Ten Cool Things

To let you get to know me, here are ten things that I think are pretty cool.

1. Avatar: The Last Airbender - A tightly written, beautifully executed, animated show. The world is vast, the magic system is epic, and the themes are relevant for children and adults. 16 years after its first episode aired, it still holds up. I have seen few children shows use visual storytelling as effectively as Avatar. I will die on this hill that it is the greatest show ever made.

2. Clouds - I love clouds. There are so many different types, shapes, and sizes. Some look inviting, others seem threatening. There could be entire worlds sitting on top of them. They look like floating islands in the sky and I am obsessed with them.

3. Snow Leopards - I love big cats and my favorite of them are Snow Leopards. Their shiny fur and long fluffy tails make them one of the most deadly things that I still want to cuddle with. They would totally eat me, but I would be ok with that. If nuzzling their fluffy belly was the last thing I did before I died, I would die happy.

4. The Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson's incredible fantasy trilogy rekindled my love of epic storytelling. The first book takes the concept of a heist movie and beautifully decorates with a fantasy world cover. In a similar way to Logan Lucky (2014), "Mistborn" expounds on the genre formula. There are setups in book one that don't payoff until the climatic moments of book three. They are tightly broadcasted the entire time, but not so much that it was easy to guess. Said payoffs are some of the best I have ever read. This series dethroned my old favorite books and then surpassed them by miles and miles.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Few video games affected my childhood the way Majora's Mask did. My desire to tell stories full of both light and gloom originates in my love of this game. It is full of metaphors regarding themes of death, grief, and redemption. The time-travel mechanic also reinforced these concepts by forcing you to relive the same dreadful three days over and over again. Everywhere you go, you bring peace to a doomed world until you ultimately save the day, ending the cycle, and freeing the people. I want to tell stories that move others the way this story moved me.

6. At Eternity's Gate (2018) - Few films have depicted how I interact with the world. There is a sequence in this film where Vincent Van Gogh (played by Willem DaFoe) is out in nature seeking inspiration for his paintings. He lets the wind rush past him and he has a moment of communion with God. He then is able to take that feeling and paint it. It is a beautiful sequence that I related to as well as represents the type of films that I want to make.

7. Horizon Zero Dawn - This game has quickly become one of my favorite new franchises. Set in the inter-mountain west, 950 years in the future, our civilization has disappeared. Amongst the ruins live tribes of humans. The main character, Aloy, goes on a journey of discovery. She is seeking to discover who attacked her tribe, what happened to the ancient cultures of earth, and who her mother is. The world is vast and full of machines that you hunt, harvest for parts, and create new technology that allows you to delve deep into the earth and discover the secrets of the past.

8. Bagpipes - I remember crossing the border into Scotland (on my highschool trip) and the bus pulled over. As the door opened, an eerie blaring filled my ears. The hair on my neck stood up as I recognized the tune. it was "Scotland the Brave". Under my breath, I exclaimed, "The music of my people." I ran off the bus and was able to see the piper up close. While many find their blaring annoying, the drone of the pipes brings me such joy. Interestingly enough, their closest concert relatives are the Bassoon and Oboe. They all use double reeds, shaped and scrapped from bamboo. After I am mauled by the snow leopard, I want bagpipes to play at my funeral.

9. Rainbows - Tied into my love of cloud is a love of rain. I enjoy cool rainy weather, having spent several years of my life in the Pacific Northwest. One of my favorite, albeit more rare, atmospheric phenomena is the bow in the cloud. Every time I see a rainbow, I see God's love manifest. I feel the beauty of life and feel the sweet of joy being here in mortality. The picture below was of an amazing double rainbow I saw in Arches National Park. The sun was setting and was at the perfect angle to create this magnificent scene.

10. BB-8 - It is no secret that I love Star Wars. One of favorite things of the most recent films is the droid BB-8. I remember seeing him in the first teaser trailer and thinking he looked so dumb. After seeing The Force Awakens (2015) I fell in love with the little droid. I got a cup/toy of him at Disneyland and then before my study abroad to London a friend recommended me using him as a "flat stanley" while in the UK. Well, it blew up on instagram and the rest in history.