Happy Birthday!

It's about time we celebrated someone important... guess who's birthday it is. It's not me. Sorry. Outside of the art world, he's not actually that important but it's Rene Magritte's 110th birthday. This guy is the surreal artist famous for the painting called "The Rape" and others. If I were honest with you I would have to tell you that I'm not super keen with the birthdays of dead creeps, so credit goes to Google for their art they did to celebrate his birthday. I wouldn't care so much if I weren't learning about him in my art history but it's cool.



A favourite of their images. This habit of theirs to create sick images like these is one of the things I most appreciate of Google. Thanks!

Accepted

I got a call from a girl from the Honor Academy a few days ago and I want to go. I'm praying that God will open doors. I filled out five job applications today and I'll be returning them as soon as possible.

Letters

My brother found this somewhere on the web. I really like it; I might use it sometime as a base for future work of mine. Of course, that's also the same reason I asked someone from Thunder Bay to write out the alphabet for me, because I thought she had really cool writing...

Today

Today I actually had a really good day. People. Answered prayers. Art. But something, I'm just wiped, something has been drained inside of me. I'm so tired right now. My art isn't finished, but it's close. I'm going to fail my math test tomorrow but my brother might get a dog tomorrow, which would make up for it. And anyways, I've decided I don't like math anymore and I don't care about it. I care slightly for my grade but it's alrighty bad. (Clearly I'm tired, and if you missed what I just did, you are too). My art mark will have to get me honours at the end single-handedly. Oh well, I'm going to bed. It's not even terribly late.

Making and Thinking

I found this, it's pretty cool. I'd say it's probably true of me.

Easter Eggs

So I've been looking up "Easter eggs" for Pixar movies and I found this image, it's definitely my favourite.



It's obviously the same trailer, but if you look to the left you can the Pizza Planet car from Toy Story in both. Apparently, the car's in every one of their movies. Also the number A113 is in most, if not all. From what I know, it's the classroom number where many of the animators got their skill. And the guy who voices Mack in Cars has had some kind of role in every movie too. There are so many Easter eggs in the movies and I've only just read of a few of them.

WALL-E

The movie comes to DVD and Blu-ray in three days! I'm asking for it for Christmas and I'm really excited about it. I found the whole screenplay on the Internet and printed it off. I've read through some parts of it and it brought back scenes from the movie for me.

I saw it on June the 28th, the day after it came to theatres. My brother took me for my birthday, he's so sweet. It's a fabulous movie, very well done. If you haven't seen it just go buy the movie. I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. I love all Pixar movies.

Twilight

So a few days ago a friend of mine lent me the book Twilight. I started reading it. Then my parents told me that they didn't really want me reading those books from the series after reading an article about them in the Plugged In magazine from Focus on the Family. I read it myself. Apparently, as they go on there's a lot of detail in the occult type category. (The books are primarily about vampires, you should know that if you're reading this). And later on things become sexually between the characters. Even though that is after they get married, it's still there. For girls that's porn, I'd say. Girl porn. Lovely, right? No, not so much.

Now, today I tried to return the book to my friend who lent it to me telling her those things. I didn't call it girl porn though. My friend is a Mormon, which doesn't actually make a huge difference to me, but she promised me they were good. She told me the Stephenie Meyer, who wrote the books is Mormon, and Mormons hold similar beliefs to Christians, I believe, and she told me that if they weren't good books she wouldn't read them herself.

But I trust my parents' opinion more than hers. And I know that what I read was true because she didn't deny it, she simply praised Stephenie for sending the message of saving sex for marriage. And my other Christian friend who was there in my English class who's reading the books was like "they just kiss, and kiss some more and go a little further..." Ahh! And then another friend of mine, also there, a Christian guy friend said "As long as you know it's wrong, than it's OK to read it".

What?! I'm trying keep my mind clean, could I get some support here? All three of those friends believe that so whatever happened to

"There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, "The two become one." Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never "become one." There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for "becoming one" with another. Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body." 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 (The Message)

and

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8

So to tie things up, this is what happened. My first friend told me to just finish the book. She said that the book stands on its own and there's no need to read the other books for it to be a good story. The other books are the ones where things get worse. I agreed but left myself the right to stop reading at any point. And I definitely won't be reading the rest of the books. She promised it was good. We'll see.

My Room

On any given day there are things that can be said about my life just by looking at room. Today my room is disfunctional and messy. My life feels disorganized. There's a stricking relation. I'm going to clean my room.

What Do You Do?

What do you do when you know someone who you used to be somewhat close with, but now you both mutually know that in your minds that the relationship is coming to an end. Messages are occasionally sent both ways but never really replied to. When there's no real genuine care for what's happening in the other's life. You're happy to know that they're doing well but other than that, nothing.

I think in this case the answer may very well be to simply delete them off Facebook and call it an end. I'm still waiting but I think it's about time to move on. Goodbye, aurevoir.

Portrait Finished!

Here is my finished portrait! I finished it yesterday.


Please compare it with the originally and give me your critique! Note: please consider that the left side of my drawing is lighter than the other dark spots because of the lighting. Hope you like it! Oh, and also, I had played around with the values of the picture I drew from, making some parts of mine darker than the picture you see following.


Original photo link: click here

My Mind

Here's what I'm thinking about in this moment. I was so excited, what seemed like such an amazing opportunity just showed up right in front of me. One night I had a really hard time falling asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about it. But then following came such a harsh, solid, cautionary no, and it really made me think. It actually brought me to tears more than once because of the height it seemed I had fallen from. Truly bummed.

