...the writings/ramblings of Matt Chewiwie; a mixture of life updates, pseudo-philosophical rants, sharing and/or reviewing of electronic media, general geeking out, and whatever else the mood may call for.
Well this thing is going around Facebook like the flu - how rapidly it's spread is really blowing my mind right now. Crazy social experiment, it is. After being tagged twice I figured I couldn't ignore it much longer, and since I bothered to take the time to participate in this silly exercise, it just means I have an excuse not to write a real blog post tonight.
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1. My full name is Matthew David Chewiwie, though I was originally going to be named David Matthew Chewiwie.
2. If I leave my water bottle behind when I leave the house, I flip out just as much as I would if it were my wallet, keys, or cellphone.
3. Macaroni with hot dogs cut up in it is probably my favorite meal - it's easy to make, and covers the essentials (meat, cheese, carbs)
4. I think that if there's a "gay gene", I inherited like a mutated, half-assed version of it - it got everything right except the part about liking men.
5. I've never seen the third Lord of the Rings movie - after Two Towers I had no interest in continuing. This is a sin my friends continually try but fail to correct.
6. When I was five years old and first rode Star Tours at Disneyland, my only thoughts were "I know I can't possibly be in space right now, but HOW IN THE @^%^#@$ ARE THEY DOING THIS?!". I've been entranced by Disney Imagineering ever since.
7. I don't drink, ever, for any reason.
8. I like to stare directly into a flashlight bulb with one eye for a few seconds, and then look at the world alternating between my two eyes so that the world appears in different colors, like tints on a computer monitor. This is probably why I should be wearing glasses.
9. The Disney character I relate most with is Quasimodo. Incidentally, "Out There" is my favorite Disney song to sing.
10. When Harry Potter 7 came out, me and a group of friends bought the audio book at the midnight release and read the whole book together as a group, straight through from beginning to end. About 15 people started, and only 3 or 4 of us (including myself) made it to the end. It took over 25 hours.
11. Even at her current age, I think Meryl Streep is hot.
12. I miss my community college because of the breakfast burritos. I used to skip class for those things.
13. I can ride pretty much any roller coaster with no effect, but spinning too fast on the teacup ride will make me vomit.
14. I want to someday work on a film which gains a cult following.
15. I would love to play Amos (Roxie's husband) in a production of Chicago. John C. Reilly is my inspiration.
16. Mystery Men is among my top 5 favorite movies, though I openly acknowledge that it's a bad movie.
17. Though I continue to dine there, I have never forgiven Chipotle for getting rid of free drinks for college students.
18. One time I saw a full-sized statue of the T-800 from the Terminator movies in a Hollywood memorabilia shop - if I ever suddenly become rich, the first thing I'm going to do, before anything else, is go buy it.
19. I don't necessarily believe in reincarnation, but I like to look at everyone I know and try to figure out which animal they were in their past life. For really beautiful people, I just assume they were people in their last life. I think I was some kind of bear.
20. I will keep buying Smash Mouth's CD's as long as they keep making them.
21. I want Smash Mouth to freaking break up already.
22. I have a fear of deadlines. As a result, I usually end up pretending they don't exist to alleviate this fear, which leads to procrastination and then a greater fear of deadlines. It's a vicious cycle.
23. I can't leave Ihop until they've played a Seal song over the speakers.
24. When I was little, I wanted to be an illusionist/escape artist as an adult. I was really into magic and would practice trick knots and picking locks to escape from my sister's toy chest.
25. I want an orchestral arrangement of the ending theme to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to be played at my funeral.
Hope that was enjoyable. On a completely unrelated note, I just realized how excited I am for the movie Coraline.
I'm tired and sore from Suzuki training, so it's bedtime. I'll explain what Suzuki training is later.
After abandoning Brett on our upcoming documentary project (in favor of killing two birds with one stone by filming my documentary at the photography field trip this Saturday,) I was ganged up on by my friends in film class and was the subject of much ridicule and picking-ons for the rest of the class period. The results of this are evident in this film, which was our second "here's a camera you have an hour an a half go make something!" project. I was happy to be the subject of on-camera ridicule if it meant absolving my misdeeds - that said, I think these people who wrote the script know me far too well.
