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:
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:
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.
Let's start from the beginning. On Thursday, the 6th, my good friend Mr. Sean Cook informs me he is playing a free show with the band Press Play in Long Beach. Naturally, I have to go. I start talking to people, trying to get a group to go. I start with the Simi people, people who would be interested in chillin' with Sean regardless of the concert. No luck. Then I started asking people who just seemed like they would want to go. No luck. EVERYBODY I talked (or tried to talk to) either wanted to go but couldn't, didn't want to go, or just straight up sick. FINALLY, an hour before I was hoping to leave, I found two people to come with me. I was ECSTATIC not only because friends were able to go, but because there was a vehicle that was able to go. Over the next 45 minutes, however, the tides turned. Both people turned down the chance of a lifetime. I was bummed. SO CLOSE! I was in a pickle, I still wanted to go. Should I go alone? I don't see why not? But... who goes to concerts alone? Seems, I don't know, a little gutsy. Plus, I didn't have a car...
BUT, I just had to go. I found a car last second, asked my roommates if they wanted to go one last time and then headed out by myself.
Naturally, I took a camera.
Guys, this was just great. Not only was the experience as a whole great, but going to worship God with the community of Christ at a place I had never been before was GREAT. Press Play is impacting the world and it was incredible to see that first hand. I've discovered over the years that I enjoy spontaneity a whole lot. Spontaneous events are nothing but a big bundle of surprise and, honestly, it never fails for a good time. Even in situations that may not seem "fun" or "worthwhile," 100% of the time, it makes for a good memory. Stories that begin "Remember that time?" are consistently GREAT stories. Click the links below for some incredible spontaneous stories from my life. I cannot express to you how great these memories are:
The story of a car accident, a white elephant gift exchange and a wedding: CLICK
The story of crashing the uncrashable sweet 16 party: CLICK
The story of the photographs, getting caught in a ditch, and flipping a coin: CLICK
(Mr. Scott Weir seems to be the spontaneous helper)
Be spontaneous. Do random stuff at random times. These are the best days of our lives.
Speaking of spontaneity, the fun doesn't end.
On Saturday, I was given the opportunity to shoot photographs at a wedding. Mr. Austin Axen asked me if I would like to help him in an extremely relaxed, stress-free environment. I was hesitant at first, but just couldn't turn it down. I was BLOWN AWAY by how different shooting photographs at a wedding is from shooting video at a wedding, not to mention that is was really REALLY hard. I was definitely stretched throughout the day and it was the perfect "practicing" situation because I wasn't expected to perform and produce professional images. I must say though, Mr. Austin Axen is a G when it comes to photography. His shots were consistently incredible. He's got the eye and I'm pumped to see where he goes. Here's a few images for your enjoyment.
Then, that night, Mr. Scott Weir called me up and invited me to join him and others to go to this wild place called Guppy's. Supposedly, Guppy's is just a tea house just down the road. But of course, when you stick me and Mr. Scott Weir in the same vehicle, something crazy is going to go down. So, of course, we get lost. We always get lost. After a decent amount of laughs, we arrive. So, I guess this place Guppy's is famous for like shave ice or something. We take a look at the menu, discover the shave ice is pretty expensive, and get the largest one. And let me tell you, it was MASSIVE. Here's a photo of the mayhem courtesy of Ms. Sierra Falco.
Gigantic clam-shaped bowl filled with mounds of shave ice, pretty much a whole fruit tree, and softball-sized icecream scoops. Let's just say we didn't finish it. Yeah, didn't have a chance.
Then, the next night, it was time to celebrate Ms. Laura Cook's birthday. I'm not going to get too much into this, but when you stick 15-20 well dressed (as per Laura's request) people around a table at Elephant Bar, the term "good time" just fits. It was an evening full of good friends, good conversations, and good food, which, in my opinion, is one of the best combinations you can ever have. Definitely a good night, stickin' in the memory bank for good.
So, all in all, EXCELLENT week. One of the best in my recent memory.
AND GUESS WHAT! You may not have noticed, but the last few weeks, I have mentioned the tour of the apartment and I have mentioned it simply can't happen that particular week. Here's the deal, everything that I said was going to happen "eventually" still hasn't happened. So you know what this means? You get the tour of the not-quite-completed Tropicana 205 apartment!
So without further ado, I present to you 205.
I encourage you, enjoy the tour. If you would ever like to stop, please let the tram driver know and we will wait for you. Our tour guide has led African safaris for 15 years so he is understanding if you want to take picture or two.
Here we are! Tropicana. If you look forward, you will notice the vintage
apartment building that is Tropicana. This is the entrance to the
building leading to the numerous apartments inside. Let's go inside!
Okay, we've just made our way up the stairs and are now looking out from the second level over the "hole" if you will in the middle of the apartment complex. If you peer across the gap, you will see a door that reads "205." That's we are headed. If you look below, you will notice there is a considerable body of water. This is the Tropicana pool, a pool that has been used by all kinds of people including party-goers, volleyball players, competitive swimmers, and the normal pool-goer. This pool is the home of fun.