It made me question what I believed on certain differences between denominations. If thought about too much, the small details in theology almost make me feel like saying "forget the whole thing"! I would never give up my faith over that though. Jesus means too much to me, He's the best thing in my life.

Now, I find myself more reassured in what I know, but more prominently I find myself wishing that the differences between the groups simply didn't exist. That we could be one Body without these annoyances getting in the way.

So now the question confronts me, what do I do? Do I go anyways without the blessing and ignore the leadership placed in my life?

I don't intend on going somewhere because a certain place has caught my emotional workings, or because they have a well designed website (I think that's so important). Y'know, I want to base this on reason and prayer. I'm trying to consider everything, and if, despite a great program setup, the Honor Academy really does have Pentecostal views then maybe I should reconsider things.

If this next year is going to be my first year out on my own, then I want a really solid foundation I can count on. It's looking more and more like a less likely option for me. I'll still keep the possibility open and do some more research, but that's the way it looks right now.

It's distressing me in a way because if not the HA, then where? I'm being brought back to square one and that sucks, but it's alright at the same time. Do I stay at home? Find another place?

It's not accredited and the cost is quite great. I'm realizing, that it's not really the school that I want. I think that what I had put my hopes in was initially the school but now it's becoming more clear that what I want more than anything is the community I imagined I would find if I went. A community of people truly in love with Jesus. A people who would seek after and serve Him with everything they are. People you can trust and grow with. That's what I want for myself wherever I am.

At least I can say I know more of what I'm looking for. I want to put God first. Not art or some other program or education. I'm looking for a bunch of people in love with Jesus making themselves available to be used by Him. And I want to be blessed when I go. I want to listen to the leadership God's placed in my life and I think that that's probably wise.

-papple

No Day

No day ever belongs to me. Just because I don't have anything planned doesn't mean that I can do whatever I want with that day. There are always interruptions. And sometimes a lack of self-discipline can ruin day to myself anyways.

Today I've written out a number of things on a To Do list but now I might be getting a hair cut this afternoon and this evening my family has been invited out for dinner to a couple's house in town. Interesting.

The Week

I've had a really busy week that hasn't ended yet. So I'm sorry for the lack of posting. A review of the week:

Monday
A many number of things
Tuesday
I went to the mall, got a new fish. (My other fish died, see my other blog)
I saw HSM3 in theatres.
Wednesday
I got my G1 even though I could have had it more than a year ago!
Thursday
I went down to Toronto to help out the homeless through Light Patrol.
Today
I need to finish working on my portrait for art. I'll post a picture of it here when I'm finished.
Tomorrow
Practise driving? I don't know.

Maybe I'll have time to think and blog laterish soon. (I know you know what I mean)

Pineapple

ATF

Alright, ATF (Acquire the Fire), this past weekend was really great. The drama wasn't their best but still good. They had great speakers, my favourite was Casey Johnson. Her husband Joel Johnson and Ron Luce were also great. I really was not disappointed at all.

On the Saturday, I found about this thing done through Teen Mania called the Honor Academy. (www.honoracademy.com) I spent a few hours filling out an application that day for it and made some new friends in the process... while missing out on Jeremy Camp. I don't think that was a bad decision. I'm seriously praying and considering going to the HA for next year. Yeah, so we'll see. I'm excited.

Can you believe it?

It snowed today. It is October the 21st, and it snowed today. Can you believe it? It's only just a month after summer officially ended! And this was cold snow. When it fell on the ground it stayed. I tried throwing a few snowballs at my sister, and if only I had better aim it would've worked perfectly.

I really hope it goes away soon.

-P.apple

What if...

What if there were such thing as a national encouragement day?
What if everyone at my high school knew Jesus?
What if I weren't so tired...

Does anyone know if the word sun is supposed to be capitalised all the time?

Tape Anyone?

I mean, does anyone have tape for me? I can never seem to find mine when I need it. I often find myself asking myself, "If I were me, where would I put the tape..."

Oh, ok, I just found mine behind my boombox.

Bee Movie

Alright, so. I just finished watching the Bee Movie.

Now, it's important to understand that I am a huge fan of Pixar and their movies. The Bee Movie was made by Dreamworks.

I just wanted to say that after the movie was finished, I considered how it did as a Dreamworks film, in my opinion. Overall, I thought it was well done. They did a good job and it was nice to hear a different story for once in a while.

With that being said, I have a few criticisms. For graphics in the look of humans, I think Pixar still wins that one easily.

I don't know. Ratatouille is my favourite movie, so in my mind I'm thinking to that. But I've seen it so many times. It's not fresh in my mind. That story isn't new to me anymore.

Considering those two movies however, the Bee Movie and Ratatouille, I have a few things to say.

After coming out of the theatre for the first time after watching Ratatouille, I was crazy about it and couldn't stop talking about it. (That was the movie that got me crazy about Pixar, so there was no bias in that). That same enthusiasm hasn't returned to me after watching the Bee Movie.

I also think that Ratatouille is more realistic in several ways. One, if you've never noticed, the mice and people never actually verbally communicate in Ratatouille. I applaud the animators of that movie for their skill in expression and creativity in communication. The bees clearly talk with people as people talk with people through out the Bee Movie, and I was a bit disappointed by that.

Second, consequences. Ratatouille had consequences that were more clearly connected to their cause. Remy steals some food from the kitchen and lets Emile have some. Emile brings friends, and eventually the whole colony. This leads to a breaching of trust between Linguini and Remy.

In the Bee Movie, after the bees win their case in court, it seems like the consequences are very lumped. Let me explain myself, it was like one thing after another was thrown at you. Kind of like this: all the honey was taken off shelves, all the bees quit work with no resistance because they had so much extra honey, there was no pollination and nearly all vegetation on earth ceases to thrive because of that. All within a matter of days. Am I making a point there?

Thirdly, and this one may vary with your taste, but in my opinion Ratatouille used a larger colour palette, if you will, in terms of music. They used more instruments available to them to create emotions within the audience. And the one song they used with actual words was created for the movie. Look up Le Festin on youtube. It's a French song, and I know a bit of French so it has more value for me than others. But I was watching the commentary of their movie in the bonus features (or maybe a video on youtube a while back, I can't remember) and one thing they were proud about was that the song was not translated into an English version, or any other language for that matter, but kept it's original language. I thought that was a good point because the setting of the film does take place in France and so it was true to its context.

In the Bee Movie, they used songs that were already written to make an attempt at accomplishing the same thing. I'm not sure what they're called but the they used the songs that started with "Honey, honey" and later on the one that starts with "Here comes the Sun".

Lastly, Ratatouille is a much more creative movie title than Bee Movie. You've gotta give that one to me at least.

This may sound like I've just been bringing down the Bee Movie a whole lot, but honestly it was refreshing and I enjoyed it. And I apologize for talking about Ratatouille as much as I did. That was an accident.

Also, please realize that these are only two movies. I wasn't impressed at all with Flushed Away, and I haven't seen Kung Fu Panda yet but I have high expectations for it when I do.

(And thanks for letting me borrow the movie, you know who you are)

Dang it! I've forgotten what else I was going to say. So that's all!

OK, actually I've just remembered. My favourite lines from the Bee Movie are

"We can make a suicide pact"
"How are you going to do that?"
"I'll sting you and you step on me"
"That only kills you twice".

- Pineapple

No one ever writes me love letters!

If you are anyone and ever feel the urge to write someone a love letter, feel free to send me one. I volunteer! Anonymous or not. I don't care.

misc. pics.

A normal shadow, right?


NOT! This is what I saw. I know, it's pretty crazy. Feel free to use your imagination to add details.


The first frogpole from my pond. He's a cute small one, eh? Photo taken Oct.13.08 I named him Henry (Henrietta if it so turns out to be a girl)


My first guitar hero song to get 100% on: School's Out on Medium.


A five I recently got. It's got three simple multiplications I can do in my head. Makes me think, if you were given permission to write anything you wanted on one bill, what would it be?

Hey, and I just thought that it was funny that those multiplications were written on his head...

** Remember you can enlarge the images by clicking on them

Jon... Another One?

As I posted my last post I realized that was the second Jon who's work I had made mention to on this blog.

If you can recall, the first Jon was Jonathan Harris. See collects stories for a recent video of his and I would also encourage you to explore We Feel Fine (this one works better for faster connections). Google him and I'm sure you'll find lots more of his stuff. You can use my Google Button if you want!

The last post was about Jonathan Ben-Tovim and his encoder rings. I won't post a link here because obviously it's right below.

I have a third Jon now to mention. His name is Jonathan Foster. He is an artist who's work I have recently fallen in love with while researching an art project. I'm just going to put a link here and you can check him out yourself if your interested. The link: http://www.jonfoster.com/

Encoder Rings

I found out about these super cool rings through that one floor up I've told you about.

I followed the LINK to go to the creator's website. So the design of these rings are basically made up of binary code and if you were to buy one you could have a customized ring with a secret binary message (up to 64 characters).

I thought that it was an awesome idea. Maybe a bit nerdy, I don't care. So I followed up on it and emailed the contact email on the site to say that if they were available to purchase, I would be interested.

This is the email I was sent back from Jonathan Ben-Tovim:

Development for the Encoder Ring is complete, and we are now ready to take orders. The production version will be Rapid-Manufactured in the United Kingdom using a high quality SLA resin with an extremely high accuracy of finish. The Encoder Ring will be as strong and clear as possible, with a lovely quality of finish.

1 custom made ring with your own 64 character message encoded on the surface is £130 + £10 postage and handling (225 + 17 US dollars)

If You would like to make an order, please let me know and I can provide you with details of how to do so.

Kind regards

Jonathan Ben-Tovim



Oh, those are expensive... And if I were rich, that would be on my list of things recently purchased. Rather than a similar list it's currently on: things I'd dream of one day buying if I had money. That would be along with a Macbook and a large framed photo called Solitude by David Lorenz Winston.



It caught my eye one evening at a friend's house and I fell in love with it!

If happen to have the kind of money that's needed to buy those rings, then go ahead, email him and let him know that you're interested. But if you do, make sure I get the chance to see it!

-Pineapple

(insert noise here)

So I have need to get some reader's notes done up for tomorrow but I really don't feel like it. That really doesn't matter because it needs to get done anyways. The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom, good book. I should write something...

Okay, I felt like something else was going to boil up to reach my fingers as I type, but guess not. So that's it.

Just a Thought

... I should floss my teeth tomorrow. (Don't worry I do brush well!)

Consider Yourself Mooned!

It's a little bit early I think but a friend just emailed this to me and I thought it was really funny.



Happy Halloween!

Toronto

I was in Toronto last night, and like any major city, the night sky is never known to be superb. Well, I have I one comment to simply make. I think it's pretty cool that despite all the many thousands of lights that there were, that there are bright enough stars for us to see. I think I could have counted with ease at least 10 stars, if not more. No where near as impressive as Belize or Africa, or even camping on a clear night. The of my hometown doesn't even compare to those though.

There are two things I know for sure make me stand in awe. The first is by far everything about the sky; the stars and the moon mostly, but also all the different possible arrangement of colours and clouds, and also the beauty and physics of a rainbow. (Whether you can see it or not everyone rainbow has a double rainbow, did you know that?)

The second is frogs. The whole life cycle of that species amazes me. I have a pond in my backyard. It's fun to first see the eggs and then slowly watch the tadpoles grow. Awesome.

_P>Apple

Sonnet 147 & Parody

Proof that I've been working on my homework. The parody I wrote is exercised themed but I'm not really into that stuff at all.

Sonnet 147 by Shakespeare

My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now reason is past care,
And frantic mad with ever more unrest.
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly expressed;
__For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
__Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

Parody of Sonnet 147 by Pineapple

Exercise is a fever, moving still
For the body which will work the disease,
Using energy which preserves the ill,
The ongoing stamina is to please.
The couch, the doctor to my diligence,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
"T.V. gone!" I say with belligerence
Strength too strong is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, laziness is past care,
Adrenaline with ever more unrest.
My thoughts and my discourse as athlete's are,
Are focused on the truth: I am obsessed;
__For I thought of it as so good and right,
__Now it's clear, you consume like day to night.

Priorities & Thoughts

I hate having priorities because sometimes that means I have to deny my inspiration's desire to draw and be creative, to, in this case, write poems. But on the other hand, those priorities are ultimately good. I'm choosing to do my poems tonight and skipping small group so that I can see some of my friends tomorrow that I haven't seen since July. I'm really excited about that and I'm also excited to for my art because I was given my art culminating today and I've got a great idea that I think should work perfectly with it!!

I've got two quick thoughts now before I get to my poems:

Last Friday, after coming home from youth, I turned on the TV even though I was tired. The movie Remember the Titans happened to be on. I had never actually seen it and I figured that since last year I drew Denzel Washington from the cover of that movie, I should probably watch it so I know what it's about if someone were to ask me.

As I watched, I realized that its setting took place in years past when racism was far more prominent and ubiquitous. And I noticed that in myself the idea of a society divided by our skin colours, was very foreign to me. Even despite the fact that I've always been taught of how things once were. Although there is value in knowing and experiencing how things once were, I think that that foreignness is generally a very good thing because I can't, and I would never want to, imagine a society that lacks the equality and respect for the diversity we humans have.

Second, on the way home from school today, I wondered what the people from Biblical times would think about how much we've advanced in technology since then. I think that if they could see what we have now most people would either feel a little bit of both fascination, or simply fright. But as interested as we are in moving forward, I think we're just as interested in how people used to live. And though change, for some, causes difficulties, I think we need to appreciate how we are always changing.

-Pineapple

Google Button

This is an html test for me... hope it works!



It worked, I'm amazing. You can click on the image of google and it will actually take you to google.ca, rather than seeing the enlarged image!

A Life Recorded

One of my favourite websites is www.onefloorup.com. It's basically a collection of good ideas. I visited it today and through it I found out about a guy named Jonathan Harris. He's a really cool guy. Do a search on him.

This is the video that I watched of his. It really intrigued me. I'd watch if I were you, maybe, depending on who you are. I really liked it. It's rather long. (20min approx.)

I think what I would like to do, after I've run out of paper in my journal and after I finish my current sketchbook, I would like to merge those two things together into one. Maybe this blog too, by using the print screen button of mine, y'know. And then I would literally print it off and pasting it into my sketchbook.

I imagine this merging to take shape into some kind of huge book, always with me. That idea really fascinates me. Like a really big sketchbook filled with feeling and expression. A life recorded through writings and drawings. Something someone can look through and get a really good glimpse of who I am. See my personality on paper. It would be the kind of thing to look through to find an honest testimony to the way I've lived after I die. (Hopefully not anytime soon!)

-papple

Autumn Nights

Sometimes it feels as though my favourite season changes as often as I've gone through them. Summer, the season of the warmer days and of my birthday. Spring, a time of refreshment and of new tadpoles. I never seem to like winter much but snow days and snowball fights are always fun, not to mention Christmas.

But I'm pretty sure that overall autumn is my favourite. As it starts, you feel the need for organization because of school. It's a rare thing for me to keep organized but when it happens I really, really like it. I just love it. Also, I like the temperature range in which most of its days fall. It's cool in the mornings and in the evenings, and it warms up through out the day. It's never too cold to wear a t-shirt, but it's never so warm that you can't where a sweater, or even a coat if you want. Good weather for skateboarding! I like the colours that come out during this time. The colour scheme seems to be filled with rich, earthy browns, and beautiful warm reds, oranges, and yellows. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I think that autumn colours probably match me best. I wish it could be autumn all the time and that I could live in a house at the end of the road in the picture.

So this autumn night I've been doing a lot of thinking. This past week has been really weird. It's like I'm trying to piece together what I'm supposed to do with my life, not that that's truly doable in that much time.

First there's the thought of a life centered around art (after Jesus of course), possibly an art teacher? Well, I don't really think I care enough about that to spend the majority of my time teaching, doing, and marking art. I don't think there's enough community involved in that kind of job for me.

