Riverview Christmas
Dec 18, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Last night we had our Riverview staff Christmas party at Dublin Square in East Lansing.
It was a blast…we had over a hundred people there–taking over their “Event Room” and bleeding into the back bar area.
As I wandered around and talked with people I was amazed at how many people it takes to pull off the ministry at Riverview. The people in the room were the leaders of various ministries, both paid and unpaid. And working with them are hundreds of other people who give of their time and energy week in and week out. It’s awesome stuff.
The only unfortunate thing was that only three people loved Jesus enough to wear Christmas sweaters. Here are my wife and I (in our hand-crafted garments) as well as Lori Kreh (who apparently bought hers at a store somewhere).
Yes, those are bells on my sparkling gold cardigan.
And, yes, I am indeed sporting a “Christmas Mustache.” You can see it better in this picture:
Thanks to Brett for the pictures.
Korean Kids Rock
Dec 18, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Just another example in a long list of reasons why Korean children rock. Thanks to Paul for the link.
The Noel Heikkinen Project
Dec 17, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Lisa Eldred, who is one of the best Keynote people we have at Riverview, is also a Digital Rhetoric masters student at MSU.
For some odd reason, she chose to make me the focus of her most recent project. Basically, it’s a study of how I use and interact with technology as part of my job. The project was so well done, I asked her if I could add it to my site.
I will warn you that it takes awhile to load each page, depending on your connection speed. Be patient, for crying out loud.
We Three Krings
Dec 16, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
My friend Neil Kring Cole (a pastor at Ball State) has been releasing his own versions of a few Christmas Classics.
Here is his rendition of “We Three Krings.”
I’m seriously not sure where he finds time for anything other than his singing career…
Emma’s Birthday
Dec 14, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Today is my daughter Emma’s birthday. As is our tradition, I stole her from school and took her to lunch at the restaurant of her choosing. It’s fun that her palette for food is expanding. When she was little, we would go to McDonald’s, this year she requested that we go somewhere she has never been so she could try something new.
So we grabbed lunch at Noodles & Company and then walked down to Barnes & Noble. There we chatted about CS Lewis (she loved the fact that he has written a lot of theological books), looked through the best sellers, and bought her a new book.
I love birthday lunches.
Drinking Glasses
Dec 12, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Phil, our loving Office Manager sent me this disturbing video about hotel drinking glasses…
Conveniently right after I booked a room and turned in a receipt to him…
Free Internet Filtering
Dec 11, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
So my friend DJ linked to this pretty cool service called OpenDNS that offers free internet filtering of porn, etc. I installed it earlier today and it’s pretty cool. It works with Apple, as well as other lesser known operating systems because it is installed on your router, not on your computer. I think they have a single computer deal, too, but I haven’t set that up.
The cool thing is it replaces your DNS servers and doesn’t run on your computer (which can slow things down and muck things up). Instead, they claim their service will speed things up. We’ll see.
So far, so good. At face value it’s better than any other service out there I have messed around with.
Here’s a video where a guy explains the service to his dad. Anyone who has ever helped their parents with their computers should enjoy this.
Sorry, dad, it’s just the truth.
Facebook Love
Dec 11, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Sometimes I wonder if Facebook is providing me with too much information. For instance, this message today:
I probably didn’t need to know that. I also didn’t need to read my name 4 times in one notice.
At the same time, the information Facebook parcels out can be really cool.
This last Saturday was my birthday and more people wished me “Happy Birthday” than ever. I got phone calls, emails, and in person greetings (including dozens of people at church I had never met in person). Then at the end of the day when checked my email, I realized what had happened.
Facebook had told everyone it was my birthday. In addition to the calls, emails, and in person greetings, I had at least 40 Facebook birthday greetings, including 3 in languages other than English.
How cool. I seriously felt very loved and connected.
Viva la Facebook.
New iPhone Case
Dec 11, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
MOOD: Wooden
ITUNES: The Boogie Monster by Gnarls Barkley
Check out these new iPhone cases from Miniot:
That’s right. For a mere $100, I can house my phone in walnut.
Welcome to the New Digs
Dec 10, 2007 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
.:mood:. Great
.:itunes:. Destructor by Red Letter
Welcome to the redesigned NoelHeikkinen.com
I have had many complaints lately about the slow load time on my site. So, to alleviate the problem I upgraded to the new WordPress, installed a new theme (which I ripped off from Bob), and cleaned up the graphics.
I also set it up so the 5 most recent posts show in their entirety on the front page, with the rest easily accessible from the bottom.
Let me know what you think.
And to all of you who whined about the slow site: “you’re welcome.”
