Ness, Busy

So it is summer. Sure is. Let me tell you, it's been nonstop. If you know anything about me, know me personally, or don't know me at all, you probably know I am just a tad busy... all the time. Once the semester ended (which ended spectacularly, by the way. It's always interesting saying goodbye to friends, classes, housing, and the campus. For the time being.), the work load did not slow down. I have realized that approximately 20% of the work I do is actually school work, 80% being other "stuff," personal projects, weddings, photography, web design, and everything else. So, that said, the removal of "school" from my schedule honestly did not change the makeup of my life all that much. BUT, I'm not complaining. I am immensely blessed and honored to be able to capture life in the Morgan Lott perspective. EVERYTHING is a learning experience, whether is fails miserably or succeeds with flying colors. Learn, adjust, improve, share. GO.

For two of the four weeks we have been out of school, I have spent my time at Hume Lake Christian Camps. That place, phew. Gets me every time. I worked there as a "video guy" during the summer of 2010. Here was my farewell blog post after the summer came to a close:

http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/08/summer-it-up.html

That place has a big ol' part of my heart and I wouldn't be half the man I am today with our Hume's influence. I went up orientation week to help my sis Ms. Melanie Lott move in, she's working at Hume 'n' Beans, the coffee shop, this summer. Mr. Isaac Svensson then came up so I chilled for the week with him, working on Mawwiage Films stuff. I spent the majority of the time in the media office, my old stomping grounds, working working working (thank you to the media staff for allowing me to sit in there, you certainly didn't have to) on personal projects. I worked my tail tail tail off on the brand new Mawwiage Films website which is right here for your enjoyment!

http://mawwiagefilms.com

And also this video featuring Mr. Greg Ramey.

Greg's Testimony from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.

Orientation week was funny. It was WILD being at Hume, around staff, during orientation week, during the week the staff are learning what to do and how to work their jobs. I worked in the office, I ate in staff dining, I met lots of staff members, I felt like I was legitimately on staff. But I wasn't. And then I left. Bizarre experience. Fun experience. Worthwhile experience.

And then two weeks later, I went back. Every summer, my family spends a week up at Hume Lake in a cabin that runs in the family. Every summer for my entire life, I have spent at least a week at Hume, basking in the place that many people classify as "the best place in the world." Like I said, blessed and honored. This week was different though, I spent very little time engulfed in the staff life. I spent a lot of time at the cabin, a lot of time working on the Hume 'n' Beans deck, a lot of time working on the Snack Shack deck.  I intentionally kept my distance from the "I feel like I'm on staff because I'm so involved!" moniker and kept to the "I worked here 2 years ago and it was great, let's reminisce" moniker. Very different week, equally as great week. It was FANTASTIC being able to use the wonderful outdoors, the forest, the lake, as my office. It was FANTASTIC working at a table by myself, and then a new friend approaches and asks to sit, establishing a relationship. It was FANTASTIC watching rec, seeing campers, seeing staff, all enjoying Hume Lake to it's fullest. It was FANTASTIC being with my fam bam at our cabin, playing games, sittin around, straight up relaxin. It was FANTASTIC seeing old friends, meeting new friends, and laughing a little bit. It was FANTASTIC getting a day full of the extravagant talents of the voice over pro Mr. John Olson. It was FANTASTIC getting blasted with some of the best weather I've every experienced at that lake. It was FANTASTIC seeing some absurdities at Open Mic Night, laughing about the most ridonkulocity Open Mic talents such as running on a treadmill or reciting the list of 1997 top 25 action movies with my little bros Mr. Connor Lott and Mr. Spencer Lott, celebrating Ms. Kaitlyn Bodin's birthday with a spontaneous midnight jump in the lake, and being taught how to handshake by Ms. Jessica Whitney and Ms. Kacie Johnson. It was FANTASTIC leaving Hume with a straight up ridiculous electro/lounge/hip-hop cd that blasts all other music out of the water.

FANTASTIC.

We'll see if I make it back again this summer.


And then we made it down to Reedley to celebrate my Great-Grandpa Walter Warkentin's 97th birthday, as well as send off my cousins the Hiett's as they are moving to Oklahoma in a matter of weeks. When the whole extended family is together, it's nothing short of a great time!


SOOOO this summer's been busy! I'm just going to embed some videos for your enjoyment:


CROOK: my final project for my Typography II class at Biola:


CROOK from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.


and five Mawwiage Films Teasers!


Karley & Lauri Mase :: Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



Bradley & Taylor Zeller :: The Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



Mr. & Mrs. Wilson Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



Carter & Chelsea Sapp :: teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.



David & Stella :: The Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.




You know what that means right? 5 Mawwiage Films Moments that coming up real quick. YIKES! Gametime.







So that's how this summer is looking this far. Pretty wild, man. Like I said, this summerz NUTZ!


Whether your summer is or is not NUTZ, enjoy it with all you got. Serious!

Tripz

I come to you again, still on winter break. 6 weeks. It's been long. I return to school tomorrow to begin the next semester of my college career and if I've learned anything from the last five, this one is going to be a rockin', surprise-filled, wild ride. There's no telling what kind of stuff will go down, the possibilities are endless. So for this reason, I'm excited to see what this semester will bring, amidst the changes, differences, and comfortability of last semester.

One of these changes is what you see above, a new car. Last semester, for the first time in college, a car went from being a "it would be nice to have, but I don't really need it" to a "woah, I'm tired of asking to borrow other people's cars." One of the primary goals of this winter break was to find a car and this 1995 VW Jetta did the trick. Let's hope it lasts a lifetime. I'm rooting for it.

Here's comes the weekend. Before our semester break started, I determined I wanted to head up the hill to Hume Lake at some point to visit one of the greatest spots on this planet. As the break continued and work was piling up, I quickly realized a trip could only happen near the end of the break, so I picked the weekend of January 20th to pack my bags and roadtrip it to Hume. The weekend of January 20th was this last weekend. So I have this new car, a car that I haven't yet driven 100 miles, and I'm going to trek across California, up a mountain, and into the snow. Talk about the ultimate test! I'll say it right now, it (name pending) performed like a champ. So I arrive at Hume Lake Christian Camps and feel like no time at all has passed. The drive, the atmosphere, the smells, the people were all so familiar, so close to home. I see this dude Mike Strand, a dude I haven't seen in 2 years, a dude I haven't seen walk since June of 2010, and it's like one day has passed. One of the first things we do is take a "Day in the Office" picture. Here it is:

Now, during the summer of 2010, Mr. Mike Strand started doing this "Day in the Office" series. It's pretty self-explanatory, but it pretty accurately described the nonsensical absurdity of our media office.  Here's the link to the facebook album (if you're FB friends with Mike): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428868824616.187989.508454616&type=3

And if not, I've included a few of my favorites below:

We had some fun.