Earlier, as I was writing about autumn colours, I left to go look for an old book (yes, I do my research). I think that it was entitled Color Me Beautiful, but the search was without success. In the process of looking through my dad's many books, I found an old book written in 1987 titled Why Suicide? by Jerry Johnston. I picked it up because I took interest in the title. I spent the past hour reading through several pages through out its different chapters.

It made me think of my friend who I mentioned in the previous post. How I don't know if she's suicidal but I know she's not in a good place. How I think one of her ex boyfriends committed suicide, although I don't think that was how his death was officially labeled.

I was talking to a good friend today about her, of how I care for her, how I'm praying, and how I wish I knew more people like her. She suggested that maybe I should be a counselor, which is kinda funny because she's in the process of doing just that.

I don't know. In someways, I think I would really enjoy that kind of job. I thrive on deep conversations and getting to know people personally like that. But then I think of how it would probably be hard listening to so many broken stories. How would that affect a person?

And I've probably said similar things this before but I'm struggling to feel motivated about school work because I feel so short-sighted about where it's all going. I would just like to see the bigger picture, see the purpose more clearly. Like my math class. I'm still doing it because number 1, God told me to stick with it. Second, I'm hoping that I'll learn how to get down to business when it comes to doing things you just don't care that much about anymore. I think next semester I'll have to switch my calculus for something else. It's the hardest math course in high school and if I can't keep up with it, it will bring down my average a lot, especially because I'll only have three classes then.

Oh well, it's really late. By the way the time it says things are posted is always earlier than it really is. Wrong time zone or something.

I am tired! Goodnight!

TWLOHA

Second:

TWLOHA? Say what?!? To write love on her arms. I seem to promoting things that I like here, so here's another. Check them out: http://www.twloha.com/

This is a really cool group. I don't know their story that well but I know that they started out with some friends who surrounded another girl through her depression, addiction, self-injury and more. They are a testimony to hope. You can read the story under their vision section of their webpage. And my understanding is that as their story started being told they've found that there are a lot of other people in similar circumstances and a lot of people with questions.

I think I have a heart for people who go through these kinds of things. I have a friend, who I love to death, who struggles with cutting and probably a lot of other stuff too. I'm praying for her all the time, that things will get better, that our relationship will grow, and that ultimately she'll want to fall in love with Jesus and follow after him.

Honestly, I wish I knew more people like her. Maybe that sounds bad, almost like I'm wishing that more people were depressed. But that's really not the case. There are already lots of people struggling whether I know them or not, that's reality. There's probably plenty in my very high school. And if I only knew more of the things going on in the lives of people my age, maybe God could use me as a vessel to tell people of the hope and freedom he offers.

I only want the opportunity to listen and love them, to be a friend who will be there. Ooooh... my heart aches.

- PineApple

PS Here's a video a friend of mine got to be a part of making quite a while ago now.



I'm finished for today.

PSS I think Anberlin supports TWLOHA.

My Skateboard

So there's a couple of things I would like to write... Let's see if I can get them done quick or save them for another day. First:

I've noticed today that my skateboard and I have something going on that is very similar to a long distance relationship. We stay in touch through my brother. We still get enjoy getting together when things work for us and when the seasons and times are good, we do.

I went to youth last night by skateboard. It took me half an hour, which was a lot less than I was expecting so I spent the extra time practising tricks and praying. Fun stuff.

I used it again today. I can do a stationary ollie pretty well so I've been working on what I would like to call the "kinetic ollie", and eventually over curbs and such things.

(I'm doing this in parts, you'll hear from me again)

-P.apple

html

I had some trouble with the html in my last post when I was trying to set it up the way I wanted it to appear. But I've done it, I figured it out, and that's a good feeling! ... Now to go eat!

-Pineapple

Dove

Watch the preceeding video. If you have never seen it before it's probably a good thing that you now have. I don't really ever use dove products but I like the way they advertise and they usually make good points. That commercial makes me a little angry at the way the media operates. I really don't like the way it uses its power to manipulate the thoughts of normal people! The very girl in that video couldn't look like the final work, even if she wanted to.

Here's another ad from Dove that I enjoyed.

(Click to enlarge)

From an artists point of view, I thought this was really creative. And I liked how it alluded to the Flintstones!

New Surrender

I just bought Anberlin's fourth studio album New Surrender on iTunes for $9.99. It was released on September 30, 2008. I'm just listening to it right now. It's sounds good so far, it sounds like Anberlin, which is a really great sound. Mostly new songs but they've put Feel Good Drag on again. I don't know what it's originally from but it's my favourite Anberlin song so I really don't mind that it's a repeat.

Here's a non-official video of that song that I absolutely love. It's the older version but they sound almost exactly alike.

I'm So Sick

So I'm sitting in my room wondering whether I'm bored or I'm lonely. If I'm lonely at all then it's really not that bad because I've got friends, the whole deal. I there's a few people I miss and wish I saw more often, but I'm pretty sure this is just a cover for my boredom.

It's a pretty severe boredom. A boredom that goes past just my present circumstances. I'm finding it to be a boredom with life at the moment. I'm not excited about anything. Nothing's happening that's interesting. Like really nothing.
I don't even have inspiration for art.

Yuck! My life is currently stagnant! I think if I could do anything right now I go explore some underground tunnels and maybe make a home there. That'd be fun but completely unrealistic. I'm going to tell you that it is never a good thing to be bored like this and I'm absolutely sick of it. It's like all purpose has been drained.

