First Day

SUMMER HAS ENDED. It's over, kapish? I've been describing this summer as "the quick weekend home." The summer flew so fast, it literally feels like I just went home for a quick weekend and am returning back to Biola. I've been back at Biola for a week in an ENTIRELY new living situation, and I feel like I'm just going to back to Trop at the end of the this weekend, returning to "normal" classes, and continue on with life.

Summer was pretty nuts, very nuts, like salted peanuts. So much filmmaking, weddings weddings weddings, travel travel travel, editing editing editing, exporting exporting exporting. Hung out with my family all summer which was fantastic. My brothers got their driving permits and are terrorizing the road. My sister is now a senior in high school, looking at colleges. Unreal. Wait, hold up, I AM a senior in COLLEGE. What. On. This. Planet. I'm out of school FOREVER is less than a year. Well, maybe forever, who am I to say.

Like I said, my living situation is entirely different. I'll tell you about it in a second, first, take a tour of the last few years' living situations:

2009: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2009/09/fisheye.html

2010: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/09/september-tour.html

2011: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2011/09/spontaneity.html


This year, it's different. Here's the story.

I have lived with the same 3 dudes for 3 years. Roommates with Mr. Joel Limbauan. He's the best roommate ANYBODY could ask for. It had been a fantastic 3 years and I was planning on living with these fellas again, because, well, why wouldn't I? Towards the end of the semester, I was offered a spot in a house for the following year and I basically turned the offer down immediately. Why would I not live with THE DUDES again? No reason not to. And then I got thinking. What was the most comfortable thing to do? Live with Mr. Joel Limbauan, Mr. Ben Jacuk, and Mr. Michael Warnecke again. What was the more risky thing to do? Live with Mr. Garrett Spindler, Mr. Scott Weir, Mr. Kyle Norman, Mr. Karl Holmlund, Mr. Dave Martin, Mr. Jacob Millar, and Mr. Blake Lawson (some of which, I hadn't even met). What would be the guaranteed great, but similar to previous years? Living with the 3. What would be the potentially disastrous, but most completely unique to previous years? Living with the 8. After praying quite a bit, seeking wisdom on a matter I would never be able to decide for myself, I let the 3 know that I would not be living with them the following year. And it was rough. Why breakup a not only a good, but a fantastic thing? I told them I felt we needed to learn how to adapt to change, learn how to live with other people, learn how to deal with situations we don't necessarily enjoy. It was a bummer decision. But an important one. This year is going to be extremely growing for all of us. If it's absolutely incredible, we'll be learning a lot. If it's absolutely awful, we'll be learning a lot.

So, all that to say, THIS YEAR IS GOING TO BE WILD. Living in a house with 7 other guys is going to be a TRIP. It's going to require a ton of responsibility, but is going to be marvelous. Or it might be miserable. I'm rooting for marvelous. I have since met the few guys I did not know and they are solid gents. I'm excited to live with the 7 and be a part of this college bachelor pad, investing in each other's lives, and living life together. Gonna be a trip and three quarters. Basically two trips.

Today is the first day of school, my LAST first day of school. That's an incredible concept. I HATE the first day of school, always have. There's something about meeting teachers for the first time, not knowing how classes are going to be, not knowing who will be in each class; it's all terrifying. In college, I HATE the first day of school because you get the syllabus. Normally, the classes are super easy because all you're doing is going through the syllabus, but it's just that that brings me to my worst. Going through the syllabus is a BRUTAL experience because you see all the work you will be doing during the semester. Now, one class isn't bad, not even two classes. It's when you have 6 classes, 6 syllabi, and 6 overwhelming schedules of ALL the work you will be completing. I get a tad overwhelmed. And in college, you have a week of "first days of school." Hooray. So that's the first day of school. YES!

This will be the last time I have to deal with it. And I'm pumped.


Well, I'm about to jet, but before I do, take a look at this STRAIGHT UP ABSURDITY:


Old Spice Muscle Music from Terry Crews on Vimeo.