So, snap back to the weekend of January 20th. After a fun reunion with the media peeps including, but not limited to, Mr. Karley Mase, Mr. Nathan Pearsey, Mr. Isaac Svensson, and Ms. Sarah Tuch, I found out that many a folk were going to be volunteering this weekend for winter camp because the Joshua class was heading to the Dominican Republic (I think?). Because of this, the Hume staff for the weekend included all sorts of different people, including, but not limited to, old friends Mr. Jonathan Blesse, Boomerang, Boone, Ms. Sierra Falco, Mr. Tony Farao, Ms. Bethany Fox, Mr. Michael Ottenad, Mr. Jonathan Parfitt, Mr. Johnathan Tompkins, Mr. Paul Quinn, Ms. Cheryl Velichko, Ms. Cheyenne Wedel, and Wagon Master Shep,

and new friends Mr. David Anderberg, Mr. Cameron Cadiz, sisters Ms. Sarah Goad and Ms. Chelsea Goad (who I found out some CRAZY, WILD, UNBELIEVABLE connections with), Mr. Kevin Griffith, Mr. Dan Mitchell, Ms. Bekah Newlin, Mr. Abe Saleh, and Mr. Jordan Sonerholm.      

Let's just call it a big ol' reunion.

Here's the summary:

Firefly  //  Contractors  //  testing paintball guns  //  shooting "stuff"  //  cleaning "stuff"  //  rain, lots and lots of rain  //  OK Chalet  //  rock wall  //  mechanical bull  //  getting JACKED on the mechanical bull  //  turning the mechanical bull into a bounce-house/obstacle/jungle-gym/tag-course  //  Contractors flood  //  waking up stupid sore and stupid tired  // snow, lots and lots of snow  //  recreation chapel  //  blast of a conversation with the Goad sisters  //  visit/get asked lots of questions/handed forms/become overwhelmed (and no, I did not take a nap) at the Snowboard Shack with Mr. Michael Ottenad  //  visit/watch/blizzard/freeze at the Screamer with Ms. Sierra Falco and Ms. Bekah Newlin  //  untangle, retangle, untangle Screamer rope  // defrost  //  learn paintball guns are incredibly complicated to fix  //  watch/film/experience Boxsled Blitz  //  cram six people into discarded sled and do our own blitz  //  test tube run  //  defrost  //  rock wall race  //  losing rock wall race  //  burning forearms  //  Mr. Paul Quinn's house  // ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS GAME of Redneck Life  //  Earl Bob (possible car name?)  //  divorced  //  11 kids - Jebidiah Joe, Cooter, 8 Darryl's, and a girl named Dale Jr.  //  18 teeth left  //  wipe/chip six inches of snow off my car  //  load up car  //  snap some photos  //  grub  //  sadly say goodbyes  //  begin the journey down the icy hill without chains  //  home

Amidst all this is the following: wet socks, cold hands, sniffling nose, biggest jacket I e'er wore, lots of laughter, lots of stories, and lots of memories.  Some of these experiences have been captured:


These experiences were captured by Ms. Sierra Falco and her camera:

Here's the wrap up video Mr. Isaac Svensson crafted:

Hume 2012 - Winter Camp Week 3 Wrap Up from Hume Lake on Vimeo.

And here's some pictures taken by yours truly:

All that to say, the weekend of January 20th was incredible and a great way to end the 6 week period we Biolan's know as semester break.  It was great seeing a folks I haven't seen for a LONG time, it was great seeing folks I haven't seen for a decent amount of time, and it was great seeing folks I haven't seen in as little as a few days. Hume Lake is quite the place, impossible to explain. There's just something about it. I was talking with my sister, Ms. Melanie Lott, about Hume and we came to the conclusion that it simply messes with your mind. It's another world up there and it honestly isn't that close to reality.  Crazy weekends, like the weekend of January 20th, happen and then are gone *POOF* like a surreal dream, 'cept it wasn't surreal, it was realreal.  Don't get me started if you spend a summer there.... Oof. You want proof? Check this blog post out: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/08/summer-it-up.html.

Hume Lake's one of a kind and's got a special place in my heart and the heart of thousands.






So that was break. You got two blog posts, kinda summing up the break, kinda not really. It's that time again where I debate about continuing this whole Wednesday thing, continuing this blog that has been running for three years. It's a new semester and anything goes. We'll see what happens and right now, it's looking good.

It's been a great break and I want to thank everybody who made it what it was.



And finally,

I've got a video for you. This video has been cruising the web for about a week and it has captured the hearts of millions. LET'S OPEN UP THIS PIT.



She's got quite the career ahead of her. Maybe she'll end up in a band like our friends iwrestledabearonce:
















That's it, friends. That's the blog post for the end of January. Can't believe it's the end of January. Before long, it'll be the end of May, then the end of August, and then the end of January again.  It's going to fly and what's CRAZY is how much stuff is going to be crammed in these 365 days. So many good experiences, so many bad experiences, so many learning experiences, so many life experiences.

Buckle up because it's going to be a wild ride. Throw you're hands up too because it's going to be a blast.

Blue Flowers

The tie means something. It's got blue flowers all over it. Does it match with the rest? No. (Unless you get all artsy/philosophical). The point? Things don't have to match. Who said they have to? Things that happen in life don't have to match what you think your life is going to be like. Things aren't going to match. But hey, smile about it.


Folks. Unfortunately, today's post is going to be kinda skimpy. I'll tell you why in a second.

First of all, the tour guide is sick today. I know I told you last week you'd get a tour of my apartment, which you most definitely will, BUT...not today. There's a few reasons for this, most notably the fact that the apartment is still not set up the way we envision it, at least to a point of leading a guided tour of 100 people through. So, keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks, you'll get your tour, don't you worry.

Second, I've been working on something BIG that is being released and started tomorrow, Thursday. I'll tell you this much: I am going to be performing an action everyday for 100 days straight and you will be able to follow the progress each and every day of the hundred. I'm am beyond excited for this project and I'll explain why after it has begun.

I've got two video releases for you though.

So here they are:

First, I had the privilege of going down to Long Beach to experience and document an incredible ministry that seeks to love the homeless as Christ would. These are people who haven't been missionaries over seas, these are people who don't preach to 10,000 people at a time, these are just normal people in Long Beach who want to share the love of God to others. This project was for Hume Lake Christian Camps to share with the high schoolers every week. While I was counselor during Week 6, it was incredible seeing this short film, not because I made it, but because of the influence it had on the campers, seeing the idea that you don't have to be an "All-Star Christian" to love people like Christ did dawn on countless teenagers was incredible. I was beyond blessed to be able to work on this project.


Long Beach Homeless Ministry - The Story from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.


Next is the most recent Mawwiage Films teaser. I personally really like this one, I had a lot of fun with it. People have been asking about the music, so I'll just let it loose right here, right now! "Cyanide Sisters" by Com Truise.

