BUYS

BUYS BUSYU SBYS SBUYSY BSUSYY BSYUY BUYS



Can't talk much. This is a whirlwind of a week. So much has happened, so much is happening, so much is going to happen.

I said I was going to talk about Valentine's Day this week. I can't though. It's a bummer. Maybe next week?

This last weekend, Mr. Dan Mitchell, Ms. Melanie Lott, Ms. Morgan McGannon, and myself headed to Simi Valley to celebrate the birthdays of my sibs Ms. Lacey Lott, Mr. Spencer Lott, and Mr. Connor Lott. Lacey turned 18. Unreal. Connor and Spencer turned 16. Unreal. If this keeps up, I'm turning 45 next week. It was a great weekend. Here's some pictures.

They went to Winter Formal. Happy birthday.

That's all the time I have for today! THIS LIFE IS WILD. Let me tell ya.




Look forward to something this week.

So-cal Media

GAMETIME. Today I received my first trays of the incredible orthodontia technological invention of Invisalign. I'm rockin' them in this pic. Can't tell? Good.




It's been a crazy week. What's new, you ask? These days, every week is crazy. Taking 6 units is a challenge. Sure, I'm in class two days a week for a total of 6 hours. I have loads and loads of reading, but, you say, it's ONLY two classes. Here's the story: last semester, I had 21 units left to take before I was eligible for graduation. I had two options: take 21 units and become a slave to all things academic OR split the 21 into two semesters to allow room for somewhat of a work/social life. I chose to split my remaining units into semesters of 15 and 6. Sure, it's a tad more expensive, but for the sake of the memories, opportunities, and life experience, WELL worth it. So that's where I sit. 6 units. And BOATLOADS of outside-of-school work. Last week, I told you about Mr. Marc Wymore and his kidney transplant. Here's the video again:



This video has been received fantastically, it's been a privilege to watch Marc's story inspire and encourage over 3000 people in the last 3 days. Marc's sister, Corri, sent me this:

 

I am SO honored to be able to work on projects that not only are fantastic stories, but share the love of Christ through real life scenarios. Jesus is embedded in so many stories and I am continually seeking to capture those on film. Mr. Isaac Svensson and I are so excited to see what's next.

This week.

I'll let social media tell you a little about this week.


Yesterday:

Valentine's Day (more on this in a later blog):

Other:

And a couple videos:


This is a FANTASTIC&HILARIOUS drum cover of the famous Gangdam Style by America's favorite Korean artist, Psy. This dude is immensly talented, plays traditional, and performs unbelievable satire. The guy is brilliant.



Next: The Harlem Shake. This last week, the Harlem Shake has taken the world by storm. It consists of a 30 second snippet of Baauer's song "Harlem Shake." Let me show you:



And this is my friends, Mr. Ryan Cook, Mr. Sean Cook, Ms. Carley Redpath, and who knows who else.
 

The Harlem Shake is BRILLIANT. I'll tell you why: With a video like Gangdam style, every other video is an imitation of the original by Psy. No matter what the copy is, it always stems back to the original. With the Harlem Shake, however, no one really knows which is the original. Because they are all amateur quality and super low production value, ANYONE can make one and make it look like it was the original. And, because of this, people can be inspired to make their own by watching the original, a copycat, a copy of the copycat, or a 15 generation copycat. It's exponential. This is HUGE for a viral video and is the primary reason the Harlem Shake as EXPLODED this last week.

Lastly, this video was supposed to be embedded last week, but it wasn't. Bummer. This is an incredible movie trailer with a number of techniques that get my creative juices flowing big time. I dig it. Hope you do to.





And that's the post folks! IMMENSE! Lots of social media this week, hope you enjoyed that. Kind of an interesting way to go about it huh?

Challenge: make all social media posts INTENTIONAL. Form them, write them to document your life. Imagine that!

Valentine

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and let me say, WHAT A WEEK for Valentine's Day to fall upon. This picture is a literal representation of walking into the future, time isn't stopping, the days still turn into weeks into months into years. We have phases, seasons.

