The Nease Spot

Here's To The Crazy Ones... RIP Steve Jobs!

2011-10-05T18:30:00.001-07:00

"Here's to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore
them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them
as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world - are the ones who DO!"

Nico Adams + Christine Olivier "Stop Us" Live Music Video

2011-09-19T02:54:00.001-07:00

Music video I directed a few weeks back.

Presented by Firebare Productions
Directed by Michael Nease
Cinematography by Nicholas J Reid
Additional Camera Operators: Daniel Matsuura & Michael Nease
Edited by Michael Nease

Find out more about the artists on their sites:

www.nicoadams.com
www.christineolivier.com

How To Bend a C-Stand

2011-09-16T00:51:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time, I was a young aspiring filmmaker interning on a feature film in Nashville, TN and I did something no one knew could be done... I bent a C-Stand! Not all of you will know what that means, and I'm not quite sure how I did it, but I like to think that our director Jason Satterlund was too impressed to be mad. I know I would have been!

I don't think I'll live to benefit from my Time Machine backup!

2011-08-19T10:06:00.001-07:00

Estimated time completion from 5 minutes ago:

The number keeps increasing!

Untitled

2011-08-06T14:43:00.001-07:00

Taken at Abalone Cove Beach

Juicing For Breakfast: After

2011-08-06T09:51:00.001-07:00

Juicing for Breakfast: Before

2011-08-06T09:50:00.001-07:00

This might be the coolest clock I've ever seen!

2011-08-04T19:15:00.001-07:00

Hanging out in Burbank this afternoon. I love the Justice League wall @ Warner Bros.!

2011-08-04T15:23:00.001-07:00

Taken at Warner Bros. Triangle Building

Started juicing again today. Today's mix: carrot, kale & apple!

2011-08-03T19:53:00.001-07:00

Ok... I will definitely steal some plates ahead!

2011-08-01T15:45:00.001-07:00

My friend Dan's new t-shirt. Cat Power!!!

2011-07-30T12:54:00.003-07:00

My friend Dan's new t-shirt. Cat Power!!!

2011-07-30T12:54:00.001-07:00

Twilight The Musical? Haha! Awesome!

2011-07-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

Taken at Camino Real Playhouse

Finally getting one of these portable music players. Now I can listen to my All-4-One tapes on the go!

2011-07-29T20:03:00.001-07:00

This explains why the kids in our complex keep shouting "CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS!"

2011-07-27T18:12:00.001-07:00

The Plight of Mrs. Snowman by Nick Ginsberg

2011-07-23T01:01:00.001-07:00

That's my name, don't wear it out!

2011-07-22T03:41:00.001-07:00

Taken at Getty Images

Work

2011-07-22T03:40:00.001-07:00

I need some extra fuel to keep me going tonight.

2011-07-21T03:21:00.001-07:00

Movie editing is only hard when you attempt it with inadequate equipment...

2011-07-20T04:59:00.001-07:00

Ken Burns's Prohibition -- coming to PBS | Sneak Peek | PBS

2011-07-19T22:02:00.001-07:00

New iPad displays for all of the items at the Apple Store! Cool!

2011-07-18T15:16:00.001-07:00

Taken at Apple Store

The Duke

2011-07-16T18:45:00.001-07:00

Anthony & Sarah

2011-07-15T16:27:00.003-07:00

Taken at South Coast Botanical Garden

Anthony & Sarah

2011-07-15T16:27:00.001-07:00

Taken at South Coast Botanical Garden

At my friend Rico's wedding

2011-07-15T16:12:00.001-07:00

Taken at South Coast Botanical Garden

I don't think the ArcLight Beach Cities were ready for the psycho Harry Potter crowds

2011-07-15T03:42:00.001-07:00

What does this mean?

2011-07-14T13:45:00.001-07:00

Taken at Panda Express

1929 Vitaphone vinyl projection sync record for "Weary River"

2011-07-14T12:16:00.001-07:00

6 steps to being your own boss

2011-07-10T10:26:00.001-07:00

Young entrepreneurs have to work hard to overcome inexperience and gain credibility. These tips increase your odds of success when starting out and starting up. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/EscapeTheRatRace/6Ste...