And that's another thing. Everyone's talking about where they want to go after high school it seems. I still don't know. Sometimes it would be nice not to be so clueless, even though I think that if I had my whole life planned out and I knew exactly what I wanted to do it'd be, once again, boring.

I want to get excited about God again and soon. Everything seems dry right now, and that's not the way it's supposed to be. I've written about my Bible study recently and no matter how I feel about it, I miss my girls' group from the past two years and I can't wait for it to get started up again.

Here's something sad, I can't tell you for sure the last time I've prayed one on one with someone, just simply like the that. The canoe trip maybe? That sucks. That's one of the things I love most and it just doesn't happen as much as it really needs to happen. Isn't prayer supposed to be one of the foundations of the church?

*sigh* If you have a hotmail account than you'll know that one of the only sites they advertise is www.monster.ca. I was just checking my email and one of their many ads popped up, and it was the one that says "It's 9:12:10PM Do you know where your career is?" Well that reminds me of another question that I get asked far too often. "How's school?" Not exactly the same phrasing, I know, but it's kind of a lame question to ask. I don't really care that much about school, and probably a lot of other people feel the same way. Why don't more people ask "It's 9:15:58PM Do you know where your faith is?" HUH??!! Why not?

I'm so sick of the way things are! I want to get out of this valley as soon as possible! Let's rise up a people that live radically different! Where is the community I'm dreaming of? ...AHH!

That's all. ughhh

Pineapple

Dreams

Ever had a really weird dream? Tell me about it.

Today I've been exhausted and I fell asleep on my cough for an hour by accident. One part of many, in the dream I had while lying there included finding that my tadpoles had grown into little frogs and I was declaring it to the world. That was the most normal part of the dream.

*shudders* And the dream I had yesterday was pretty bad. My dad was tirelessly and persistently trying to figure out a good way to commit suicide. And I kept saying "Dad you're scaring me!" He would never do that in real life though.

- Pineapple

I Buy Fish on Impulse!

So, so far I've have a weekend of being out of town. Coming home today from my grandparents, we stopped by the mall. My brother has a current obsession with ferrets and we visited PJ's Pet Store because he wanted to get more information about them.

Now as I quickly got bored with those animals, I checked out the fish section. Of course. I have thought many times that it would be funny to buy a fish one time and come home and surprise my mom. "Guess what? I bought a fish!"

Weelll... That's not how it happened. My mom if I could buy a couple $2 zebra something-rather fish. She wanted to go through with it BUt they are tropical fish, which means that they would need pretty big tanks and heaters to go with them, adding up to a big some of $s.

So I ended up buying the a Siamese fighter on impulse. I wanted a fish, so I got one! I've named him Nathan, aka Nate. You can be sure that I'll spend many hours talking to him. The picture you can see really doesn't do his beauty justice. My camera just could take it all in.

The purchase price was $2.88, which is a really great deal considering he's probably worth more than the $10000 bird I saw today. I don't know who would pay that kind of money... Altogether it cost a big more for accessories, but a good investment indeed!

I'm honestly so excited about my new pet! I'm seriously considering starting another blog called Dear Nate through this account. Didn't Anne Frank call her diary Kitty or something like that? Well this idea is even less silly (not that that was silly) seeing as I actually do have the fish. Well, just keep 'yer eyes open for that because it just might happen!

Calenedar

I like to make my own calendars. I do this for two main reasons. First, it's cheaper. Second, I make them differently than any other I've ever seen.

For one thing, I start mine weeks on Thursdays. Ever seen that before? It's bizarre, right? Good. And my favourite thing about them is that there is no seperation between months. Just a thick bold line as an indicator to let you know. Sometimes when I feel like it I spell "calendar" wrong, just for fun, because I get bored of doing it properly all the time.

APpple.

Thoughts about the Teen Bible Study

I am a journaler, I am a blogger, I am someone who likes to think a lot. So I'd like to bring up a topic hopefully briefly that I've journaled about before.

Right now, my church on Wednesday evenings is running a teen Bible study about sex and dating. I'm one of the oldest in the group so there isn't much I haven't heard before. And I guess it's a pretty good study, but it uses tons of statistics that are good to know, but don't really affect me at all. To me at least, it's just head knowledge, trivia. I think a real to life story would have a greater impact on me than that. More of an effect. Taking a step away from the big picture, which would be the impersonal numbers we hear and zoom in a bit to teach you the reality of it.

One more thing, the thing that bugs me most about the church teaching teens about sex. Ok, so on the first night it was established that we're not going to learn to "just say no", and that it's a thing about self-control, and self-discipline, and delayed gratification. That's all true. They teach us about the consequences, things like pregnancy and STDs, which is fine too. But the thing that I really hate about the way the topic is approached is that they never answer the one question I wonder about most. Asides from saying maybe that it's meant for marriage, they hardly say a thing about the way it's supposed to be. They never tell you about the what a beautiful thing it is when you wait. They never say a thing about how it's about bringing pleasure to your spouse, not self gratification. Well they might say the latter of that.

If these things are supposed to be considered givens, then I'll dare to be bold and say that they really aren't. I don't think that it would do any harm to at least briefly make mention of why it's worth waiting for. Simply put, tell us what is the difference that makes the waiting worth it. If anything does harm in this area I think it's the messages you inevitably hear from the media that infiltrates our high schools. This is something I'm really passionate about and the only thing that's come close to what I'm talking about is an article titled "Forever Virgin" by Maria Spence in the July issue from my Brio & Beyond subscription. It's really frustrating. Teens, at least girls anyways, will think about these things whether they're said or not.