Let's move across to the other side.
We have made it to our destination. If you take a look at the handle you will notice the "Krill Egg." This egg has been stolen by numerous critters including raccoons, squirrels, and crows. Somehow, it has survived the years and still resides on the door handle of our residence. It is one of those irreplaceable amenities.
Please watch your head and take a step inside.
Welcome to Tropicana 205! Like I said, it is still in the working stage, but we're making progress! Immediately you will notice the ficus and the flags. The ficus is one of the most notable aspects of the apartments as you can see it from almost anywhere in the complex. It also creates a jungle-like atmosphere which is always great. You will also notice the flags, representing the communities (from left to right) Oklahoma, Alaska, the Philippines, and Hawaii. We are mulch-cultural in 205.
In the front of the living room, you will notice the "Call Police" sign which has always been notable and often the conversation starter with many types of people. You will also notice the "Skyline" and "S'us b'ilt" signs, two treasures from my summer at Hume Lake Christian Camps. Those two words/sayings bring back multitudes of memories and make me smile. Rep the skyline. You will also notice the entertainment system. It's been fun. See that white box in the corner? If that ground is shaking, well, you can blame that guy.
Take a right and you'll see our dining room. Right now it is home to housemate Mr. Ben Jacuk's materials after that beast of man stayed up through the night studying. Remarkable. This is where we eat meals every day, no matter how good or bad they happen to be.
This is the kitchen, where food is made, where food is stored. Take a look inside the refrigerator if you dare. I may as well mention the snack bar that you will be able to purchase food from once this tour has finished. "Serving Tour Food since 1990."
Okay, next stop are the rooms. Head down the hallway and look left. This is where I and my roommate Joel live. What you see here is Joel's area, including the unfortunate Phillies flag. It seems like all they do is win. Joel's clean. I'm not.
This is an interesting area of the room. You'll see a number of ties on the ground. This is because I have not found a place to store them which has become quite the problem. I'm sure a solution will present itself soon. I hope a solution will present itself soon.
This is my desk. It is a mess. I'm sorry. Like I said, I'm still moving in. Kind of. This is unacceptable and embarrassing.
This is the mural. You may recognize it from years past. I rescued him from the Royal High School dumpster my senior year. It was part of a set for a drama production, and no, Ms. Melanie Lott and Mr. Kyle Dietz had nothing to do with the creation of the painting. I expect this painting to grace my home for years to come.
If you take a look at the ground, you'll see the rest of the materials that need to be hung on the walls. This includes posters, comic strips, and other goodies that have been collected thorughout the year. Perhaps the most notable object in this sad pile is the picture of my pal, mentor, and inspiration, Mr. Rudy Campos. You see, Rudy Campos is a Video Production Professional and when I acquired this gem in high school, I aspired to be just like him, a video production professional.
Here is a SECRET spot in the room. This is the where the Sleep Talk 100 (http://sleeptalk100.tumblr.com) is recorded. If you know what that means, you might say "woah" or something. I don't know how you'll react, I just sleep there. But there you, Behind-The-Scenes to the MAX.
This is Mr. Michael Warnecke and Mr. Ben Jacuk's room. With respect to privacy, I politley ask you not to look in there. I have no authority over their room.
We're almost done with the tour! We have one last stop. As you head toward the front door, take a look at the wall separating the door and the window.
This is our Santa. Yes, he's creepy. Yes, he's red. Yes, he's in a train. Yes, the dude in the onesie just received coal in his stocking. Yes, this is a magazine cut-out. Yes, it's provided for a number of great laughs. Yes, you can see a close-up.
And that concludes the 2011 tour of the Tropicana 205! I hope you enjoyed your trip, learned some interesting facts to be used in trivia games, and leave feeling refreshed and encouraged. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Tropicana and have a great day! Please be sure to visit, you're always welcome. Buh-bye now!
Friends. That concludes this Wednesday's edition of "It's Wednesday!" I must say, this one is one for the ages. Lots of good content. It may or may not make it onto the Top 5 list, I'm leaning towards not.
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.
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.
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.
Really? Are you serious? Yeah, I'm world series. Folks, neighbors, family, and friends, it is the 2011-2012 school year. I have moved. You may look at the picture above and fail to recognize the area. You don't see the infamous wall, you don't see the blue door or the big windows. Instead, you see what you see above. I now live the beautiful complex we call Tropicana. Times have changed and I must admit, I miss the Backside a whole lot. So many memories, it will be my first love, the beginnings of my joyous college career. But we grow up, I talked to Peter Pan about it. So here we are, Tropicana, it's already been great.
If you are a returner and you've been around a while, you remember the "tours." For the new visitors, every first week (or so) I do a tour of my living quarters:
Don't worry the tour of the new place is on it's way. Due to complications, the apartment is still "in shambles," it's just not ready for a public walk through quite yet.
Next week.
