Posts
Well, if you've been reading this blog, you may know that I attended my high school reunion this past weekend. I figured that I use some time in this blog to briefly discuss a few of my thoughts of my experience after seeing everyone after 10 years. I really will try to keep this brief, not because I want to get it over with and didn't enjoy the experience (it's actually quite the contrary), but because if I spend too long writing, I might spend a little more time than I would want to reminiscing. If that's the case, it would take me forever to write this blog.
Anyway, I just wanted to say, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. I attended my reunion curious to see the changes after 10 years, but mostly everybody I recognized looked the same (facially), just a little more mature. I took my part and socialized with a few of the people I knew, and even met a few people I didn't recognize back before I graduated.
I would have to say that this statement applied to me as well. And even though I have become a speaker who's spoken to people all over the country, I decided to play my role as the quiet and seemingly unrecognizable guy. Many people who really know me would know that even though I speak, I do a great job at it because I was quiet and usually prefer to listening others talk (and gain insight partly through observation). I played this role during the reunion, and I happily did so. But as far as me being "unrecognizable", although a few people surprisingly recognized me, many more haven't. (Wasn't really surprising, because as I've said before, I was super timid in high school). One girl I had English class with (named Jasmine) couldn't remember my name. Someone even thought I didn't graduate in the class, and I graduated with the class of '03. (If I can find ever find the video of this exchange, I may post it here).
I got to walk around the refurbished gymnasium, as well as the old auxiliary gymnasium where we held wrestling practice. We held our practices in the back half, and the cheerleaders held their practices in the other half (most days there was a divider in the middle of the gym, but there were some days that there weren't, hehe). I even got to walk the "hall of champions" and it made me smile when I saw the picture of my friend Adrian Belcarris when he won the state championship in 2001. It was even more special, considering I was there to see it. Seeing the new gym did make me slightly upset though, because I always thought it was messed up that the county waited for that gym to collapse and put more priority in building new state-of-the-art high schools (and adding seats to the county council by doing so), while letting existing schools like Oxon Hill to slowly go down.
Overall, I had a great time re-connecting with old classmates and reminiscing my high school days. People were surprised that I am a motivational speaker and a published author considering I was the quiet guy in high school, but like I said before, I didn't come there to do that. Just re-connecting and finding out what some of my classmates have been through during the past 10 years (considering what I've gone through with some of them) made the weekend worthwhile.
I will say though, I did feel odd that I was probably the one of the few guys (if not the only guy), who followed with the black tie dress code for the reunion gala by actually showing up in a tux and bowtie. (I'm used to wearing a suit and tie, so I thought it was a tux nice change of pace). Like I said, the more things change, the more things stay the same... ;-)
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
8/31/10
Oh Hi Mark
This isn't really one of my usual empowerment or life observation blogs, but I would have to say that this is one of those entries that encourages you to find laughter and happiness in the simplest things. Watch this movie clip (viewer discretion: strong language and adult situations)...
It's from the movie "The Room" a film starring, produced, and directed by Tommy Wiseau. I have managed to find more clips from this movie on YouTube and find the film somewhere on the Internet. I have to say that it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It is poorly acted, poorly produced, the dialogue and story's continuity and flow is inconsistent, and you will want to punch yourself after watching it. Wiseau's English throughout the film is so broken, it sometimes reminds you of those old japanese martial arts movies (where they dub english audio). This also adds on to how bad this movie is.
But, on the other side of the coin, because it's so bad, I will recommend it only for people to have their mind blown to see an example of how NOT to make movies. I'm not a filmmaker, but I can clearly see that there are major flaws in this movie. Not to mention, if you need a good laugh, a good way to do so is to watch this movie. Even though the movie is meant to be a tragedy, and the ending is sad, you just can't help but laugh when watching this movie.
Some info on this movie, it was so bad, that it has become so popular and became a cult favorite. It's even become it's own internet meme. (If you don't believe it, just look all over youtube).
Anyway, slightly more serious blog tomorrow. Just thought I'd lighten the mood a little bit.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
It's from the movie "The Room" a film starring, produced, and directed by Tommy Wiseau. I have managed to find more clips from this movie on YouTube and find the film somewhere on the Internet. I have to say that it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It is poorly acted, poorly produced, the dialogue and story's continuity and flow is inconsistent, and you will want to punch yourself after watching it. Wiseau's English throughout the film is so broken, it sometimes reminds you of those old japanese martial arts movies (where they dub english audio). This also adds on to how bad this movie is.
But, on the other side of the coin, because it's so bad, I will recommend it only for people to have their mind blown to see an example of how NOT to make movies. I'm not a filmmaker, but I can clearly see that there are major flaws in this movie. Not to mention, if you need a good laugh, a good way to do so is to watch this movie. Even though the movie is meant to be a tragedy, and the ending is sad, you just can't help but laugh when watching this movie.
