Category: community

Dorothy

I met Dorothy this morning when she walked into my studio. She wanted pictures of her hands because she says she fell on them while holding a phone. Dorothy says a lot of things. I wonder if some of them are only true in her head. She has a real eye for details, but not always the important ones. She’s hard to talk to but very easy to listen to. She was born in 1924 in Oklahoma, and all her time in California (including the 60’s in San Fransisco, from what I gather) hasn’t totally removed the twang from her voice. She’s a beautiful woman, and Jesus has a special place in his arms for her.

Friday Fun – A game that appeals to Shinnfans

Shinnfans: Here’s an awesome little game i stumbled across on the web this morning. Check out www.lot23.com/play/groupthink. It’s a game called Groupthink, in which community members add words to collaboratively form sentences. It’s kind of like standing around a refrigerator with a bunch of friends and adding those little words from a magnetic poetry set. It’s easy, free, and fun. Log on and check it out!
Happy Friday,
Andrew

Andrew’s Notebook

This weekend Lisa and I were at Hartland Christian Camp. We had a great time with the regional Mennonite community, and were privileged to attend a concert by The Sons of the San Joaquin and Timothy Johnson. The concert was held in a gym, immediately following a full-course dinner. After the concert, everyone in the room pitched in to clean up (without being asked). The dinner was cleaned up and all the chairs and tables put away within about 7 minutes. I was amazed. It’s a real testament to the Mennonite service ethic. I watched in amazement, thinking that this is how old-fashioned barn-raisings must happen.

We had coffee with some friends last night. They recently adopted 3 kids from the Ukraine, and the kids are working hard to understand everything around them. One of the kids recently told his mom that he couldn’t go to Sunday school without some money. When she asked why, he told her he needs to be able to pay for attendance. The offering bucket, he thought, was the price of attendance.

Found this video this morning on Google video. Enjoy!

Gallery show tomorrow night

You’re all invited to a gallery show at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at the Shinn Photo studio (1651 10th Street in Reedley, CA).  I’ll be unveiling a new series of prints, exploring biblical text and quotes against scenes from nature.  A portion of the proceeds of any prints that sell tomorrow evening will go to MCC for world relief.

Art Hop

Last night Lisa and I went with my Seminar in New Ventures class to Art Hop. Art Hop happens the first Thursday evening of every month in Fresno. It’s an opening of many different kinds of art studios in Downtown Fresno. We started our Art Hop tour at the city’s historic Bus Barn, which has been turned into the Art Barn after a group of artists took it off the city’s hands for a $1 purchase price and $250,000 in maintenance. It was really cool to walk around and see artists of all different types and calibers, ranging from the part-time after-hours school teacher to the man who sells his paintings at galleries nationwide. I enjoyed being able to stand in front of each piece of art and ask the artist about it. That really enriched the entire experience for me. If any Shinnfans happen to be in Fresno on the first Thursday of every month (after this semester, of course), I’d be happy to join you and hop over to Art Hop!

Happy Friday,
Andrew