Gifts

"Right on, doctor."

This is immense. Mr. Michael Warnecke and Mr. Joel Limbauan are reppin' suits on this fine Wednesday. Straight up immense.

SO. Last week, I complained and whined about the whole "blue suit" mixup. Well my friends, I am here to tell you, the complaining and whining was a bit premature. After that post was posted, my friend and teacher, Mr. Matthew Weathers, sent me an email reminding me of something:

"Hey Morgan, 

I have your blog on my Google Reader, so I check it out every month or two. I saw your latest post (http://emliv.blogspot.com/2012/05/sportz.html) where you said:

Today is the last Wednesday of the semester. Typically, I wear the powder blue, 1984 Los Angeles Olympics suit. Today, I forgot. And it's really too bad.

But a year ago, you did it on the Wednesday of finals week: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2011/05/finale.html - so you still have a week."

He is completely right, I have made this mistake before. No surprise there. Here's a side note, Mr. Weathers is one of the greatest teachers I have ever had. He teaches "Nature of Math," an general education, entry level, math class. Yes, it is entry level, but throw Mr. Weathers into the mix, and the class becomes the primo education event of the year. Let me show you a video that explains why:





I was taught math by a YOUTUBE CELEBRITY.

And he reads this blog and fixes my previous misconceptions about blue suit habits.





Something big happened this week. I live with three dudes: Mr. Joel Limbauan, Mr. Ben Jacuk, and Mr. Michael Warnecke.  I have lived with these three dudes for the entirety of my Biola career, three years. In these three years, there is not a posed picture in existence of just the four of us. There are countless photos of three of us, different combinations, different additions, but just the four of us? Doesn't exist. Next year, living situations are changing. I am moving on, into a house that will definitely be a complete change in scenery. Fact is, now that I am moving, if the three dudes who I have lived with for three years and myself do not take a picture together, we have no physical proof of our massively incredible and memorable three years as roommates. So we had a photoshoot. Because we just had to.

I am exceedingly glad we did this. These dudes are family, they will be as long as we're alive. And before this lil photoshoot, there was no proof this little unit existed.

Just look at us, we're weirdos. We don't belong together. We're completely different, different interests, different styles, different ways of living our lives. But we live together. And it works. Somehow.

Imma miss these dudes. BIG. Way too many memories, laughter that exceeds skyscrapers, stories that fill libraries, experiences that define life.

Yikes, I'm getting all nostalgic.


One of the greatest things about this blog is this fact: these memories will never be lost. Many of the memories are contained within this strange blog I keep up and when reread, welcome to the time machine: right back in the moment, remembering the experience like it happened five minutes ago.

And THIS, my friends, is why this blog exists.

This semester is over. It's finished. Summer is here. Does it feel like it? No. Should it feel like it? I guess. Where did the semester go? It took off running, got faster, and then BOOM, finished the race. Incredible. So many things happened that if I tried to list them all, I would have an empty list because I wouldn't know where to start. So many great things happened this semester. New classes, new assignments, new friendships, new conversations, new experiences, new memories.  It's been a blast, every second of it.

And WHAT?! Leaving TROP?! This place has been so good to us. The pool is heaven sent (as is the balcony), the atmosphere is super dope, and I told my roommate I wouldn't mind living here for 20 years (that may or may not be true).

The weird thing about semesters is how drastically different each one is from another. The ebb and flow of people and connected friendships are incredible. This semester was COMPLETELY different from the last, both GREAT in their own individual ways. Because of this consistent track record, I have no problem believing next semester is going to be a complete surprise, full of new new new. I pumped, excited, and maybe a tad nervous, about what is to come, but you know what the best part is? I have absolutely no reason to worry because I trust a God that leads my roller coaster of a life in every which way. I know He's in control, in the good and the bad, and I am thankful for the learning experiences in it all. Next year's going to take a fierce learning curve; BRING IT ON.





To all of you who I have spoken with this semester, thank you for exchanging words. Conversation is a gift and the fact that we have been able to talk with each other this semester is incredible.

To all of you who I have joked with this semester, thank you for sharing laughs. Laughter is a gift and that fact that we were able to connect on a humorous level this semester is incredible.

To all of you who I have studied with.....  oh wait, that never happened.

To all of you who I have shared life with this semester, thanks for living it up with me. Life is a gift and the fact that we have been able to do cool, bizarre, fun, serious, outlandish, random things with each other this semester is incredible.

To all of you who I have collaborated with this semester, thank you for boosting my creativity. Collaboration is a gift and the fact that we have been able to create new, fresh ideas and content together is incredible.


You people make this college experience the best a person could ask for. We're just getting started.





LES GO.

The Blues

It's one of those weeks where everything that potentially can happen, has happened, is happening, needs to happen, and will happen.  The to-do list is absurd and unfortunately this blog isn't too high on that list.  It is what it is.

Today is the last normal Wednesday of the semester. If you've been around a while, you know that this means the powder blue 1984 Los Angeles Olympics suit is pulled out and worn. This is a tradition that has held strong since mid-high school.  This year is a little different, however. Somehow, someplace, sometime, the powder blue 1984 Los Angeles Olympics necktie disappeared somehow, someplace, sometime between leaving my house for the summer to arriving at Biola for the semester. This story is further, further detailed, in this blog post: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2011/09/backs-and-forths.html (aside: that's a pretty great blog post, super random stuff in that there week). So, that said, I ran around tie-less today. It was sad. I was on the verge of tears. This is a family heirloom and irreplaceable. I told my roommates I would pay up to $100 for a new powder blue 1984 Los Angeles Olympics necktie.  I also told them I am going to write a hand written letter to Levi's (the official 1984 Los Angeles Olympics clothing sponsor) just to see what they can do. Seriously. Heart-breaking.

Know what isn't heart-breaking? Watching movies from your childhood, but let's start from the beginning. Last Friday, Mr. Austin Axen organized a fantastic family dinner and it was fantastic.  I'm not quite sure what inspired it, but Mr. Axen has a knack for making normal things, like dinner at the caf, an event to remember. Thank you Austin.  The annual Biola University Christmas Tree Lighting followed and boy, it never fails to be spectacular. Carols, the King, candlelight. Perhaps the highlight was the showing of this video and watching this "adorbs" couple light the massivity of a Christmas tree themselves. Enjoy:





And then, to top it all off, Mr. Kyle Norman and Mr. Scott Weir had this brilliant idea (an idea I was unintentionally unaware of) to invite all sorts of people to my apartment to watch the movie we grew up loving, continue to love, and will always love: SPACE JAM.  I had talked to Kyle a few weeks ago, we talked about how great of a movie Space Jam is and then all of a sudden, people are at my house watching it.  Because I did not organize, I do not have a clue how or why people showed up at my house, but BOOM here they and BOOM we proceed to watch the triple-Oscar winning film SPACE JAM featuring Academy Award winning actor Michael Jordan who has also won some other sort of basketball awards.  Here was the group in alphabetical order: Mr. Austin Axen, Ms. Laura Cook, Ms. Sierra Falco, Ms. Sarah Hau, Mr. Ben Jacuk, Mr. Joel Limbauan, Ms. Melanie Lott, Ms. Sarah McAlpine, Ms. Melanie McLaughlin, Mr. Kyle Norman, Mr. Josh Suaverdez, Ms. Moe Tucker, Mr. Michael Warnecke, Mr. Scott Weir, two other guests (I'm embarrassed for not knowing their names), maybe one or two people I forgot, and then myself, Mr. Morgan Lott.

Following the movie, a game of charades broke out, spontaneity at its finest. Acting took place, laughing followed. Solid crew, solid film, solid good times. I've heard from a few people that Friday night was one of, if not THE best night of the semester. I'm not going to lie, friends, it was up there. When the Looney Tunes joins your party, it's a night to remember.

And now I have two random videos for you:

They are artsy, watch out:






And THAT, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the post for the last normal Wednesday of the semester. To think we start just a short few days ago... wow, time flies... as always.


Drink something for dinner you haven't tried in a while. Like cranberry juice with ice. Try it.

Backs and Forths

It's been an interesting week. Ups and downs, backs and forths, simple all-over-the-place fun.  This is directly reflected through my clothing selections for today. In fact, it's so closely related, we'll treat this like a rhetorical question and you can figure out how and why it's connected on your own.  I will explain one thing though; the lack of tie has great significance and that is, well, somehow, somewhere, one of my suits, charcoal in color, along with approximately 15 ties (half of my tie collection) went missing. Don't know the details, don't know how it happened, wish I did, wish this didn't happen. I put up a classified ad on Biola's network and here's a link to it:

http://apps.biola.edu/classifieds/listings/6166

This is a pretty significant loss, it's going to be difficult to recover and, in some situations, impossible to recover. It's brutal, but hey, it is what it is, live goes on, and we're good. Boom boom bam, let's go.

