Fond Memories of Childhood
Everyone has something from their childhood that they remember getting. Something that is so special and so wonderful that the moment is frozen in time. I have lots of those memories, but one that stands out above the rest is the first moment that I got my Star Wars Millenium Falcon. This was the coolest ship in the whole galaxy and let me tell you, when Han Solo was at the pilots seat, nobody was going to mess with him. Sure the Falcon had her quirks, she did not always go when they needed her to, but she also saved the galaxy from the Empire on several occasions. She had all kinds of secret hatches and hidden corridors, and a seemingly endless ability to pull through when needed. I was an avid collector of all things Star Wars, and my characters needed the best ship in the galaxy to fight in. I got the Falcon for Christmas, when we still lived in Irvine. The present did not disappoint. Many space battles were won with the aid of my little version of the Falcon.
For my 33rd birthday I was given some cash and Target gift cards from Grandparent types, and so I decided that my present would be the new DVD set of the original Star Wars series. I have not watched Star Wars (Episode IV to everyone born after 1980 - for those of us who were alive and saw it on the big scree it was and likely will just always be known as Star Wars) for a few years now, and the last time I saw it was on VHS. I watched it today as I was setting up Cornerstone for Overdrive. I was amazed at how great and cheesy a movie it is at the same time, but I was also reminded of my fascination with the Millenium Falcon. Maybe it is because deep down inside everyone of us guys wants to be Han Solo… the coolest guy in the Universe, who has the best spaceship, and gets the princess in the end. Maybe it is because the Falcon always triumphs, even though she is a bit flawed, and kinda beat up. Or maybe it is just as simple as this, it is a wonderful memory of childhood, that we would like to hold onto as long as we can.
I already have tickets to see the latest and greatest Star Wars movie. I am looking forward to the line and the atmosphere, and even seeing people I love dressed like a Jedi, but I know in my heart that unless the Falcon makes an appearance in the film, it will always hold a lesser spot in my heart that any of the original movies. What do you think?
Oh by the way… I just came across this test to determine what kind of Jedi you are… and here are my results.
Sorry for the delay…
I have to say that Wendy’s is one of my favorite fast foods. It is actually fortunate that there is not one closer to my office than there is, since I believe that everytime I go I should get a Frosty. I am not really sure what Frosty is, since it is not exactly a shake, and is not exactly a frozen drink, but it is just cold chocolately goodness. The problem with them is that I always order the medium and then never quite finish them, but I digress… The point is I had put Wendy’s on a brief hiatus, since there were fingers in the food. Sunday afternoon though John, Kurt & Becky and I decided to indulge ourselves at Wendy’s since the lady who had "found" a finger in her food was trying to con the chain. I must say that the food was delicious, but at the end of the meal when I was done with my fries I noticed something awry… Something to think about!
Other than that here are some other random thoughts. Overdrive was awesome again this week. It is so much fun! Sally got some more baby clothes from the Roderick family, and my sister Kim and her family gave us a gift certificate to Baby’s R Us, so Christie and I went there on Saturday and got Sally a crib mattress, and a really cool mobile. Ummm what else… we went to the Hospital today for another chance at an ultrasound. The good news is that Sally may be a basketball player. The bad news is that means I need to learn how to play basketball! Just kidding… I think ballerinas are tall too! Dinner was yummy tonight… Hot off the Grill. And now we are just watching some tv and then it will be off to bed. So thanks for stopping by…
Oh… one more thing… Kurt Cooke (my almost Brother in Law) sent me a shirt I should get…
What Happens In Vegas… Ends Up On The Internet
NAB 2005 is now just a memory for us, but what a great trip it was. The Hotel was great, the car was fun to drive, but most of all the show was awesome. The big news from the show was that John & I finally relented to the pressure and agreed to spend some time talking about Macs. We watched the demos for the new video editing software. At the booth they had not only the standard large screen with a demo going on, but they also had a place where you could sit at a computer and actually use the software. We got up early on Wednesday and tried to get into the class before our return home, but even being near the front of the line we did not get a chance to try the software. Oh well… maybe next year. Although by then we may have Macs. They are really powerful and may be good for everything going on right now at the church. The rest of our time in Vegas was spent walking around taking pictures and just having fun.
Our flight home was a real interesting experience. We had to change seats because someone had thrown up in our row on the previous leg of the flight. We all got on the flight, but were not together. The flight crew was happy happy though. They were pleased to let us know that we should all "Sit Down!" and "Hurry up and drink your drinks" Oh well… after we landed in LA my beautiful wifely was circling the airport waiting to pick us up.
Now all that was left was to return home and see what we missed while we were gone. I think there should be some sort of rule that the day after you return from a conference people should have to wait at least one more day to go over all the things that went wrong while you were gone.
Oh and one more really cool thing happened while I was gone… I found out that I won 2 tickets to Disneyland for the Private Grand Opening of the 50th Anniversary Party on May 4th. How cool is that??
Catching Up… Finally!
Since my last post I have been pretty busy and not always near an active network connection. Saturday was the big shower for Christie & Sally. For more on the shower read Christie’s blog… I would share more about it, but I was not there for most of it. I just got to come at the end and help gather all of the wonderful gifts that family and friends shared with us. In addition to all of the cool stuff that we got at the shower, when the party was over we went with Grandma Sue & "Gramma Gramma Gramma" and got the furniture that will be in Sally’s room. Then we headed over to Grandma Sharon’s and got another present from her… a DYSON!! Since I am the official family geek for cool toys I take particular pride in being the proud owner of a Dyson. Of course the downside to having it, is that now I actually will need to vacuum… oh well… at least the house will be clean when I am done instead of just smelling like the vacuum has been turned on like with the old vacuum (which sucked because it did not suck!)
Then Sunday was church which means hosting Overdrive… and it was awesome this week. So much fun to see so many people excited to be a part of this worship experience. I am honestly in awe of how God has used this multi venue plan to reach all new people. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon just bumming around with Christe… which was cool since on Monday I was headed out of town for a conference for a few days. In case you did not know… my wife is amazing… and when we are apart I miss her soooooo much (IRR)
Now it is Monday night and I am sitting in the MGM Grand hotel working on my blog and getting ready to go call wifely and say goodnight to her. Hopefully she did not have to stay at work too long tonight. So far the conference has been good. It is called the "Gathering of the Gurus" (a rather pretentious name, but we are really good at what we do at least, but Gathering of the Really Good Techs did not sound as good). There are some pictures of Billy, John & I being silly here in Vegas in the gallery. Tomorrow it is back to Central for more Gathering time, and then off to NAB for the show. So I will sign off for tonight and wish you all a pleasant tomorrow.
Taxes & HTML
When work was over today I came home and picked up the taxes from our accountant and sent them in. We balanced out really well this year and so we did not have to pay, and our return should be enough for a dinner and a movie, though by the time it gets here it may be good for some diapers and shoes.
As for the HTML portion of this post… when I decided that I would try blogging out I could not just go and sign up for an account… no I have to install the software and learn how to use every facet of it. I am also not happy with how it lays out, instead I have to figure out how to change it, which requires using HTML, which I am not that great at. As they say though, practice makes perfect. As you can see on the right column, you can now follow a link to my web photo gallery (which I installed and also figured out how to put on this link), so please take a moment to look at the few goofy pictures I have on there now and keep checking back for more pictures.
Driving on Purpose
Our church is currently in the midst of going through a “40 Days of Purpose” campaign. It is based on material developed by Rick Warren from Saddleback Christian Church. As we go through this 40 days we hear sermons, read from “The Purpose Driven Life” and most importantly get involved in a small group. One of the questions last week had to do with finding purpose in life when we do not understand or believe the fundamental truth that we are called to love God and love others. The more I keep thinking about that question, the more I keep thinking how hollow life must be when there is no intrinsic reason for doing good. I got on the road this morning to come to work and there was this car
this car in front of me in traffic that had like 10 bumper stickers on the back of it. It was pretty much any liberal cause you could think of from saving trees to FREE TIBET. I mean come on people, do we think that someone from the communist chinese government might be diriving around at PCH & Warner at 9am on a random Friday, see the sticker and think… gee maybe we should reconsider our stance on Tibet. My honest reaction is okay… so what if Tibet is free, what is that guy going to worry about next? If there is no purpose that is greater than him then likely he will just move on to the next cause simply because he will still not be satisfied. That is not to say that we should not champion social justice, but we should do it because God calls us to love people, because he loves us!
Okay, now it is time to get to setting up Cornerstone Hall for Overdrive this weekend… not sure what I am talking about… come check it out this weekend. Sunday at 9 & 10:30.
Welcome to my new blog!
So this is my first entry into my new blog. My wife Christie got started on blogging this last week and it seemed like fun, so here I go. You can also check out her blog too…
Saturday is the shower for Christie & Sally and so tonight Christie has been working on nametags for all of the guests, while I have been watching the Apprentice and learning how to get this blog up and running. Hopefully the blog will be fun to read and fun for me to write. In the meantime leave a comment if you want to.
