Owenskie’s blog

I haven’t blogged about Britney for a long time. All I was seeing was her ever bulging belly, her adventures with the paparazzi, her unusual driving stunts or her now you have it fuzzy, now you don’t hair days. I still don’t have any update on this has been superstar who had the chance to redeem herself but let it slip away.

Oh Britney, if you only knew how lucky you were.  All together now!

“She’s so lucky, she’s a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking
If there’s nothing missing in my life
Then why do these tears come at night.”

But are you happy now that you’ve lost the stardom? I don’t think so. She’s a mess. But I recently saw her pictures with a new do. She seems to be shaping up. She’s blonde and seems to be losing the excess pounds. Just continue doing that and she’ll soon be prepped up to model for ads, even vinyl signs. The latest about her is that she will be shooting a video to be shown on Madonna’s concert tour, ala virtual Britney.

Her kid sister, or the sister, Jamie Lynn, has given birth last June 19 to a baby girl. The girl was named Maddie Briann. Jaime is now raising her in the Mississippi home she shares with boyfriend Casey Aldridge.

So what’s next with the Spears? Maybe it will be better if we’ll just wait for their kids to grow and redeem their parents’ lost careers. But for now, we should just hope that these kids will be guided accordingly so that they won’t follow their parents’ footsteps.

As for Britney, I think that this girl still has the chance to make it. She’s still young and she’s talented. If only she will learn to put her talents and charm into something good and where she will excel. If only she will learn to prioritize her loved ones before she thinks about herself. Oh well, I think that she knows what to do to straighten out. I just hope that she realizes all these before it’s too late. Come on, Britney. Look at where Justin is now. Isn’t that enough inspiration to strive harder?

As I browse the net for an idea about what to write, I was stuck. I wasn’t interested with the latest news. Even the latest gossips lacked appeal. So I just think about what I have been through recently.

I had a very weird dream last night that when I woke up, I set my mind to find out what that means. But first, do you know what dreams are? According to the very reliable Wiki, dreams are what we see or the images as well as the thoughts and the emotions that we experience while we are sleeping. Dreams are highly associated with the rapid eye movement sleep. Throughout history, interests about this topic never waned although with regards to its contents and the biological purposes, those aren’t yet fully understood.

So now that I’ve gathered some “technical” definition, it’s time to give in to my desire. I want to know what my dream means. You never know but it may be good enough to be used as subject for cheap poster printing.

The weird thing about it is that I dreamt of a part of our old house. Everything was new, the house itself, the backyard, the playground at the back. What was weird is that after the house before you reach the playground, there was the comfort room. It was like what we had before. But what’s so disturbing about it is that it looked filthy, the things inside looked primitive. The water was dirty. In my dream, my mother was asking me to use that. She said that it was okay.

Okay, I found the answers at dreammoods.com. But it only focused on the toilet. There are three types of toilet which were given meanings on the site. Basically, seeing a toilet symbolizes either the release of emotions or getting rid of a useless part of your life.

Cleaning the toilet means that you are opening up and starting to lose your shyness. The clogged toilet means that you are keeping your emotions to yourself. And the overflowing one signifies your desires to express your emotions.

Now I’m still at lost so I looked up the meaning of dirt or being in such state. So there it is, under the word dirt. This corresponds to person’s anxieties and feelings toward sex. Now I don’t think I like that sound of that. Such dream, according to the site, rooted from having low self-esteem and when you have a feeling that you are unworthy.

Between these meanings, I think I can better relate with the toilet stuff. I am going through a personal struggle right now and I think I soon have to release the sad emotion that is gripping me. But that will take time. I just thank the dream for reminding me.

Have you ever thought about what your dreams meant? Dreammoods.com is one effective site that can help you solve your dream puzzles as long as you remember them.

It looks like it is going to rain. During times like this, it feels good to reminisce. When the skies are dark and the weather is cold, there are things that everybody enjoys doing and there are things that we all miss for sure.

The one thing that I enjoy doing the most on this type of weather is drown myself with my favorite addiction, which is coffee. But I love having one while watching my other addiction, which is the hit TV sitcom, ‘Friends.’

