Pick Chris's Reading List: And Then There Were None

I’ve completed the first book off of my user-suggested reading list: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Thanks to Heather for the recommendation!

This was my first time reading anything by Agatha Christie. My only previous exposure to her work was when I watched the movie adaption of Murder on the Orient Express. That seems to have been a good preparation; much of the style in the plot development seems similar between the two. The formula: introduce the characters, put them in a tightly-defined scenario. Provide a character to narrate and work the reader through the logical options in the whodunit. Get to the end of the story with no good answer. Then provide an epilogue that reveals the twist that makes it all clear. Formulaic or not, it works - it kept me up a ways past my bedtime to finish it last night.

And Then There Were None (originally titled Ten Little Indians) sets ten diverse characters on an isolated island. Their supposed “host” is nowhere to be found. One by one, the ten guests are killed… but who is killing them? This is the mystery, and it’s a good one.

A quick IMDB search shows that And Then There Were None has also been adapted into a movie at least three times; once in 1945, starring, most notably, Walter Huston. It was updated in 1965 and moved out of its original time period. Then it was remade once again in 1974, with a cast that included Sir Richard Attenborough. I haven’t seen any of these versions, but I will take a look next time I go to the video store. Might be interesting.

My next stop on the reading list: Gary Shteyngart’s The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, as recommended by Geof Morris.

Early in the Morning

The past two mornings Laura has decided there was a need to wake up about ten minutes to five; both times she had lost her pacifier and couldn’t get back to sleep. (We need to find the little attachment device for it again.) Both days this has been about 20 minutes before my alarm was set to go off anyway. Amazingly I’m not too tired yet from the lack of sleep.

What has been nice is that it’s had me up and ready to go hit the mini-MAC in the mornings. The MAC is our local athletic club, and while they chintz on their website (it’s hosted for free on… wait for it… Tripod! What is this, 1996?), their club locations are nothing to sneeze at. They just opened an “express” MAC about a mile from our house. You get a key card and 24/7 access. There are 8 or so each of treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes, and then a full Nautilus weight set. Each of the aerobic machines has a 13-inch LCD TV attached so you can plug in your headphones and choose your own channel. So far it’s worked pretty well to start the morning with a quick trip over to the MAC and a half hour on some machine. I did the elliptical this morning and I’m starting to feel it.

It’s now approaching 7:30 and the office is finally starting to wake up. I love getting in at 6:45 and having some quiet time to work in the mornings. I also love the fact that it facilitates my leaving work around 3:15 in the afternoon. :-) Having two girls under 3 years old has pretty much prevented any sleeping in these days, but I’m learning that it’s an OK thing - a morning is a terrible thing to waste.

Building Up Endurance

So how was your Thanksgiving? We spent the weekend in Wisconsin with my family at my parents’ place. It was the first time we’ve had everybody together in about a year. We ate far too much, shopped a little, played lots of Speed Scrabble, and I did some reading. We made it home last night about 5 PM, in time to get unpacked and get the girls to bed. It was a great time, wonderful to see everybody again.

Becky says we’re building up endurance for road trips over the next month or so. The trip to Wisconsin is only about a three-hour drive. Not too bad. Now this Friday we’re headed for Omaha (to see the Andrew Peterson Christmas concert!), which is just over four hours away. But those drives will all be wimpy in comparison to the road trip we’ll be taking in three weeks, a mere 20 hours to the great state of North Carolina. Fortunately, we’ll split it up over 3 days on the way down there, two 10-hour days plus a day in Nashville in between driving. By the time we get home on New Years’ we’ll be ready to stay home for a while, methinks.

I should note that I am not opposed to road trips - I have taken long ones in the past. But it’ll be a whole different experience with a 2-and-a-half-year-old and a nine-month-old occupying the two back seats in the van. We will get some mileage out of the portable DVD player for sure.

The road goes ever on and on…

A Time for Giving Thanks

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I thought I’d list a few things I’m thankful for. I encourage you to think about it and make your own list!

Family. I have had more opportunity this year to spend time with my brothers, sister, and parents than I have in several years. What a blessing to have a family that loves each other, loves God, enjoys making music together and living life together, and has so much fun doing all of it. Closer to home, nay, at home, we are one more in number than we were last Thanksgiving; it’s hard to believe little Addie Grace is over 8 months old now. What a blessing to have a loving wife and precious daughters.

Skilled Doctors. This one hit home a couple of weeks ago when I had to take Becky to the ER. It was one in the morning, she was very sick, I was very concerned and tired. What a blessing to have a wonderful nurse and doctor who were skilled and kind. That someone would pay for years of education just to get a job where they have to work overnights all so they can care for hurting people? Blessings on them.

God’s Provision. The leadership at Noelridge planned and encouraged a special Thanksgiving offering this year. We were all encouraged to seek God’s guidance in what He would have us give and then to trust Him to supply it. Our goal was $12,000, which is more than 3x what we receive on a normal Sunday, over and above regular giving. We took the offering last Sunday and the Lord provided over $15,000 in the special offering, on top of the regular offering. Praise Him!

Old Friends. Lydia and I were friends back in Jr High. When our family moved to Texas it pretty much put the damper on that and we drifted apart. I last saw her in 1994, and hadn’t heard from her in several years. But she tracked me down a couple of years ago and we have corresponded from time to time. Finally, last Sunday, she and her sister Candace made the three-hour trek from Illinois to Iowa to visit for a day. It was fun to meet Candace, to introduce Lydia to Becky and the girls, and to spend an afternoon catching up.

