LA Update: Week 4-5

Monday, January 30 -
SO I've got something pretty cool to start the blog off with, so conveniently those of you with short attention spans (like myself) only have to read the first day mentioned on this blog post and then go back to Facebook so you can sit there and refresh your news feed every couple minutes. Anyways, Monday evening we had a guest speaker come to the school - Doug Jones (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy I and II, Quarantine, Silver Surfer, my favorite short film- the Butterfly Circus, and many other films). He frequently plays roles in films as creatures, monsters, or as a contortionist. He was really a hilarious guy to listen to, and he shared many of his stories that lead him to becoming who he is today.

Tuesday, February 1 -
I really wish I could be at Evangel for the snowstorm. I remember the ice storm my freshman year when we got 2 days off of school- it was so fun. I was just thinking about how weird it is not being there this semester, knowing that I will never come back for school. I will come back for graduation and then I may never see many people again for many many years. It's sad to think about. I miss you guys a lot. It sucks being away from people that you love so much. And not being able to live life with them. Later in the evening we had our bible study, we shared our struggles and prayer requests and spent some time in prayer, it was much needed.

Thursday, February 3 -
Okay soooo I've been really into this band The Black Keys, and if you like Cold War Kids then I think you will love these guys. But listen to their newest album "Brothers" (their older stuff isn't that good).

In class we had an LAFSC alumni and USC Cinematography Grad, Chris Hall, show up and teach us about lighting. It was the best lecture and best hands on session I've ever had on lighting. He gave us a great powerpoint presentation and talked about some great stuff. One thing that I though was really interesting was how he talked about how professional cinematographers often model their lighting styles off of those of Renaissance painters. He said we should examine paintings and figure out what lights to use, how to position and set them up if we were to recreate that scene. Then he actually set up lights in our studio and showed us how to effectively use flags, filters, etc. It was really awesome.
In spite of some cool things at school today, some days just hurt worse than others.... like today.

Friday, February 4 -
So I have a buddy who has an internship at a place where they can literally get any movie they want, even current ones. So this evening we watched 127 Hours [SPOILERS: consider yourself officially "warned"]. I've been wanting to watch it, because I've heard some good things about it, and I remember hearing about the story of Aron Ralston when he was on Dateline and Nightline and Newsline and Frontline, and every other news talk "line." Anyways the movie was really well done, as always there are some random dumb effects that I really don't like about Danny Boyle's films, but other than that it was really well done. James Franco definitely is worthy of his Oscar nomination, but the story itself I think really spoke to me. Aron has been lead to this rock and has the choice to define his future from this moment on. In those moments of difficulty he realizes how he must change, the people in his life that are most important to him, and that he will lose them and his future with them if he just stays put. I feel like I am in a similar trial. That God has brought me to this rock to change me and teach me. And I can choose to sit and sulk and feel sorry for myself, or I can choose to let God reveal to me what and who matters most in my life, and what I must do to be the person and live the life God has called me to and to be worthy of the people that He has put in my life. I can let this rock destroy me, or I can let God use this rock to change my life for the better.

Saturday, February 5 -
Although I did really want to sleep in today, I decided against myself and went to the school for an all day seminar on financing for film with film investor and author, Jeffrey Taylor. The seminar was incredibly beneficial for me! I really don't know a lot about financing and doing a pitch for an investor, and he really discussed all of those things from a very practical and experienced viewpoint. I learned so much and got some great notes and advice. But I must admit with all those financial terms and etc, my brain was slightly fried 8 hours later when the seminar ended.

Sunday, February 6 -
Ecclesia was awesome again. What's new? Seriously, I just love this church. Or at least the pastor. Today was National Porn Sunday - which is a nationwide movement promoted by XXXchurch(a website focused on helping men and women find freedom some sexual addictions and bondage). The goal of National Porn Sunday is to get churches nationwide to address the prominent problem of pornography amongst Christians. Here's the video provided by XXXChurch: I haven't seen the whole thing, but we watched to beginning couple minutes to introduce it

National Porn Sunday Talk from XXXchurch on Vimeo.

I think it's awesome that churches are addressing this issue, because people NEED help. At Evangel I only know a handful of guys that do not struggle with addictions to pornography and masturbation. But in my life I have seen people freed by the blood of Christ. And WE MUST proclaim God's victory over His people, because too many people, marriages, and relationships with God have been destroyed by this. Too many people go on suffering with this addiction and believing the lie that they will just have to live with it the rest of their life, or that once they find sexual satisfaction in a marriage they won't have these struggles, but that is an absolute lie. Some of my friends and I walked to Yogurtland later on (the frozen yogurt place I mentioned earlier). The great thing about Yogurtland is that you can ask for a sample cup and just keep filling it up with samples. So I didn't even buy anything, I just kept filling up the sample cup. Yum! Later on we had a Superbowl party at our school. It was cool, but man I sure do miss the choir Superbowl party at Sharon's house. I have some great memories there. Anyways, I didn't really care too much for the Superbowl itself (I highly dislike the NFL), the commercials were not that good, and the half time show- wow, absolutely horrendous! But hey, free food! It doesn't get much better than that!