Since it ended in 2004, TV viewing habit no longer feels the same. It has yet to be beaten but it seems like no one’s exerting enough effort. Or am I just still bitter and couldn’t accept the sitcom’s fate? It’s still black outside and it’s almost eight in the morning as I wonder where are my favorite ‘Friends’ now?

Of course, Jennifer Aniston has gone from Brad to John who used to be linked with another Jen, the Love Hewitt one. No, there is no connection whatsoever. It’s just too bad for the men to be linked with Jen Aniston now and in the future, they would always be compared with Brad. Maybe she should just settle with someone who is mentally gifted. But I am not saying that Brad is dumb. Look at him, he’s got this whole interracial family going on for him. I am not against it at all. But somehow, I still have to delve on it or experience it myself to understand the whole notion.

Going back to ‘Friends,’ whenever I see Courtney Cox on the news, she’s with her family. Or she’s in a vacation with Jen. She seems to be enjoying her family life now. She’s even announced her plans to go through in vitro fertilization in order to have another child.

The two Matts seem to cease from the limelight. Is Matt Perry still sick? He’s a good comedian. But people will always associate him to his Friends’ character, Chandler Bing. The other Matt, Joey Tribbiani, has tried the marriage route but also treaded the divorce path. He is said to be dating actress Andrea Anders.

Phoebe Buffay, oh, how I miss her songs and her not your oh so typical look at life. Now that I’m checking Wikipedia about this blog entry, I only knew now that Lisa Kudrow and Conan O’Brien sang beautiful songs together before he moved into the Big Apple and made it big.

And the last and my most favorite ‘Friend’ of them all, Ross. And Wiki says, hmm, there’s nothing much new about him. Maybe he’s also looking at the dark skies waiting for the rain to fall. Maybe he is thinking about going into business and considering his options about pocket folder printing.

Got to end this now. The coffee has gone cold. I still miss ‘Friends.’ And it is now exactly eight o’clock but the rain seems to be taking its time before it decides to let loose.

“Sleep deprivation can adversely affect brain function – Wikipedia.” 

So this is why it seems like I have left my brain at home when I headed off to work this morning. Now I know how it feels like to be a star. And I’m not really liking it. I wonder how they can act in front of the camera having only some hours of sleep.

I had thirty minutes of it. I had a deadline that I did until 4:30 in the morning, wanting to beat it to be sent quickly to short run prints, then I woke up at 5:00 to prepare myself for office. I don’t do this often though. I cannot, especially now that I’ve read that entry from Wikipedia.

What is happening to my brain? Well, it is still functioning but not in its usual way. Here in the office, the first thing I did was put cold water to my mug with the coffee and sugar already in it. As a result, the combination won’t dissolve and I had wasted a valuable pack of coffee.

I am browsing through different web sites but I cannot really comprehend a thing. Add the fact that it was so dark outside when my shift was just starting. The rain wanted to fall down hard, but for some reason, it held itself back. I should know what it was thinking, I just stared at the black clouds over the window for the first hour of work.

Let me see the studies now that have been done related to sleep. These are still according to Wikipedia.

1.    The ability of rats to heal wounds is the same for rats who didn’t sleep for five days and the rats who were allowed to venture into dreamland.

Now I don’t know who made the study and why would they make a rat not sleep? Poor souls. If only they knew what was happening, they could have demanded a better brand of cheese. The Wiki entry didn’t say how those rats were able to stay awake that long.

2.    Now bear with me on this as it contains too hard to pronounce and comprehend scientific words for someone who is sleep deprived. The situation resulted in less secretion of cortisol the following day. This is due to the successive slow-wave kind of sleep. I think this is already for humans and no longer for rats.

It also said that sleep deprivation improves the activities on, drum roll, Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that regulate the mood, immune system, the usage of energy, sex… But with the state that I am in now, the last thing that I would like to do is share the bed with someone. I want my bed. And I want to sleep for four days straight. Anyway that reaction will likewise suppress our growth hormones.

3.    Now this makes me want to drop this act and head off to dreamland myself. Several studies relate obesity with sleep deprivation.