Enjoy!



Jordan & Danielle: The Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.







Side note, Mr. Michael Warnecke and I are JAMMING to P.O.D.'s "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown." Such a great record. 1999. Old school. Take a trip back to grade school.




That's the post, folks. Sorry it's a little lacking, next week will (hopefully) make up for it.





Have an excellent day, have an excellent night, and have an excellent tomorrow.

THE TRIP OF '11

Friends, oh friends. It's been a long time. The summer has in the past, has currently, and most likely will continue to eat up most time that is provided us in a day. This blog has been given the back seat, which I initially felt kind of bad about, but based on previous years, this blog has made a home of the back seat over the summer 3 years in a row.

This summer has been off the chain. It started, now it's ending. I'm going to try to barrel through the majority of the summer for y'all. It'll get interesting, can't promise much detail, we'll see how the words spill.

(Speaking of words spilling, I started up a new Tumblr blog, dedicated to photography and other media. I'll speak more on it later, but here's the link: http://morganlott.tumblr.com)


We'll start with my twin brothers 8th grade culmination. Unbelievable. These little dudes have survived middle school and are going to high school. They just graduated Kindergarden, like...yesterday. They're growing too. In a year, they'll each be 6 feet. They were just 3 feet, like...well, it's been a while. It was a celebration though and watching my bros graduate from my alma matter was, like...incredible.

The next experience was when the last blog post was written. Here it is:

http://emliv.blogspot.com/2011/06/marvel.html

Here's the interesting thing: the events described in the link above seem like EONS ago, but the yet the summer in itself seems like the blink of an eye. Strange times among us. If you read the post above, you know that Mr. and Mrs. Funk were married, Mr. Isaac Svensson and I headed up to Hume Lake, stopped to see and take pictures of a mountain fire, and then very much enjoyed a visit to Hume. Read the post though, it's good; good stories.

Speaking of weddings, Mawwiage Films has been busy busy busy this summer!

And speaking of busy, during our annual week-at-Hume-Lake-with-extended-family, my father and I set up a little "studio" and worked a whole bunch. Sounds like a bum deal, working on work rather than chillin' and hangin' at Hume Lake, but let me tell ya, I would way rather work at an outrageously beautiful place like Hume Lake than in my normal habitat. All in all, productive week.

A couple weeks later, I headed North. I had the distinct honor of being a groomsman in my cousins wedding, Mr. Micah Hiett was set to wed Ms. Leanne Schellenberg. I went up early to be a part of the bachelor party, a legit houseboating trip on the lake. You can just imagine the shenigans that went down, including perhaps a jacked up ACL on yours truly while wakeboarding. All in all, A BLAST! Those Kansas boys really know how to have a good time. I kept telling people: the Kansas boys know how to turn absolutely nothing into an absolute blast, us Cali boys sometimes have a hard time turning absolutely everything into a little more than bored stiff. Good time, to say the least.

You may ask, "you went to a wedding, just to be there?!" Well, not quite, there's a catch. Mawwiage Films also had the distinct honor film the wedding! So we pulled a fast one (with permission of course) and I carried a small camera with me as a groomsman, a behind-the-scenes-groomsman-cam if you will, and got some footage you'd never be able to get otherwise. That said, the video's going to be GREAT, very different from anything MF has done in the past. I'm very much excited.

Then, and this is going to blow your mind, I went up to Hume Lake again (All in all, I was at Hume Lake almost a complete month). This time though, I had another distinct honor to be a counselor with my home church, Simi Valley Community Church. This was QUITE the experience. It was very very interesting, definitely not a camper (although I had a blast being in "camper" mode the whole week), definitely not staff, somewhere in between; the determining factor? Responsibility.

I was treated to a small group, 5 guys in the tiny, but homey, cabin Aspen 2. We enjoyed our cabin talks, our cabin chats. We enjoyed our rec team EL PANCHOS. Here's an aside: Recreation was one of the most interesting parts of the Hume experience and here's why: while on media staff last summer, rec was immensely important, time-consuming, and fun. We spent a whole lot of time on that rec field, documenting the ridiculous and incredible recreational abilities of 1000 high schoolers every week. We got sweaty, we got dirty, we got hit, we got tired, we got an incredible amount of experience by the end of year. I will never be able to verbalize how much the Hume Media workforce influenced my current skill set. All that said, being on the OTHER side of rec was SURREAL. Participating in the games, cheering on EL PANCHOS ("They may take our lives, but they will never take...our panchos!" BEAST of a cheer), watching kajabe can-can from the sidelines, being super spirited on super spirit day, and perhaps the most insane part, running the gauntlet. All in all, recreation was a BLAST. Now for what really matters.

We had a great great week. Mr. Steve Solomon shared his thoughts as we worked through David's life experiences in 1 Samuel. David, the man after God's own heart, made a ridiculous amount of mistakes, but he continually sought the Lord's guidance and was able to pinpoint his downfalls, seeking change, only possibly with God's help. I really enjoyed was Steve had to say, he steered away from the emotional response that we have all become accustomed to at church camp, but instead presented the facts with a multitude of biblical evidence, making sure we truly understand the beliefs we say we follow. I really appreciated that aspect of his teaching.

I could go deep into every single thing that happened at Hume, but I don't think I'm going to. Commitments, dedication, baptisms; lives were changed.

Please watch this little wrap-up by my good friends Mr. Nico Hernandez and Ms. Simón Weber:



Please watch this little wrap-up by Hume:


Hume 2011 - Ponderosa Week 6 Wrap Up from Hume Lake on Vimeo.




The fun's not over! I then headed up with my fam bam to Washington for a family reunion with the entire Neufeld family! After the forever long drive through the country, we arrived in Washington at this ridiculously massive lodge. I felt like a little kid in a humungous house; kinda hard to explain, you've just got to believe me. We had an incredible time, enjoying Leavenworth, horses, water, games, stars, hot tubs, the list goes on and on and on. 43 people who see each other all at the same time once every two years, 43 people who get along remarkably well, 43 people who have a blast together, 43 people who can't wait until the next reunion. We are honestly so so blessed to have such a solid family that cares about integrity, family, and most of all, Jesus Christ. INCREDIBLE.

After Washington, we figured "Well, we're SO CLOSE to Canada, we've got to stop in." Thus, a day trip to Vancouver was a must. A must say, I thoroughly enjoyed Canada, the big city. We walked around a bunch, saw the ocean (which was strange), witnessed the largest public swimming pool I've ever seen, enjoyed our time there. 'Twas a good time.

I snapped a good 2,000 pictures over the course of the trip. Here's a few:

Here's one for the road:

"Time flies like the wind, fruit flies like bananas."

Marvel

Friends and neighbors, it's been a good week.  I'll just run through it.