Monday, February 7 -
I think today was the most difficult day I have had in a couple weeks. You assume things get easier with time, but not for me. I think the pain is getting worse. In fact, I know the pain is getting worse. But if it brings me closer to God, if it rids me of filth inside of me, if it fills me with deeper and stronger love, if it changes me for the better, then bring the pain.

Tuesday, February 8 -
Another rough day. On top of that, classes here are incredibly long, and I usually don't mind them, because I learn so much, but being tired didn't help me much through a 3.5 hour class followed by a 4 hour class. Later that night I went to the pool for a while and then to our bible study. God always finds some way to comfort me in my despair.

Wednesday, February 9 -
I've been getting pretty discouraged about not having an internship yet. Most people here have had theirs for at least two weeks now, and I just got turned down (in an email) from the last place I interviewed at. BUT, I know the Lord has a will for me. I know he has the perfect place for me. It's not just hit and miss, and by chance I get an internship at a certain place, it is ordained by God. So this afternoon I had my third interview and was offered the position on the spot! YES! Oh.... you want to know what it is? hmmm.

Thursday, February 10 -
Today in class, my group went on a field trip across the street to a previs (pre-visualization) and postvis company called Third Floor Productions. It was the freaking coolest field trip I have ever been on. They have done the previs for Star Wars Ep III, Alice and Wonderland, Avatar, IronMan 2, Cloverfield, Eagle Eye, Valkyrie, the last two Narnia's, and a bunch more. They showed us their reels and offices and all the things they are working on. They also have a huge new trailer that we got to see that allows for on-set mobile visualization (similar to how Avatar was shot). Anyways it was awesome!
We have a married couple that work at our school and they invite students over every Thursday night for a book study to hang out and eat free food. Can you guess what inspired me to go over there? Free food! And I thought it would be a good opportunity to hang out with some people that I dont usually hang out with a lot, so that was really good.

Friday, February 11 -
First day on the job today! You all are probably wondering where my internship is? It's a production company called Psychic Bunny located right in downtown LA (in the Spring Arts Tower). *cool sidenote* the shots from Inception of Mal on the window sill were shot from our building on our floor! Anyways, Psychic Bunny is a full-service production company (start to finish) that work on commercials, promotional videos, video games, and whatever else. It seems like it's really gonna be awesome, sure I have to do a lot of typical intern jobs, but I get to meet and work with some great people, learn more about professional production and etc. Plus, I have my own desk with a PowerMac with many of my favorite programs installed. I am really excited about this internship. However, I must say that downtown LA is sooo sketch. I think if I stay in LA after this semester I will do all I can to avoid the downtown, unless I'm doing some type of humanitarian efforts. After I got back from my internship I went to work out with my roomies. It was great to be back in the gym and I am stoked to be on a workout plan again. Later we watched Mission Impossible 3. I forgot how great it was. No wonder it's the best Mission Impossible, JJ Abrams directed it!

Saturday, February 12 -
God is speaking and I am listening! The fear that had been building and building has dissipated. I am filled with hope.
After stocking up my kitchen cupboards with food from the 99cent store, I went with my film group to the beach. It was so great! We got to be there for the sunset and then we had a big bonfire burning wood found in dumpsters! And we cooked hot dogs and smores, and just sat around and talked. What a beautiful night! What an awesome day!

Sunday, February 13 -
At Ecclesia today, we finished our series on the importance of the body (our physical bodies). At the end we did baptisms. Man I love baptisms, it's just so awesome seeing people proclaim the change that God has done in their lives as they die to the world and are brought to life in Christ. For lunch we unsuccessfully attempted to grill brats at a park nearby, but that didn't go so well (reminds me of a similar time my freshman year, lol). So we went back to the apartment and used Jake's George Foreman grill. Thank goodness for that!


I promise I was trying to make this blog shorter....it just didn't really work out that way. sorry.

