Skip to main content

The Way of the Brick

By
A brand new Lego Store (Hawaii's first) recently opened at Ala Moana Center and Owen has already been there twice and come back richer in lego bricks each time. However, while Owen is a frequent customer, until today I hadn't yet visited the wonder that is the Lego Store. As a kid I played with Legos just about daily from age 6 through high school. But since leaving home I've rarely made enough money to indulge in Lego kits, and to be honest I haven't had much time. But now that Owen is 4, he has the hand-eye coordination and patience to build some pretty impressive creations.

So today I decided to make my first visit to the Hawaii Lego Store. Owen, of course, joined me. He has had his eye on a yellow Creator prop-driven airplane for some time, often walking around the house with his catalog letting us know that today would be a good day to buy the plane in case we were interested. But what I didn't recognize from the tiny photo in the catalog is that the yellow prop-driven plane is AWESOME! It's much bigger and more detailed than the red Creator jet Owen purchased with his birthday money last month. And compared to the clunky airplanes I used to build back in the day? Forget it. Legos have come a long way in the past 15 years.

So when I saw Creator #6745 in the store I felt a rush of memories about constructing an intricate model starting from the myriad tiny pieces and slowly building toward the final objective. I needed that kit. Owen needed that kit. But I don't want to spoil the boy. He shouldn't think that just because we go to a toy store that he should get something new. And I don't want Owen to be one of those kids who has so many toys that he's bored with them.

I stood there with Owen, mesmerized by the brilliant illustrations on the Lego box. I then started hearing the voices of the proverbial devil and angel resting on my shoulders. The devil suggested that it wouldn't be Owen's toy, it would be mine. I've had a really productive year, so I should reward myself! But then the angel chimed in and said: "Dammit, just buy it!"

So it was unanimous. Here's a time-lapse video of the plane's construction, followed by some photos of the finished model. Oh man, I'm hooked once again! I know what Owen and Marcus are getting for Christmas...and Thanksgiving and Halloween...


(The time-lapse was shot at 4 frames per minute and play-back is at 24 fps, shot with Gawker and my iSight camera. It took us almost exactly an hour to build the plane. Facebookers, check out our blog for the video if it doesn't show up here.)

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ben says you always had more legos than anyone else he knew! We're glad to see the tradition continuing. :)
August 9, 2009 at 5:16 AM
JohnJohn said…
Yeah, I loaned those legos to the child of a friend and I haven't seen them since 1998 or so. Ah well, it's fun starting over again. I predict that Owen, Marcus and I will surpass my old collection in no time!
August 9, 2009 at 5:24 AM
Amy P said…
You know what that plane needs? Pew-Pew guns!!
August 9, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Jacqueline said…
Erin- jonah and noah LOVE legos! have u guys seen the new legos that have letters on them that the kids can make word with? they are so awesome and educational (there goes my teacher self)!
August 11, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A view from your shut down

By
The Daily Dish has been posting reader emails reporting on their " view from the shutdown ." If you think this doesn't affect you, or if you know all too well how bad this is, take a look at the growing collection of poignant stories. No one is in this alone except for the nutjobs in the House. I decided to email Andrew with my own view. I plan to send a similar letter to my congressperson. Dear Andrew, I am a professor of astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). The CfA houses one of the largest, if not the largest collection of PhD astronomers in the United States, with over 300 professional astronomers and roughly 100 doctoral and predoctoral students on a small campus a few blocks west of Harvard Yard. Under the umbrella of the CfA are about 20 Harvard astronomy professors, and 50 tenure-track Smithsonian researchers. A large fraction of the latter are civil servants currently on furlough and unable to come to work. In total, 147 FTEs
Post a Comment
Read more

back-talk begins

By
me: "owen, come here. it's time to get a new diaper" him, sprinting down the hall with no pants on: "forget about it!" he's quoting benny the rabbit, a short-lived sesame street character who happens to be in his favorite "count with me" video. i'm turning my head, trying not to let him see me laugh, because his use and tone with the phrase are so spot-on.
4 comments
Read more

The Long Con

By
Hiding in Plain Sight ESPN has a series of sports documentaries called 30 For 30. One of my favorites is called Broke  which is about how professional athletes often make tens of millions of dollars in their careers yet retire with nothing. One of the major "leaks" turns out to be con artists, who lure athletes into elaborate real estate schemes or business ventures. This naturally raises the question: In a tightly-knit social structure that is a sports team, how can con artists operate so effectively and extensively? The answer is quite simple: very few people taken in by con artists ever tell anyone what happened. Thus, con artists can operate out in the open with little fear of consequences because they are shielded by the collective silence of their victims. I can empathize with this. I've lost money in two different con schemes. One was when I was in college, and I received a phone call that I had won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Bahamas. All I needed to d
8 comments
Read more