Not only is this video ridiculous, but at the end, when the video becomes a drum machine, that is when the world breaks open and all the little coins fall out. THIS IS HUGE FOR THE INTERNET. Vimeo has introduced something that will change the way viewers interact with video. It's unreal, absolutely unreal.



So there you have it, friends. Another year is under way, the last year is under way. Let's have a good time.

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!

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.

Reevaulate

Yikes. I'm going to apologize in advance, because this post is going to be lacking. I'm really sorry, I don't really know what to make of it. I feel all I do on this blog is apologize. But I guess it makes sense because I'm not supplying the content you, the reader, deserve.

It's cold and rainy here. Doesn't make sense, especially because this last Saturday was arguably the best day of the year: I had 2-3 hours where I could just chill (which was enough to claim "best" by itself), the sun was shining bright and beautiful, and, because we live on the best floor on campus, we basked in the sun right outside our door. Pumping though the walls and into the sun was some beautiful reggae jams, most notably "Set Sail" by The Movement (Listen while you read):


You simply cannot help but enjoy life whilst listening to that jam.  Here's kind of an aside.  At Hume Lake, where I worked this past summer, POG (Passion Orange Guava) juice was readily available for consumption.  I grew accustomed to POG and most of my meals were accompanied by a phat cup of POG, sometimes with a splash of Cranberry.  All this to say, after I left Hume, my POG life departed from me, I have been craving POG every since.  My next door neighbor, Mr. Michael Warnecke, a chill bruddah from Hawai'i, lives of POG as well as the Hawai'i folk have gallon access 24 hours a day.  All that to say, he's been craving it as well.  SO, return to the beautiful, sunny, movement, day.  We are enjoying the sun, Mr. Michael Warnecke exclaims that he has a powder mix that will make a Lilikoi Passion drink, a drink that may, under the right conditions taste like POG.  I concocted the mix and poured a couple glasses, didn't taste like POG, but was a delightful island drink nonetheless.  So here's the scene: sun, reggae, fruity drink, candy, and a few hours.  Man alivin' it was a good day.

On the note of POG, we (now a group of probably 10 people) have been asking the Biola cafeteria to supply the populus with the incredible POG juice.  We requested enough times that they claim they are finding out from their suppliers if POG is an option.  It's happening, the POG revolution is here.




That turned into a considerable little post!  I never know where these things are going to end up.  I've got an even further twist for you:

I'm bring back something from way back when, just for reading's sake.  I found this winner buried within the depths of my computer.  It dates back to 2003 when I was into, well, very peculiar random things.  Check this out:





I'm sorry, I posted this whacko poem in here, but then I read it which I haven't done probably since 2003 when I found it, and I realized the imagery was well, not appropriate for this blog.  Let's just say the dude was trippin'.   I thought it was hilarious and random back then, which it is indeed, but I now know what was going on...


Yikes.




I watched this video this morning, I enjoyed it. Could be fake, I hope it's real, it could be real. Either way, this guy is on the cusp of something great.






Here's another video that blows the mind.  I have a majority of respect for this gentleman.

"the day before I shot this video, i was SUP surfing with a couple friends and 2 sharks circled us for about 15 minutes. the next day, i decided to go back out at around the same time and take my GO PRO HD HERO camera (gopro.com) mounted on a 10 ft pole and do some exploring.  Sure enough within 5 minutes a 9 ft shark came out of no where and circled twice and slapped his tail on my board before disappearing. then a minute later a 7 ft young juvenile Great White swam circles around me for 12 minutes. It was an unreal experience that I will cherish forever." - Chuck Patterson



Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.









That's the post for today.  Hope it was enjoyable.  Let the good times fly.







Have a good one.  Drink your favorite fruit juice.

Sum(mer) it up

The summer has officially ended.  Come Monday, I head back to Biola University to complete my 3rd semester of college.  I feel like I just left that place.  I feel like I just packed up my belongings, unpacked them into my home, and now I have to repack them again.  What's funny, is I feel like I have not been there in a long long time.  I feel like I've been away a while.  I have.