So, school's started. It actually hasn't started, it's just continued from last year. Summer feels like a 3 day weekend and here we are, back at the grind. That's just how it is. Here's my schedule this semester:
(click to enlarge)
I'm pretty excited for these classes. Seems like it will be pretty balanced. Let's hope.
I honestly don't have a whole lot to talk about today. It'll be good to rekindle old friendships, speak to people as if that 3-day-weekend-of-a-summer didn't happen. It'll be good to meet new people, try new things, learn some stuff, you know. It'll be good to speak to people about their summers, hear stories, tell stories, laugh. It'll be good to invest in people.
It'll be good.
I have one video for you. This is a good one, shows you life's short, love life, LIVE IT UP. I would absolutely try this. I live for the thrills. (Thanks Mr. Isaac Svensson for the referral).
And that's 1st blog post of the school year. Unreal. 3rd year. 4th year of the blog. What is this world coming too? I'll tell you what, it's flying.
Tell the next person you have conversation with a compliment.
UPDATE: I want to announce that we successfully bought food, cooked food, and ate food, and are still alive. Here's a picture of our first family dinner complete with a delectable spaghetti topped with a prime marinara and a light Parmesan, accompanied by a loaf of garlic bread. Delicious.
It's 12:15, I just ate lunch, and I am now writing a blog post. I had pasta, manicotti, Hawaiian pizza, a breadstick, honeydew, and a glass, actually more like a plastic cup, of chocolate milk. This is just hit me now, I miss POG a whole lot. POG is Passionfruit Orange Guava juice for those of you who didn't know. I had POG, most often mixed with cranberry juice, at least once a day every day at Hume Lake while I was working there. It was a highlight of my day...everyday. When the POG machine was "out on lunch break," it made my shoulders sulk. I loved me a good cup of POG berry.
Anyhow, it's Wednesday, the middle of the week of the second week, the first full week, of school. This week is going well, classes are shaping up, comfortability is arriving, and it still feels like I've been here a long long time. Interesting.
In other news, this semester is going to be rather media intensive because I'm in a few media intensive classes; so what this means is this: I will more than likely be posting some of my work on this here blog for you, the reader, to see, to watch, to hear, to experience, to enjoy, to hate, to promote conversation, to bore, to promote confrontation. I'll be posting, you'll be doing what you do, and, more than likely, I will never know how you feel about it. I guess that is somewhat artistic.
I'm in kind of a strange mood right now, don't know why, maybe it's just right here, in this moment. I'm just typing this blog post, when I get up to go to class, Nature of Mathematics, this so-called "strange mood" will more than likely disappear completely. So you, the reader, perhaps get to experience this so-called "strange mood" during its only appearance. Congratulations.
I don't have much to write about and I'm crunched for time which doesn't normally help things. Here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to give the grand tour of my room. I hope that's okay. I hope you don't feel cramped and/or uncomfortable. I apologize for the mess in advance. Here we go:
Welcome to Stewart 162, the room intermittently belonging to Mr. Joel Limbauan and Mr. Morgan Lott. This is the view from the front door. If you look to the left and right sides of the photograph you will see the door frame. The room is small, but we try and make good use of valuable space. As you can see, Mr. Joel Limbauan is hard at work as a good student should be.
If you look to your left, you stumble upon my desk. Let's take a closer look:
This is my workstation, where I spend my time on the technology of this day in age. Please excuse the organized mess. There really is not much to see here, more like a quick stop on the tour.
If you look at the front of the workstation, you will notice a particularly confident and hungry animal. I saved this animal from the depths of the dumpster while still in high school and decided to adopt him into my family. He has made an impression upon my room for a number of years now. I hope he makes a positive impact upon you as well.
If you look up on the wall, you will see a collection of different items:
Although the photograph ranges your viewing experience practically useless, the wall is adorned by interesting pieces of art and other items of interest. If you look to the left portion of the wall, you will see a collection comic strips that have brought upon hearty laughter a number of times in my life. If continue to your right, you will stumble upon manila envelopes that give a nice contrast to the blank wall.
Among the rest, the phrase "S'us b'ilt" likely stands out to you:
"S'us b'ilt" is a competitive team that competitively participates in competitive competition. It remains a mystery. Below the competitiveness ranges a number of bananas that have been struck by the curse of time to wither.
If you bring your eyes even lower, you will notice a particular picture frame:
This is my inspiration, my goal. If you cannot make out the faint words, it reads "VIDEO PRODUCTION PROFESSIONAL :: RUDY CAMPOS." My goal is to become the video production professional, my goal is to become the Rudy Campos of today.
I hope you enjoyed today's tour of Stewart 162. Before you exit, please make sure you have picked up all of your belongings, and exit to the left. Thank you and enjoy your day.
The tour guide pretty much summed it up. I don't have much more else to say. It's been beautiful, weather wise, these last couple of days. The weather is unbelievable. I can't begin thinking about or else I will just go off and talk and talk and go off. So, that said, go outside today. Enjoy the weather. Even better, go outside with someone else and enjoy the weather with them.