Any thoughts?

-P.Apple

I'm posting like crazy today, I know.

Stephen Christian

Today, rather than studying for a test, I spent a lot of time on Stephen Christian's blog. Stephen Christian is the lead singer of a band that I love known as Anberlin. Quite well known.

So I picked random posts from the list that seems to continue on forever. One post title caught my attention: Calcutta, India. From quite far back in the list. It caught my attention because the author of The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne also went there. (That's a good book by the way).

Stephen Christian uses a lot of quotes throughout his many writings, and I think I'll quote him a couple times. The second sentence of the post I just mentioned, somehow, maybe through its phrasing, meant something to me. "The events that took place are etched into my mind and will transcend ideas, thoughts, and actions for the rest of my life."

He was clearly speaking of his trip to India, but the idea that doing or seeing something can shape who we are so much that it is evident in our lives for the rest of our days on Earth (ironic I should say "days" considering my last post), it blows my mind a little. The word "transcend" gave me the mental image of a 3D square spiral representing our lives. And the combination of the words "ideas, thoughts, and actions" grabbed me because I am a person of thoughts and ideas and, hopefully action too. That is a quote of interest for me.

Here's another by the same guy:

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."

No deep thoughts about this one, I just like it.

What I've learned through this experience: Blogs are a great way to get inside a mind and get to know a person completely differently. Different than through music, or biographies, autobiographies, even from spending time with a person.

Also, I learned that Stephen Christian is a very thought-filled man. He blogs about several many diverse topic, most thought provoking. In one, he made mention to a painting by Marcel Duchamp, that I had never seen before, that I really love. It's called Nude Descending a Staircase, but I don't know why:


And I never knew that he wrote a book. The Orphaned Anything's by Stephen Christian.

Well this has all been a very fascinating topic, I'm sure. But if I were a friend of mine talking to me, I might say something that my grandad sometimes uses to joke. And I'd say "Hey! What a wonderful..." (from the kid's show Arthur). No, I meant to say that I'd say "Can't you go, must you stay?"

If his blog interests you at all, you can go visit http://www.modesty.blogspot.com/.

To Make Note

I am exactly 6300 days old today. According to a friend of mine that makes me a loser for knowing that. Oh well, she loves me, we both know it.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"Today I'm exactly 6300 days old!"

"You're a loser"

I smiled and that was it. Sometimes it's nice to have a friend who can be honest with you like that.

Check This Guy Out!

Pineapple is in love with Christian Cortes's work. He is a great, amazing artist. I love almost everything of his. The only thing I don't like sometimes is that often is portrays women immodestly. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for nudity in art, appreciating the beauty of the human form - God's very art! But when it's taken a step further to become sluttish I'm not such a big fan. (Is there a nicer way to put that?)

But seriously, this guy is good at what he does! He even does some graffiti stuff (love). Check out his videos on youtube: look up "cortesnyc" under the channels section. He and I are mutually subcribed to each other, for the purposes of art. I just read a 2 month old comment from him on my page telling me that I'm "very talented" when I think he's sooo much better than me! I want to post another art video just for him to watch.

Also, you can check out his website: http://www.cortescreates.com/

Frustrated!

From yesterday's journal entry in my sketchbook.

I don't want to live a boring life. It seems like life only offers you so many options. Finish high school, do more schooling, get a job. Doesn't matter which job, work everyday to take care of yourself. Get married, maybe, have kids, like everyone else. They grow up and you're left to grow old along with your aging house. BORING!

It would be cool to be in a band. Tour the world. Spend all your time with your fellow band members who by choice gradually become more like family. You get to spend your life doing what you love to do. Unfortunately, I am not a musician and music will never impact my life in such big ways. Oh, why don't we have bands of artists?

I would rather spend my days starving on the streets of Toronto than living a typical life that means nothing when it's done. I actually really wouldn't mind that. I'd start up a community of friends, all in the same boat, we'd pool all our resources so that no need would go unmet.

Humph... this is starting to sound like the early church, Whatever happened to that old system? What we have now isn't better. We need to get that started again. It's been way too long to go without...

Ooohhh baby! Double Time!

A cousin of mine, we'll call her Sandra, although that's not her real name, recently gave birth to her third child, her husband's daughter. That happened on either the 17th or the 18th of 2008. I wish I had better memory. My grandmother gave me a call and she is now a great grandmother to three kids!

Imagine If...

I am one of the few select secret agents of the Auriferous Sock Hunters(A.S.H.). Our group is a group that is dedicated to finding the socks that were once given to the entire kingdom of Greenland, which was relatively small in that century of the 13th. These socks were given by the first ancestors of the family tree now known as the Mennonites. Let me give you a bit of brief history here.

Back in that day and age, there lived a couple, a man and a woman (the ancestors), and they lived in poverty. One day, on a romantic walk through through new woods, they came across much gold and celebrated with wine until they were drunk. When they were sober again, the two agreed that they should not waste what they had stumbled upon. So they took their gold to a friend who made all his own clothes. After many discussions with the man, the couple agreed to pay him a third of their gold to have him make several pairs of socks, woven with gold. We cannot tell exactly how many were made, but it is believed to be near 200. With the remaining gold they sailed to Greenland and gave a pair to each person who lived in that kingdom, and two to both the king and queen. They did this in hopes of gaining face with the king for doing a generous deed for his nation so that he would give them a position of honour. But it was only they and the man who knew about the gold, for the socks were mainly made of wool.