What's Matt Chewiwie been up to? TIME TO FIND OUT!
- It seems that the karaoke bar, followed by Ihop or other late night shenanigans, has become the staple of our circle's Monday nights activities. Seeing as Mondays are the only nights I have off this semester, hanging out around a fire pit with my closest friends and singing to strangers seems like a good way to take a load off.
- I ventured out into Valley Center with Brett and CK this past Saturday night for a party at Sarah's house. I was happy that I was able to have a good time despite knowing hardly anyone there (without even clinging to the few people I did know.) Rock Band, burritos, Mario Kart, jam sessions, and jumping over a fire pit all happened (there was also some drunken silliness which I was able to avoid for the most part.) I met a few new friendly people, as well. Good times.
- Last week I officially applied for graduation from CSUSM for Fall semester - with that came the dawning realization that my academic career may soon be coming to an end (I never thought I'd see this day.) I'm now starting to seriously consider grad school... more on this later.
- In other WTF news, somewhere in the last week I began thinking about how many different adventures life has to offer, and how many of them I want to experience. I've now decided that, to start, I want to get back into rock climbing, bungee jump off a bridge, go tandem sky diving, and zip line across a canyon. I'm completely serious on all counts - I've actually been looking into pricing and availability for each of these activities. Also, I want to accomplish at least one of these before the year is done (preferably NOT rock climbing; I'm looking to try something new.) Anyone up for some adventure?
- Today I started Advanced Digital Art and got a sense of what the semester is going to be like with it's workshop/field-trip based structure. My first outing will be on Saturday to a wildlife reserve in San Juan Capistrano. Through this class I'll be revisiting my digital arts blog (which most people didn't even know I kept) to document my adventures - if that's your type of thing, you can follow me at www.fravit.net/digitalarts
- The other day, while wasting time between classes, I fell asleep on the couch in the editing lab while reading Watchmen. It's official - the lab is my new second home. Sorry theater, you've been replaced.
Ehh, that's enough for now. Just felt like a bit of writing before bed, and now you're a little bit more up to speed. More on life as it hits me.
Advanced film class was fun yesterday; rather than the expected "Here's the syllabus, read it, come back next week and we'll get started," instead we were partnered up, given cameras, and told to "come up with an idea for a short film, shoot it, edit it, and create a soundtrack. Have it finished and ready to show me in an hour and a half. Go." All in all a pretty interesting way to start a new class - here's the result:
Not bad, I think. There's a few continuity errors in there, but we didn't really have any time to reshoot - we literally finished with a minute to spare. I showed this to my sister and she freaked out, calling me the devil.
The first meet of vocal ensemble today was equally fun - nothing too crazy, but we did get to sing right away, and it seems exciting. Miraculously, looking at the schedules between choir, dance and the play, I don't think there's any conflicts as far as performances go. Additionally, homework seems pretty light for dance and choir, so right now it's looking like I'm going to be keeping all of my classes. My fate is not entirely sealed at the moment, as the prospect of just how busy I'm about to be is still scary as hell, but I'm ready for it.
Well here I am, back in the video lab at CSUSM after a lengthy-ish winter break. After all that happened last semester, I realize how much I've missed this place, and how much it really became my home during the last four months of 2008. My first class session of the semester was for Global Modern Dance, which I just came from. No movement today, but it looks like I'll be waltzing in front of an audience for the end of semester dance show. Doesn't seem too scary yet, despite my suspicions of me being the only guy in this class being confirmed immediately upon arrival this morning. No matter, I remain excited at the prospect of trying something new.
While seemingly everyone was watching the inauguration ceremonies this morning, I was scrambling to buy a parking permit and a few minor school supplies and make it in time to my first class. I wasn't happy at the prospect of having to pay $250 for a parking permit - it's the same price they usually charge per semester, but the parking this semester has been severely limited due to them closing down one of the main lots for redevelopment, the benefits of which I'll never see during the course of my stay at this school. It disturbs me that at 9:30 am this morning the next best lot was already entirely full. I shudder to think where I may be parking should I arrive in the afternoon. How exactly I'm going to approach this parking situation for the rest of the semester remains to be seen.