Wow! So much has happened these two weeks. Not just in the things I've been doing, but in the work that God's doing in my life. My roommate Aaron says he has seen such a huge change in me just in the past couple weeks. But it hasn't been easy. In fact it has been the most difficult time of my life (yes, a continuation of that from prior weeks). You know that feeling of emotional pain when it is so severe that you can physically feel it? You know that feeling of fear when you can constantly feel your heart beating, and you can literally hear your pulse in your ears? Yeah, that's a combination of how I've felt. And it has been increasing more and more. I have tried so hard to fight that fear, but I kept looking to God and he pulled me through. I can't explain it, but God has done a miracle in my life (well, more than one obviously!) Any of you guys that really know me, know that I hate growing up, and I try to hold onto the past with everything I can. For the first time in years, I can honestly say that I am excited about the future. I am seriously SO stoked about what God is going to do in my life. I'm excited for tomorrow, because tomorrow I will be that much closer to God. I'm excited for this time next week, because by this time next week, I will have had 7 days to surrender more of myself to God and live those days entirely for him. That is exciting. And there's a couple other things I'm pretty excited about too, I'm sure you'll hear more about that fairly soon. Let me just leave you with this: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1 "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:5. It is SO worth it to hope. When we hope for something it is ALWAYS taking a risk, but when we commit our hope to God, we will never be disappointed, because our hope is in Him. "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14.
But look to God because you love him, not because you want to get something from him. There's nothing wrong with asking God for something, but sometimes we worship the hand of God more than the heart of God. As Oswald Chambers profoundly says, "Spiritual lust causes me to demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Himself who gives the answer." Seek God above all else in your life and everything else will fall into place. I must sound incredibly hopeful and optimistic right now, because honestly, I am. God is SO good!


Here is a great verse and a great song:
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Romans 12:9-11 (KJV)

LA Update: Week 2-3

Welcome to the second installment of my blog! Aren't you so excited?!!! Aren't you mediocrely excited? Right on! So in case you didn't get the hint, many words in my blogs are hyperlinked to either pictures or websites of places or things that I am referring to in my blog.

Monday, January 17 -
Happy MLK DAY!!!!! Wooot!

Tuesday, January 18 -
This evening we had a guest speaker come to our school. His name is Ken Wales, producer of Amazing Grace (2006), the Christy TV series (1994), and many others. He was really great, he shared stories about his life and experiences and many things that God has taught him along the way. It was so encouraging to hear from a person who has been very involved in the film industry, but has stayed close to God, avoided compromise, and desired to show God through his work.

Wednesday, January whatever -
Through one of those friend of a friend of a friend situations, I was invited to an ACE (American Cinema Editors) Lecture Series in a private screening theater on the NBC/Universal lot. The three of us that went felt slightly out of place since there were only like 50 people in the audience - who were all interns or intern applicants at ACE.... whoa! There was a panel of about 10 assistant editors and editors for various TV shows and films who discussed their jobs and how they got there, and how certain things work within the industry.

Saturday, January 22 -
Happy Birthday Andrew!!! For Andrew's Bday, a bunch of us guys drove like 30 minutes to some random Donut place in one of the 3 or so Little Korea sections of town. Have you ever thought about how in American English, the word "donut" can either be spelled "donut" or "doughnut"? Both are correct, and both are incredibly delicious! Well after the donut place we went back to our apartments and then headed for the beach. Pretty much half of our school showed up there, which was funny. The water was super cold but I went in it up to my waist anyway, just cause I'm that much of a man. But it was a great day, Gordon and I sat in the sand and talked, then we all threw the frisbee and played some sand football. After that some of us left and went to In-N-Out and ate a dish that was quite the delish. We got back and cleaned up and then my room full of guys went over to one of the girls rooms to play Mafia. It was pretty cool!

Sunday, January 23 -
Gordon invited me to attend church with him at Reality LA. The worship was AWESOME. It was totally my style of worship. You know the kind that a Hillsong and Planetshakers cover band would do (inside joke with Trevor Ekanger and band). No but really it was great, and they spend a lot of time just worshipping freely after the message to respond, very different, very awesome.
Later that day I went hiking with Michelle and Drew. We hiked right around the Hollywood sign. It was a lot of fun, and SUCH a beautiful view. For those of you in Idaho, it reminded me of LA's version of table rock. We got there just in time for the sunset and then just chilled there for a bit. It was nice to have peace and quiet finally. After we left their we went straight to Mosaic church. They rent out a nightclub in downtown LA. It was kind of weird being in a place like that and they have like a live DJ playing while you're coming in, but other than that the service was pretty normal. We heard a good message about not living on bread alone but on the word of God, and how God provides for us daily in so many ways if we just rely on Him and ask him to help us.

Monday, January 23 -
After doing some errands throughout the day, I went longboarding with Anson through a nearby park. It was SO much fun, like the sidewalk just winds around and you get going pretty fast, but it was awesome- until we ended up right in front of a security guard who told us we couldn't skateboard. So then we walked to the street and stood there and talked for an hour or so about life and all. My roommate, Dan, randomly appeared before us.... well I guess he more so kind of walked up to us. Then when we all got back we went swimming at the pool! Which, if I have not mentioned before is AWESOME! The pool is heated upwards of 80 degrees and the hot tub is 104 and both are really nice.

