The Big Picture

So, I intended to write this blog with little things in mind. Daily things that keep me from getting work done. But then I started thinking about life and whatnot. So this blog turned out a little more heartfelt that I intended. But here it goes...

Life is full of distractions. Things that take your eyes off of the big picture. I'm not talking about the big picture of life, but the big picture according to you. If you're in high school, the big picture is graduating. In college, the big picture is.... also graduating. In a meaningful relationship, the big picture is, presumably, marriage. But the road to that big picture isn't a short one by any means. You have to go through many different obstacles on that road. Thats why its called a journey. And while on that journey, don't stop believing. (I apologize for that poor Journey joke.) But seriously, on that road are so many rest stops and detours you can take. And its alright to stop and look around every now and again, as long as you keep your eyes on the big picture.

My big picture is film school. If you know me than you know that filmmaking is my passion. I don't even have a fallback plan. Making films is my only plan because thats all I want to do with my life. But I've been somewhat distracted from that goal over the past few years. Yeah, years. I've been wanting to go to film school since I graduated high school. Before that, even. I know, I need to get on the ball. But I've coasted by on the bare mininum for so long, I'm not sure how to achieve my goal.

As long as I can remember, I've wanted to tell stories. I know this because I received a letter from my first grade teacher when I graduated stating that I loved to write stories even back when I was in first fucking grade. Then, growing up, I started to develope my short stories into longer stories and those longer stories into sort of novellas and those novellas eventually lead to screen stories. I could never really write stories onto paper very well. I'd always write Screen Play type stories. Then I developed an appreciation for film. It wasn't until 9th or 10th grade when I realized that I wanted to make movies.

Nothing has really come to fruition since then. I mean, I've done some little high school projects and I've made some silly videos with my friends, but thats about all I've done since the 10th grade. And it really hasn't affected me until now. I've been out of school for 2 years and I have no job and I am no closer to my "big picture" than I was when I was 16. I'm nearing my 20th birthday and I have nothing to show for it. This fact has gotten me down the past few weeks.

I've recently sent for Admission Applications for several film schools. New York, Florida, Chicago. Just to name a few. But while looking at film schools online, I started thinking about the people in my life. I don't want to leave them. Then I started thinking of them as the distractions to my big picture. And this job hunt I've been on for a number of months isn't helping either. No job means no money. No money means no way to pay for school. And to top it all off, I've recently, to put it politely, "hit it off" with a girl I've had major feelings for since I met her. Now, I'm not a fan of relationships at all. I like being single and I don't understand why people settle down when they are young, but this girl is, more or less, the girl of my dreams. She's beautiful, funny, smart, fun to be around, she smells good all the time (what? I don't know. I just wanted more adjectives in here), her tastes in movies and music are strikingly similar to mine, and she's just all around awesome. I think she is perfect. But again, this is a distraction from my big picture and I do not want to settle down in any way, shape, or form. So as of now, my eye is on the prize. I'm not letting anything distract me from achieving my goal. Film school is calling me and I intend to answer.

So when it comes to you and your big picture, just remember that its ok to be distracted here and there. Just make sure that you try your hardest to achieve that goal. And don't get lost in those distractions.

Beginings

I used to be a proud member of the Minneapolis/St. Paul community. I lived there for about 5 months and it was awesome! But when housing issues occured, I had to move back to my hometown. I know. Ew, right? That's what I thought. I dreaded that long drive back. I knew things would be the same when I returned. Sitting around my house, bored, depressed, nothing to do. But when I did return, I was surprised. It was still the same town, but things were slightly different. Not noticeably different, but I could feel it.
About a week after being back, I took part in a contest online to make a 30 - 90 second ad for a variety of products. My 3 friends and I jumped at the chance. (The grand prize was $10,000 and a trip to London. C'mon, of course we jumped.) We made 6 ads for the contest and we thought that making these videos were the funnest things we have ever done. We didn't win, but those videos amounted to one of the greatest things I've ever done. We decided to keep making videos because they were so fun. So we did. The 4 of us made more videos under a group name. Those six ads created the formation of Elephant Stomp. Our name as a group was originally going to be Killabear, but that name was taken on Youtube. So we sat around one night, brainstorming names and Elephant Stomp just kind of came to be. So we continued to make skits and other videos for Youtube. Doing so has gained us a local celebrity status around here and neighboring towns. We recently went to North Dakota and found people who enjoy our videos. Slowly but surely, our status is growing. You can find us on Youtube under Elephant Stomp or go to www.youtube.com/theelephantstomp
I've also achieved some, uh, "goals" while being back. I've been with 2 girls I never thought I had a shot with. Both of whom are several years older than I. One of which I've been infatuated with for a number of years and the other I've had strong feelings for since I met her. And I feel that if I can get with them, I can get with anyone because they are both very attractive women who are more mature and could have anyone at their disposal. So I consider both a victory for me! And we are still friends after the fact, so I count that as another win because people say things change between girl and guy friends after they sleep together. Ha. Those people are so wrong.
But not all things are good and awesome while being back. The Dark Days have returned. What are The Dark Days? Well, last year during the winter, my friends and I went to the casino often. Almost every other day. Yeah, it was bad. That period of time was known as The Dark Days and they are back. We've been to the casino several times now in the past few weeks and we don't plan to stop. The last casino adventure almost got us into trouble. See, here's the thing. We like to be uproarious and somewhat wild when we win at slots. So we yell and cheer even if we only win a dollar at a time. We've been at the casino since 9 or 10 in the p.m. and we've been cheering the whole time we were there. A secruity guard told us that we were being too loud and we were going to be escorted out of the casino if we continued. She told us this at 3 in the morning! First off, you couldn't tell us this earlier? And second, how is it possible to be too loud in a fucking casino?! Doesn't make sense to me, but we quieted down. Oh Dark Days, how I missed you....