diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 83445dbde..f5fcad855 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,11 @@
 class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
+  before_filter :authenticate_user!
+  before_filter :set_user
+  def set_user
+    @user = current_user
+    true
+  end
+
   protect_from_forgery :except => :receive
   layout 'application'
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb b/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb
index f39cecdbf..2509d9e72 100644
--- a/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/blogs_controller.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 class BlogsController < ApplicationController
-  before_filter :authenticate_user!
 
 
   def index
diff --git a/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb b/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb
index 6defe2f07..9ed215880 100644
--- a/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/bookmarks_controller.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 class BookmarksController < ApplicationController
-  before_filter :authenticate_user!
   
   def index
     @bookmarks = Bookmark.criteria.all.order_by( [:created_at, :desc] )
diff --git a/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb b/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb
index 55778861f..31be0a1f4 100644
--- a/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/friends_controller.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 class FriendsController < ApplicationController
-  before_filter :authenticate_user!
   
   def index
     @friends = Friend.criteria.all.order_by( [:created_at, :desc] )
diff --git a/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb b/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb
index c0507fcda..bf53ac7c5 100644
--- a/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/status_messages_controller.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 class StatusMessagesController < ApplicationController
-  before_filter :authenticate_user!
 
   def index
     @status_message = StatusMessage.new
@@ -15,11 +14,11 @@ class StatusMessagesController < ApplicationController
   end
   
   def create
-    @status_message = StatusMessage.new(params[:status_message])
-    if @status_message.save
+    if current_user.post :status_message, params[:status_message]
       flash[:notice] = "Successfully created status message."
       redirect_to status_messages_url
     else
+      flash[:notics] = "You have failed to update your status."
       render :action => 'new'
     end
   end
diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index da904fab0..10d0ffa4a 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 class UsersController < ApplicationController
 
-  before_filter :authenticate_user!
 
   def index
     @users = User.criteria.all.order_by( [:created_at, :desc] )
diff --git a/app/models/post.rb b/app/models/post.rb
index 1e61c60ef..021b8a7cd 100644
--- a/app/models/post.rb
+++ b/app/models/post.rb
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ class Post
   belongs_to_related :person
   
 
-  before_create :set_defaults
 
   after_save :send_to_view
 
@@ -53,8 +52,5 @@ class Post
     WebSocket.update_clients(self)
   end
 
-  def set_defaults
-    self.person ||= User.first
-  end
 end
 
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index a1ac4217f..c4d28c0ba 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -4,5 +4,12 @@ class User < Person
   # :token_authenticatable, :confirmable, :lockable and :timeoutable
   devise :database_authenticatable, :registerable,
          :recoverable, :rememberable, :trackable, :validatable
-  
+  def post(post_type, options)
+    case post_type
+    when :status_message
+      StatusMessage.new(:person => self, :message => options[:message]).save
+    else
+      raise "Not a type I can post yet"
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
index ba63f2642..1e47c1bde 100644
--- a/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/status_message_spec.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ describe StatusMessage do
   it "should have a message" do    
     n = Factory.build(:status_message, :message => nil)
     n.valid?.should be false
+    n.message = ""
+    n.valid?.should be false
     n.message = "wales"
     n.valid?.should be true
   end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index b52406211..bf5c7e15c 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-require 'spec_helper'
+require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../spec_helper'
 
 describe User do
   it "should require a real name" do
@@ -16,5 +16,16 @@ describe User do
     Factory.create(:user)
     Person.count.should == n+1
   end
-
+  describe 'when posting' do
+   before do
+     @user = Factory.create :user
+   end
+    it "should be able to set a status message" do
+      @user.post :status_message, :text => "I feel good"
+      StatusMessage.where(:person_id => @user.id).last.message.should == "I feel good"
+    end
+    it "should return nil from an invalid post" do
+      @user.post(:status_message, :text => "").should be_false
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 62a4b907e..e23502036 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -39,5 +39,5 @@ Rspec.configure do |config|
   # If you're not using ActiveRecord, or you'd prefer not to run each of your
   # examples within a transaction, comment the following line or assign false
   # instead of true.
-#  config.use_transactional_fixtures = true
+  config.use_transactional_fixtures = true
 end