Tuesday, January 24 -
So I found out that I didn't get the director position on the film. Yeah, I was a little bummed, but like I said in my last blog, I really just want to be where God wants me to be, and he obviously didn't have that in his plan. I'm just glad he's taking care of me in the way that HE knows is best, otherwise I'd always be trying get everything I want, when I want it. My position on the short film is sound design. I actually picked this as my second choice because it is the thing that I am least skilled in out of the positions. It's not my favorite, but I think I will learn the most, and may very well learn to love it. I am also incredibly excited to work with the soundtrack for the film, because as you know, I do love music. Well I had an interview this morning for my internship. It's at a place called Buddha Jones, they make theatrical trailers and tv spots for features. You can see on their website all the trailers they have done, very well done, I might add. The interview went really well so I look forward to hearing back from them. Also for your enjoyment I have added and for my pleasure of being random, I have inserted a picture here of the view of LA from the top of my school (yeah the security guard took me and some friends up there!)

Wednesday, January 26 -
Last week I was absent from the first of our Bible studies, but this week I was there, and we had a few guys from other apartments show up too. It was pretty awesome, we spent time sharing our testimonies and reading the word and talking about which parts of it really spoke to us. I'm excited to see where things go with our Bible study over the semester. We'll be reading through Psalms and John.

Heres a video of my apartment:

if the video doesn't play, CLICK THIS LINK.

Friday, January 28 -
I've been getting a little discouraged because almost everyone else seems to have their internships all set up, and I don't. I was hoping to here back from the place I interviewed and still hadn't. Well anyways, I finally get a phone call. It wasn't from the place I interviewed, but it was at a different place that we had sent my resume to (Skip Film, also a trailer house - meaning they make movie trailers, not live in a trailer house). They asked me if I could come in for an interview on Monday. Hopefully one of these two will work out for me! With all the free time that I've had while everyone else is at their internships, I've been going over to the school and working on touching up some stuff on my short film, as well as working on the DVD for it. I've been getting a lot better at After Effects, because I've been spending so much time on it! Praise the Lord for Andrew Kramer and Videocopilot! Later in the evening I just hung out with my roomies, had some good conversations with them, then we felt like watching the Dark Knight and stayed up till like 4 talking - Yay for college!


Saturday, January 29 -
Today was AWESOME! The guys did our annual community breakfast together again. We went over to another apartment and made pancakes and eggs for breakfast. It was pretty cool we had like 5 guys more than the last time. I guess Saturday morning breakfast is a big hit! After that some of us walked to a nearby park and played basketball and hung out there for a while. Later on we drove to the Universal CityWalk, which is basically like a big outdoor mall with shops, restaurants, etc. We ate their and hung out for a while. I had some delish froyo at this place called yogurtland, its super popular here, its basically EXACTLY like Orange Leaf. Went to see Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D. Sure, story-wise it's no Oscar material, but I absolutely loved it, especially being a guy that is very partial to visual effects. I don't know how I guy could watch that movie and not want to visit the Grid and get a lightcycle. Later on, I went over to another friends apartment and chilled their for a bit. Btw I found the Tron game online, in case you are dying to play it.

Make a game | Flash Tron 2.0 | Free games | Pictogame

Sunday, January 30 -
Most difficult day getting out of bed yet! I went back to Ecclesia today (the first church I visited here). The sermon was over 1 Corinthians 6 and sin that separates us from God, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Cor 6:11. Covered pretty extensively was the biblical stance on homosexuality, and as you can imagine, it was rather intense - you could definitely feel the tension, and that's no surprise considering that we are in Hollywood and in California. BUT I would say that it was the best presentation of a Christian stance on the issue that I have ever heard. Click this link to listen to the sermon (the one labeled "symmetry 1/30/11). Another reason I really like this pastor is because he leaves out opinion and just gives straight scripture. After church we had some people over to our apartment for lunch and watched a movie. And then after I napped for a while we started the Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition of course) we are going to watch them all in a row (consecutive days not same day!) Then went to the pool for a swim and the hot tub was awesome cause it was a cooler day today.