Michael Kahn on working with Steven Spielberg

2011-02-20T01:15:00.001-08:00

"I found that if I listen more than I talk I can really get into what Steven would like to have done with the film" Michael Kahn on working with Steven Spielberg

November & Sebastian - Vancouver Film School (VFS)

2011-02-02T21:59:00.001-08:00

November & Sebastian - Vancouver Film School (VFS) (viaVancouverFilmSchool)

I love the stuff I see coming out of this school's animation program!

Testing our new light kit. @thedailyspecial

2011-01-19T13:03:00.001-08:00

Taken at Matsuura

Strong Tea

2011-01-02T18:50:00.001-08:00

ReTweetie adds legitimate retweeting to Tweetie Mac

2010-12-14T01:22:00.001-08:00

Filed under: Software, OS X
ReTweetie adds legitimate retweeting to Tweetie Mac

by Megan Lavey (RSS feed) on Dec 13th 2010 at 5:00PM

One of the biggest frustrations with Tweetie for Mac is the lack of legitimate retweeting to your followers. While it's understandable that the developers have been a tad busy in the past year, it doesn't seem all that unreasonable to at least issue an update tp include a very basic Twitter function.
Developer Nick Paulson solves this by writing a plugin called ReTweetie. The ReTweetie plugin requires a download of SIMBL, which is a free bundle loader, and the program itself. After relaunching Tweetie for Mac, hit "repost" and enjoy full retweet goodness.
As for Tweetie for Mac itself, development on version 2 was alive and well as of October.
Many thanks to @AndruEdwards!

Tags: Mac, OSX, retweetie, tweetie for mac, TweetieForMac, twitter

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Comments (8)

via tuaw.com

What Are You Syncing About?

2010-12-04T01:13:00.001-08:00

I'm working on a made-for-tv Christmas Special and I've been syncing the dailies for far too long... I can't get this commercial out of my head. :-)

Out of Order

2010-11-28T16:54:00.001-08:00

If they were any more specific, I don't think I could handle it!

VIDEO: Rico Reads A Great Book!

2010-11-11T19:14:00.001-08:00

Benefits of keeping backups...

2010-11-01T11:05:00.001-07:00

I had to drive up to West Hollywood this morning to work on a project (I live in the South Bay, so it's a hike) only to realize that the entire project is inconveniently on a portable hard drive at home. Thankfully, I keep multiple backups of my projects, and always have FCP auto-save to a separate hard drive than the one my project is on.

I was able to thankfully grab my most recent auto-save, mount the card files from my project and everything's happily reconnecting.

It pays to keep backups!

Late Night...

2010-10-29T03:44:00.001-07:00

Late night tonight! Once this last DVD is done, I'm wrapped up for the night!

Birthday Brisket

2010-10-25T23:42:00.001-07:00

I made this delicious brisket for my 30th Birthday party this weekend!

Hard Crash

2010-10-06T15:26:00.001-07:00

Wow, my new Mac Pro just hard crashed! Haven't seen this happen in a while!

Untitled

2010-09-29T00:16:00.001-07:00

My thoughts on Avatar (5/5 Stars)

2009-12-19T09:19:00.000-08:00

I absolutely loved this movie! First of all, it falls right into my favorite genre (sci-fi/fantasy), but mostly because it's an incredibly solid film. From the story to the special effects and action sequences, I found myself completely engulfed in the world shown on the screen.

This was my first movie to watch in the new "RealD 3D", and I was VERY impressed! I usually have a hard time with 3D movies (I usually end up going cross eyed a lot) but after about two or three minutes into this, I forgot that I was wearing 3D glasses. The 3D wasn't the gimmicky "In-your-face" 3D that I remember from when I was a kid. Instead, they make it look like you are actually looking into the screen which made me feel like I was actually there.

I'm not going to say anything about the actual story-line, just that if you like any of these movies, you will most likely like Avatar: Star Wars, The Lord Of The Rings, The Matrix, Terminator etc... If you don't like sci-fi / fantasy stories, you're just going to have to decide for yourself if this is something you want to see, but I would just say, go see it.

One thing I will say is that I can see people either loving or hating the environmental message that is in the movie, and I would honestly hate for this to ruin the film for anyone because everything else in it is spectacular. Just remember that it is a fantasy film set on another world, and as you will see in the movie, the rules of our world need not apply.

I can't say if you will love or hate this movie, but I loved it! I heard it said once that people think about good films for a few days after seeing them, but they will think about great days for months or years after seeing them. I'll definitely be thinking about this movie for quite a while. I want to see it again!

