Aging Haircuts

I did it.  I finally did  it.  After almost three months of bed-head art I've donated 1.5 inches to Locks of Love and I just can't help getting a little emotional about it*.

At first, I loved my haircut.  "Sure, it's pretty short," I told myself, "but that's what I told the girl with the clippers--short."  I only started doubting myself after two days filled with the following conversation:

Fun with the comic strip setting on Photo-Booth

"Oh, Owen, did you get a haircut?" they ask with genuine surprise and feigned ignorance.

"Yeah, I did," I respond while reaching up and gently stroking my new hairdo.

And then they (usually girls) almost invariably ask in a lower-pitched voice, "Do you like it?" as if they were really asking, "On a scale of 1 to 10 how embarrassed are you to be out in public today?"

"Um, yes.  Maybe a 7 now--I mean (cough) it's pretty short, huh?"  I skeptically respond trying to reflect their level of disappointment in my haircut.

"Don't worry, it'll grow back in a couple weeks!"  They all reassure me.

And then there was the folk dance team social where two girls guessed my age at 25 and 26 years old. Their eyes got big when I told them I'm actually 21 years old.  I was younger than both of them!  In an attempt to boost my ego I said, "I know, it looks like I'm in the military, right?"

"No, not at all," says one girl, the other nodding her head in agreement, "You totally look like an older missionary."

I got home that night and gave my reflection in the mirror some serious thought.  Admittedly, I did look older.  Maybe even five years older.  And dag-nubbit I did have a missionary haircut, only I'm certain I never dared to cut my hair this short before, even on my mission.

So here's to looking older for two weeks!




*This part is completely fictional; Locks of Love requires a hair length of at least 10 inches in order to donate.  And I'm not actually overly emotional about it.

Possible the coolest FHE ever.  We took a tour of BYU's anechoic chamber deep beneath the Eyring Science Center.  99% of all noise is cancelled out in this room.

 The two pictures on the right are in a room that is the opposite of an anechoic chamber--a reverberation chamber!  Where sound is amplified and sticks around for eight seconds after it is made.

Abby and I took 7th place in a tango competition.

Vareniki stuffed with homemade sauerkraut (yeah, I can pickle now), and topped with homemade ajika sauce.

"So what are you guys gathered for?"
"Um, er, well, uh . . ."
"We're cousins!" says DaLynn

Frosting sugar cookies for FHE

Service project tying quilts for kids, and me eating seven slices of pizza

I kinda have a thing for plants. Starting with what's in my hand and going down and clockwise:  rosemary, peppermint, orange mint, oregano, chives, marjoram, and lemon balm.

Roman Forums and Famous CEOs

Every week at BYU thousands of students flock to the Marriott center to listen to inspiring gospel-messages usually prepared by university faculty members.  We call their speeches "devotionals."  And about once a month BYU shakes things up by inviting some noteworthy or socially distinguished individual to address the student body.  These individuals range in prominence from senators, to Pulitzer Prize winners, to CEOs of famous companies.  In the true spirit of antiquity BYU calls their speeches "forums." There's just nothing more Roman than asking your buddy in chemistry class, "Hey, are you going to the forum today?"  Well, this week's forum was not one to miss, because none other than the president of Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, Edwin Catmull, addressed us this week.

Ed's speech, entitled "The Creative Culture," told the student body by way of storytelling the recipe for creative success.  So from the man who brought us Toy Story and Frozen, here are a few of my forum favorites:

"Art is not about learning to draw or blend color but learning to see."

"We pay attention to power structure.  That kind of authority can screw up a room."

"If you aren't failing, then you aren't trying different things."

"Don't look back for excuses; look back for lessons."

"Ease isn't the goal; excellence is."

Ed also talked about how it is more important to ask forgiveness than permission, which is a bold philosophy my timid side has a hard time practicing.  But isn't that kind of boldness key in creativity?!  

And now, not necessarily related to anything typed above, but here are a few fun memories from this week:

A super-fun mission reunion.

Practicing clogging in my apartment while Scott was trying to take a nap :)

 Making sourdough pretzels for the first time and enjoying them with Stephen.

Running into Alison Lynford on campus after not seeing her for over three years!  And then posing with political buttons for a conservative youth group surveyor that caught us while we were catching up.