Los Angeles

So heres little bit about Los Angeles for you: Gas is an average of about $3.50 a gallon, however if you drive about 2 blocks you can usually find a gas station that is 30 cents more expensive. The climate is pretty dry, about 70 degrees clear skies almost everyday and in the upper 50's at night. The people are incredibly diverse - on an average day you will see about any race and social class. Especially Koreans and Jews in the area I live. Overall, the people I come in contact have been pretty nice. You know those days when you drive and you "almost" get in a car accident but don't? That's literally like every time you drive here. Oh and EVERYONE has nice cars here. I have maybe seen a handful of cars that look as bad as mine since I've been here. And how about the film industry? In case you didn't know, it is mostly owned by Jewish people (I probably sound like I'm making racial jokes and stereotypes, but trust me, I'm not). To give an example of how difficult entering the industry is, lets look at SAG (Screen Actors Guild). SAG represents about 120,000 members worldwide, about 70,000 in LA, and as if membership isn't difficult enough, only about 50 of them are big name stars. Unfortunately its pretty much the same story for the other Above-the-Line guilds here - DGA, WGA. (Below the Line guilds are much easier to enter). WGA has over 50,000 submissions a year and only a small fraction are sold and an even smaller fraction produced. A guest speaker told us that the chances of us becoming a director or writer is similar to a high school basketball player getting into the NBA. Discouraging, huh? Well be encouraged because God will take you to where he has called you. Your plans and desires may fail, but God's will not, so place you plans and goals on him. Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. If your plans are based on serving the Lord, then you don't have to worry about statistics and the odds against you. The Lord will take you to wherever he has called you. But don't just think of this in terms of your job, think of it in everything. Even your little plans, commit them to God and he will bless them. Commit your desires, goals, new years resolutions, friendships, relationships to God and he will guide them. Our plans may fail, but His will NEVER fail and nothing can stand against them.


Me
In spite of all the things that I've given God and had no ability to hold onto, I must confess that I still have held onto fear. Fear of certain situations not working out the way that I hope it does. Fear that my heart will break more than it already has. After realizing how consumed with that fear I had become I realized I must entirely surrender it to God. Although my circumstances are new, my struggle with fear is nothing new. However, I remembered that over summer when I was on choir tour, I was having a deep discussion with one of the families that I stayed with, and I confessed the fearfulness that I struggle with. One of them said to me (this is a paraphrase, obviously) "We often think that the opposite of fear is faith, but it's not. The way to conquer fear is not just by gaining more faith, but being 'made perfect in love.' She gave me the verse - "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18. I still experience pain everyday, but it drives me closer to my Creator, the One that I can completely rely on and trust. I am striving to make him and keep him my greatest desire above all else. And wherever you readers are at, I encourage you to do the same. I love you all!

If you read all this I am thoroughly impressed with your patience! Don't worry, I'm sure my blogs will get shorter over time.

LA Update: Week 1

I promised many of you that I would be posting a weekly (or maybe a bi-monthly) blog, to update you all about my life in Los Angeles. This will probably end up being every two weeks though, just cause.... well just because I feel like it. I'm certainly far from being a professional blogger, but oh well, here goes The Amateur Adventures of Luke Salewski in Los Angeles: Week 1!

Well the last two weeks of my life have been insane. My life has been completely and utterly turned upside down. It has been the most difficult time of my life, the most painful, the most scared, the most lost, the most overwhelmed time of my life. But it has led me to rely on God. It has given me the realism of how desperately I need God. I need him no more than I ever have, but the difference is that I realize my need for him. I was completely poor and financially in need for school and just money in general, and literally within days God provided all of the money that I needed. In a miraculous way. He has provided for me in so many ways, as you will begin to see in this blog.

Friday, January 7 -
I had a good (but incredibly short) winter break at home. I will miss my family and friends and cats and the beauty of Idaho and certainly snowboarding. I spent the whole day driving. Boise to Twin Falls to Jackpot and a straight shot through Nevada to Las Vegas. I would literally go through hours at a time in Nevada without seeing a single building. But it was such a beautiful drive. The ground was entirely covered in snow and the mountains on each side of the road were splendid. It was awesome - just being alone with God, seeing his beauty and creation. I had a great time of spiritual reflection and prayer, listening to some good worship music, compilations of Mattie Montgomery, a good sermon by Brandon Shank, and of course a good dose of metalcore to keep me awake. I got to Vegas and drove through into California. Let me just say that the stretch of highway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles was the most traffic I have ever seen on a highway outside of a city. It was CRAZY, and a good little introduction to the California drivers. I arrived at my parent's friends house in the desert in California.

Saturday, January 8 -
I woke up and spent some time talking with the people I stayed with. I told them about what I would be doing in LA, and I showed them my short film. They were really moved and excited to see God working through me. They were so incredibly encouraging to me and prayed over me before I left. I have no doubt that God designed for me to be there and be encouraged. I drove the remaining three hours into Los Angeles. As I was leaving the mountains I could see the smog - the world famous Los Angeles smog. Oh boy! I got to my apartments and got checked in with the school. My apartment is LEGIT. After reading dozens of crappy reviews online about the apartment complex, I was actually really impressed. (Ill post pics of my apartment eventually). One thing that really does suck though is the parking here... this apartment complex houses 11,000 people, so yeah, that kind of explains things, huh? Anyways, I met my roommates as they moved in. All three of them are so awesome, I know that God brought us all together for a reason. We had an orientation session that evening followed by a "Get to know each other" complimentary dinner, which was nice, because I really was not feeling like cooking.