For a while now, Mawwiage Films knew this weekend was on its way.  Mr. Eric Funk and Ms. Stephanie Wiens were set to be married on Sunday, June 19th, 2011 and MF had the pleasure to capture their wedding.  There was a little something that we were particularly excited about though: not only was the beast of a photographer Mr. Nate Goins (nategoinsphotography.com) going to be photographing this particular wedding, but the delightful Ellie Mullins (mullins2.com) was going to be second shooting for him.  Do you know what this meant?  This meant that basically half of the Hume Lake Summer 2010 Media Crew was reuniting to collaborate.  Put it in a word: krill. So, because of this, Mr. Isaac Svensson and I drove up to Fresno a wee bit early in order to capitalize on this unique opportunity.

Saturday night, the crew headed to the Mullins² Studio in Fresno to chill and watch a movie.  And who shows up? Well, another Hume photographer, Ms. Kim Sheehan. What commenced can be described in one word: FUN.  It was great reuniting.  What's cool about friendship is you can pick up right where you left off, whether thats a day, a week, a month, a summer, a school year, a full year, a decade.  It was enjoyable.

The next day was the wedding. I don't want to spoil too much, we've got a teaser coming your way real real soon.  Let's just say, it was a beautiful wedding in Oakhurst, CA.  Nice and warm, lots of happy happy people, including an ecstatic bride and groom.  Plus, shooting with good friends, boy, that's begging for the "GREAT" label.

Now heres the deal with Oakhurst. Oakhurst is right near Fresno, and Fresno is right near Hume Lake, our home away from home. We had already driven 3+ hours for the wedding, we were now a little over an hour from Hume, so clearly, Hume was our next stop. Mr. Nate Goins and Ms. Ellie Mullins are productive workers, so they were not able to join Mr. Isaac Svensson and I on our expedition. After saying our goodbyes for the time being to our good friends, we took off for the mountains.

As we were driving, I noticed flames. I assumed they were crops burning, clearing a spot for a fresh start. As we continued, I realized these weren't crops... this was an actual fire. We began up the 180 towards Hume and in the first 5 miles, sure enough, an entire hill was on fire. As we were driving past, we discussed stopping: we had camera gear, we had time, we had fire, OF COURSE we need to stop.  We pull over to the side of the road amidst the fire crews, pull out the gear and began shooting away.  Here are two shots from the event:

Read this: http://mawwiagefilms.tumblr.com/post/6848925892/a-continued-lesson for continued stories.


After our little run-in with one of the most confusing phenomenon's that is FIRE, we continued on our way up the mountain. We were fortunate to borrow the Goins' family cabin, which was INCREDIBLE. We had a place to sleep, which is a big deal. Because of this, we ended up staying an extra day, simply because we had a place to sleep.

Hume was incredible. This is what I've been telling people: Rekindled friendships, made new friendships, and even made a little video for the campers. It was great great great to see many old friends from last year, friends from Biola that ended up at Hume, friends I knew from other places that ended up at Hume, friends I didn't know too well before but now do more-so, friends that didn't exist before this visit, my sister ROCKIN' the pantry, and some of the Friesen family who were visiting for the week. (Here's the deal, I thought about naming names, I thought about naming lots of names, I thought about for each of these "categories" naming names. But here's the deal with naming names, naturally, there's going to be a hierarchy, there's going to be "favorites." Now, obviously, we all have "favorite" friends, we have friends we get along with better than others, but they are all still friends. So, if I was going to name names, naturally, I would start with friends who I "like" more than other friends, even though they are still friends, perhaps even good friends. But here's the deal, ranking can be sticky business. If you saw yourself on my list and you were first, what would you think? If you saw yourself on my list and you were last, what would you think? If you DIDN'T see yourself on my list, what you think? So for this reason, I did not name names. If you read my categorical list, you know which category you fall under. You know if we're good friends. I know if we're good friends. You know if we're normal friends. I know if we're normal friends. We're all friends.) I enjoyed seeing and talking with every single one of you. I enjoyed our conversation. A lot.

You know what else was incredible? Getting all nostalgic-like; going NUTS in rec chapel, hanging in the media office with the old and new staff, enjoying a 7AM pancake breakfast, skating to and from boys town (my residence last year), enjoying POG, getting my consistent styrofoam cup of water from the G-Store, and finally, working on a short video with the new rec dudes, Nate and Louie, that was played in rec chapel the next day. There's honestly nothing like watching 1000 high schoolers go ABSOLUTELY APE watching your video, definitely top 10 best feelings.

Leaving was tough, we had been engulfed back into the Hume culture, just give us a camera and we were back in business.  We took off into the 100+ temperatures and said adios to our home away from home, a home that is responsible for our current lives, a home that is responsible for us not returning back to work at "home" (which is a bizarre thing to think about).  In fact, one of my art films from a while back was literally the BEGINNING of Mawwiage Films. Hume served as training, we were prepared, this was the BEGINNING:


Profession (Video Art) from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.




All this to say, the last week has been marvelous.  Such good times, such good experiences, such good memories.  Not only that, but Hume Lake is going to influence thousands of kids lives, God is going to work wonders through Hume this summer, it doesn't get better than that. Period.  I hope you enjoyed the story, good stories are always fun.  I hope your week is as marvelous as mine was. Seriously. In fact, to kick things off right, go out and drink out of a drinking fountain. Think about it, public, free, water, free for quenching your thirst. That's a pretty good way to start off a marvelous week.

Seriously folks, thanks for reading. Enjoy your fountain.

Tripp

Oh man, today. Oh boy, today. It's 9:30pm and I'm writing this blog post, today. I spent the day at Hume Lake, dropping my kid sister, Ms. Melanie Lott, at her summer job for the summer, working the Ponderosa pantry, gonna be feeding all those fancy campers throughout the summer. Summer. You may recall the last blog post, I wrote about how I thought this trip to Hume would be a wild:

"Here's the surreal part, I think it's going to be strange heading up that mountain knowing I'm not on staff.  It's going to be weird waltzing around Hume without responsibility, with a camera in my hand.  It's going to be weird still knowing a majority of the staff and having conversations that I would be having as if I were on staff.  But at the end of the day, I can leave.  I can drop my faux-commitment and drive down that mountain."

Well, I'm here to tell you, this is EXACTLY what it was like.  It was very strange, very weird, very faux.  I enjoyed it thoroughly though.  It was a trip seeing a good number of my summer pals and telling them "No, I'm not going to be working this summer." It was a trip walking around, feeling "at home." It was a trip hanging out in the media office, meeting the new videographers/photographers, and hanging with the QUALITY full-time staff.  It was A TRIP going to the G-Store, getting a styrofoam cup, filing it up with ice and water, and enjoying the beverage (you Hume people might know the significance of this. Trust me, IT WAS A TRIP).

I'll just put it in 4 words: it was a trip.

To all the people I ran into, I very much enjoyed running into you.  Every one of you.  I also enjoyed our conversation, even if it was simply an exchange of hello's, not just running into you.


It was also a blast seeing the Hiett clan and Grandma.  Always a pleasure.  No doubt.



In other news, we've got videos, lotsofem.


First, here is a promo for a new film hittin' the world: Animal Fiction. More info on FB? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Animal-Fiction/204033439633114





Seconds: I (and Mawwiage Films) was blessed with a new toy: the Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens.  It was begging to be tested:


A Test Of Sorts :: EASY STREET from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.




Thirds: This little dude blew my mind fruits.  Serious.  Didn't know what to think at first. I mean, we've all seen this little act before, so I didn't know what to think.  But let me tell you, the ferocity and the skill this little man displays left my jaw chillin' on the floor.  I had to bend down to pick it up and then rewind the video because I had missed a few seconds of this gentleman's BEAST of a performance.  Enjoy.





Fourthy: This video simply left me smiling.  You may have heard of a GoPro. You may have heard of a hula hoop.  Well here you go, what a solidified square inch of a hula hoop looks like as it's whipping around its contestant.









Mmm. Much enjoyment.






Hey you, yeah you. This has been another Wednesday. I mean, come on, a Wednesday.  At 10:09 now. I hope you enjoyed your last week.  Enjoy this next week, regardless how your last week was.


I realize there is not a picture today.  I don't know what I'm going to do.  Maybe I won't have one all summer.



Enjoys.

Reviewal

**Yes, I know, there isn't a picture.  And yes, I know, that threatens the well-being of this blog.  I apologize, my camera is still packed away somewhere in the multitudes of boxes that sit stacked in my room.  Thank you Mr. Michael Warnecke for presenting this awful occasion.  BUT, it's also summer, so you might not get the normal Wednesday attire consistently. We'll have to see.**

Summer has officially started. Spring of 2011 has officially ended. School is at a standstill for a few months.  What a feeling.  This summer's an interesting one and will continue to be an interesting one.  The reason?  I don't know what I'm doing.  The reason?  Due to the nature of my job at Mawwiage Films, weddings aren't always scheduled way ahead of time.  So what does this mean?  It means my summer will be free-form, my summer has the potential to be extremely busy, all the while having the potential to be not busy at all.  It all depends.  This is different for me.  The last two summers have been very "strict" in their scheduling, playing drums with Remember at Hartland and then being a videographer at Hume Lake Christian Camps last summer.  These were not free-form summers, these were very regimented and planned out summers.  I enjoyed them, a lot.  I think I'll enjoy this summer too.  It's a breath of fresh air, well, I hope it is.  Seriously, its got the potential to be EXTREMELY busy.  I don't know how I'll feel if that happens.  BUT, am I complaining? Absolutely not.  I would way rather be head over heels in work than sitting around, doing absolutely nothing.  The two extremes, I'd pick business.  Hopefully it doesn't get to either of those points.

Speaking of summer, this was last summer: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/08/summer-it-up.html.  This summer, I am not working at Hume Lake, but my sister, Ms. Melanie Lott, is.  I have a feeling it's going to be surreal and here's why: my family history at Hume Lake is pretty wild.  My Great-Grandpa Walter Warkentin was one the founders in 1946 and then from then on, my entire extended family has been very much involved.  Every summer of my life (basically), I have gone up at least once, either to camp or to our family cabin.  Last summer, I was on Hume Staff as a videographer.  I have had my fill of Hume, to say the least.  Now, this summer, I will be going up a number of times.  I don't know for sure, but I can take an educated guess that I'm going to view Hume in a different way from now on. The memories that were made, the relationships that developed, the skill-sets that were perfected; Hume Lake is responsible.  Here's the surreal part, I think it's going to be strange heading up that mountain knowing I'm not on staff.  It's going to be weird waltzing around Hume without responsiblitly, with a camera in my hand.  It's going to be weird still knowing a majority of the staff and having conversations that I would be having as if I were on staff.  But at the end of the day, I can leave.  I can drop my faux-commitment and drive down that mountain.

This seems jumbled, I think the moral of this story is: IT'S GOING TO BE WEIRD. And that's okay. In fact, it's great. I'm excited.  Know who else is excited?




I've got some presents for you.  1rst:

A MAWWIAGE FILMS teaser: you're in for a tease.  Get the hint?

http://mawwiagefilms.com/hollenbeck


Tyler & Kelsey: A Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.




2cond:


During this last semester, I took two art classes: Integrated Design 1 and Letters & Symbols.  I'm just going to say straight up, these two classes rocked my world.  I had never taken a formal design class before these two and these two, boy, were brutal.  It's one of those super super good brutal classes.  It's hard for me to express how much I learned, let's just say I am pleased with the work that came out of the end of the semester (I probably wouldn't say that about the work that came out of the beginning of the semester). So now, down below, enjoy some of the work I spent hours upon hours developing.  I must say, it feels great to be done.


Description: Explore image/text/location relationship. Post-it Notes.

Description: 1" thick plywood. 10" x 17". A puzzle of sorts.

Description: HUGE poster. Somethin' like 3' x 2'. I don't remember. Pretty big though. 26 letters of the alphabet stenciled and spray-painted onto balloons. Concept? United 93 vs. Titanic. Believe it or not.

Description: ZINE. A 24 page zine on airplanes. I really liked how this book turned out. I had a lot of fun with it and learned a whole bunch. 7" x 8.5".

Here's a selection:

And that's the first post of summer.  I'm still in the midst of unpacking, so I didn't have too much time to prepare and surround you with rockin' material.  This was something a little different though, stuff created by me.  I hope you enjoyed the show, the exhibition.  Let me know what you think if you feel led to.  I really would appreciate.  Constructive criticism is ALWAYS appreciated.




Enjoy your day(s)!  Rock the world of the people around you.  Give a random person a high-5.

Goes

What. A. WEEK.  Not sure where to start, what to say, what to do.

I guess I'll just run through a few things:

Thursday: On Thursday, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with the folks at Hume Lake Christian Camps down in Long Beach to produce a video highlighting the mission field right in your backyard.  We spoke with Pat and his wife who go out on the streets of Long Beach every Thursday and simply provide a place for the homeless to "hang out."  Pat provides coffee and various other treats and simply loves the homeless of his community, being a friend to the hopeless, displaying the love of Christ through his encounters.  It was a really interesting time and the video will be a fun one to work on.  Thanks Hume for having me!