Streams Of Mercy - America's Giving Challenge

2009-10-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

Most of you probably know by now that my dad runs an incredible organization called "Streams Of Mercy". I help them with a lot of technical things that they need help with, and as a part of that, I admin the Streams of Mercy Cause on Facebook, as well as overseeing their blog. I just entered the Streams of Mercy Cause into what I think is a very important contest being held by the Causes organization called "America's Giving Challenge". The purpose of the contest in a nutshell is this: whoever can get the most donations from now until November 7 will receive a gift of $50,000 plus, those who are able to get the most daily donations will receive gifts of $1000 and $500 (this prize can be received daily).

There's a more detailed posting over on the Streams of Mercy Blog that talks about how you can get involved.

Click here to go there now

New Spec Shoot

2009-10-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

My friend Chris and I have been in the process of shooting five "spec" commercials that will hopefully help us get hired for some "real" commercials and other jobs down the road. We shot one a year ago, and we just wrapped production for the second last night. Chris directed both of the specs, and I was his 1st Assistant Director.

The first spec we shot was back in August of last year, and was for Arrogant Bastard Ale. Here it is:

The second shoot, which we wrapped last night is for 'Biography.com'. Chris cut the first spec, but I'll be editing this one. Once it's finished, I'll post it here, but in the mean time, here's a few production stills from the set. For those interested, we shot the spec with the Canon 5D Mark II. Director of Photography was Nicholas J. Reid:

Viral Vs. Viral

2009-10-03T16:04:00.000-07:00

Question: What do you get when you combine two bands + award winning directors + 24 hours?

Answer: You get viralvsviral.com, and online video contest between two bands to see which one of their videos will go viral first:

There is a bit of an assumption that you can stick any old film online and you've instantly got yourself a viral hit... We decided to give two bands a chance to be visually creative inviting them to produce their own music video...Can they go viral?

Here's the vids:

And second:

(via handheldhollywood.com)

Streams Of Mercy - Good Shepherd Homes

2009-10-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

I can't always say that the videos that I edit have a lot of meaning to me. Earlier this year, my dad contacted me about helping them put together a series of videos for their organization Streams Of Mercy (site). Their primary focus as an organization is helping orphans around the globe who are desperate and helpless in changing their circumstances.

Each of the videos is a highlight on one of the orphanages that they sponsor; and while Streams Of Mercy sponsors many orphanages in many different nations, so far they only have footage from some of their sponsored orphanages in India.

The first that I cut is from an orphanage called "Good Shepherd Homes" located in Talegaon which is in the Indian state of Maharashtra near the city of Pune.

Here's the video. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments:

Driving Out Hunger

2009-10-01T21:46:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, due to economy related downsizing at the company I was working for, my position as a staff video editor was terminated, and I moved into the freelance market. At first it seemed like it was going to be difficult to make this adjustment, but after about six months, I actually think I prefer it.

In an effort to share with the world some of the various projects that I am working on, I am going to attempt to post at least once a week, hopefully more, with updates on current and recent projects.

The first is a project I just finished editing, which is a month long series of videos for The Cheesecake Factory. During the month of September, they partnered with Feeding America to tour across the country with their 'Drive Out Hunger' tour. Throughout the month of September, they visited 30 cities in 30 days collecting cans of soup and other food donations, and then they donated them to local food banks in those cities. When all was said and done, they collected 321,992 cans! The videos that I cut are on the Drive Out Hunger Tour Site. To see them, look in the bottom left corner, and click on the link that says "Tour Video". I cut all of the videos except the intro video that comes up when you first get to the site.

WHAT THE...? -> "MEGA SHARK VS. GIANT OCTOPUS"???

2009-05-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

I am slightly intrigued by incredibly horrible story concepts, and I'm even more intrigued when people step out and make movies out of them. So, in this segment that I'm simply calling: "WHAT THE...?" I present the trailer for "MEGA SHARK VS. GIANT OCTOPUS"

Alike Much?

2009-05-11T17:29:00.001-07:00

My wife's cousin Annie (link) inspired me to post this, just for fun:

I have NEVER...

Learned to weld.

Owned a cat (much less a cat with 23 toes)

been a victim of check fraud.

eaten a raw quail egg

worn a cast

cheated on a test

cooked brussel sprouts

had a perm

Sung in a studio

Ridden the same roller coaster 18 times in one day

I HAVE...

eaten liver

been to Hawaii

been to Disney World

held a hummingbird in my hands

Dislocated my shoulder too many times to count

Had surgery

Traveled to 27 countries & 49 states

Been shot in the arm with a BB (the BB has been in my arm for 15 years now)

Owned a poodle

Owned a hermit crab

Quote of The Week

2008-11-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

"All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome." ~ George Orwell

VOTE!!