Sunday, January 9 -
After a good breakfast, we had a worship service at our school followed by a bunch of LONG orientation sessions. Just a little bit about my school - It is called Los Angeles Film Studies Center (LAFSC) We have just under 50 students here, most of which are film or communication majors in their senior year, and most of which happen to be from the midwest and the east coast. It's on one floor of a big building about half a mile from our apartments (which with the help of my awesome long board takes me about 5 minutes!) The facilities are awesome though. There are two computer labs, one for whatever, and the other for editing (with fully upgraded Mac Pros). Then there is a student lounge area to hang out and watch movies which is next to the movie library with probably over a thousand movies, almost any movie (including tons of blu-rays) you can think of. So we can just check out however many we want and keep them as long as we want. Of course there are other facilities - classrooms, casting suite, foley studio, ADR room, and other great stuff which you can see on the website.

Monday, January 10 -
Classes began today. Our schedule is slightly different from regular classes. We usually have 1-2 different classes each day, each of which are about 3 hours long. But my professors are amazing! Even though I have completed the film program at Evangel, I am still learning SO much. A lot of what we focus on is the importance of "story." And realizing how essential it is to understand good story telling in order to effectively do any position in film, whether it be DP, editor, producer, director or whatever. All of my teachers are very well experienced and know what they are talking about from experience. They all have so much great insight and I am so excited to see all that I learn from them this semester. That evening we had two guest speakers come in - Jim(composer for Left Behind, McGee and Me and other shows) and Karen Covell, who founded the Hollywood Prayer Network (HPN). They were so encouraging in this seminar, to help us realize that we need to be missionaries to Hollywood, and to focus on Christ here. They talked a lot about how Hollywood is a mission field just as remote tribes of Africa are, and that we need to learn the culture and be a light for Christ and show love to the people in the entertainment industry. It was pretty cool and they gave us a copy of their book and DVD as well as the Left Behind soundtrack. I got to meet them and talk a little bit afterwords.

Friday, January 14 -
Did I skip a couple days? Oh.... my bad. On Friday we got to meet in our small groups where we discussed our expectations for learning and spiritual growth this semester. We got to go out for lunch and have some delicious pizza and it was a beautiful day. I might mention that the weather here has been sooo nice - its typically perfectly sunny with almost no clouds, a low of 65ish and a high of about 80. Im usually a winter guy and i love the snow and all, but I really can't complain too much about the weather here. After lunch we came back to the school and watched the hilarious short film musical that our group leader, Melanie produced with her husband (director) who is in graduate studies at USC. That afternoon we had a guest come visit, one of our teacher's good friends invited his friend John Michael Hinton who is a mentalist, which is basically like a magician that does mind tricks (but not jedi mind tricks) by reading facial micro-expressions, it's pretty extraordinary .
Our professor asked for some help to film the show, so I offered my assistance and I was invited to join my professor, John, and the others that helped, to a private members-only magicians club in Hollywood. It was awesome! We got to see a bunch of really good magicians do sweet magic tricks.



Saturday, January 15 -
We had a bunch of guys come over to my apartment and we made a huge breakfast. It was awesome! I made pancakes, we had bacon, a fruit salad, toast, and OJ. And they say men can't take care of themselves! We can... but usually only for one meal.

After brek, our school went on a field trip to tour the Kodak theater (where the Academy Awards are held annually). It was really beautiful inside and huge. After that we wandered around downtown Hollywood. Not to be a negative nancy, but I was slightly less than amused considering that it was my third time there in the past year. Anyways it was a fun nonetheless, hanging out with my friend Gordon and chatting with him. That night our school director had everyone over to her house for dinner. That was pretty awesome, a free and delicious home-cooked meal!

Sunday, January 16 -
Sunday morning I attended a church with my roommates called Ecclesia. The church is literally in downtown Hollywood, one block away from the Kodak theater and Grauman's Chinese theater. It's a beautiful thing to be able to have an altar to God in the midst of many altars to man. The church was awesome! I was really expecting some showy watered-down gospel church, and it was nothing of the like. The message was AWESOME. It was one of the best sermon's that I have ever heard about sexual purity. I highly recommend you click this link and listen to it (click on the one for 1/16/11). After church we went to eat at Sharky's, a delicious organic meat mexican food place. It was delish! I really don't remember what I did the rest of the day, but I'm sure it was cool.

Well that's week one! It's been a great time so far. Other things I've been doing include swimming in our awesome pool, longboarding around, having great conversations, eating at In-N-Out, and playing my ukulele and synth a ton. The people here are great, I'm really learning to love people with the love of the Lord. Even though I may not always be good at expressing it, I deeply care for everyone at this school and I feel so incredibly blessed to have them be a part of my life, and being able to see God through them. I hope that I can be a servant to them and an encouragement to them throughout the semester. It's so cool being able to hang out with nerds with a lot in common with me, we literally drive around LA with the Tron: Legacy Soundtrack pounding out of the car speakers. (By the way, regardless of how you felt about the film, the Tron Soundtrack is unbelievably awesome, I've been listening to it a ton). It's also been awesome knowing that people have been put in my life to inspire me, encourage me, and pray with me through the things I have been going through.