Some info on this movie, it was so bad, that it has become so popular and became a cult favorite. It's even become it's own internet meme. (If you don't believe it, just look all over youtube).
Anyway, slightly more serious blog tomorrow. Just thought I'd lighten the mood a little bit.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
8/30/10
Much Needed Break... But I'm Back!!! (With An Upcoming Surprise)
In case you may have not noticed, I have taken a weekend break from blogging. It was mostly because I had a full weekend, getting reacquainted with my former classmates in my 10-year high school reunion with the Oxon Hill High School Class of 2000, as well as spending a little bit of time playing with my nephew and my niece.
But don't worry, I will get back to blogging all things motivation, all things insight, all things sport, all things life, all things "OBE". In fact, I want to make an announcement that I have something big planned for all my blog readers, as well as my friends in social media come labor day weekend. I will break the news exclusively here on this blog sometime during the span of the 3-day weekend.
What is it? You have to tune in to find out. But I promise you... it's gonna be rewarding, it's gonna be great, and it's gonna be ULTIMATE.
Until then... keep checking out the blog and reading the blog posts. I'll definitely continue to provide some good content.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
But don't worry, I will get back to blogging all things motivation, all things insight, all things sport, all things life, all things "OBE". In fact, I want to make an announcement that I have something big planned for all my blog readers, as well as my friends in social media come labor day weekend. I will break the news exclusively here on this blog sometime during the span of the 3-day weekend.
What is it? You have to tune in to find out. But I promise you... it's gonna be rewarding, it's gonna be great, and it's gonna be ULTIMATE.
Until then... keep checking out the blog and reading the blog posts. I'll definitely continue to provide some good content.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
8/26/10
One Weird Life Goal I Have...
One goal I actually have on my "Ultimate Life List" is to have my own Wikipedia page written about me.
It's a weird goal, and I don't know why exactly I came up with this goal. I guess I always felt that you have truly made it if someone has thought enough of you to write a small well-thought-out and researched biography of you, what you have accomplished, and have several other websites that point to specific points of what you have done and your significant contribution to this world.
Hopefully, WHEN this happens, it will be under good circumstances, and my "fame" won't be because I do anything to cause a bad rep (ie: Seung-Hi Cho). I would want to be immortalized with people believing I have made some sort of positive impact.
But why Wikipedia? It's a worldly recognizable reference point in the Internet, it's easy to find, well moderated, and it's written and maintained by regular (yet educated) people. I just recently discovered (when randomly googling people via the blog entry two days ago), that my good friend Arel Moodie (whom I blogged about previously) has his own Wikipedia page. Makes me motivated to have one too.
Hopefully I will get my own complete Wikipedia page one day. I think it's great to have one, not because I want to be recognized or immortalized, but in my opinion, it's a good indication that you have done something significant to change someone's life, and change the world (somehow).
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
It's a weird goal, and I don't know why exactly I came up with this goal. I guess I always felt that you have truly made it if someone has thought enough of you to write a small well-thought-out and researched biography of you, what you have accomplished, and have several other websites that point to specific points of what you have done and your significant contribution to this world.
Hopefully, WHEN this happens, it will be under good circumstances, and my "fame" won't be because I do anything to cause a bad rep (ie: Seung-Hi Cho). I would want to be immortalized with people believing I have made some sort of positive impact.
But why Wikipedia? It's a worldly recognizable reference point in the Internet, it's easy to find, well moderated, and it's written and maintained by regular (yet educated) people. I just recently discovered (when randomly googling people via the blog entry two days ago), that my good friend Arel Moodie (whom I blogged about previously) has his own Wikipedia page. Makes me motivated to have one too.
Hopefully I will get my own complete Wikipedia page one day. I think it's great to have one, not because I want to be recognized or immortalized, but in my opinion, it's a good indication that you have done something significant to change someone's life, and change the world (somehow).
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
8/25/10
When in doubt about an "opportunity", check out...
Ripoff Report
There are probably hundreds, no... thousands of "opportunities" out there claiming you can legitimately make a lot of money online, offline, or wherever. Most of all, they claim you can make it very easily by posting a link here, send an e-mail there, or some other small menial task. And in a few weeks, you'll make more money working a few hours, than you ever have working full-time in years. (After all, they have pictures of their ginormous checks, and numerous transactions in their clickbank accounts). I'm friends with a few "online marketers" in Facebook, and I've noticed that some of them are guilty in this.
The ripoff report website above gives you a good idea of what you should be careful of out there. If it's not a legit opportunity, chances are, someone filed a report and wrote about it on this site. These reports are pretty detailed, and a lot of them have comments backing it up.
Honestly, I wish I knew about this site back when I was in college, or back when I got out of college. I'm not proud to say, that I've gotten ripped off several times from a lot of companies who aren't so "honest", and fell into a lot of scams. It would have saved me a lot of heartache.
So definitely use this Ripoff Report if you smell something fishy about a certain opportunity. I've been using this for a while now, and whenever I type up something I'm skeptical about... more often than not, I find it in this site. But, I will say, that not all opportunities are "bad", so if you find one that isn't, I urge you to pursue it. This website can help you determine just that.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
There are probably hundreds, no... thousands of "opportunities" out there claiming you can legitimately make a lot of money online, offline, or wherever. Most of all, they claim you can make it very easily by posting a link here, send an e-mail there, or some other small menial task. And in a few weeks, you'll make more money working a few hours, than you ever have working full-time in years. (After all, they have pictures of their ginormous checks, and numerous transactions in their clickbank accounts). I'm friends with a few "online marketers" in Facebook, and I've noticed that some of them are guilty in this.
The ripoff report website above gives you a good idea of what you should be careful of out there. If it's not a legit opportunity, chances are, someone filed a report and wrote about it on this site. These reports are pretty detailed, and a lot of them have comments backing it up.
Honestly, I wish I knew about this site back when I was in college, or back when I got out of college. I'm not proud to say, that I've gotten ripped off several times from a lot of companies who aren't so "honest", and fell into a lot of scams. It would have saved me a lot of heartache.
So definitely use this Ripoff Report if you smell something fishy about a certain opportunity. I've been using this for a while now, and whenever I type up something I'm skeptical about... more often than not, I find it in this site. But, I will say, that not all opportunities are "bad", so if you find one that isn't, I urge you to pursue it. This website can help you determine just that.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
8/24/10
Have you Googled Yourself Lately?
Just for fun, I decided to "google myself" today. I used to do this quite often, but I haven't done it in a while...
After doing so, I found that just by typing my name, I'm apparently very visible in the Internet now. It might be thanks to my blogging, it might be from the YouTube videos I've done some time ago, it might be because I'm in a lot of social networks. A lot of those may have contributed to my internet visibility. I typed in my name (without the quotes), websites that features my likeness (or likenesses of what I worked on) dominated the first 5 pages. Even the session I taught in February in Atlanta was found in the first few pages. And the first mention of another "Obedoza" isn't until page 3 (remember, this is a search without quotes. I think that's pretty cool. I dominate the "Obedoza" niche in Google. haha
One surprising (and great thing) is that despite all of this "visibility", my personal information (with the exception of my PO Box, which I don't mind people knowing) isn't published publicly. This is a good thing, for obvious privacy reasons.
Just thought I'd share that. So if you're trying to find me, I shouldn't be too hard to find (in the Internet). Just goes to show a small example of how powerful Google has become.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
After doing so, I found that just by typing my name, I'm apparently very visible in the Internet now. It might be thanks to my blogging, it might be from the YouTube videos I've done some time ago, it might be because I'm in a lot of social networks. A lot of those may have contributed to my internet visibility. I typed in my name (without the quotes), websites that features my likeness (or likenesses of what I worked on) dominated the first 5 pages. Even the session I taught in February in Atlanta was found in the first few pages. And the first mention of another "Obedoza" isn't until page 3 (remember, this is a search without quotes. I think that's pretty cool. I dominate the "Obedoza" niche in Google. haha
One surprising (and great thing) is that despite all of this "visibility", my personal information (with the exception of my PO Box, which I don't mind people knowing) isn't published publicly. This is a good thing, for obvious privacy reasons.
Just thought I'd share that. So if you're trying to find me, I shouldn't be too hard to find (in the Internet). Just goes to show a small example of how powerful Google has become.
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
8/23/10
Killer Ab Workout on a Couch
Check out the following video...
I've done this ab workout for the first time in a long time the other day (only double the reps), and my gut was sore for a couple of days. But, I've also watched my diet a bit, and started seeing some results only after a few short days.
This wasn't the first time I've done this workout, but it was the first time I've done it in a while. I remembered how much it burned, so I decided to go at it again.
I recommend you try it as well, and let me know how you feel after doing this for the first time. If you don't have a 6-pack like I do, I'm sure you'll feel it. And if you get results, let me know...
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
I've done this ab workout for the first time in a long time the other day (only double the reps), and my gut was sore for a couple of days. But, I've also watched my diet a bit, and started seeing some results only after a few short days.
This wasn't the first time I've done this workout, but it was the first time I've done it in a while. I remembered how much it burned, so I decided to go at it again.
I recommend you try it as well, and let me know how you feel after doing this for the first time. If you don't have a 6-pack like I do, I'm sure you'll feel it. And if you get results, let me know...
D4P...PD!!!
-OBE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
