Recently, I was struck by a new story idea which takes place in Southern California. I’m not exactly sure if this idea will go anywhere, but writing it has given me a thrill that only comes about when I have delved into something fresh and waiting to be explored.

The story takes place in a small town called Arleta, CA. I chose this place because it is in the San Fernando Valley, near the hills, and happened to be the only town in the Valley that had a name that seemed to fit. I was visiting California over Thanksgiving and decided to take a short road trip down to where the story takes place. What followed were hours of me driving in circles, creeping houses with my camera, being followed by unsavory-looking characters, losing said characters near some train tracks, discovering that Arleta has an airport (something I hadn’t known in my mental image of the place) and ignoring the endless scolding from my GPS system. It is a rare thing for a writer to visit the town where an idea is set, and then to find that it is almost exactly as I imagined it.

I took an endless folder of photos but these seem to tell the story of Arleta from the outside — quiet, unimposing, ready to hold some secrets behind its name. After visiting, I took a short trip down to Los Angeles and the beach in Santa Monica, as this is in the story also. Then, I ventured up a dangerously winding road to the top of the canyon so I could get a glimpse of what my character sees from there. It’s odd, but a part of me could almost feel the characters there, as I wandered this place amongst a story that as of now, only I know.

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Posted in #SecretKalebBook, Photos, Writing

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Remember Dragoat? Only the most dedicated and oldie Nationeers probably do. After his failed singing/lip syncing career which nearly got him suspended from Youtube for covering copyrighted music, Dragoat has been hiding out in the top drawer of a dresser, seething at this menace known as social media and plotting his revenge. The first target: Twitter. He’s not a happy puppet.

For more Dragoat videos coming soon, be sure to subscribe to Youtube.com/KalebNation.

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Posted in Videos
Tags: Dragoat

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Got a problem with bad breath? You probably do and just don’t know it . While I was at Vidcon in July, I picked up a sample of the Orabrush. It’s a new type of tongue cleaner with special bristles. It worked so amazingly and got so much gunk off that I suddenly had to write a song (who doesn’t react this way when finding something awesome?). So I got in touch with Orabrush, and they liked the idea, and said they’d help me make it!

If you want to download my song for FREE, visit Orabrush.com/kalebnation. Also, be sure to check out their other hilarious videos at Youtube.com/CureBadBreath.

I haven’t been posting all of my videos on my site lately, so to see my newest videos visit Youtube.com/KalebNation. I have a new show called the 60SR that you should check out!

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Posted in Videos
Tags: Orabrush

** Some spoilers are below. **

I might be the last person on earth to see his first Harry Potter film in a theater. I’m not talking about seeing one of them on opening night — I mean seeing it in a theater at all. I’ve never done it. I’ve seen the majority of the movies recently, but until today, I didn’t see any on a screen bigger than my computer monitor.

Luckily, after spending most of my day filming then running to a book signing then running home to film more again, I managed to get to the theater and join my friend in line for the midnight showing of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1. The crowd was immense, even two hours early.

I don’t know how they do it, but each Potter film continues to surpass the previous. As I am also one of the few people who have not read the entire Harry Potter series yet (I am up to the second audiobook) I was not familiar with the full story. Each thing came as a surprise, besides those bits that were so newsworthy when the novel came out that it was everywhere. I sat in a stupor when He died. I think I sat in a stupor through most of the movie.

Perhaps the most evocative part of the film, besides the death everyone is dreading, is Hermione’s telling of the Three Brothers story. It was an unexpected twist into a sinister world that might have been unfitting in a live action film if not for its careful execution. Rarely does one find a well-written fable in a modern story, especially one with such a deeply interwoven moral.

Some of the story went over my head since I haven’t read the books. But my mind was awake enough to fill in the blanks so that I wasn’t lost along the way. There are plenty of laughs throughout, especially between Ron and Hermione (though one especially badly-written scene that just came off as hilarious when I think it was meant to be serious). Either I’m overly perceptive, or the screenwriter tossed in a Twilight reference in the dialogue (RON, paraphrased, when arguing what time of night the story begins with: “…I actually like Twilight. Twilight is good.”). It was there a few more times in the scene. The theater made weird noises. I thought, in the voice of an exhausted Bilbo Baggins: “No thank you. Let us foreverafter keep these two franchises on their own separate turfs, lest the world erupt into massive, fiery war ne’er seen in Mordor’s darkest days”. It was amusing, and not just because I was hearing Bilbo Baggins’ voice in my head.

(Added: the above has been disproven. I can now stop missing sleep over it.)

Speaking of the Bagginses, who caught the bits of this story that were inspired by Lord Of The Rings? Also, watch for the innuendo. It’s hilarious if you catch it. The Potter franchise has really kept in touch with their fandom that way.

Five stars to the boy named Potter. And six stars to Emma Watson, to whom I directed this tweet while still standing in the theater.

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Posted in Reviews
Tags: harry potter

After my quick vacation to Montreal, I flew to Charleston, South Carolina to spend some time filming a documentary with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, authors of Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness. I snapped loads of photos while I was there but I’ve been so busy since I got home with editing the videos together, I haven’t had a chance to post the pictures. So here’s my favorite one so far, as proof of my travels.

I never photograph flowers, because photographing flowers is cliche and cheap and tawdry as the moon. But this one stood out enough to merit breaking my rule. The rest of the photos will be on my Facebook soon.

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Posted in Photos
Tags: Charleston, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl