This is the last Wednesday of the school year. This is the last "Collared Shirt Wednesday" of my schooling career. This may be the last "Collared Shirt Wednesday" of my entire life.

This outfit is particularly significant. Here's the deal:

The bowtie, the purple, blue, and gray one, was acquired this year, my senior year, a gift from my girlfriend, Ms. Morgan McGannon. This bowtie represents my senior year in college, represents a new living situation in The Bakery, represents a new relationship with Ms. Morgan McGannon, represents graduating college.

The shirt, the florescent orange one, was acquired four years ago, my freshman year, a $3 STEAL from the American Apparel Outlet at the Citadel Outlets (still the only time I've been there). This shirt represents my freshman year in college, represents a new journey that is higher education, represents a lot of fun and craziness and stupidity and immaturity, represents the beginning of my maturity as an adult.

The shorts, the white ones, were acquired three years ago, my sophomore year, a thrift store find to complete a "yacht club" costume. These shorts represent my sophomore year in college, represent the settling in to the college routine, represent developing friendships, represent the establishment and passion of my film and art interests, represent the continual push to create excellent work.

The socks, the brown ones, were acquired two years ago, my junior year, a gift from my mother on Christmas. These socks represent my junior year in college, represent the moving from dormitory to apartment, represent a reality check of academic seriousness, represent the establishment of Mawwiage Films, represent the realization of life-after-college, represent the last hurrah with the gentlemen I lived with for three years.

The shoes, the white ones, were acquired eight years ago, my freshman year in high school, a requirement to participate in the drumline. These shoes represent my high school years, represent the formation of my ideologies, beliefs and interests, represent the shenanigans me and my broskis rocked, represent the introduction to film and graphic design, represent the development of who I am today.

The broken pallet represents the normality of education being busted wide open. A teacher once said, "You're about to be fired from your full time job of 18 years. You going to have to pick yourself up and find a new job." I am 100% used to doing school. I've done school for as long as can remember. I will be doing school no longer. Broke that thing.

The undid bowtie represents the things to come. A bowtie is meant to be tied, that is its designed function. We go through education to prepare us for things to come, to teach us the skills to succeed in the workforce. Education teaches us how to tie the bowtie. It's time to get out there and learn.

Here's a video from freshman year for nostalgia's sake.

I will be writing an extended blog post at some point in the future. In the mean time, graduation is Friday. Un. Be. Liev. A. Ble. Can't even handle it.

It's go time.

Take a walk outside, it's nice out.

This little bloggy blog has been the neglected these past few weeks because, well, these past few weeks have been some of wildest, craziest, overwhelmingest, loudest, unbelievableest weeks of my 22 years of life.

But first, a few things to note.

1. Today is the last "regular" Wednesday of my entire schooling career (at least as far as I know). That also means today is reserved for the 1984 powder blue Olympic suit. If you have followed the tradition, you will recognize that the 1984 powder blue Olympic suit is worn every last "regular" Wednesday of the semester. This is a tradition that has taken place since the middle of my stay in high school and has continued into my later college years. Friends, this is the LAST time I will EVER wear the 1984 powder blue Olympic suit in this context. And, hate to say it, but this may be the final time I wear this suit period (BUT you never know, I highly doubt I'll be able to stay out of this thing for long). This day means a lot for me and the memories packed into this fabric are leaking out with every step. I do know one thing though, I can't wait for my son to bust this 1984 powder blue Olympic suit out when he's in high school. That'll be the day.

2. Yeah, it's the last normal Wednesday. Which means it's THE LAST NORMAL WEDNESDAY. Graduation is looming. The "real world" is about 3 miles away, about to pick me up, and take me on a grand adventure.

3. Today, the wonderful world of allergens decided to inhabit my nostrils and create a continuous waterfall of fluid. After shaking the world, with deafening sneezes, I reach into the Kleenex box once again. It's a brutal day.

In other news, it's time for a run through of the last couple weeks.

First, here was the picture from last week. I didn't even post anything on the blog last week.

Two weeks ago, on May 2nd, my senior thesis documentary, the film that culminates my entire college career, premiered into the atmosphere of reality. "thisisstuttering" made it's first appearance in at the Biola Production Center in Studio A. I honestly did not know what to expect. Sure, thisisstuttering is extremely personal to me, and even personal to those who worked on it, but was it going to speak to the audience? I didn’t know. Over 300 people came to watch the film and the response was overwhelming. During the Q&A, I realized that thisisstuttering transcends the problem of speech impediments, but serves as encouragement and a personal account of overcoming PROBLEMS. We all have problems and a stutter is one of mine. Many people at the premiere spoke about how they were challenged and called to reevaluate their own struggles, proving that thisisstuttering is a film about living life. I was immensely humbled and overwhelmed with the comments and conversations that followed the premiere; God’s using this film and I am buckling up because it’s going to be a wild ride.

Here is one example of the effect it's had:

The National Stuttering Association also heard about the film BEFORE IT WAS RELEASED and not only did they love the final product and want to support it through and through, but they will be screening the documentary at their 30th annual conference in Scottsdale, Arizona in July! I am humbled by this opportunity and cannot wait to share my story with a community packed full of people who struggle as I do.

The Biola newspaper, The Chimes, also did a lil' writeup on the premiere: http://chimes.biola.edu/story/2013/may/07/thisisstuttering-awareness-speech/

I can barely even verbalize how this has all been for me. It's been wild. It's been freeing. It's been testing. It's been hard. It's been life-changing. This project has taken almost a full year to come to fruition and what a year it was. And here we are, about to embark on part 2 of the adventure.

If you care, follow on facebook: http://facebook.com/thisisstuttering
or check in to the website every now and this: http://thisisstuttering.com

In other news,

THE BAKERY DANCE PARTY 3.0 // April 26, 2013

This is the end of an era: THE FINAL BAKERY DANCE PARTY. The sweat rained, the walls soaked, the people threw down. The Bakery felt the love that night and we will all remember the Bakery Dance Parties forever. HUZZAH!

In other news, MY SISTER IS ENGAGED! Ms. Melanie Lott was asked for her hand in marriage by future brother-in-law Mr. Dan Mitchell.

Here is the facebook album description:

Dan Mitchell had a plan. He and my sister Melanie Lott were going to double-date with me and my girlfriend: headin' to Malibu to take pictures on the beach. Little did Melanie know, the objective was to get to a cliff where Mr. Dan Mitchell was going to take a knee and propose an offering of his hand in marriage. However, the whole day leading up to that moment, we had to "fake" this "picture-double-date." So naturally, in order to sell this fakeout, I snapped a boatload of pictures. This fakeout album is Morgan and I havin' a little fun. HOWEVER, take a look at this album for the REAL pictures, the pictures of Mel's and Dan's engagement: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4187479143973.1073741827.1794395519. I must say, Dan's pretty brilliant. Double-date with a photographer so you get up-close-and-personal pictures of your engagement without any suspicion. Good move Dan, good move.

And here are some of my completely-out-of-order-and-I-have-no-idea-why favorites: