BILLS

I am very fortunate and thankful for living in an apartment off campus with my best friend. I can't stress it enough. And, I'm so lucky that my parents pay for most of the bills. All I have to do is select 'confirm' on the company's website for the billing to transfer successfully for each month. There's just one problem: I'm always waiting until the last minute. I don't understand why! It's such a simple and quick thing to do that I just push it aside for tomorrow. It's a bad habit that I need to kick away because it could be costly down the road. I just need a friendly reminder. Something that's not too nagging, but still informative. I just created a "Bills" bookmark, so hopefully this will make it easier and faster than trying to remember the name and such. We'll see!

You, there!!!

I'm not trying to be a teacher's pet. This just flat out annoys the hell out of me! When people show up late to class, dinner, my apartment, or anything it just irritates me. Be respectful and show up on time because I expect you there. When a friend says "I'll be there in 5"... I expect them there roughly around 5 minutes. Not 15 min or 30 min. That's rude! I'm so ADHD and OCD about things that it makes me furious when people are late. I get side tracked and lose focus. It messes up my routine. For example, in class, I get there fairly early and get ready to take notes whether I jump out of bed or crawl out of bed. I'm not going to be late. It's another 'Owen Rule'. I'm always there early. So, when stragglers tip-toe into class it doesn't seem fair to me that you pressed snooze one more time than me. Show up and be on time! I can hear you, Twinkle Toes!

zzzzzzzzzz!

I'm not a big fan of sleeping. I know it's crazy, right? I always have to set my alarm whether it's the weekday or the weekend. If I over-sleep, then my day is ruined. I could get the worst night's sleep of my life, but I guarantee you that I'll be up by 9:30am on the weekend. I have to be up and going. It's just an Owen Rule that I always follow. I need to start my day and get it rolling. It could be a boring Sunday filled with nothing to do, but to wait for Monday and I'm still up before most of my friends. It's odd, but I like it. However, I'm not extremely crazy. I'm totally cool with naps! It might sound ironic, but there's just something to starting my day off on the right foot. I don't want to miss anything! It feels great when I look back on the day and check through all of my accomplishments.

I hate haircuts.

I went to get a haircut on friday because my thick and bushy hair was bothering the heck out of me. And, just for your information, I hate getting my haircut. So, I always try to convince myself that I desperately need a haircut days before I go in. However, when I woke up with my hair standing every which way I knew it was time to go get it done. As I was sitting down in the chair with the stylist snipping away my hair I realized that I had made a good decision. My hair was taking shape and looked so much better! So, I told the hair stylist that it looked good to hint that I wanted to leave.... she didn't pick up on that message. She kept cutting away!! I became irritated and my body got that hot sensation. I became fidgety and was screaming on the inside. How could this happen?! I asked for a trim, not a full on makeover! I planned out different ways to get out of this- politely tell her to stop, throw a tantrum, or just suck it up. I took the latter. So, what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, I was finally done. Thank goodness!! Next time, I have to speak up and be more specific to what I want!

Got Dinner?

I consider myself somewhat of a health nut, but not to the extreme. I like to pig out on cookies and sweets every once in a while, but I have my rules. I don't eat fast food. And, living with my best friend when it's dinner time is everything but a mystery. He's kind of like me and watches what he eats, so we make big portion dinners for the two of us. The problem is that we can't cook. We have a five meal rotation: Shake & Bake Chicken Breasts, Spaghetti, Quesadillas, Fajita tacos, and Burgers. It's embarrassing, but that's what we live on. We have two cook books, but we're too afraid of the disaster that's waiting to happen. So, we just stick to what we know and hopefully someone will make us dinner, or we learn something new from our mothers! If you're reading this and want to cook me dinner or give me recipes... I'll be the happiest kid on the block!

Party Pooper

I'm a quiet dude. I like to have my personal space and keep things to myself. You might mistakingly find me all alone in the corner of a classroom. Or, you might even see me walking around campus trying to dodge the mass amount of people strolling down the boulevard. I don't like to go out and be social. Instead, I like to take a step back and do whatever catches my interest. I like being by myself or with a few certain people. So, I might want to stay in and watch a movie, or I might venture out to the drive-in movies. It's whatever I'm feeling! I'm a loner and I like it. I'm just in my own world. Look at this- I went out to dinner with some friends. We came back and they all started playing drinking games. Me, on the other hand, was in the other room shuffling through a friend's music playlist. I had fun. It's me. So, don't judge me. I consider myself a fun and cool person. I like to do random things and have fun doing them.

Tiger Talks

I don't like golf. I think it's extremely boring and kind of an old man's sport. So, I never follow the PGA tours. However, I love Tiger Woods. Ever since I was a little kid I was drawing him in front of the television. I even had a Nike hat like him! He was an awesome role model with the perfect story; being a child prodigy to winning a major with a bad knee. Tiger was what everyone wanted to aspire to. However, it all spiraled down on that one gloomy night in November. What went wrong? Was Tiger secretly on drugs? Or, was it just a freak accident? No one really knew what was going on! Then, some news leaked about his sex addiction and Tiger was no where to be found.

This morning, I watched Tiger Woods address the public for the very first time since his epic car crash back in November. It was eerie to watch as one of my favorite icons was apologizing for such a terrible act. His actions were completely wrong and they caught the world by surprise. Tiger was not invincible and it turns out that he is like any other person in the world. He made a mistake and his apology was as sincere as it could get. However, I feel that Tiger's reputation will always be tarnished, until he gets back on the golf course- winning. Look at other famous people that were under public scrutiny, Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriquez.

