR-3803 surround-sound receiver. I was truly satisfied with circa-1989 stereo receiver that I was using. However, a free upgrade is a free upgrade, so I gratefully received it.
Looking at the back of that thing, I felt excited. Reading the manual, I feel truly…old. I’m in the in-between stage of getting rid of something I’m used to and getting to know something new. After hooking everything up (that I could do–I need to buy a few cables and adapters), it took me three minutes just to get some sound out of the silly thing.
Also, this means another side project–I need to pick up a couple of rear speakers and make speaker stands for the rear channels! Time to go to Best Buy and Home Depot!
Christmas 2009 (Fun Stuff, Pictures)
Posted by Tom in Uncategorized on December 24th, 2009
This year, by God’s grace, we get to have a blue Christmas.
We have been blessed to enjoy a few days in the Ft. Myers, FL area. The weather has been good (at least, a whole lot better than the weather in MN). We have enjoyed the beaches in Ft. Myers, Sanibel and Captiva. We have eaten way too much, and all the other things one does on vacation.
This was at The Bubble Room in Captiva. The food was great, but the decor was incredible.
In short, this has been about as good as life reasonably gets. We have been working to enjoy where we are now, and not think about what we will be doing in the future. That’s a change from how I have been living over the past few months. I have been focused on the future so much, that I feel like I’ve been missing out on the present. I’ve been praying lately that God would help me to be thankful for each day, and to see it as a gift. It might sound like cheating, but I can finally say that He’s done it. I have been thankful for each of the past few days.
I have never seen as many shells as there were on the beach at Lover's Key.
All-in-all, both Deb and I would rather have a “normal” Christmas, with a little boy tearing through giftwrapping like a tornado through a trailer park.* However, that wasn’t in God’s plan. We had been concerned about the horrible emptiness that would have greeted us tomorrow morning. Now, we get to celebrate a “blue Christmas”–blue water, blue skies. And dolphins, for cryin’ at night! We have dolphins swimming and feeding outside our patio!
(Cue Elvis)
Thank you…Thank you very much…
We stopped on our way back from Sanibel just to get pictures of this sunset.
*My apologies to anyone who lives in a trailer park. They are fine places. It was just the first metaphor that came to mind.
Can I Go Back…Please?…(Pictures, Make-a-Wish Trip, Ian, Fun Stuff, Video)
Posted by Tom Henderson in Uncategorized on November 7th, 2008
I came back from Florida for this?
And, as a follow-up to the last post, here is a video clip of Ian fighting Darth Vader:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsbUHst4iHM]
We’re still in the process of sifting through the pictures & videos, and I’m going to try flexing my video editing skills to come up with something that shows the scope of the whole trip.
SIU In the News (Fun Stuff, Responses to Our Culture)
Posted by Tom Henderson in Uncategorized on September 17th, 2008
You have to smile when your alma mater makes it into the news.
From the September 7, 2008 column of “News of the Weird”:
Illinois requires all state employees to pass an annual 10-question, multiple-choice “ethics” test (whose format lends itself to simplistic answers that, for instance, most college students might handle easily). In January, state ethics officials declined to accept the passing grades of 65 Southern Illinois University professors because they finished “too quickly.” Asserted a reviewing state official, anyone who failed to spend at least 10 minutes on the test was being unreasonable. [Inside Higher Education, 1-23-08, 5-5-08]
You can’t make this stuff up…
Pictures, Video from Sir Ian the Brave (Pictures, Ian, Video, Fun Stuff)
Posted by Tom Henderson in Uncategorized on August 24th, 2008
As Deb wrote on our Caring Bridge site, we had a special day yesterday. We attended the Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, MN. Deb was able to arrange for Ian to go backstage and meet a couple of the knights in the jousting troupe New Riders of the Golden Age. Ian was a little too nervous to ride on a horse, but they were gracious enough to allow Ian to teach a scoundrel a lesson in manners:
The members of the troupe were very gracious and friendly. We want to give them a special “thank you” for giving us another great memory.
Here are a few pictures from the event:
The master of ceremonies, Kelly Baker, is also the director of the group.