When I arrived to the studio out of breath at 9:58 am, mere minutes before the start of class, I was greeted with a sign which read "Dance class will start at 11 am today. ASSIGNMENT: Watch the inauguration ceremonies." Well, great. So much for rushing. I was of course bitter because I would have loved to have been at home watching the spectacle in DC. Regardless, I sat down and pulled out my laptop and was able to watch some live streaming stuff on the CNN website, but by then I had missed most of it (though I was able to catch Bush's exit, as well as some of the weird inaugural luncheon, which creeped me out for reasons I can't explain.) Later, they uploaded the video of Obama's speech, which was just as chills-inducing as I was expecting.
So now I sit here writing, waiting for 3 pm to roll around for Advanced Video Production class, and waiting for some friendly faces to eventually show up at some point, as I know they're destined to do. I know at least two of my friends from performing arts share this class with me, which is an exciting prospect, indeed. I hope that some more ridiculous student films are in our near future.
I was thinking about chocolate milk the other day. I love chocolate milk - it goes good with most meals and generally just brightens my day when I drink it, even if only a little bit. I tend to drink mine a little watered down, though, using far less chocolate than most would. That's good for me, because that typically means that the syrup / Nesquik powder ends up lasting longer before I have to buy more. Not too long ago I found myself in exactly that predicament - nearing the end of the container, with only enough scoops left for maybe one or two glasses. Every time I reach that point I think to myself "Crap, where did it all go?"
When you buy new chocolate milk, that thought never occurs to you. Or at least to me. Well, not until the other day, that is. Usually, my only thoughts are "Chocolate milk. Yeah! Alright! This is gonna go great with my eggs / pizza / hot dog / ham sammich!" But the other day I went to make some and my thoughts were different. For whatever reason, I looked at the reasonably full container, the mounds of brown grain like sand dunes in a great, chocolately Sahara, and was able to appreciate the wonder of such of a sight. I thought to myself "This container isn't always going to be like this." I knew that, eventually, it too would reach the point where patches of yellow are visible on the bottom of the container, and you know that your chocolate milk drinking days are nearly over (even if only temporarily.)
Anyone who would claims that time is an illusion has clearly never had chocolate milk before. If they had, they'd know that things are finite - they have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Even something as simple as a can of Nesquik can hold such profound discoveries as this. You really have to enjoy every glass as if it's your last glass, because when you do finally reach that last glass, who knows if or when you'll have another? I mean, hell, what if the grocery store is closed, you know?
This is how I want to live my life - like drinking a big, tall, frosty glass of chocolate milk. At some point I'm going to run out, so I need to enjoy it as much as possible until then. I'm going to start by enjoying every literal glass of chocolate milk much more, from now on. I'm going to follow that up by waltzing in front of an audience. After that, who knows? Sky diving, perhaps? This world provides limitless possibilities.
I finally got around to devoting the necessary three hours out of my life to seeing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised with what I found. Since it's release, I've heard more than a few comparisons made between this movie and Forrest Gump - mainly because of the huge scope and nature of the two tales. Aside from the storytelling, strong performances, and outstanding visual effects, this movie struck me for an unexpected reason, and that is it's dealing with the topics of fate versus free will.
Anyone who knows me at all will know that this is one of those heavy philosophical topics I often enjoy pondering, regardless of how futile such exercises may be. It's just something that's always fascinated me. One of the reasons Forrest Gump ranks up there in top 5 movies list is because of its statement about the issue - the movie has Momma on one side of the equation, teaching him that he makes his own destiny, while Lieutenant Dan stresses that each one of our futures is set in stone (who contradicts his own beliefs in saying that Forrest had the ability to alter this by rescuing him from the jungle.) Forrest eventually decides that it's possible that both forces may be at work at the same time - like the feather, which slowly drifts through the air. There are things we know are true about that feather's flight - mainly that, at one point or another, it's going to land. But the course it takes, as well as where is lands, are affected by many variables, such as an obstacle, or sudden gust of wind from a passing car and whatnot. Some things will happen, others, we're not sure clear on.