Friday: On Friday, I went to Burbank with my pop to put money away for my retirement.  From what I've heard, it's a good thing (and practice) to get into.  I'm 20 now, growing up.  60 isn't all that far away.  Following? I don't know if you remember me talking about a particular website competition.  "The Crexendo Website Competition is an event in which individual students or teams of students compete to design, manage, and launch a fully functional website using the eCommerce Content Management System (CMS) software provided by Crexendo." - http://up.crexendo.com/biola

Biola University, the university I attend, allowed Crexendo to come in a sponsor a massive website contest.  Naturally, with a budding business building in Mawwiage Films, MF entered the contest, spent many many hours perfecting and allocating the webspace, and waited.  Friday was the awards ceremony held at the Immagination Summit at Biola.  I honestly didn't know what to expect going into this thing, I was hopeful, but couldn't pin it down.  I'll just cut to the chase: MAWWIAGEFILMS.COM won FIRST PLACE!  Not only bragging rights, but also a pretty hefty cash prize of $7500.  $7500?  $7500!  Here's the cool thing: because of this website and the adjoining competition, MF has put itself on the map, meaning investment is now required to improve our company, meaning the majority of the cash prize is going towards equipment, advertising , and other business like things.  The hope?  The investment will pay off in the long run.  CRAZYYYNESS.


Saturday: On Saturday, Mawwiage Films had the opportunity to capture the beautiful wedding of Mr. Adam Rivadeneyra and Ms. Karielle Saario.  It was a pleasure to be given the chance to record the events of this special day.  Are you ready for a tease?  SHOOT: 


Adam & Karielle: A Teaser from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.

http://mawwiagefilms.com/​rivadeneyra

Get pumped for the finished product, we've got three coming your way!



GREAT story right here.


Mr. Isaac Svensson's laptop computer has a half-busted screen that he has dealt with for weeks/months (I don't know, I'd have to ask him).  Finally, it was time.  Mr. Svensson headed to the Apple Store to finally fix his frustration.  The way the Apple Store works, especially  with inquiries, is through appointment.  I believe it's called the Genius Bar (I don't know, I'd have to ask them)?  For whatever reason, Mr. Isaac Svensson, Mr. Kenny Becker, and Mr. Drew Eccleston (who had appointments as well) arrived late at the scene, too late to salvage their appointment times (I don't know why, I'd have to ask them).  I am relaying this story, so this is where it gets a little gray: something happened to where Mr. Becker received a new time, but Mr. Svensson did not.  Mr. Svensson then proceeds to speak with the Apple representative, explaining the situation, asking if there is anything he can do to pick up an appointment.  The rep proceeds to tell him there is little he can do, naturally.  So Mr. Svensson asks if the rep could at least call him if a appointment is cancelled or something opens up or anything else of that nature.  The rep agrees, so Mr. Svensson pulls out one of our Mawwiage Films business cards and hands it to the rep.  At this point, the rep reaches into his pocket and fumbles around in his wallet.  He laughs and pulls out of his wallet OUR BUSINESS CARD.  Turns out, this particular Apple representative was Mr. Louie Huesmann, the new rec guy for Hume Summer 2011, the same Mr. Heusmann who I had worked with in Long Beach the night before, the same Mr. Heusmann who I handed my business card to.  There are two people in the world who carry that business card around with them, and Mr. Louie Huesmann ran into both of them, separetly, in completely unique situations, having no idea Mr. Isaac Svensson and myself were affilated.  Perfect.

To end the story, Mr. Svensson's laptop computer is in the shop getting fixed.  Rockin.




And that's the post.  Some words!  That's a somewhat rarity!  Wow!


In other news, the year is ALMOST OVER.  Spring Break is next week, then it's just a few short weeks after that.   WHAT?






Have a brilliantly brilliant day.

Snaps

I'm back at school, just like *snap* that.  I'm taking a Spanish class, I'm three days in.  It should be good, it's basically immersion.  Which is a good thing, all I think about most of the day is Spanish.  Every day, constant Spanish throughout the week.  It's a good thing, but the class is very long.  Four hours a day, it feels like it get longer every day.  It's the first week though, it will speed up and feel short as the days go by.  Interterm is interterm.  It's bad in a good way.  I'm enjoying myself, there's so much work to be done.  So much work.  It's quite remarkable.


Because of this, I have little time to construct this Wednesday's post.  Sorry, I hope it doesn't produce negative emotions.


I have a couple announcements:

I had some fun designing this last week!  Hooray!  I completely redesigned my twitter profile as well as my myspace profile.  Here's something ironic, twitter is perhaps the most recent, biggest social media website, and myspace is perhaps the least, on the decline form of social media.  Here's the thing, I still dig myspace, I'd be on it every single day if it wasn't for nobody else wants to use it, I don't understand why.  At least from a designer's point of view, myspace destroys facebook, at least it did until myspace 3.0 came out.  It's all relative.  Here are your links:

http://twitter.com/morganlott

http://myspace.com/edwardmorganlottiv

Fun fun fun.



Here's something, while I was at Hume Lake during the summer, I shot two rolls of Kodak T-Max 400 film.  I had a good time, captured some good moments, and now they are online for you, you can now have a good time, you can capture some of those good moments.

Below is the link that links to the live album on my Facebook profile:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=328961&id=714162753&l=110166da35

Here are two shots:

Fun fun fun.




You know what else is fun?


VIDEO(s)



First up, there's this beatboxer called Beardyman and he took his talent to unsuspectors, I dig I dig.




In the spirit of skating, I took a trip back to yesteryear and remembered Rodney Mullen.  Remember Rodney Mullen?  One word: NUTTY.  Revolutionized skateboarding without his style becoming wildly popular.



Have you heard of Pogo?  If you don't recognize the name, you probably would recognize some of his work.  Here's his latest:

"This is remix of sights and sounds that I filmed around the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. This marks the beginning of my World Remix project!"

Super sick, super classic, check it:



Lastly, for all you vocal buffs out there, this video surfaced the other day.  Yesterday, when I found it, it had around 500,000 views.  Now, as I write this, it has 5,393,300 views.  That's quite a difference in a day.  Super super rad.  This homeless man has an incredible voice and he....well I'll just let him tell the story.

Currently, people all over are joining together to help this guy out, get him a job, get his life back together, and it might just work.  I wish him the best.




UPDATE:

This is a great reason why the internet is rockin'. So great. So great.





Incredible.






And that's it folks.  Video heavy, media heavy, not word heavy.  It's a good thing every once in a while, yeah?  Fun fun fun for everyone.





Have a fun-filled day today.  Take a walk outside, feel the temperature, imagine what 20 degrees colder would feel like, and then imagine was 20 degrees warmer would feel like.  If you had to choose one, 20° warmer, 20° colder, or where you are right now, which one would you pick?


I must say, I'd be SO down for 87 degrees right now.  SOOOOO down.

THE STORY

More than likely, you have stumbled upon this page because you clicked on a link talking about a car accident, or a wedding, or something of the like, something super exciting that you can't wait to read.  I'm here to tell you that that entire story is just down below, you'll know when it begins.  If that is what you came for, scroll down and begin reading at:

Today was arguably the most incredible day of my entire life.