He took time out of his schedule to show us how things are done, and made it a very special day.
A knight in the opening ceremonies
We had great seats for the tournament.
One of the ladies of the court, Lady Jane (the one on the right),
was kind enough to let Ian stand with her to get a better view of the action.
Sir Orrin performs a tight turn. Well done!
A salute from Sir William
In addition, we enjoyed the talents of Tuey Wilson, a longtime feature at the Renaissance Festival (28 years!). The man has an uncanny sense of balance:
By the way, the interruption in the video is me being hit with a Nerf dart. You’d think he would have the first couple of rows of the audience sign a waiver or something…
All in all, it was a wonderful day. We’re making it a point to cram as much fun into the second half of our summer to make up for the first half.
As a quick aside, the boy is losing weight. The first half of the summer, we kept having to buy new clothes because he was outgrowing them. Now that his appetite ranges from diminished to normal, his weight is going back down. Pong!
Halloween
Posted by Tom Henderson in Uncategorized on November 3rd, 2007
We had the joy of sharing Halloween this year with our friends, the Staskas. They have a lovely neighborhood with sidewalks and plenty of houses that participate.
This year, Ian is getting into Star Wars. Dad and Mom have allowed him to see the original trilogy (episodes 4, 5 and 6 for anyone keeping track). So, true to form, Ian was Luke Skywalker for Halloween:
The Staska children were a clown, and Obi Wan Kenobi. So, Luke and Obi Wan ran around the neighborhood, waving light sabers and shaking down the residents for candy. Having a clown join them made the experience just a little bit more surreal.
Things were just dandy until we ran across another little boy who was dressed up as a clone trooper (he’s a bad guy, for those of you not in the know). Luke and Obi Wan used the force to confuse the trooper, so that there wasn’t a confrontation (“These are not the Snickers bars you are looking for.”)
Trip to Southern Illinois (Catchup Post)
Posted by Tom Henderson in Uncategorized on November 3rd, 2007
A couple of weeks ago, we were able to go to Southern Illinois and visit family. It was great to see friends & family. It was also fun to get to show Ian the area where I grew up. He’s old enough to start remembering people and understand that Daddy was actually a little boy once (a loooong time ago) and that this is where he was that little boy.
Here are some pictures of Ian at Giant City State Park…
Weekend Report: 9/28-9/29, 2007
Posted by Tom Henderson in Uncategorized on October 1st, 2007
The primary difference between this past weekend and the previous four (or five…I’ve lost count) is not what we did, but what we didn’t do. We did not paint. For one thing, it was rainy. Veeery convenient. Plus, we needed a break.
So, what did we do? In the search for new activities, we tried out The Works, an engineering/technology museum in Edina. It’s small, but there’s plenty for children ages 5+ to do. Ian wasn’t very interested in or how or why something worked, but more interested in what was next. That, and building things. In the past year or so, he’s gotten into Construx. Legos are for artists; Construx are for engineers. This kids going to design things, I know. Anyway, there was a nice variety of Construx pieces for him to create a race car, and then a downhill track to race against other cars. It’s kind of like the track at Legoland at Mall of America, with two differences:
- The Works uses Construx (obviously)
- Whereas Legoland has 10,000,000,000 pieces but only five wheels in the whole place, The Works hasn’t been ravaged yet, so there are plenty of wheels. One kid made a car that had eight or nine of them, and reminded me of the current Batmobile.
At any rate, two minutes after we got to The Works, I realized that I had forgotten our camera. There were some great photo ops there. However, we will definitely go back. In October, they’re making “Fizz Rockets.” What little boy wouldn’t love that?
However, taking a six-year-old boy to a place like “The Works” can also be an exercise in frustration for someone like me. At each exhibit, I wanted to teach Ian why it was working; he just wanted to do it, and move on to the next one. Hopefully, now that he’s done all of the exhibits, the next time I can spark some curiosity in him. Then I’ll have my camera…
Afterwards, it was burgers, fries and shakes at The Convention Grill, followed by a walk around Lake Harriet. We got to watch the waves and the first autumn colors.
All in all, it was much better than being up on a ladder.
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