I feel as though I have been transformed. Through my circumstances I have had no one to turn to that can truly help me through everything other than the Lord. He is my strength. He has drawn me close to Him once again and allowed me to put my complacency in the past. His love is changing me each day. The things that used to matter so much to me no longer matter. I used to be obsessed with being the best, with getting the approval of others, with getting the best job out of college, with getting everything figured out. But now my one desire is to bring glory to God and to fall in love with him. I no longer worry about the things I did before because they are secondary to the primary goal of my life. Before I came out here, I wanted so badly to be the director of one of the films here. I applied for the director position here at school, and I never thought I'd say it, but I honestly don't care if I get it or not. I ONLY want to be where God wants me, and if he wants me to direct, then I will be the best director I can be for His glory, and if I don't get director I know that wasn't God's will and that's TOTALLY fine, because even if I'm the guy moving stuff around, setting up lights, unwinding cables, then I will do the best I can there for God's glory. I wish you all could see the change that God has done in my life. I rely on Him, and I am nothing apart from Him. Only HE will truly satisfy our hearts, as Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” I love you all so much. To all my friends at Evangel- I miss you guys more than you can imagine, and I pray that you will fall in love with Jesus and put aside all worry and trust in him. He will guide you with his perfect peace. I can't wait to see you all again, I really do love you so much and I am so blessed to have you be a part of my life. I see Christ in each one of you, and I wish the very best for you. I'm sorry for those of you that I have not talked to because of hurting too much to talk about things, just know that I love you. Thank you so much for all of you that have called me, cried with me, encouraged me, prayed with me and loved me. You are the sons and daughters of God!

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3

Give Me Jesus

You feel distant
but I know all the distance is in my heart,
because even now, your hand awaits mine.
Close the gap
I need you now
I wait as though a ship arrives from sea,
but I know all too well,
the arrival will only come when I am ready.
The fire will only start when I strike the match
you are the flame waiting to ignite.
All that I seek in this life,
all that will ever satisfy will only come through you.
My purpose, rooted in my blood-
to love you.
Your name, written on my heart-
to serve you.
Arise my soul, and run after the living God.
May your hunger for Him never be satisfied
and drive you after Him.
May your mind be granted wisdom
to spread on the earth
May your heart be lit on fire
and be consumed by the Spirit of God
and may love envelop you and every breath you breathe
This does not call for talent,
this does not call for beauty,
this does not call for knowledge
It calls for your soul,
for a heart that does not give up.

You can have all this world, but give me Jesus.

New Years Resolutions

Okay so I'm not like a huge New Years resolution person, but I guess I'll give it a shot this year, it's always good to have some goals to work towards.

So here it is, resolutions for 2010:

1. Surrender more and more of myself to God and His will, and focus my life entirely on Him.

2. To have a heart for those who do not know Christ, and with the empowerment of the God, reach people and spread the Truth.

3. Be more humble, thinking of others as first and better than myself

4. Be generous with my time and resources to those who are in need.

5. Overcome fear, and find the courage to do all the things that God asks me to do

6. Spend more time playing and writing music.

7. Continue striving to be the best boyfriend that I can be.

8. Spend more time with the guys from my floor, and let them know how much I appreciate them and their friendship.

9. To not procrastinate on anything

10. To spend more time with my family (in Springfield, and my family in Boise)

11. To eat healthier and work out 3 times a week and hopefully gain some muscle and weight

12. To not forget my vision, my dream, my calling

13. To be willing to stand for God and for what he has called me to do even when it means being rejected by others.

14. be consumed by the Spirit of God.

I guess thats about it, although theres hundreds of more things that I could add, but those are the main things. and for those of you who made resolutions, I wish you the best in working towards them. dont give up if you arent doing as well at them as you wanted to be.

My complaints are few,

my persecutions, minor,

my arguments, unreasonable.

I don't have to look to tomorrow to be blessed.

Here and now, I am blessed.

What I have in this hour is all that I need,

and what is to come is your abundant grace.

My hand desires more,

but let my heart be satisfied in you and all you have provided.

I've been given more than I've asked for,

and received far more than I deserve.

The idols and desires will fall and fail,

but you remain constant.

May you forever be my foundation that holds me strong,

may you forever be the eternal water from which I will thirst no more,

may you be the shining love on me that I reflect to the world.

Lead me from distraction and temptation,

and let me not stray from the path you have placed me on.

Let me not forget, in the luxury of life, 

the calling and purpose which you have appointed me to.

You are the source of everything that is good in this world,

and my heart will never stop seeking you above all else.