Why do I only know that now? Gotta go. Gotta catch up on my zzzs before my weight starts zooming up.

Every basketball fan would know how intense the rivalry of L.A. Lakers and Boston Celtics was before in the National Basketball League. It was the type of rivalry that every person in the world anticipated, a rivalry that even extended outside the court to the point that even the fans were getting involved in it, literally.  

I was not born yet during the hype of this competition but I have heard of how great the matches were before. I have seen play back of games wherein Magic Johnson’s Lakers and Larry Bird’s Celtics would give their everything just to try to edge each other out. For them, it is not the win that matters most because just like everyone involved in this so-called rivalry what mattered most was the pride they felt every time their team one.

Relive the Moment

Fast-track to almost two decades, these two teams again has the chance to face each other at the finals. Even though they are still currently trying to win their respective division championship series Boston against Detroit and LA Lakers against San Antonio, a lot of basketball fanatics like me are already anticipating the finals series between the two most popular teams in the league.

It is now the turn of Boston’s Kevin Garnett to try and edge out Laker’s Kobe Bryant if ever they meet to battle for the championship trophy. Will they be able relive the hype that was present during these two teams’ games before? Will the intensity spill out to the streets once again and involve the basketball fans? That is what we have to find out.

Fulfilling my Dream

Every time I get to watch the playbacks of the Celtic-Laker rivalry, I always dream of being in the Staples Center in Los Angeles with all the screaming fans, holding my own banner made from digital printing and heckling my heart out in support of both teams. I bet I would have a hard time cheering for just one team because these two teams play good basketball that anyone would be crazy not to admire.

I guess for me, more than what team will win I would just like to feel the hype people felt at the height of the Celtics- Lakers rivalry two decades ago.        

I have been an avid reader of newspapers for the longest time already and I am bothered by the fact that for the past few weeks or even months, news about global warming getting worse could be seen on the spreadsheets every single day. I guess it is a problem that is getting out of hand because not too much people really care about it maybe because they do not see and feel the effects it is already bring to our mother earth.

One example here is the effect of global warming on the Great Lakes in Chicago. These lakes are starting to have water levels which also put to risk other stuff like its health and sanitation.

Effects

The three most common effects of global warming is rising of sea levels, arctic shrinkage and unpredictable patterns in agriculture. Keep in mind that these are only three of the very many effects of global warming. Secondary effects would already include incurable tropical diseases and changes in our seasonal patterns.

Action?

One big question that has always stuck to my mind is that how come government officials all over the world are not to keen doing their own actions to stop global warming. Are they not worried about the effects it could bring in the world they are living in? Yes, they may think that they have all the money and might in the world but they must know that global warming chooses no kind of people. People from all walks of life are affected by this and what is sad is more often than not. People from the lower classes are the ones who care more.

Campaigns

There are some non-government associations who do their part in spreading the word about global warming but the problem is they are getting very minimal support from the government. The funds they get are not enough to change the world but still they are doing the best that they can do.

Is It really hard for the government to focus on this problem? The answer should be know because what they could do is as easy paying a flyer printing company to print flyers that would raise awareness. This could be a small start but at least they would start with something.   

And the rumble was over. David Cook was pronounced the winner on the recently concluded ‘American Idol Season 7’. The number of votes has proven that the more mature David has gained a pack of followers more than enough to make him win.

I admire the two for their abilities, their strengths, even their weaknesses. Both can carry on to successful careers in the music industry. But my prediction is that after the hype is over and a new Idol is crowned, one David will still prevail and the other one may have to choose another path.

The younger David may not have the right numbers enough to make him win. But he has more than enough qualities to last in the business than the other David. This is not only because of the age, Archuleta being 17 and Cook 25. It is with their overall appearance.

One look at Mr. Cook and you will feel like, ‘He looks like someone,’ or ‘He sounds like someone.’ And I don’t think that will do him any good in the long run. But this guy will definitely be famous. His first album will make it big. But for how long he’s going to be able to sustain that, I’ll give it one to three years. I can actually see him as a soap opera star or a poster boy for ads like flyer printing.

David Archuleta, on the other hand, seems to be the type that is full of surprises. It surprised me that he didn’t win, as a matter of fact. But aside from that, he can still go through a lot of transformation through the years. This is not only regarding his looks, but also his type of music and even his style.

After Carrie Underwood, I thought that the Idol could no longer produce exciting talents. I thought that they have lost their magic touch on star building. But they really have proven it wrong this season.

Yes, the winner has been decided. But the game is not over. It is just beginning for the two David. It couldn’t be helped that long after the show is over, they will still be compared. So the pressure is still there for the two. Cook has to prove that he is deserving of the title. And Archuleta has to prove that even without the title, he is a winner.

What are the rules of online chatting? Are there rules that a user strictly follows once they enter the stream of millions of online users? Do we train ourselves or our children on who to avoid, when to stop, and how to treat other users?

The freedom the internet offers us makes it hard to set up any rules that apply to everyone. The internet has become a public space where people from all walks of life intersect and collide. It welcomes a global audience that is diverse and multi-cultural. Thus, rather than set-up any rules that might step on anybody else’s toes, there aren’t any.

Rules only apply in certain rooms and communities where people of the same interests join. Still, the rules are not as encompassing or thorough. Social networks, online communities, and groups can only do so much to monitor activities and regulate them. This is quite problematic, especially for sites or spaces that children can access, explore, and even fall victim to abusive online users.
 
The internet comes as a double-edged razor which everyone must know. It is a virtual world that allows anyone to become who they would want to be without consequences. They can be as good and as bad as they want to be. They can assume identities that of another or one that does not exist at all. And they can easily come and go as they please.

The most recent and disturbing way one can use the internet is illustrated in the case of the 13-year old girl Megan Meier who committed suicide; who through her MySpace account, encountered love, loss, and of course, bullying. Lori Drew and her co-conspirators drew up their own MySpace accounts, the former even created a false account and identity by the name of John Evans, a 16-yearl old high school student.

The girl who had, supposedly, an online relationship with John was harassed and humiliated. At one point, they even addressed a message to Megan saying the world would be a better place without her.

The FBI and other authorities are looking into the case but might not have anything to charge Lori Drew and her co-conspirators with except for some penalties. The reason? There aren’t any laws applicable to the said case.

This incident could have been prevented by both parties – the neighbor Lori Drew and Megan’s parents. Both should have known better.

Then again, were there any canvas prints, handbooks or guidebooks on chatting, social networking, cyber-bullies, online predators and so on?

There are online rules I observe in order to attract the right kind of people and deter the ones who are simply up to no good. And if you have children, there are ways to make internet a safer place for them by understanding and knowing certain measures.

1.    Ignore users who PING you just to initiate chatting. This is a rude gesture and should never be done.
2.    Immediately ignore users whose on-screen names are just way beyond dubious. These are the ones with long numbers, random letter combinations, and of course, sexually explicit names.
3.    Understand online language, lingo and abbreviation. If you know what LMAO stands for, then you wouldn’t want your young child to use that expression. Moreover, there are coded messages that seek to evade your monitoring like the simple word POTS – parent over the shoulder.
4.    Report bots. These may not always solicit information from you or your children, but they only seek to do one thing – direct you to a site which is not secure or appropriate for children.
5.    Report spam mail.
6.    Report people who really violate the terms and conditions generally agreed upon when becoming a member of an online community or social networking.
7.    To render your reports more effective, know how to provide proofs or evidence. Know how and what Print Screen can do.
8.    If you experience any form of verbal abuse, harassment, hate mail and so on, it is best to just close your chat window, delete your files, and create a new and different account. You don’t have to put up with any crap from people you don’t know.
 

There are things in life that are much worse than death says Bishop Gene Robinson.

I couldn’t agree more with the fellow.

Yet with all the happenings and controversial issues on and about religion in the US – the polygamous sect in Eldorado, Texas and Pope Benedict XVI visiting the USA – nothing quite compares to openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson’s interview in the Today’s show with Matt Lauer. His belief that living life to the fullest, being able to love and marry the person you want to, in this case his own life partner Mark Andrew, is something that God wishes him to do.  

Many gays and lesbians have pushed for this principle a long, long time ago –with or without God in the equation. And so, while a lot of countries have already allowed homosexual couples to marry, a man of the cloth marrying another man seems to bring or make a different equation – especially when the foundations of the Church concerns it and it begins to shake.

I am a true believer that everyone has the right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Gays, lesbians, transgendered among others have as much rights as any other straight Dick or Jane on the street.  I am not particularly an expert on the subject but I know for sure that the fundamentals of the Church are facing very different and difficult times.

Opening up to changes and new ideas are not the best qualities of the Church. By the capital “C” I mean the institutions of the Catholic or Christian religions. So while gays and lesbians can be just about anybody, a lot of speculations are brought to mind when Bishop Gene Robinson declares he wants to marry Mark Andrew.

Just what is a priest anyway or a bishop for that matter? What concepts are we changing? What history are we making? And what does this all have to do with the Church? I still have to work out the contradictions that keep floating on the surface on my mind.

Personally, I think there is a certain hypocrisy in the Church whose doctrines and interpretations marginalizes a lot of people even when at the core of all its teachings only tells us to love. All this humanistic values they preach are somehow exclusive to a select kind of people.  So I guess Bishop Gene Robinson must be a more contemporary or unconventional man of the cloth.

Isn’t that disturbing or frightening? Why do we offer to judge who is acceptable in God’s eyes or worthy of His love? Are we to live life trying to see whether we pass the qualifying rounds?

Now, the simple act and desire of one man brings to surface many issues the Church has ignored for a long time.  It has failed to answer or acknowledge many pressing issues of the times as though banners and vinyl signs weren’t raised to bring many issues to light. Well, it’ll surely be a tight squeeze this time around.

And while I ponder and sort my own voice on this issue – I suggest the rest of us do the same. This is not just one man’s life, but everybody else’s – who are gay, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered, who are straight, who belongs to the church, who fights for liberty and rights, and who fights for the pursuit of happiness.

If they could turn mobile phones into mobile cars, I’d probably be impressed.

With all the technology today, a simple mobile phone is not all what it seems. Call me a laggard, but who can really keep up with the pace of all the technological innovations and inventions that keep springing up? While you barely have the time to distinguish what makes a 10 megapixel camera better than your 7 megapixel camera, you would have found out that there’s a 10.90 megapixel camera out to do you one over.

How many “powers” of your mobile phone can you truly utilize all at the same time? Let me rephrase that. Can you fully utilize all the features of your gadgetry before another model is released, posed to make it obsolete?

I have so many pressing questions that only a novice like me can ask. While some of you may take my questions literally, I ask these questions not as a fundamentalist, but to assess how much technology do we need? Do we use?

So while you may think and brand me as stupid, is it really embarrassing for me to ask these questions? If you have a normal phone like I do – a basic Nokia with 3G technology – haven’t you ever really questioned just how relevant it is, its features, and all its numerous add-ons?

Now that I reflect about these things, I aim not to question the merits of science & technology and all its pursuits. I am raising these questions because I wonder how truly essential and helpful all these technology can be.

I have asked myself these questions have up come with this list, which is probably enough to fill a catalog for booklet printing.

1.    Just how do you blog using an ordinary phone?
2.    Do you really want to see the face of the person you are speaking to? So, how frequently do you do it over 3G?
3.    Do you really have the time to surf using your phone? How many minutes does that hobby last?
4.    If your mobile phone allows your laptop to connect to an internet connection, just where do you intend to go?
5.    Which places do you really find yourself in where there is no internet connection and you have to send a file?
6.    In relation to both questions 4 and 5, just how frequently do you lug around your laptop just to make surfing with or on your phone convenient?
7.    How frequently do you use Bluetooth?
8.    Do you have plenty of accessories that accommodates the Bluetooth technology?
9.    How many emails do you receive in your ordinary phone?
10.    Do you often reply using your phone?

A mobile phone have just released its new sets of mid-range phones. Are you buying?