With all that happening, the movie introduces us to Forrest by having that feather land on his foot, for him to pick up and stare at in wonder. I have to believe that, while Forrest may appear simple on the outside, he really does understand the true meaning of that feather, and wonders, "Why did it land on my foot?" What parts are fate? What parts are affected by other means? Just how fragile is the universe, anyway?
There's a great scene in Benjamin Button (and I'll try to keep this spoiler-free) where a character ultimately ends up getting seriously injured. Throughout the moments leading up to the accident, several smaller incidents are spelled out which, if any one of them had happened differently (ie: a woman didn't forget to leave her keys on the counter, a child didn't run across the street at one specific moment, a girl hadn't gotten in a fight with her boyfriend the night before, leading to her not forgetting to make a floral arrangement for someone running late to something, etc.), the seconds altered in the process would've been enough to prevent the accident from happening - an accident, as it turns out, that significantly affects the course of a characters life. As I stated to a friend during the movie, "this is chaos theory kind of stuff." I was giddy with excitement as the scene unfolded.
Run Lola Run is film which is built solely around this concept - that even the smallest change in our surroundings can greatly affect the outcome of any given situation. The film goes to the extreme in that we see the same situation rewind and play itself out 3 different times, but all with different outcomes. The whole thing is a study on chaos theory.
We had our own "Run Lola Run" moment the other night during a game of cops and robbers, where our initial group showed up just after someone in the area had been jumped, and just before the victim decided to call his friends and go after them. Had my friends arrived minutes earlier or later, they would've been tangled up in this gang fight, but luckily were able to evade any trouble, and we were all able to meet up for a fun game (which had an interesting conclusion, but that's a story for another time.) But that fact of the matter is that odds favored our accidental involvement in a gang fight, which probably would have not ended well. How much of that is luck? Some would argue that it isn't - that the universe has a plan, and it planned for us not to run into any danger.
Well for now, I'll take the Forrest Gump route and say that "I think both is happening at the same time." As for Benjamin Button, there's definitely a lot there to think about - fate, free will, what we do with our time given, how life needs to be looked at in reverse to understand it, and slew of other things I could write about for hours. On the topic of fate and free will, it doesn't really give a conclusive answer as to what it believes - maybe the book will paint a more clear picture. In the meantime, I recommend everyone get other there, see the film, and form your own opinions on the matter.
Silly Thing #1: This is probably one of the weirdest uses I've ever put $300 towards -
Despite my still somewhat recovering ankle, I've been playing on it pretty much non-stop, and my weight is almost back down to it's pre-holidays level (before Thanksgiving, Christmas, endless desserts, and multiple buffets.) So it's definitely come in handy, and hasn't broken right away like my last 3 or 4 mats. The thing handles and responds like a beast - I can't imagine there being a better home dance pad out there on the market. Hopefully this lasts me a while.
Silly Thing #2: I've been trying to get these up for the last few weeks - it's belated, but definitely worth sharing.
My second place winning entry for this year's gingerBRAWL - the Tower of Terror (if you didn't know that, get off my website.)
This was the entry that beat me. As elaborate as mine was, there was no way I could compete with the cuteness of Vince's Wall*E.
Silly Thing #3: So last night I went to a karaoke bar with some friends and this happened -
You can't see in the video, but I actually got a standing ovation for my performance. I'll be back next week to cover "Friend Like Me" and probably some Rent duets ;)
I typically try to keep updates related to my website content out of this blog, but I do have to break the rules now and then. Hopefully it will be a long time before I have to do it again.