My silence speaks louder than my words,
but here they speak in vain:
There is nowhere that I can be alone,
Yet everywhere that I go, I feel alone.
They can all hear my stammered words,
They can all see the expressions on my face.
and maybe the tears in my eyes.
but no one really hears my heart screaming
No one sees it beat blood through aching holes.
Ill pour some sand in my heart to soak up the blood.
Ill put a smile on my face so you won't know
what I don't think you will understand
because I believe that I am alone.
I've convinced myself that the God I claim to live for
can hear me, but will not respond.
Have I attempted to deify myself?

You pity yourself you selfish fool.
You hate this world and all you want is someone else to hate it with you.
You once knew love when your world was a crib,
and you want to go back to that world.
You don't want the world you are resistantly forced into
and feel as though you must embrace so much of it that you don't want to.
You are in a state of helpless, hopeless confusion.
You will not open your heart, you will not show it
because you are afraid that no one will understand.
You do not even believe God understands you,
You steal the joy of others and take none for yourself.
Yet you are selfish and stubborn.
You don't know your purpose anymore,
You don't see your calling.
You are bipolar, emotional, and dramatic.
You are lost and feel you have become a burden to those around you

I do not understand what I am meant to understand.
Why is it all so easy for every other person to grasp and so difficult for me?
If I'm meant to let go of something, why was I meant to grab it in the first place.

Where is a cure?
Where is understanding?
Where is community?
Where is agreement?
Where is faith?
Where is God?
Where is love?
Where am I?

Where I look is where I go
And these are the things I see in a mirror
A mirror which stands between me and God

abandon

this is who you are,
or rather, who you're not
the solidity of your beliefs
is now fragments, scattered, and skewed
deceived to the point of being turned inside out
truth and the conscious are tossed and twisted
around a fallacy which has raped you of wisdom


"You left behind hopes and dreams of a life left incomplete.
You walked away from everything you believed in,
When you wanted to change the world.

You left behind all remains.
You left behind all that remains. "

"Needles"- Haste the Day

too quick to leave

im too quick to forget
let me leave with the luggage
you can keep all the pictures
the dirt from my hands
but keep them around, like you keep yourself
im sure ill return
cause in the back of my mind, and on the other line,
ill always assume youll be there
and you will
and you will

cause so often i walk by
like a penny on the sidewalk
when you're the rags with a tin can
or the crimson-thorned flower that dies with the bulb of a streetlamp
and no one knows if its blood
and no one knows if its love
and no one cares that it dies, just the color it brings
and the only water it gets, are the tears that it heaves
or the throat of a bottle that wants to dislodge
but it's stuck in a box with five other friends
the friends are the foes
but its hard to see with glass in your eyes
I just want to tell myself
you're the dollar wrapped up with a coat and a tie
or the stars with a hand that will fit right in mine
the book with an outline, and the highlights in bold
or a painted mirror with the colors i chose, and the whole face exposed

how can i be, too quick to leave
the only place im welcome to stay

is your God really God?

so i got on my blog friday night for the first time in months, and anyways i was reading some of my older blogs and i was just like, in awe of how time has changed me, or rather, how I've allowed time to change me. I was shocked to see how much passion I used to have for God- which I would have given everything I have to know Him more, had just become a casual desire. I was suddenly in one of those deep thoughtful modes and so I figured that it would be a good time to over to 24 in the chapel, which was going on for the day.
So I got to the chapel, not really expecting anything, but at the same time, not really expecting nothing to happen, I just felt the desire to go worship God. I swear this next part is a miracle: as I entered the building and began walking up into the balcony, I was taken back to a place when I first fell in love with God as a young boy, where I let nothing get in the way, I just wanted to know and love God. I began to think of the many blessings God has given me, and how real and how close He has been to me, even though I have felt as if He was so distant. I simply broke down and just exploded in tears and felt so close to God, like I had not felt in like over a year and a half. It was amazing, it was like this shell had been broken off of me, and I began to realize that I had let so much of my mind get in the way of the simple facts of loving God. I had let my mind become so analytical, trying to figure out God and exactly what he was doing, trying to logically explain the way things were, and just letting all these doubts build up in me. I realized at that moment like I had never before: God CANNOT fit in our minds. We will NEVER fully understand God, and if we could, then he wouldn't be God. He is so much bigger than what our minds can comprehend. I am in no way disregarding the importance of seeking wisdom, but I got to a point in my life, where I let my mind try to solve every little problem in a way that I was forgetting the simple child-like faith of just loving God, trusting in Him, and being with Him. Anyways, that night was soooo awesome! I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me, and I want to share that with anyone who wants to hear about it.

it reminds me a lot of this song that I really love by As Cities Burn, its called "Clouds"... the lyrics are:
Is your love really Love?
Is my love really Love?
I think our love isn't Love,
Unless it's Love to the end.

Is your god really God?
Is my god really God?
I think our god isn't God,
If he fits inside our heads.)
that pretty much sums it up