Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television at 3:17 AM

I just read that Conan O'Brien is going on tour and making a stop here in Austin. Unfortunately it's already sold out.

Rats.

Dancing Towards A Better Life at 3:45 AM

Alee recently took a trip to Colombia where she discovered a school called El Colegio Del Cuerpo. It's an organization that is doing some really beautiful work in the city of Cartegena, Colombia. Their basic goal is to teach the art of dance to kids of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Rich kids are allowed. Poor kids are allowed. All kids are allowed.

It's an intense school too. They don't have mediocre dance classes to give the kids something to do when they're bored. The school wants their students to be the best in the world. The dancers that leave this school compete on a global level.

I can't help but smile when I hear about organizations like this. Schools like El Colegio del Cuerpo help the world realize that it doesn't always matter how much money you have. People don't respect the students of this school because the students are super rich and powerful. They are respected because they are really good at what they do.

It's also great because it gives underprivileged kids a way out of their poverty. It gives them a skill. It gives them confidence. It gives them an opportunity to contribute beauty to a broken world.

I just discovered a very similar school in Atlanta that is also helping underprivileged kids by teaching them dance.

Go Fly A Kite at 5:47 AM

In college my friends and I loved to skip class and fly kites on the campus of North Greenville. It was mostly just a fun attempt to try to impress girls. Luckily I don't need to impress girls anymore, but that's not going to stop me from flying a kite.

This Sunday Alee and I are going to take Harper the Dog to Zilker Park and fly a kite at the annual kite festival. Our kite probably won't be as impressive as most of the other ones, but we'll still fly our hearts out. The only kite we can afford is probably going to be a Dora the Explorer kite from Wal Mart.

I'm considering bringing the video camera to this event. So get excited about potential video footage.

...but on Oscar night...well I like Oscar night...Pt. 2 at 2:20 AM

Well the night is over. It was a great night for the movies.

I predicted 17 out of the 24 winners correctly. Not great, but I'll take it...at least I outguessed my brother, dad, and most of my other friends.

The highlight of the evening for me was Pete Docter's acceptance speech for Up. His heartfelt speech brought me and Alee to tears. I can't find the video for the speech online, so I'm just going to post the end of the speech:

"It was an incredible, incredible adventure making this movie, but the heart of it came from home. And to our families, in my case, to my wonderful parents, they were so supportive. My kids, Nicholas and Ellie, and my amazing wife Amanda, you guys are the greatest adventure. Thank you."
-Pete Docter

...but on Oscar night...well I like Oscar night... at 3:33 PM

Tonight's the night.

Tonight's one of the only nights where I consider myself a competitive person.

Tonight's kind of like a second Christmas for me.

Tonight's the kind of night that dreams are made of.

Tonight's Oscar night!

My ballot is filled and I'm ready to let Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin help me laugh away my troubles.

I'm predicting The Hurt Locker will take home the statue for Best Picture although my heart is wishing Up would take it.

Austin Storytellers at 5:37 AM

Last night I was part of an incredible evening of storytelling. I was invited to a meeting of filmmakers, photographers, and writers from The Austin Stone. We had a great time of eating, talking, and sharing stories through our respected art forms. I left the evening feeling inspired and artistically renewed.

I showed one of the films I helped make when I was Malawi a little over a year ago.

Malawian Duet from Nathan Willis on Vimeo

City of Lakes Trailer at 7:06 PM

One of the guys I've been doing some shooting and editing for since I moved to Austin is a wedding filmmaker named Joe Simon. You can see some of his work on his blog. He really is quite amazing at what he does. I used to think wedding videographers were all uncreative guys who overcharged engaged couples to film their wedding. This idea changed when I first saw Joe's work.