Come Monday, the summer is going to feel like it never existed.  It's a like a vacation.  You leave your house and when you return to your house, life goes on uninterrupted, unstilted, like your vacation never happened.  I feel like, come Monday, I am going to arrive at school, conversate with my Biola friends and feel like last school year is continuing perfectly uninterrupted.

Here's the thing: I don't want it to feel that way.  This summer has been arguably the best summer of my life, either because I haven't had anything exciting happen in all my summers, or because the 2010 summer was just that good.  I would argue for the latter.  Seriously, Hume Lake is one unique place.  Even though I have been going up there for my entire life, every single experience, something new comes about, something different arises, a learning opportunity presents itself.  This summer, I wasn't only up there for one week, I was up there for 11 and a half.  That's overwhelming in itself.  I honestly can not believe so much experiences can be packed into such a short time, but, ironically, so many memories were made that I can not pinpoint any specific one, which definitely sounds weird.  Let me explain: if you said "hey, what was one cool thing that happened in the last week of camp?" I would stammer and say "Uhh, let me think, umm....   I honestly don't know, I can't think of any one thing because there are too many cool things that STRAIGHT UP WENT DOWN!"  Here is where I would pause, I would think.  I may be the only one who is like this, but if I sat down and really thought about all the things that happened this summer, I probably could come up with a pretty good list.  However, right now, I'm putting myself on the spot, and can't really put my entire summer experience into a few words.

 We'll see how it goes.


A few posts ago (http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/07/honest.htm - July 23), I talked about relationships and, well, I'll just let you read it again:

I've noticed Hume fuels a sense of sped up, hyper speed relationships.  Relationships are built incredibly fast at the beginning of the summer.  All of a sudden, "good" friends are made.  By the end of the summer, all these "good" friends of yours who you feel like you've known "forever" have really only been your friends for 3 months or so.  Maybe it's just me, I'm sorry I have have stuck "you" into this situation.  All I know is this: I fall into what I just described.  I honestly feel like I have already developed a number of solid relationships with the staff up here at Hume Lake.  Here's what I don't know: am I deceiving myself?  I have solid friendships that I've had with people for five plus years, how in the world can I describe a friendship I've made in less than 3 months with the same word (solid) as these "veteran" relationships?  I don't have a clue, and I don't have an answer.  Maybe it's fine.  Maybe these relationships really are solid, maybe they're not.  Either way, I know this: I like a lot the people up here and plan on keeping in touch.  We'll see what happens. 

This paragraph is still true.  Now that summer is over, I honestly feel like I have established a number of relationships that I will be continuing, possibly "forever" or whatever that word means.  Hume would not have been the same without the people I met, conversed with, and said goodbye to.  First of all, my department.  The Hume Lake media team was the PERFECT crew to work with.  Every individual I directly worked with was just that, an individual.  Everybody brought new, original ideas to the table and we all built off each other like a phat bigger-or-better scavenger hunt.  Not only did we work well together, we had a good time together and became friends, imagine that?  It was straight up an absolutely awesome working with the summer staffers and the full timers.  It was pleasure working with each and every one of you, especially all of you who read this.  Seriously, I'll never forget the REAL Hume Lake Yacht Club.

Now, there are many other people who I'd like to mention, but we'll see how that goes.  My roommates were straight up legit.  Even though we were only all awake at the same time in the room probably five times, it was super good time.  They were good guys and I'm glad I could put my stuff in the same room as them and we could be completely knocked out without acknowledging each other every night of the summer.  Those guys are pro.

Now, I greatly appreciate every single person I had a conversation with.  I don't care if it was one sentence or enough to fill a novel.  I seriously am so grateful that everybody I talked with took the time, whether short or long, to talk with me.  I enjoyed every second of it.  I know it sounds simple, but I don't want to overlook it.  If these people didn't exist, I would not have talked to a solitary person the entire summer, so saying this reigns importance.

And then I'd like to thank the people I had meaningful conversation with.  Meaningful conversation is so great, whether swapping jokes, talking about Christianity, or simply being overwhelmed by the massive amount of stars in the sky.  You know who you are.  Seriously.  I enjoyed sharing stories, I enjoyed sharing our lives.  I'm going to be honest right now, I don't know what to write right now.  I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts into text for you to read.  There is just too much...   Let's just put it this way, I hope I have more conversations with the people I had conversations with.


I believe that pretty much covers everybody.  I guess I could throw this in there: I am extremely appreciative to all the people I did not talk to.  All those people worked just as hard or harder than I did, they all had jobs to perform, and based upon the success of the summer, they all did their job.  I can't start thinking about the amount of responsibility every one person individually has.  It's incredible.


So now that does cover everybody.  This summer has been mind-boggling.  Straight up krill.  Seriously.  It went down in the history books.  In fact, open up the most popular 2011 history book that all the public school are buying and on page 433, there is a blurb on Hume Lake Summer 2010.  Not even kidding.
 




So, in all that, I am excited for the coming school year.  I believe it will be a good one.  In fact, I'll say this, I'm PUMPED!!

So good day, people of the internet. Have a great rest of your day, whether it's noon, 5 pm, 11 pm, or 2 in the morning. Utilize your time.

What? When?

It's week 9.  It's Thursday of week 9.  It's Thursday of week 9, 1 week left.  No joke, it's Thursday of week 9, 1 week left.  1 week left?

Here's the thing, time has flown.  Summer feels like the snap of two fingers, just like *snap* that.  It honestly feels like I was just moving in to my trailer, just learning the workflow of our video department, just meeting new people to talk with for 3 short months.  Just like *snap* that.

BUT, here is what gets me.  The hoedown feels like a LONG time ago.  The failed mountain climbing adventure seems like a LONG time ago.  The trip down the hill for my great-grandpa's birthday party feels like a LONG time ago.  Why?  I don't know.  The summer has flown by, just like *snap* that.

I feel like I have talked about this kinda of thing in recent post(s).  I honestly don't know, I just go.  Point is: this is definitely a summer to remember (as was last summer and probably the summer before).  But how will I remember it?  Will just simply remembering be enough?  You see, as is with virtually any situation, you learn things.  You remember                .......




You know, I don't really have a clue where I was going with this.

Man alive, this is really unlike any blog post I've ever written.  It's so off the cuff, raw.  Even though all the posts are straight up and unplanned, this one seems, well... I guess it feels like I have very little to write about so I'm blabbering OR I have a lot to write about, but I can't get myself to transcribe my thoughts into words.  I have a feeling it's the latter.  There really is a lot on my mind, actually "a lot" is a very relative term, so I may have a lot on my mind, but I may have a very small amount compared to what you might be thinking about.  I don't know what is on your mind, I may never know, and that is okay.

Here are two older posts:

1. Read about my Senior Ditch Day two years ago (Random, I know, I just picked one).  It's a good, interesting, random memory, worth a read for sure.     :: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2009/03/senior-ditch-day-2009.html

2. Read about almost exactly one year ago.  Quite the change of pace as far as summer goes.     :: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2009/08/awaited.html




So I thought looking through these would promote some sort of inspiration.  It didn't really.  I guess this will be the experimental post and really doesn't have anything good to say.

We had some fun last week:

I hope you enjoyed those.  You can view more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morganlott/




You know, all that was was a shameless plug.


This post kind of was a waste of time.  That's just how I feel.  Maybe you don't feel that way.  Maybe you really enjoyed yourself.

I'm just not feelin' it.  I'm sorry, I really am.  It's SUPER LAME for you to waste your time reading my collection of words.  I hope it wasn't a waste of time, but if it was, I wish you could have your minutes back.


 Again, I'm sorry.  I really am.






To end on a joyful note, you can expect a blog post in the coming weeks that will be much more put together then the one you just went through. 







Have a great day.  Have a brilliant day.  Tell someone you appreciate them. 

Week Fourth

It is the fourth week of summer camp.  Round 4.  I honestly don't remember when I updated last so I don't really know what to write (I guess I could look it up, but I have very limited bandwidth).  The first four weeks have been pretty nutty.  I want to include a photo but I have no photos of much of anything up here, it's just not happening.

I'm sitting here not really knowing what to write.  I wish I could explain my experience thus far, but the words are just not forming.

I guess this is what I want to say: camp is a blast, a great learning experience, a great growing experience, an interesting opportunity.  I know it's vague, sorry.  It's hard to describe instances when questions are not asked.  For instance, if you asked: "Hey, what is it like shooting and editing videos every single day?" I would probably answer: "It's pretty gnarly.  Having a video due virtually every night definitely requires a learning curve, but, boy, am I learning (or trying to learn) quick" but if you're not asking the questions, I just really don't know what to talk about.

I'll give you another example: let's say you ask "What are the people like up there?" and I answer "It's been fun getting to know a whole range people.  Hume staff for the most part is (or would it be "are" because it's plural?  I don't know, glad I'm not an English teacher) really friendly and fun to be around.  There are lots of solid people working here this summer.  As far as campers, interactions with campers can vary widely; you can have a solid conversation with one group and then have a ridiculous, pointless exchange of worthless words with another.  Nevertheless, it's real interesting getting to know the campers and developing very light relationships with them." then I really wouldn't need to scramble for things to write about.  So here's the thing, if you really want to know how I'm doing, why I'm doing it, or all/any of the above or "other,"  shoot me an email, or a facebook message, or a tweet, or a text message, or a voicemail, or a letter, or a simple conversation.  I'd definitely be down to talk to you more about it.


Man alive, I kinda wish I had more/other/something else to talk about, but, alas, I do not.

I have one more questioning situation:  if you asked "have you put any of your work thus far on the interwebs?" and I answered "Yes actually, the first two weeks, I shot and edited the Ponderosa wrap up videos and they were posted online, so I will embed them at the end of this post.  Also embedded are the week review videos for those two weeks that were played in church the Sunday after the week finished" then I wouldn't have to come up with stuff to talk about out of nowhere.



Week 1 Wrap Up


2010 Ponderosa Week 1 Wrap Up from Hume Lake on Vimeo.

Week 1 Review


Hume Lake Summer Camp Week 1 Review from Hume Lake on Vimeo.

Week 2 Wrap Up


2010 Ponderosa Week 2 Wrap Up from Hume Lake on Vimeo.

Week 2 Review


Hume Lake Summer Camp Week 2 Review from Hume Lake on Vimeo.







This is the end of this update.  I'm not quite sure if it is even an update, it's just sort of a variety of words.  I don't know, you decide.  I hope you found worth in reading what I wrote and you don't declare it a waste of time.

That said, have a great day today and make tomorrow even better.

This is the update

This is the update you all have (or have not) been waiting for.  Here's the scoop:

I honestly do not know how much I have written, how much I have told, or how much I have suggested about my work this summer, so here it is, all of it, for you, the reader, to do what the name implies: read.

If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that it is updated every Wednesday.  If you have followed this blog for a while, you know that I wear a collared shirt (and most often a tie) every Wednesday.  If you have followed this blog for a while, you have noticed that these two critical elements have been lacking, in fact, these two elements have ceased to exist for the last couple weeks.  Here's why:

For the summer of 2010, I was hired to work up at Hume Lake Christian Camps as a member of the program staff media team, a position I am privileged to hold.  All day, every day, I am preparing, filming, recording, editing, and everything in between; I am blessed to be able to contribute to our media team's production. 

It's really an interesting experience.  We strive to produce videos for the campers, videos that will spark a memory of Hume, videos that will cause campers to remember what they learned at camp and reflect on their current living situation.  We work for an audience of One, to add to the camp experience a keepsake that will remind of God's love for all of us, upon watching.  This is our aim, this is what we strive for.  God's got it all in His hands, we're just here to see Him work through us.  I am super excited to see what the Lord has in store for the campers, counselors, staff, homeowners, cove-goers, and everybody who even hears the words "Hume Lake" this summer.  We're in for a ride.