Good Music. Did you really think I could write a blog post without mentioning music of some sort? I will ridicule all the radio stations playing wall-to-wall Christmas music already, but I must confess I have had Christmas music of a sort playing repeatedly over the past few weeks. The sort in question isn’t your traditional Christmas stuff, but rather is Andrew Peterson’s wonderful Behold the Lamb of God. (You can stream the whole album from his website. Go listen to it.) The truth of the Christmas story told in an original way. Becky and I are headed to Omaha on December 1st to see Andrew and his huge cast of friends perform it. I can’t wait.

This is only the beginning of what could be a really long list. Lord, remind me to be thankful every day, not just once a year.

Random Thought

During a conversation with Becky while driving somewhere the other night, discussing someone:

Me: “He is… unique.”
Becky: “Yes, yes he is.”
Me: “In fact, that’s the one thing you can say about every person who has ever lived - they are or were unique. Isn’t it ironic that the one thing we all have in common is our uniqueness?”

Becky: < changes the subject >

One last time...

This Sunday will be my last Sunday to lead worship at Noelridge for a while. It has been a while since I made the official announcement, and I think in the interim some good strides have been made to get things organized and prepared for my departure. I’m sure there will still be some kinks to work out, some things I’ve forgotten and the like, but they’ll get the figured out, and I’ll be available to answer questions.

I’m looking forward to the break. Suddenly my Monday afternoons are free from staff meetings (though I may still attend from time to time), my Tuesday nights are free from planning services, my Wednesday nights are free from worship team practice, and my Sunday mornings are now flexible so I can attend one service of my choice. There will definitely be some schedule adjustment, I think for the better.

So, this Sunday is the last one. We’re celebrating the church’s 50th anniversary this week. We’ll have a few of the former pastors in attendance, and a bunch of old-timers. Should be a neat time.

Pick Chris's Reading List

Those of you who know me know that I am a voracious reader. (Those of you who don’t know me just found out.) Every night for many years I have spent my last waking hour in bed reading some book or another. (If the book is too interesting, I spend a few of my last waking hours in bed… and often end up short on sleep as a result.) I enjoy many genres, but find myself most drawn to history, theology, science fiction (but not the fantasy branch of sci-fi so much), and then military/adventure novels. I was big into Tom Clancy as a kid, and branched out to similar authors when Clancy’s pen dried up.

I average 1 or 2 books per week, depending on how busy my week is. Lately, though, I have become weary of my regular diet of mindless adventure. Much of it is tired retreads. I feel like I’m wasting my time. Back at the DG2006 conference I bought G. K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man and I’m enjoying it quite a lot. But it, too, will soon join the ranks of books I’ve already read, and I’ll be looking for something else.

So here’s the deal. Do you have any books to recommend that I read? They could be fiction, non-fiction, whatever. Just something you think I’d enjoy or benefit from. Leave a comment with the name and author of the book. In return, I will find them at the local library, read them, and then post my thoughts about the book. Sound like a plan?

Plans Change

Well, that Happy Meal hasn’t materialized in Laura’s future yet. Becky got sick with a nasty fever and such on Thursday, so she had to cancel her trip to Chicago for this weekend. I know she was very disappointed, but what can you do?

She did get to come along, though, to a Randall Goodgame house show last night, and it was excellent. I much prefer to hear Randall’s music live rather than from his CDs - it’s a whole different sound, less production, less extra instruments. He and his wife Amy did most of the songs with just a guitar, and it sounded great. He also did several piano songs, showing off his skill as a jazz pianist, and then left no eye dry with a stunning late-night piano version of Next To You. I found that I have his recorded version of the song on a CD at home, but with the upped tempo, drum track, and production, it sounds nothing like the version we heard last night. So Randall, buddy, think about recording an album that sounds a little more like your live stuff sometime, huh? Just a thought.

It has been a lazy sleep-in morning here this morning, and will continue to be a lazy Saturday. I sense some football games on TV in my future…

Adventures in Fatherhood

Tomorrow morning Becky will be taking off for Chicago to spend a weekend with her friend Juanita who is up here visiting to celebrate her (Juanita’s) 30th birthday. They’re going to see Blue Man Group while they’re in town, which makes me a bit jealous. But that’s cool.

So, from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon, I will be spending a lot of quality time with my two little girls. (I will get a little break on Friday night when my sister watches the kids while my brother and I go to a Randall Goodgame house show…) Everyone who hears that I’ve got the kids for the weekend asks me if I think I’ll survive. I’m not quite sure what the big deal is - isn’t a Dad supposed to be able to manage for a day or two with the wife gone? Sure, we’ll be ready to have Becky back on Sunday, but I’m glad she can go. Goodness knows I’m gone often enough. Seems only fair that she should get to go when the occasions arise.

I sense a Happy Meal in Laura’s future for this weekend. :-)

Get out and vote!

Yep, it’s election day. I can’t say I’m too excited about any of the slate of candidates I have to vote for here in Iowa; some of the locals are probably alright, but even at the state level they’ve been slinging mud for so many weeks now I have a bad taste in my mouth - something akin to that nasty pastiness you get when sleeping with your mouth open all night when your nose is clogged. Yecch.

Still, I’ll be heading to the polling place after work to do my part as a citizen. I urge you to do the same.

Note to my dad, who’s running the poll for his township in Wisconsin: hope it goes well.