A few months ago Joe traveled to India to help film a wedding with some of the top wedding filmmakers in the world. This wasn't going to be a typical wedding shoot though. When he first explained the concept of what they'd be doing there I was very confused. The trailer from the India shoot is now up and I'm still very confused. It is unlike anything I've ever seen. The film combines an actual live event with a narrative film. I don't know if that makes a whole lot of sense. I'm having a hard time explaining it because I can barely wrap my head around the concept.

I'll stop trying to explain and just show you the trailer:

View on ExposureRoom

My So Called Life at 5:03 PM

Since getting a DVR Alee and I find ourselves quickly becoming addicted to more and more shows on TV. We're turning into an old married couple who have nothing to live for but our television shows.

Here's a list of the shows we watch together (don't judge):

The Amazing Race
Hoarders
Intervention
American Idol
The Biggest Loser
The Office
30 Rock
Big Love
Little Miss Perfect
Toddlers and Tiaras
Project Runway
Saturday Night Live
Glee

We really need to get out more.

P.S. This list doesn't even include the shows I watch sans Alee. I won't write those down since I'm already depressed enough.

It's Finally Here at 5:56 PM

Harper the Devil at 11:51 AM

When you first look at Harper the Dog your first thought might be "Oh my goodness, that is the most precious dog I've ever seen!". Don't be fooled. She's actually the devil.

Alee and I have composed a list of things Harper the Devil has tried to eat over the past week:

Socks
Underwear
Receipts
Alee's purse
My shoes
Alee's sunglasses
Paper towels
Pants legs
Our toes/fingers
Mail
Cardboard boxes
Wii controllers
Alee's computer
My computer cord
Alee's phone
Alee's hair
Sweaters
The coffee table
Grass
Pine cones
Her own vomit
Chapstick
DVD case
Coat hanger
Medicine bottles
Washcloth
Q-Tip
Screw
Tissue
The bed
Alee's hip
Her own poop

Harper the Dog at 8:41 PM

If you know anything about me, you know that I have severe asthma. Growing up my asthma made it so I couldn't have any pets in my house. While my asthma has gotten better in adulthood, I would by no means call myself asthma free. Being around dogs and cats for an extended amount of time still makes me sick every now and then, so Alee and I just assumed we'd probably never be able to have a dog.

However, we recently discovered that there are dogs that are classified as hypoallergenic. After hearing this Alee went on the hunt to find an asthma-friendly dog for us. I was a bit skeptical about the whole idea at first. We can barely afford to pay our rent, so why would we want to add another member to our family?

If you've had a conversation with me within the past 6 months you'll also know that Alee hates her grad program. There are tears shed at least 3 times a week over how depressed the program is making her. Alee finally convinced me that having a dog might help her feel better about the state of her life.

So we got a dog. Her name is Harper.

I can safely say that getting Harper was the best decision we've made since deciding to get married.

Amos Story at 6:32 PM

Aaron Ivey, one of the worship leaders at The Austin Stone, adopted a boy from Haiti a couple of years ago named Amos. Aaron and his wife have had a really hard time getting Amos to America because of a lot of red tape issues. However, due to the recent earthquake in Port-au-Prince the government expedited the adoption process. This past weekend Aaron was able to go pick up Amos and bring him home to Austin.

A few months ago (before the earthquake) Aaron shot a music video for a song he wrote for Amos. I'm having trouble embedding the video so I'll just share the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4eZybIXpm8

For The City at 12:39 PM

A few months ago The Austin Stone dedicated most of its service to a showing of a short documentary that highlighted what the church is doing to serve the city of Austin. I did a little bit of editing and shooting for the project, but the overwhelming majority of the work was done by a really talented filmmaker named Jeremy Rodgers.

It's a long watch but it's worth every minute.

For The City-Revisited from The Austin Stone on Vimeo.

Where Ya Been? at 10:27 AM

It's been quite a while since I've updated this bad boy.

A lot has happened since we last met. I'm now married and living in Austin, TX.

I made a new years resolution to update this bliggity blog more.

I also vowed to lose some weight.

Let's see how all of that goes.