Well Hello! My name is Graham. It’s so good to meet you! For a long time I’ve been meaning to set up a blog on my own website, and I’ve finally done just that, using that little burst of energy that accompanies the fresh start of a new year to propel myself into productivity. But I guess before I start talking about the blog, I should introduce myself properly.

I’m 19 years old. This is the year that I’ll turn twenty, leaving behind the novelty and comfort of that old familiar label, “teenager”. I want to be a filmmaker. I wish I could say “I am a filmmaker,” but I really haven’t produced enough work to feel comfortable saying that without sounding pretentious. I’m sort of a writer, but I don’t do as much of that as I’d like, either. What I can comfortably say that I am is a photographer. I’ve been taking pictures since 2003, and I’ve amassed a substantial body of work that I’m happy with in that medium. It’s my number one hobby. You can see some of my work on my photography website, if you’re curious.

I spent the majority of my formative adolescent years running around a small Northern California town called Davis with a ragtag group of friends who I miss dearly. After just managing to graduate high school, I started the undergrad course in film and video at CalArts, 40 miles north of L.A. I did a lot of nothing during my first semester there, and found myself majorly depressed about the isolated nature of the campus and my lack of an automobile. In January of 2006, I got myself a car, and expanded my area of mobility into the greater metropolitan area.

Soon thereafter, I went on a date with Rudy, an extremely handsome gentleman and a prolific DJ who was born and raised in East L.A. I finished out my second semester of college and then requested a leave of absence. I wanted to get out of Valencia, experience the “real world,” and come back when I was seriously ready to work on film. I found work as an extra, which paid decently thanks to my SAG and AFTRA memberships, which I had acquired years ago during a long-forgotten stint as a child star. In June, the four ridiculously rad roommates of a crafting-happy pad in Mount Washington called Black Diamond invited Rudy and I to move in with them, and we’re still enjoying living there today.

In August, I found myself working for one of my absolute highest writer/director heroes, Paul Thomas Anderson as a P.A. on the set of his new film, There Will Be Blood. After four weeks of amazing expriences on that set, I decided to go back to extra work, and that’s how I paid the bills for the rest of 2006, excluding a few miscellaneous stints as a film P.A. and a photo assistant.

So, there you have it: an extremely brief summary of my life at present, focusing mainly on those mundane questions of employment and education… but there’s a lot more to me, I swear! ;) I decided to start my own blog here after writing for five and a half years on my now-defunct Livejournal for a variety of reasons. I wanted to be on my own domain, I wanted more control over the design of my blog, and I wanted a fresh start. I’m hoping to try new things and post more frequently than I have in the past. I especially want to try and post more video entries and start doing audio podcasts on a regular basis.

With that said, I hope you enjoy reading, watching, and listening to my blog! I hope you find my posts entertaining and informative, and feel free to leave feedback whenever you wish. Come back real soon, y’hear?