That's where is begins.  It is Wednesday the 15th and I still am disbelief over the whole event.  Scroll down if you want, read on if you want, I'll still be here.

It's finals week, the week every college students dreams for.  This is the week where the classes we all have been working so hard in come to a close in the form of a final exam.  This is the week that the semester or quarter or other obscure school system decides to say "sayonara."  It's an awkward time.  And it's over.

This semester is over, it's been real, it's been challenging, I've become a working man.  Overall, I really enjoyed this semester, it's been very hands on with projects rather than stuck in a book, which in my book, is a good thing.

In other news, the suit you see above has an interesting story behind it.  You see, months ago, I couldn't tell you how many, Mr. Ben Jacuk, Mr. Michael Warnecke and I set out to purchase some fine suits.  We found our deals, left with the potential of the cast of Mad Men.  Here's the catch, we needed to get our pants hemmed.  Long story short, last week, hemmed they became as Mr. Michael Warnecke's aunt graciously worked her magic.  So, somewhat naturally, we got excited, Monday we wore the suits, Monday we took this picture, Wednesday I wore a suit; naturally, we got excited.

I think it is time for the time you have all been waiting for.  Or have you?  Well, buckle up because it's going to be a bumpy ride, and please, for the safety of all passengers, keep all arms and legs inside the car at all time.  Thank you and enjoy your ride.



THE STORY


Written on Friday, the 11th.


Today was arguably the most incredible day of my entire life.  The events that went on were passed that of a blockbuster, they were passed the mind of a creative child, the events that went on today absolutely, 100% blow my mind about 10 feet out of the water.  The events of today not only went down in history, but reminded me that life is a trip, that life throws you into the craziest events at the most random of times, that life is utterly unpredictable.  I'm going to say this: I love living.  Today was all about the beauty of life, going with the flow, and sitting along for the ride.

This weekend started out as an out of control weekend.  Mr. Isaac Svensson and I were set to videograph Mr. Randy Marshman and Ms. Megan Fate's exchanging of the vows on Saturday the 12th of December.  The wedding rehearsal was set for the 11th, so, naturally, we prepared to drive down.  This morning, Isaac and I gather up our gear, pack up the car and head out, heading to the northern parts of San Diego.  (Note: upon leaving Biola's parking lot, Isaac mentions something along the lines of "I really don't like this car, its a boat, the handing is bad, and it doesn't respond well.")  So we're driving south on the 5 freeway in the far left lane, having nice conversation over a varied number of topics, just enjoying the Friday afternoon drive, when I see the car in front of the car in front of us swerve to the left, causing the car in front of us to slam on its brakes, causing us, by laws of reaction time, to slam on our brakes.  Now, when a car swerves, normally this means they made a split second reaction, realizing they would not be able to make it with a straight brake, so this caused the Land Rover in front of us, which had decent brakes, to stop on a dime.  Mr. Isaac Svensson's car, however, has the slow response he had mentioned earlier so even as he slammed on his breaks, we proceeded to smash into the Land Rover.  Here's the scene: we're driving along, I see two cars ahead of us swerve, I look over at Isaac, he yells, lifts his leg up and slams on the brakes, we skid, we slam into the Land Rover, the airbags blow up in our faces, white powder erupts throughout the car, we, on instinct, open the windows and start waving the white powder out the window, all happening within one second.  In the blink of an eye.  We are both quite alright, Isaac's glasses took a tumble, and we proceed to get out of the car, march through a massive puddle of radiator fluid/antifreeze/oil, and push the car to the side of the road.

The typical takes place: make sure everybody's alright, discuss the situation, exchange insurance information, speak with the motorcycle policeman, discuss the next steps, call up AAA, Land Rover leaves.

So there we are, Mr. Isaac Svensson, myself, and this motorcycle cop, standing on the side of the 5 South freeway, watching the people of the freeway look at our mess, cause a bundle traffic (which was incredibly interesting, by the way) and sitting tight until AAA comes.  As I'm standing there, leaded up against the car, I remember my art project.  You see, I have a final video art project based on the concept of "profile" in which I must profile someone to any extent, I needed to work on it at some point this weekend, but due to the wedding, I would have no time to do it.  I decided to bring my small HD video camera with me, you know, just in case.  As I stood on the side of this freeway, I realized this motorcycle cop was the perfect profile subject.  I proceeded to video tape him as we waited for AAA, which has turned into a completed video art piece:





Here's what is going on: I realized that the image of the motorcycle cop is extremely mysterious and illusive, everybody sees them, immediately recognizes them, but how often to people have an actual conversation with them outside of a speeding ticket?  Not to often.  I was intrigued by the persona of the motorcycle cop as he stood there, pacing every five minutes, for a half hour, not interacting with us whatsoever.  And that's okay, he's doing his job and he did a fine job doing his job.  Nevertheless, his job is definitive.


AAA shows up, the motorcycle cop leaves, and we proceed with the towing.  Everything runs smoothly and then we leave in the tow truck, soon realizing #1 we are going to miss the wedding rehearsal #2 we need to go somewhere right now, we cannot stay in the tow truck #3 we need to get back to Biola tonight #4 we need to get back for the wedding tomorrow.  We discussed our options and realized a friend we worked with at Hume Lake, Ms. Ashley Clark, was going to school at Cal State San Marcos, just a few minutes from our current location.  Isaac calls up Ashley and says something along the lines of "Hey Ashley, we're right around San Marcos, figured we'd drop by, we'll be there in about five minutes, see you soon."  We show up, in the tow truck, at Cal State San Marcos and find Ashley, who not only is surprised to see me because Isaac didn't mention I was with him, but was surprised to Isaac working for a towing company.  It didn't take long before we began emptying out all of Isaac's belongings from the car onto the concrete, to which Ashley realized the totaled car on the bed of the tow truck was Isaac's.  Obviously, there is disbelief.  We say goodbye and thank you to the tow truck driver and we make our way, with our belongings, up to Ashley's room.

From here, we have a game plan to create.  We have three options: #1 Call somebody from Biola to come pick us up in San Marcos and bring us back to Biola. #2 Stay the night in San Marcos, go thrift store/discount shopping to find dress clothes for the wedding. #3 Have Ms. Ashley Clark drive us down to Biola IF we went with her to a white elephant gift exchange party.  Upon discussion, we decided on option three.  So, because of the trade, Isaac and I needed to find white elephant gift exchange gifts.  Earlier, upon cleaning out the remains of his vehicle, I asked him if he wanted his car mats, two in the front, two in the back, to which he replied (paraphrased), "I don't really want them, but they're so nice and decently pricey.  I just don't want to have to carry them around until I get a car.  I guess we can get rid of them."  So we decided to each take two of these mats and use them as our white elephant gifts, complete with plastic bag wrapping, custom by Vons.