My Grandma Can Dunk Better Than That!

The 2010 NBA All-Star Dunk Contest was a complete flop. Thousands of screaming fans packed the American Airlines Arena to watch one of the most anticipated events of the year. However, there was a BIG problem- there wasn't anybody great in it! People want to watch Lebron James and Dwight Howard take flight against each other. But, instead, we had to settle for the unknown DeMar DeRozan and Gerald Wallace. It was a mediocre performance by everyone. The dunks seemed so simple and uncreative. No props were used. No exciting costumes were worn. There was just no "wow" factor. However, I must give 5'9" Nate Robinson credit for his third consecutive Slam Dunk Contest Championship. He wasn't as brilliant as before, but the dude is so small that it seems almost unreal for someone to jump that high!

Dear NBA Commissioner David Stern,

I expect better competition and performance next year in the Slam Dunk Contest. This past weekend was a disgrace to the once prominent event. Please force Lebron James to participate in the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest. I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

Yours Truly,

Owen

P.S. Can San Antonio host the 2011 All-Star Weekend?? Go Spurs Go!

Reform This!!!

I hate to say it, but SMU parking sucks!!! I pay around $200 for the most unreliable thing ever! SMU paid a fortune for the lovely Binkley Garage, but that place is almost worthless. Whoever the genius was that built that place forgot to include more floors to park. When I leave for school in the morning, I'm forced to park a mile away from my classes because EVERY garage is unfortunately full. My roommate didn't buy into this bull$#!% and he's fine trekking to class. But, I paid and I wish I didn't. The only good that comes from it, and thankfully, Dedman Parking is right beside Dedman Fitness. That seems to be the most convenient parking situation of the entire school. However, if you mistakingly park in the wrong spot- you're screwed. That old guy in the golf cart with the mini ticket printer/scanner is bound to find you. He doesn't stop for anything! Rain or shine, he's out there giving people tickets. Then, if you are unlucky enough to get a ticket, you have to drive across the freeway to try and find the damn Park-N-Pony office inside the huge bank. Why did they move it out of the Student Center?? Oh, yeah! It's now that neat video game place that no one goes to. Awesome!

Think again.

Redbox: A Collection of Bad Flicks

I went grocery shopping at Kroger the other day when I came across Redbox- a small kiosk for vending movies! I heard a lot about these in my film classes, but I never played around with them. So, I was eager to see what all the buzz was about. However, as I was flipping through the twelve pages of movies I became more and more disappointed with my selections. Where were all the hit films, like "Donnie Darko" and "Rocky"? I figured Redbox would have all these popular movies. Instead, I was choosing out of a list with the almighty, "Puppy Party". After I was done flipping through the pages of movies I decided to give up and let the kid behind me return his flick. I don't know if I'll ever try Redbox again. Maybe I'll look into Netflix...

Intertextuality- "Stranded" Commercial

I was munchin' on some greasy hot pizza with some friends while watching the big Super Bowl game. During one of the breaks, one commercial really caught my attention- Bud Light's "Stranded" Ad. While watching this commercial, I immediately interpreted it as something other than Bud Light. I thought this was something about the hit television show, Lost. Little did I know until the very end when it was advertising beer! This vertical intertexuality cross-connected genres as it made viewers, like myself, think about other texts that were similar. Bud Light probably made this spoof off the popular show to arouse audiences by poking fun on such a bizarre situation.

I Was Wrong!

'Twas the night before Christmas when I was snooping around and waiting for Santa Claus to come tumbling down our chimney. I was twelve years old and determined to find out the truth: is Santa real, or not? So, I pretended to be asleep and slithered out of my bed. I peered down from the upstairs balcony to witness the most shocking news of my youth-- Santa Claus was a fake! My father was chugging down the milk and devouring our homemade chocolate chip cookies. My stomach was in knots, but some how I mustered up the strength to crawl back into my bed. I just couldn't believe that Santa was a fake. All my classmates tried to convince me that Santa Claus was NOT real. They said my parents were the ones that put the gifts out in the middle of the night. Even, visiting Santa at the mall was just a hoax. Some even said the red dot in the sky wasn't Rudolph! Instead, it was just a plane passing by. I tried to avoid all of their stupid remarks, but after that tragic night I knew my friends were right and I felt humiliated. I wish I would have listened to my best friends!

The State of Owen Address

For my Follower and Reader:

The 2010 year will be like none other. It will be an awesome year that is full of happiness and, hopefully, minimal pouting! I plan on getting my life together, as I try to finish up my Junior year. I want to find a better life-track that will lead me to become a better person. I plan on focusing in on what truly interests me. Why be somebody that I'm not? I want to try new things and see how things work because it might spark new ideas. I want to rid myself of bad habits, like being so judgmental towards people. Everyone deserves a chance! I also want to keep active, whether it's in sports or in friendships. I just want to find my "Owen-ness".

In doing so, one of my biggest goals this year will be taking on my Cinema-Television major head-on with an awesome summer film in hopes of making it to my very first film festival. This is going to be a stressful and costly task, but I am willing to work hard. My friend and co-director, David will be planning the masterpiece with me each week to make necessary efforts for a successful film. First on the list is finding a simple and unique story idea with complicated characters. We hope to create a melodramatic movie that involves some crazy teenage love. But, we're still under-construction with ideas! Next on the long list of to-do's is budgeting, scouting, storyboarding, finding the right camera, casting, and so forth. It's a headache to think about since we have lots to do, but I'm extremely excited to get the ball rolling!

Thank you. God Bless You. And God bless Owen in 2010.