2008-11-03T16:03:00.000-08:00

The next major Presidential election is right around the corner. Whatever you do, don't forget to vote!

Make sure you fully understand the issues before hitting the polls, and know where your local polling place is.

Google has a great resource for finding polling places click here to see it.

And lastly, but not leastly:

"The time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse them. . . . Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently. . . . Christians seem to act as if they thought God did not see what they do in politics. But I tell you He does see it - and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course they [Christians] take [in politics]." ~ Charles G. Finney

So, exercise your right as an American, and VOTE!!

Comic-Con Day 1

2008-07-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

After a bit of confusion and lots of traffic this morning, we finally made it to the press room at the San Diego Convention Center. Apparently there's going to be around 25,000 people at Comic-Con this year, and it has become very clear that they have out grown the facilities. This year's convention has completely maxed out the Convention Center and has spread out to a number of hotels in the San Diego area. It's really amazing to me how popular this event has become in the past 30 years.

I have a gallery of photos that I will be posting throughout the event, so check back for updates. So far I haven't had the chance to walk around to see the exhibits because of work, but I'm hoping to soon.

While I'm here I have a portable editing set-up with which I will be cutting together multiple interview clips for our client UGO.com. So, until any footage comes in, I get to stay with the equipment on stand-by. The press room is much quieter than the rest of the convention which is readily welcomed by me.

More to come soon.

Media Offline

2008-07-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

This post won't mean much to most of you, just those who have ever done any video editing, especially if the footage that you cut is hosted on a server. You'll really be able to relate if the server that you're working off of unexpectedly shuts down, disconnects itself from your computer, simply stops working or all of the above with no warning whatsoever. I don't know why it happened, but it did and all I can do is wait for those who work on these things to figure out what's going on. So, until further notice, my Media is Offline and my work for the day has gone on an undetermined hiatus.

In the mean time, have a staring contest with my friend Chris (He's really good!):

Comic-Con 2008 San Diego

2008-07-23T06:42:00.000-07:00

I'll be leaving for San Diego this afternoon with 2 other people from my work to cover Comic-Con San Diego 2008. I'll be the on site editor, so I'll be working most of the time, but I'm hoping to get the chance to go to some of the forms and see some of the exhibits.

It will be my first field job since working for Getty Images, and I'm looing forward to it. I'll be there from tonight through Saturday (7/23 - 7/27) and I'll be posting pictures from the event as it goes along, so stay posted. I'm a huge nerd for stuff like this, so I'm hoping to have the time of my life.

Birthday Rugge

2008-07-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

I love my new job (I guess I can still call it new since I've been there for under 6 months). We probably have a bit more fun than one would think we should have, but I think we have some incredible dynamics going on.

Today one of my co-workers, Johnathan Ruggiero (Pictured Above) is celebrating his 27th Birthday. Johnathan or "Rugge" (pronounced the same way you say the Rouge in "Moulin Rouge") as we so affectionately call him, is one of that those people that I can't imagine not liking, and on top of that, he's probably one of the hardest workers I know. I'm unfortunatlely not able to celebrate with Rugge this evening, but if he is by chance reading, I wish you all the best this year. It's great working with you!

Streams Of Mercy

2007-09-25T22:30:00.001-07:00

Streams of Mercy is a grassroots non-profit organization that was started by my parents several years ago. They just posted their new website at www.streamsofmercy.org, and have a fantastic video that will be finished within the next few weeks describing the heart of the organization, and their mission.

Here is what their site says about the organization:

"Streams of Mercy was established to meet the needs of the most needy individuals in nations around the world. These individuals are often children who are desperate and helpless in changing their circumstances.

The organization is actively involved in disaster relief, both man-made and natural, by mobilizing volunteers and resources to assist those in need.

Streams of Mercy strives to meet the most obvious needs of the destitute like food, clothing, shelter, and medical assistance, as well as meeting the less visible needs of care and comfort. Utilizing volunteers with genuine compassion means that resources can get to these individuals with a minimum amount spent on administrative services, thereby maximizing the impact of donations."