We go out, hit WalMart, pick up a few more people, and head to this White Elephant Gift Exchange.  Funny enough, we enter this extremely confusing area of town where there are unique gated communities within hundreds of feet of each other.  Let's just say we got really lost, some got really frustrated, I thought it was hilarious just because it was adding to this already bizarre day (it gets even better), but eventually we made it to the house.  So here's the deal, Mr. Isaac Svensson and I enter this house brewing with numbers of people we do not know.  This is an interesting situation, indeed.  We go in, start partaking in small talk with other people at the party, and begin introducing ourselves to the bulk of the group.  We enjoyed a fine meal of pasta, garlic bread, and all the additions, and conversed with the people we have never met before.

About half way through this party, it hit me...ALL OF IT.  I started busting up laughing, laughing my head off if you will.  This is what got me: When I woke up this morning, never in a million years would I have guessed I would be, at that moment, at a White Elephant Gift Exchange with 30 people I had never seen before at this house in San Marcos.  I was baffled, I simply could not believe what we had gotten ourselves into.  Bizarre is an understatement, it just gets bizarre-er.

Before long, the actual gift exchange was set to begin.  We all had a number to declare the order, when your number was called, you were to pick an unopened gift and unwrap it, or steal a gift from someone who has already opened a gift.  After a gift has been stolen twice, it is dead and the owner will forever keep it.  Upon looking at the group of gifts, our "gifts" were pretty ratty as they were "wrapped" in plastic bags, most of the gifts were formally wrapped in wrapping paper and/or gift bags.  The game began, tennis balls, movies, funny hats, were opened, gift cards, robes, were stolen.  When #14 came up, I opened a nice lavender-scented fragrance set.  It was real nice, however #15 snatched it right from me, so I got to go again.  From here, I chose this nice X-Men bag, opened it up, and found a pink boa, Disney Princess pens, a tiara/jewelry kit, and a Disney Princess pencil holder.  Let's just say, I'm not sure I was the right candidate.  Nevertheless, I was content at what I had opened and I was ready to be the rightful owner.  Mr. Isaac Svensson, #20, opened up the movie "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," but the delightful film was stolen almost immediately.  A few shenanigans later, Isaac ended up with my gift, two of his own car mats.  The gifts were growing low, Isaac had his car mats and I had my Princess pack.  #24 came up, the last number, one gift left, and the one and only Ms. Ashley Clark.  To my surprise, Ms. Ashley Clark stole my princess pack, enabling me to pick the last gift of the gift exchange: Mr. Isaac Svensson's gift of the remaining two car mats!  Obviously, I eagerly snatched these up and exclaimed at the perfect ending.  We couldn't believe it, we ended up with the gifts we had brought, the car mats that Mr. Isaac Svensson was sorry to leave.


It was at this moment, I realized I simply love life.  In the good, in the bad, in the optimistic, in the pessimistic, life is unpredictable.  You sometimes have to just laugh at the absurdity.  I am blessed to know there is a God that has it all under control, an aspect to life I cannot even fathom.  We were protected, we were provided for, and we got hundreds of incredible laughs out of it, ALL of which was completely unplanned and on-the-surface scary and discouraging.


So we leave the amazingly random party and begin to head home with the gracious Ms. Ashley Clark.  After a run in with some thick fog, some of the thickest I've seen in Southern California, we arrive at Biola safe and sound.  We drop Isaac off at his apartment and then I lead Ashley to her temporary quarters with Ms. Amanda Cooper.  After a nice discussion about the eventful day, I head back to my room, it's 1:30 AM at this point, to find my roommates not there.  I find out where they are, they're headed to Del Taco, so I join.  We go to Del Taco to find it closed, we try a number of other places to find them closed, so we end up at Yum Yum donuts to have some delectable treats.  I proceed to tell the story of today, this story you are about to finish reading now.  We have a good laugh, a good eat, hang out a while, and then head back home.  It is now 4:06 AM and I am finishing the story of Friday, December 11th.

Know what's funny?  The wedding hasn't even happened yet.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.



[Written after the fact]

Saturday arrives.  Ms. Ashley Clark, Mr. Isaac Svensson, and myself take to the 5 freeway once again to try to make it to our destination.  At this point, who knows what's going to happen, so much randomity has already happened that either we have exhausted the cause or we're just getting started.  The car ride went very smoothly, a nice contrast from the day before.  We said goodbye to the gracious Ashley Clark as she dropped us off at the location in the Encinitas area of San Diego.

Here's what happened: the wedding went incredibly smoothly.  Everything happened exactly the way it should have, no hiccups whatsoever.  Not only that, but the weather was beautiful, the house was beautiful, the bride and groom were beautiful, the ceremony was beautiful, the reception was beautiful, the sunset was beautiful, and the rest of the evening continued in the same fashion.  Seriously, Mr. Isaac Svensson and I sat baffled at the incredible lack-of-the-unexpected of the entire day, definitely a nice contrast between the quite eventful day just a day before.  We had the privilege of shooting along side the photographers Nate and Jaclyn Kaiser of "The Image Is Found" (http://www.theimageisfound.com Blog: http://www.theblogisfound.com).  It was incredible to work with them, attempting to produce the most effective photography and videography simultaneously without getting in each others way.  I believe we, as a collective media team, were quite successful in capturing the entirety of the wedding and I can not wait to see the final products for both the photography and the videography.

That's pretty much it for the wedding, it was just that good.  Seriously.



Congratulations Randy and Megan Marshman!





One more: it was great seeing a lot of the Hume crew, you know who you are, it's always a pleasure.  Oh, and thank you so much to Ms. Alexa Garner and Ms. Kayla Bible for driving me and Mr. Isaac Svensson back to our home in La Mirada, without you we'd still be walking.

That's the story.  I'm still kind of in disbelief that that turned out to be the sequence of events, it seems so distant already.  Time is a weird, I think "weird" should just be a noun for nou-n on, time is simply a weird.  If you have read this blog very much, especially in the last few weeks, you know time is a topic I enjoy speaking about, and if I don't enjoy it, it's just very prevalent.

I kind of wanted to write more, but I don't have more to say.  Even though THE STORY was written on Friday and "after the fact," just having it in this post is exhausting.


So, that said, it's the holiday season, it's the Christmas season, it's a wonderful season.  Be careful, be safe.  Enjoy life, love life, enjoy randomity, take advantage of every opportunity you get even if it is a trash opportunity from first glance, it might turn out to be one of the most memorable experiences, in a good way, of your entire life.  You never know.  Bad can turn to good in a heartbeat if you heart is beating the beat of optimism and enthusiasm and maybe a little inspiration.



You can do it, I believe in you.