Speaking of "let's go," last Friday night's events were up in the air. There were three different options, all of which were undetermined. Long story short, I ended up committing to go to a Future of Forestry, Lovelite, and Reveal concert with Ms. Sierra Falco, Ms. Amber Agron, and Amber's boyfriend Mr. Preston Richardson. I was excited, they were excited, we were all excited. Before long, it's time to go and Preston, who was photographing the concert and was scheduled to come pick us up from Biola, was struggling to get his car started. It was at this point I knew we were in for a treat. We needed to figure out what to do and decided upon driving Amber's car, a big ol' Bronco. There was a problem though, Amber's arm is injured, rendering her unable to drive. Well, the smell of adventure was in the air, so I volunteered to put my driver's license to good use. I was warned immediately, old big vehicles can be fussy, there are little tricks and whistles one needs to master before it will drive well. Sure enough, the first five minutes were absolutely BRUTAL. The brakes were SUPER touchy and the gas required quite the punch. Luckily, we humans are made to adapt, so after quite the interesting 5 minutes, it was like I had been driving this bad boy for years. 

So, we're on the freeway, just cruising, looking for exit 90 something in midst of traffic, and all of a sudden, a realization is made: we were going the wrong way on the freeway, and not only that, we had been going the wrong way for a good half an hour. This is the moment that plagues my life, the great moment of realizing you're in the wrong place. Now, if there's anything I've learned in my lifetime, it's that I ALWAYS get lost, and when I get lost, it's ALWAYS an adventure. BIG memories are waiting to be made. Never fails. Ever. So it's at this moment, I just start laughing, realize this trip has just become the trip of lifetime, and the story of this trip will be told for years. It was time to turn around.

So we did. And our less than 30 minute trip quickly turned into a 2 hour trip. And we enjoyed ourselves. We chatted about all sorts of nice things, including but not limited to in-depth conversations about two intense topics dreams and cancer. We had time, lots of it, and hey, when you stick people in a situation where all they can do is talk to each other, boom, that's what you do.  That's my idea of a good time.  So, FINALLY, we arrive at Crossline Church.  After struggling to find the entrance, we make it in, quickly realizing we had missed the first two bands, Lovelite and Reveal, but hey, we made it. Future of Forestry absolutely killed it, those guys know how to jam and know how to put on a show! There were definitely a few of those moments where the only response worthy is a *gasp,* there's no other response suitable, it's just too too good. I couldn't help but yelp "SO DOPE" at one point, givin' me chills. Know what was also great? Seeing old friends like Mr. Grant Gunther and Mr. Louie Huesmann, among others from Hume. Reunions are the best.

And then we left. Presten's vehicle was still out of commission, so we left from Crossline with an one more passenger than we had come with, thought outside the bun and stopped by Taco Bell for a late night snack, and headed out. And guess how long the trip home took? Let's just say 25 minutes, just a tad bit shorter than the 2 hours it took to get there.  Good, quick ride home.

All in all, the idea that "half the fun is getting there" rings brilliantly true, and in this case, it may as well read "three quarters of the fun is getting there." Through my experience with getting lost in virtually every driving situation I'm in, I've learned a few things:

1. It's incredibly easy and tempting to become stressed, flustered, and concerned. It's very easy to get plastered by a wave of negativity and potentially ruin the rest of the trip.  These aren't necessarily bad things, they just threatening. This happens to everyone, it's natural.
2. If you can help it, be optimistic about the situation.  Believe it or not, getting lost happened to you for a reason, probably reasons you will never know. I'll give you an example: my grandpa was scheduled to board a boat. For whatever reason, he accidentally did not make it on that boat and what happens? The boat sinks. You never know what's going to happen.
3. Utilize your extra time you gain from getting lost. Time and time again, getting lost creates lots of laughs about getting back on track and relearning where you are going. Time and time again, conversation and experiences have taken place during that time that never would have had a chance if you hadn't lost your place.
4. Make it fun. Laugh about it, have a blast. You might as well. It's a bad situation, turn it into a good situation. Make it a memory that will last a lifetime. And you know what happens with memories? They become stories, great stories. And what do you do with stories? You tell them. And hey, every time you're in a car, you can tell your co-car-riders the story of "that one time you got lost." THE BEST.

And that's the story about that one time I got lost with Amber and Sierra. It's in the memory bank for good.

Now, I've got three strange topics to talk about.

First, bad breath.  I feel like bad breath is one of the strangest, nastiest, troubling accidents on the face of this earth, an accident we all struggle with in some form. When you're talking to someone with terrible breath, it's revolting, you can't stand it. But what do you? More often than not, you don't do anything. Now, I'm not quite sure why we don't say anything. Perhaps it's embarrassing. You feel bad for telling someone "Hey, sorry to bring this up, but you need a breathmint, your breath...well, it's bad." Not only is it hard for you to say, but how are they going to feel? We feel embarrassed. If you're the one with bad breath, how do you feel? I'm speaking from personal experience right now. If someone tells me, "Woah, take a swig of Listerine or something," I think immediately "YIKES, bad breath is nasty" and then immediately think "how long have I had this repulsing stench fuming from my mouth, how many people have been devoured by this scent, been disgusted, and not said anything."  In my opinion, if my breath has even a hint of "bad," I would love for it to be pointed out, that way it can be fixed from the get-go and it won't have to get embarrassing for either party when my breath is killing the plants I walk by.

Second, the wave. I recently had two different converstaions with two separate sets of people about waving, and now, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing this will be very difficult to describe in words without showing with my own two hands. Bascially, we came to the realization that men and women wave differently. More often than not, a man will either just stick his hand in the air, or maybe do one simple "swipe." A women kind of hits the whole spectrum, ranging throughout all sorts of different varieties of waves. I'm going to cut this conversation right now because it's literally impossible to describe all the variations of waves, plus it's much more fun to demonstarte. Ask me sometime about it. One last note though, during the first conversation about waves, we agreed that a notable wave that is feminite and maybe a tad annoying is the finger wave, where you kind of have your fingers pointed at your subject and move your fingers in a wave pattern. The funny thing about it is since we talked about this, I have caught myself over and over and over again waving in this extremely awkward and strange way of waving. I just can't help but laugh. Out of all the ways to wave we talked about, that's the one my phyche chose to naturally do (at least for this week). Strange.

Lastly, social experimentation. Do you ever do little things to see how people react? Whether that's something you say, not speaking up when you would normally, choosing to do certain things that wouldn't normally do, but for the sake of reaction, you do them anyway, or, similarly, not doing or saying things you normally would? I guess we all do this kind of stuff, just involuntary. Recently though, I've been having some fun with it. My absolute favorite is not speaking up with there's an awkward silence. It's quiet and uncomfortable and getting worse by the second. You feel the urge to do something, whether that is speak up, chuckle, or do the hand motion that, in my opinion, is the greatest symbol of the loss of social skills among our generation, the awkward turtle. I LOVE not breaking this silence and just seeing what happens.  Every time the results are different and it's so interesting to see how people react to awkward silence and in there end, how they break it. It's almost like taking a seat and watching the drama play out. Just good clean fun.

Along that note, the other night I was talking with Ms. Sierra Falco and Ms. Jenette Hatch about the topic of hugs.  Now, hugs are a funny business. A hug is what? The in between between a handshake and a full on kiss? There is a level of intimacy in a hug that does not exist in a handshake and it's this intmacy that catches me off guard.   People enjoy the feeling of touch. I'm not sure how to explain it, but there's something about touch that hits us hard and we were designed by our Creator that way. That said, the variety of a hug is intriguing. First you have the side hug, the supposed awkward cousin to the "real" hug. Personally, I don't have a problem with it. To me, it's not awkward or weird; yes, it is less intimate (don't you love that word?) than a full hug, but why does the side hug get a bad rap? Don't know. Then you have the "real" hug, a straight up greeting of meaningful proportions. Sierra and Jenette called it, they said the reason a real hug is absolutely necessary is the feeling of being surrounded, encircled in the other persons arms, a feeling that a side hug can never offer. Now here's something else, what happened to that hug/kiss on the cheek thing? I don't know what it's called, but I've noticed that older people and Europeans in general tend to use this greeting when greeting a member of the opposite sex. I know virtually nothing about this type of greeting so I'm going to stop talking about it. I just thought it is either an interesting twist on cliche American greetings or it's just gone out of style...or something.




And lastly, I have one video for you. My apartmentmate, Mr. Michael Warnecke, showed me this video last night and it's the epitome of JAMMING.





The drummer is having the absolute time of his life. JAMMING JAMMING JAMMING. I can't put it into words, I just can't. I can't get over the absolute greatness of the BEAST of a drummer. So incredibly good. In the pocket, in the groove, mmmm, GORGEOUS.





And that's the post! Lots of words today. I'm always a fan of words.


Go tell someone else some words, have a good, meaningful conversation.

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.

Suited

Another week, another Wednesday.  I know I say this a lot, but seconds turn into minutes, minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, days turn into years, years turn into decades.  Just a second ago, I was jamming multiplication tables in Mrs. Trento's class in 4th grade.  More recently, this semester is coming to a close.  I mean, yeah, we just passed the half way point, but we also "just" started, so, naturally, we are going to be finishing in "just" a few "minutes."  The amazing thing is how time is utilized.  For instance, over the two weeks, arguably the busiest two weeks of my college career thus far, I accomplished a multitude of tasks.  However, I look back at it now, it looks like chump change, I look back on it now, the importance and stress factor is on the decline.  Interesting how that works.  I look forward to the future.

That said, the San Fransisco Giants are in the World Series.  They are going to win the World Series for the first time since they've been in San Fransisco.  This is the year.  What's great is this is the year the Giants don't have any big whigs on the team, the majority of the players are virtually no-namers who put up a great fight; this in itself is great.  FEAR THE BEARD, Cody Ross NLCS MVP, who?  Giants vs. Rangers?  Whodathunk?  It's going to be a sweet series, game 1 tonight, I am, in a word, PUMPED.

In other news, on Monday I was thoroughly surprised by the instincts that I accidentally extributed.  You see, I'm in a lacrosse class.  Lacrosse is a game much like hockey, except the ball is in the air and you throw it around with nets.  In eighth grade, I had to stop playing hockey after playing five years.  I have not played any pickup hockey or anything of the like since eighth grade.  However, in lacrosse class on Monday, my hockey instincts made their way back into my life.  It's hard to explain but I was playing lacrosse like it was hockey, I was treating the ball like it was a puck, and, to say the least, I did not do very well at lacrosse on Monday.  I kept catching myself thinking like a hockey player, I can't do that anymore, I need to think like a lacrosse player.  Anyway, something of interest.  Suprised me immensely, I couldn't believe those instincts came back like I was playing hockey yesterday.


In other news, a short film I have been working has now been finished.  This was an interesting project, basically Mr. Isaac Svensson handed me the footage for his own film, let do whatever I want with it with the intent of possibly not using it.  I edited this short, showed it to him, was completely different from what he imagined (I can imagine) and he still has the intent of possibly not using it.  Either way, if he likes it or not, I personally enjoy it.  Now it is here for you to enjoy.  Enjoy.





DONUTS (2010) USA/3:36 min

Summary: A man buys donuts.  He wants to eat his donuts.  There is another man who wants to eat donuts. 

Filmmakers:

Isaac Svensson - Director
Daniel John - Producer
Zack Campell - Director of Photography
Morgan Lott - Editor

Cast:

Jonathan Burrello
Jonathan Stevens





In other news, I gots some other vids fo ya.

I personally really got a kick out of this first video.  It's the pocketless pool tournament.  The contender has been at it quite a while.  It's a brilliant satire.  Quite enjoyable.



Second is just a clever revision on one of the most recognized classical pieces ever written: Beethoven's Fifth.  Grab your tortilla chips, because you're going to be smashed with salsa:




Check out 2:33 in that last video.  What in the WORLD is that musical instrument?  I've never seen anything like it.





And...there...you...go.  Another Wednesday, it is October 27th, four days before November.  Pretty soon it will be 2011, before long, college is over, and then I'll be retiring from the workforce.  Time is go go goin'.


Peace be with you.  Talk to someone else about your first conversation with each other.  Do you remember it?  Where were you?  What'd you talk about?