Now for the technical:

Here's the thing: I am on a mountain.  I am on a mountain that does not have cell phone towers, internet up the wazoo and more.  Because of this, I have limited resources to communicate with the outside world (you).  It's really quite interesting because it really emphasizes the obsessive pulls of technology.  So for this reason (and the lack of "resources" definitely helps), I have chosen to try and stay away from the internet as much as possible.  We'll see how that goes.



That will be it for tonight.  I hope I summed up what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and the current-cy of my life.  You know how it is.

The fair-weather day, you should take a hike and enjoy the world around you.  Or maybe write a letter.

Seagulls

So Today is the last day of school.  The last day of my freshman year of college.  What?  What happened?  Didn't we just start?  The answer is yes, we did just start.  It has flown, like a seagull who spots an open bag of Fritos.  I seriously am blown away, like a balloon that has a puncture.  It's been a great year.  I've met multitudes of new people, made some real solid friends, learned a whole bunch, some I will retain, some I will forget immediately.  Next year is going to be great, no doubt.

That was a rushed thought.  I apologize.  I hope I went into enough detail to make it worth it.

In other news, I don't have a clue what is going to happen to this blog over the summer.  It might continue with the same content, it might continue with completely different content, it might have random posts scattered throughout the summer, it might stop until summer's over, or it might completely stop forever.  I honestly don't have a clue what is going to happen to this blog over the summer, honest.  We'll just have to see what happens I guess.


In other news, I have completely most of my classes and most of my classes had finals, but that is beside the point.  For my photography class, our last project was supposed to be (man, I forget the term; sorry Childs), I don't remember, but 8 or more images that were similar or had a theme or something like that.  What I decided to do was ride the city bus to downtown Los Angeles, sit in the very back, and take pictures of the people getting on the bus.  Four hours later, I had a decent amount of shots, to which I narrowed it down to 8.  The study went well, I was pleased.  Here is my artist statement:

Public transportation has been around for years, giving a cheap, relatively safe, automobile alternative, to the community.  Nevertheless, public transportation, namely the city bus, is an often forgotten mode of transportation.  “Naomi In Stops” is a study of p the people who board the bus, the people who have places to go, the people who choose, for whatever reason, to not use the vehicle most of the population chooses to use.  These people have stories, these people have reasons.  On May 15,2010, I boarded a city bus in La Mirada and continued through downtown Los Angeles.  Throughout the trip, a vast amount of personalities entered and exited the swinging doors; “Naomi In Stops” serves as documentation. 

Here are three of the 8.  If you'd like to view the rest and/or see them in HIGH RES, check out my Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/morganlott/) and if they aren't on the front page, check out the "Photography" album, they'll be in there. You can't miss them.  Enjoy, enjoy.

Ah, some video.  Here we go, here we go.  Pretty good lineup today.

First, I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Zack Campbell again to create art through moving pictures.  This piece is called "Slow Show" and I personally really like the way it turned out.  Enjoy, enjoy.


Slow Show from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.


Second, a good friend of mine, Mr. Tyson Stakes, in sadly not returning to Biola University next year.  So, naturally, we created a "going away" video for his "going away" party last Friday.  I hope you enjoy this as much as the Bully Squadron did.  It's kick.  One more thing, this is one of the those "you kinda had to be there" moments.  Just know it was a hit, and we are going to miss Mr. Tyson Stakes.  Enjoy, enjoy.


Tyson's Farewell from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.




Third, this is a very interesting piece the Los Angeles Times released about a young schizophrenic.  I was intrigued.  The mind is so incredible and this story is no exception.  This kind of stuff fascinates me.



Fourth:

Likewise, this man is "addicted" to marbles.  This may sound comical, but from the details conveyed through this video, the "condition" is rather serious.  This is very interesting as well.  I wonder how this happened, why it's lasted this long, and if he'll ever lose interest in his marbles. 








And that is it.  That is the last blog post of the 2009-2010 school year.  Incredible.  I feel like I was just writing my first: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2009/08/leaf.html.  Super interesting.  It's been real, friends.

Have a great day today, whether you are in school, at work, at home, at the beach, in a plane, or in a supermarket.  Do what you do best.  FEELIN' IT.