Uganda's 20 Year Holocaust (aka. Restore Hope)

2007-09-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

This is a video I made when I was in Kampala, Uganda in the Summer of 2006. It is in reference to the 20 year war that has plagued Northern Uganda since the early 80s, and has taken the lives of countless thousands, displaced millions, and resulted in over 8,000 children being abducted and forced to be child soldiers.

I edited the video, and the footage came from numerous sources. Let me know what you think.

It's Been A While, I Know!

2007-03-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything up here, so I thought it was a good time for an update. A lot has happened over the past several months, the biggest of which is my current job as a video editor with a production company in Beverly Hills called Creanspeak Productions. It has been an incredible experience for me, and is a great opportunity for growth into bigger and better things! Creanspeak is a full circle production company with post-production facilities in house, and produces everything from Feature Films, Television and Online Content.

This job was a real answer to prayer as Emily and I are getting closer and closer to our big day! July 7th is only 4 months away! Hard to believe, I know. I still need to find an apartment though, and I'm still trusting in God for the right place (soon!)

Well, that kind of sums things up for now. I've recently posted my Demo Reel for my video editing, so here it is for you so some of you can see a little bit of what I do.

BIG BROTHER LIVES IN L.A.

2006-11-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

The other day, I was surprised when Emily came to me with a mysterious piece of mail she had received. It had been addressed to "The Hembree Trust", and seemed to be some sort of traffic violation notice. On the back side there was a series of pictures that were obviously Emily's car, and in one of the pictures, there I was clear as day, driving it. The paper said that I had run a red light, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out when. Then it came to me. I was over at her house one day a few weeks ago, and must not have had my car there for some reason or another, and I was hungry so I went out in search for some food. Well, there was a weird intersection along the way, and by the time I saw that the light had changed, it was too late so I ran it. There didn't seem to be any cops around, so I thought I was ok. But to my demise, Big Brother was watching, and he took my picture. Scary.

On one angle, I can see the benefit of having traffic cameras like the one that nabbed me, but on the other hand, I almost feel it getting out of hand. Law officials feeling the need to control our each and every action by monitoring us at all times. Sounds a little too 1984-ish for my liking.

My over-analytical mind has already pictured multiple negative scenarios as to where this could go. But, in the mean time, all I can say to Big Brother is, "I hope you like what you see, cuz I'm not that interesting."

And never forget: "WE ARE AT WAR WITH EURASIA, WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR WITH EURASIA!!!"

Please Pay Attention to South Dakota...

2006-10-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

I want to ask all of you to please pay attention to what is going on in South Dakota. It might not be plastered over all of the news headlines right now, but it is one of the most important news stories in our contry in a long time!

On February 2, 2006, the lawmakers in South Dakota voted to place the nations farthest-reaching ban on abortion since the implimentation of Roe V. Wade. This ban was signed by the governor and makes it a felony for doctors to perform any abortion, except to save the life of a pregnant woman.

Next week, the people of South Dakota will vote on whether or not the law should be upheld. There are at least a dozen or so other states with similar bills who are waiting to see the outcome in South Dakota. If the people vote to uphold this law, it will most likely have a domino effect across the entire nation as the states take this important responsibility in their hands. Please pray that God would intervene in the hearts of South Dakota's voters, that they would understand the importance of their vote. This could be the beginning of the end of what has been one of the darkest holocausts in the history of man.

For more info, please read this article from thecauseusa.com

I Actually Love California (I Promise!)

2006-10-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

So, Emily pointed out a few things from my previous post, and I do have a confession to make: I really do love living in California, and other than the obvious economical challenges to living here, it has been one of my ideal places to live for quite some time now! I mean, how many cities in this great nation are within 2 - 5 hours of some of the most beautiful national parks and forrests in the entire country? And how many people can honestly say that a hot day is a day in the 80's, and a cold day is in the 60's? All this included with living only miles away from beautiful beaches and amazing shorelines! California really is an amazing place to live!!

Over Labor Day weekend, I had an amazing opportunity to take a backpacking trip with a couple guys from my church into King's Canyon on the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was purhaps one of the most physically testing adventures I have ever been on, but at the same time, in my many adventures around the world, I have rarely seen such beauty as I saw on that trek! The last time that I really was able to enjoy the amazing blessings of God's amazing creation like this was about four years ago before my parents sold our cabin in Colorado. I had almost forgotten how incredibly close to God I feel when I am in places like this. And, time after time as I was out there, I was amazed that this utopia existed merely hours north-east of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the entire United States! I truly am greatful for the National Parks that our nation has preserved. We also saw an amazing amount of wildlife on our trip. Among the animals we came across were deer, rattlesnakes and I even saw a bear while I was waiting for the other guys to get back from climbing up some huge boulders (an amazing experience I might add... it just looked at me, and then kept walking, I was only a little scared.)