If you read last week's post, you'll realize real quick it wasn't normal; in fact, it was pretty dark. If you read last week's post, you probably wondered what in the world was going on, what could possibly inspire such a vague, somewhat depressing quip. Well, here's the story:

Last Sunday night, the 3rd of February, there was a bunch of peeps hangin' at my house. At about 10:45 pm, I wanted to show Ms. Morgan McGannon a video as well as our new "chill zone," the garage. We just recently put a few couches, tables, etc. to make the garage a SWEET spot to relax, study, play music, anything and everything you can think of. Now, our lawn has not been maintained so our grass is very overgrown. In fact, here's a picture of it:

Now, Ms. Morgan McGannon was not wearing shoes and did not want to walk through the treacherous grass to the garage. Carry her? Why not. I pick her up, take a step into the abyss of the jungle grass, step into a hole/unevenground/SOMETHING that throws me off balance, I stumble, with Morgan in my arms, and we go down. Morgan's head comes in direct contact with the ground, we both stand up, seemingly alright. She mentions her head hurt, which is normal for someone who is dropped on their head. And then she needs to sit down, and then she is immense pain, and then she can't move her neck at all. WOAH. After some initial tests, she is able to move all of her appendages, which was great, but her neck and head were basically immobile... and in a lot of pain. NOT GOOD. AT ALL. I have been around a surprising amount of neck injuries and if there's one thing to learn, it's that neck injuries are extremely serious and can occur even in the simplest situations, such as being dropped onto grass. Neck injuries need to be treated as a worse-case-scenario because one wrong move and full body paralysis becomes an option. It's one thing to break an arm and assess the situation, it's another thing to mess with the neck. We stabilized her neck as best we could, talked to a number of reliable resources, and had to make a decision: 911.

The ambulance came, and we went. Surreal. X-ray. CAT scan. NEGATIVE. Good news. Strained muscles. Pulled muscles. Time will heal, throw some pain killers in the mix, a few days of intense soreness, and we should be good. However, what should have taken maybe an hour at the ER took 10. We spent all night in the ER, waiting, waiting, waiting. Listening to babies crying, listening to people coughing, waiting, waiting, waiting, listening to beeping, beeping, beeping. It was a LONG night. Mr. Karl Holmlund saved the day by coming to pick us up. Morgan was down for the count, and she would stay out for days.

I took it really hard. I dropped my girlfriend on her head. WHO DOES THAT. I hurt the girl I care for most. WHO DOES THAT. Yeah, it was an accident, I get it. I had little to no control of the situation. I get it. I still beat myself for days. And I'm talking BEAT. And you know who came through? Ms. Morgan McGannon did. She encouraged me so much even amidst her pain. The pain that I caused her. What an example of forgiveness, grace, and humility. Throughout this experience, I was continuously reminded of promises made by my Father in heaven. Even though I mess up, Jesus forgives and forgets, encouraging all the way through. SACRIFICIAL LOVE.

It's a been a week and a few days. Morgan is still in pain. Heatpads, icepacks, medicines, massages, resting. Some days are harder than others, some days hurt worse than others. We had some GNARLY conversations this week. I had some GNARLY conversations this week. I feel like I've matured 5 years, I feel grown up.

 

But you know what? I have learned SO MUCH. It's been a growing experience beyond belief. You could sit in school for years and never even touch on the things only experience and living through this has taught me. I am legitimately a better man because of the multiple complications that came up in the last week. I've heard them called GROWING PAINS.

Unreal.

#breathe

I have a few videos for you. They're rad.

First, enjoy beautiful music.

Second, Mr. Marc Wymore asked Mr. Isaac Svensson and I to document his miraculous kidney transplant. His sister, Corri, stepped up to the plate and donated one of her kidneys to Marc, a type 1 diabetic who had 10% kidney function left. This is his story.

Lastly, a FANTASTIC trailer. So inspired by this.

And, ladies and gentlemen, that is today's blog post. PHEW. So intense. I am so thankful for Ms. Morgan McGannon. So so so thankful.

Who are you thankful for?

Fragile

Here's a picture.

This blog post is short because I honestly don't feel like talking a whole lot. It's been a BRUTAL last few days. I can't go into detail just quite yet, so I'll just put it this way:

Be thankful for everything you take for granted. For conversation, for hanging out, for walking around, for taking a stroll. Life's fragile.