As mentioned in my last post, I was recently offered an internship opportunity, and it looks like it's going to happen, much to my delight. This unexpected opportunity made me realize how important it is that I have my work/resume ready at any given moment, which has inspired (read: required) me to start getting serious about updating my own website. Since I should be updating site content more frequently, I've added a news box in the gray info column to the left of this post; it's the same news box that can be found on the main page of this website. Since I know many of my regulars go straight to the weblog page when visiting, this will help keep everyone updated on my recent site activities without having to visit the main page. You can already see in the news box that I've updated my resume in the MYSELF section (after who knows how long,) and more updates should follow soon after. Expect to see a few oddities around the site here and there as I adjust code and make tweaks. Also, I'm still working on getting the blog feed to work so that people will be able to suscribe/RSS to this blog.
Speaking of my last post, I was surprised by the large amount of positive response generated by my writing. To everyone who commented/texted/myspace'd me in response to my New Year's rant, thanks for reading and I'm glad you took something from it.
Speaking of New Year's, here's a slew of pics from our crazy night of shenanigans, which included karaoke, DDR, Rock Band, biscuits, Nerf battles, running around the neighborhood screaming, a crazy dance party, and watching Doomsday and The Dark Knight in Blu-Ray until 7 in the morning.
I stole all of those from Kelsey's Facebook page - hopefully she doesn't mind too much. Eventually I'll get some holiday stuff up, I think.
We last left our story at the Davis family kitchen table, where I detailed another chapter of my life that seems like it was both very long ago and only just yesterday. The year began in Vegas, during what was perhaps the best vacation I've ever had in my life. Not even a month later, it was go-time again. Another loved one was trying to take her own life... fuck, really? Hadn't I already experienced my fair share of this kind of stuff in 2007? Well, if I've learned anything, it's that life has no memory - be prepared for anything at any given time.
I ended up driving to Arizona in the middle of the night with my best friend at the time to rescue her (how we were going to do that, I wasn't sure at the time.) Thankfully this attempt didn't have the same result as the last one did. In the small hotel room we stayed at that weekend, I watched on TV as the room we stayed in during the Vegas trip at the Monte Carlo burned down. I saw this is a strange omen that, whatever era I lived in a few weeks back, the Vegas trip was definitely the end of that era. I was in uncharted waters as of that moment.
The next few months were tumultuous, to say the least. Before any of this happened, I'd planned on a break up - now, things were much more complicated. It was a complete mind-trip... how do you leave someone when they potentially need you the most? How do you live with yourself? These are questions I'm still trying to answer. I'd never initiated the end of a relationship before, and to be honest, I'd much prefer being dumped. It's a lot easier to accept the inevitable than to be pulling the strings.
Despite this, I had a new job position and a very large project to keep me distracted until May. As the newly appointed promotions manager, I found myself visiting renaissance fairs and launching water balloons out of a catapult in the theater parking lot (among many other things) for the sake of promoting the new Narnia film. This is probably the most work I've ever put into a single project for Edwards, and it will probably be the last time (more on that later.)
I'd originally hoped that summer would be just as fantastic as the summer prior, but I quickly realized that this was not possible, and was something I just had to accept. Being single after four years in a relationship was a tough adjustment. Having a best friend completely turn his back on you right around the same time is another tough adjustment. Despite it all, I kept moving forward. I participated in all the typical summer fare - Disneyland trips, beach/bonfire stuff, laser tag, nerf wars, getting hassled by police, listening to way too much Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. It helped to have some good friends home again after finishing college, and a few new ones added to the so called "number" (here's to you, Vince.) During it all I took up a new hobby - Dance Dance Revolution. Slowly I began to take off some of the weight I'd gained since the end of high school, which was definitely a plus. I also had a chance to visit a dear friend in San Francisco, thus going to a place I'd never been. The whole trip seems like a blur to me now - here's hoping I can visit again soon.
These were all very good distractions, but I wasn't happy. In July, things got even worse. I'd never felt more alone than during that month. I spent most of August just waiting for the fall semester to begin so I could forget that the whole first half of the year ever happened. Not a great way to finish out the summer. If it weren't for my friends, I may not have made it even that far.