At then end of the four day trip, I had successfully packed over 20 miles with new boots on (I had the blisters to prove it) and a feeling of great accomplishment in my heart. There were times that I felt like giving up (especially considering how out of shape I was prior to the trip), but knew that no matter what I had to press on because there was no where else to go! Alltogether, I am very glad I went on this trip. The good parts of it far outweigh the bad, especially the spiritual and life lessons I learned from this short trip. There is honestly no feeling like standing at the high point of a valley, looking back and saying to yourself, "I came that whole way", having pressed through intense pain and strong desires of quitting, but knowing that giving up is not an option! Life and our walk with God share so many parallells for me with this trip. If you ever have a chance to go backpacking into an amazing place like this, DO IT!!! You won't regret it!

I plan on returning to King's Canyon sometime in the future, preferrably in better shape and with boots that are broken in! And if any of you want to come with me, the invitation is open! I think everyone should be able to experience God's beautiful creation the way I did in King's Canyon, from the amazing granite cliffs, rugged peaks, ice cold rivers and amazing waterfalls to the seemingly unending supply of wildlife, it truly is an amazing place!

Until Next Time...

P.S. The waterfall behind me looks small in the picture, but it was actually about 50 ft. tall, and an absolutely amazing sight to see!

Now Selling.... iTunes at a Nease Store near you

2006-10-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have recently begun an affiliate program with the iTunes Store, the world's largest and Most Diverse Legal Music Download Catalog with over 1 million tracks from all 5 major labels and more than 600 independents. I will receive a profit from any purchases made through my links. So, if you don't use iTunes to buy music, it's time to get started! To get to the iTunes Store, click on one of the iTunes banners or links in my site.

iTunes: The world's best digital jukebox, with the #1 music download store inside.

Surviving In LA

2006-10-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

Being someone who grew up in what most people would consider "the middle of nowhere", East Texas, I guess you could say that living in Los Angeles qualifies for being as far away from home as I can be without leaving the United States.

After an unexpected year and a half in Nashville, TN I finally made my trek out west to the wonderful world of endless traffic where the haze magically hides the beautiful mountains surrounding the landscape. In all actuality, I think I have always had a desire to live in California, deep down in the depths of my... well in the depths of something I haven't quite figured out yet. In truth, my only complaints about this beautiful state have to do with the fact that no matter where you go, people will be there. If you ever find a place and think, "ah, I can finally be alone", someone will come walking around the corner followed by several dozen more. It's pretty much guaranteed when you live in the second largest city in the U.S. And no matter how hard you try to avoid it, there are just certain times during the day when driving a distance that should normally take you fifteen minutes, takes you all of an hour or more. I honestly think that most people living in Southern California have special muscles built up in their feet that no one else on earth has, simply because of the stop and go traffic that they are forced to live in to survive.

And now that I think about it, I do have another great complaint about this wonderous land... LOWER THE FREAKING GAS PRICES!!! I know, I know, you're thinking "Well, they've been going down", but COME ON!!, I just got a call from my dad this afternoon, he's visiting Atlanta, Georgia and he called to inform me that he was buying gas for $1.99... not bad especially considering that the lowest price that I can buy gas for right now (even with the lower prices) is $2.55 a gallon!!, a delightful change since the $3.35 average that was here when I moved in May, but still rediculously overpriced if I might say so. I don't think I'll really be happy with the gas prices until they are lowered to at least an average of $1.75 a gallon, if not lower. And at the rate they've been dropping, I'm hoping for that day to come within the next few months! (Please God.... Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaase!!!!)

But above all, I can honestly say that the down sides to my move here have been greatly overshadowed by one great element... my beautiful Fiance Emily Hembree. We have known eachother for 6 years now, and I asked her to marry me at Disneyland on June 3, 2006. And I am proud to say that I am marrying my best friend in the whole world! She's great! Our wedding will be taking place on July 7, 2007 at Emily's home church CrossRoad in Gardena, CA. And so our adventure together begins...

Check back frequently for more adventures on the Nease Spot!!