Then something amazing happened. I started the new semester as I started most before - quiet, anti-social, and just ready to memorize the syllabi and figure out the bare minimum to get through my courses. Upon entering my Performing Arts class during the first week, all that changed. I don't need to spend too much time recounting what happened - if your'e a regular, you know what happened (and if you're not, shame on you.) For the first time ever I found myself opening up to people at school, learning names, socializing (even outside of school), and genuinely making friends. For the first time since high school, I had a "school life". Maybe it was because I'd lost 40 pounds thanks to the DDR, and found new confidence because of that. Maybe it was because we were all linked by a bizarre common interest. Maybe these people were just genuinely interesting and friendly. Whatever the reason, things were different. I started doing things. I wrote screenplays. I did a solo-performance on stage in front of an audience of strangers. I starred in two student films (three, if you count Sarah Fiehler's mood study.) I climbed a mountain. I dove into a pool fully clothed. I jumped out of a moving car. I voted Democrat. I worked in a film studio for a week. I felt loved.
And then, the opportunities. My screenplay was chosen out of several to be filmed during our workshop. I auditioned for a play on a whim and got the part, having no prior experience in acting. I was offered a job to work for the school television studio. I was offered an internship opportunity by a professional actress. Now, I'm not even sure which way is up anymore. All these things are happening - amidst my busy schedule already lined up for next semester (three tech classes, choir, dance, and the school play), I'm now facing a slew of opportunities and open doors. For the first time in a long time, I feel like my immediate future is completely unknown. Before, I had my friends, my job, my relationship, and my classes - an endless loop. Now, I'm realizing that all of those things are not set in stone. Relationships sure as hell aren't. I guess friendships aren't always either. And my job? Well... as my life keeps growing, I'm afraid that, sometime soon, there won't be room for it anymore. I'm sure I still have a little bit of time left, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
So what have I learned through all this? You know what, screw it. Last year I wrote some bullshit about love and friendship and whatnot. This year, I'm not going even going to try. So much has happened and I'm still making sense of it all, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Life isn't meant to be lived in stagnation - it keeps changing, keeps evolving. That's what I need to do. I need to move with it. So it's not so much that I haven't learned anything - more like, I am always learning. Constantly, all the time, everyday. Every second. Leaning about life, about myself, my loved ones, the world around me. These lessons may warp, change, grow, become irrelevant - whatever. I'm taking life as it goes from here on out. And I can safely say that I'm loving every minute of it.
Time to set some goals. NOT resolutions. A New Years Resolution is something you make with no intention of following up on. So here are my goals.
-Get my weight down to 160. According to BMI and all that jazz, 162 is considered the max "normal" weight for my height. A lofty goal, but I lost a total of 50 pounds this year, another 35 is potentially doable.
-Save some money. I just bought a $300 DDR pad.. I think I have enough ridiculous shit. If all goes according to plan (though nothing ever does,) I'll be done with college by the end of 2009, and I'll need to start saving.
-Build my resume. It's time to get serious. I already have a good start on this thanks to the fall semester, but I need to get organized.
There. That should keep me busy. So, what else is there? Well, I'm not going to wish for a quiet or eventful year this time around - I guess we'll just see what happens. To my wonderful friends, thanks for sticking by me through all the madness. I'm looking forward to another year full of shenanigans.
And, finally, here's a look back on my top 5 favorite video posts from this blog over the past year. Enjoy :)
5) Wind's Nocturne This year I discovered how much a person is capable of loving another. Somewhere out there is a person who feels this way about me.
4) Out There Quasimodo is my hero. I let this video serve as my own personal mission statement.
3) Not Right Now, Derrick! We can all use a good laugh now and then. These guys have provided several over the past year. Here's to you, Joshua, Olan and Thomas.
2) 123456 Pokemon Barack Obama was elected president, in what was perhaps the most important news story of the year. I'd like to think that this video helped him out.
1) Baby Cake Diary #3 "Shit matters. Even if we can't figure it out. Even if we are ruled by devils. Even if my days don't mean anything. I just hope I die while hugging."
I wish everyone a fun and safe New Years, and a great 2009.