That is all that is known about the beginning of my epic adventure. That is the legend that has been pasted down through out the generations, and has stumbled in to the hands of my life. I have embraced this story, and am now piously faithful to the A.S.H. Our job is to find the socks that have now been dispersed through out the globe. Since that couple passed away, it is unknown what happened to their family line. You may find information in history books about the story of the Mennonites that is contradictory to what is written here. But I assure you, it is on behalf of us A.S.H., to keep the secret, a secret.

Now, more about me. I cannot give you my location for that is far to important to release here, but in the very room where I sleep, there lies a small hidden trapdoor underneath my bed, which I escape to in the night. It works much like a vacuum in it's design and wherever I may be, with in a minute I'll be out to the headquarters located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A.S.H. currently has 11 socks (not pairs) stowed away in the highest security storage units available to the world at the moment. There twenty-three of us agents, in twenty-three different locations on the map. We assume that the next sock to find may be found in Nigeria, but there is work yet to be done. It's dangerous business, but that's simply what I live.

One of my codenames is agent P.Apple, signing out.

Ooooo Baby!

My aunt's having a baby! To be born late April. I'm really hoping it's a girl. This'll be her third, and the first two are pretty cheek-kissing cute! No, just regular really cute. Either way, if he or she is born on the 11th he or she will have birthday as his or her mom! Fun stuff!

Prayer and its' Power, (well really it's God's power)

Last Sunday, September the 7th, I went to my dad's church. There was a really great guest speaker. His topic was simple: Persistent Prayer, and he spoke from Luke 18:1-8.

Luke 18

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

6And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"


I don't think he said anything I didn't already know but the way he put it revolutioned my thoughts. And since then I think I can honestly say that I have been praying more.

If you are a follower of Christ, tell me, are you sick of this generation that goes on without a prayer? I mean it's just as Scripture says, if a horrible judge like that described in the parable would grant a widow, the least of society, how much more would our good God answer the prayers of his people whom he loved enough to let his Son die for? Why are we not petitioning to him all the things we would like to have changed around us, more than just our trivial lives and needs?

I'll tell you friends, that widow was desperate, and we too need to be just as desperate! Desperate for our nations, and high schools, and so much more, our friends who don't know Jesus! Let's not sit around waiting for things to get better on their own, because they won't!

I'd like to be praying more for the girl who struggles with drugs and sometimes even cutting. And a friend's mom who needs to know that there's a lot more to Jesus than church (holds little importance at all!).

Does anyone want change? Does anyone want to unleash God's awesome power? Is anyone willing to spend time wrestling with God until we receive blessings? When the Son of Man comes back is He going to find a faith in his people that says we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, if we are asking according to his will? Why are we, the body of Christ, not meeting together to spend hours weekly to simply pray persistently for justice to be done on earth?

Tell me.

P.Apple

You Know What I'm Talking About

Everyone knows how it is to have friends off at university and out of town and being stuck at home. Well I do have a few of those friends. Recently I asked one a favour to collect American pennies while she's out in Montana for me. I've now I've just found myself thinking that if that didn't work out or the pennies came late, I could always save that project for next year's art class. But what I've just realized is that there literally no next year for me now that I'll be graduating this year. Well, maybe if I decided to go back for a year, but it's very unlikely. Weird...

The Dover Boys at Pimento University

Sometimes in the lives of people, certain experiences will change the way you perceive things. I watched the following video as a child, and in it, the character Dan Backslide still gives me the creeps.

Eyes - Last for the Day

So this will be my third blog for today, which will be the final for now. That is a lot even during my most frequent periods.

YO folks of this era! Does anyone like poetry at all?! I'm not a huge fan, but what the hey, why not for a chance. I've written something and I'd like to share.

Here goes, it's called "Eyes", hope it isn't too deep:

Connection.
Every person longs for it.
Can it be explained?
A world of people.
Diverse lives,
And diverse stories.
Love is more than a feeling,
But could a stranger
Love another stranger
If it were simply so?
Do we choose to love?
Do lives cross?
Is it possible that
Your close friend knows
How the stranger feels
Without knowing it?
What really happens when
The eyes of two
Strangers meet?

The Search

I am in search. By that I mean for a bloging identity. I've decided that I may aswell let you in on a bit of a secret. I used to have another blog. It started out as a way to vent feelings. And generally just what ever I was thinking about. That was until a few people discovered it. This isn't going to be one of those stories where you hear of someone who's internet connections have led to death or anything of that sort. Not at all. The people are great, and I actually really liked it for a while. But here's the thing: as we got to know each other I lost a lot of my anonymousity (word?). I simply miss that. I like the idea that I can be anyone, maybe you know the feeling. As time went on it became about my boring life, and then summer came and I got out of the system. So now lately, I've been blogging for the sake of keeping those online friends updated rather than for the joy of it. And it's probably a true statement to say that freedom was lost without realizing it.

Sorry if that was a bore to read. I've made a second gmail account so that this is not connected with that at all. Not in anyway. To relate things back again, I'd like to find myself again as the writer of a brand new and different blog.

-peace out, P.Apple

A Bottle of Fanta

Have you ever had a drink of pineapple fanta from a glass bottle? Well, I have and it's really great. If you have never tried it you're really missing out, espescially if you live in North America. I will admit that I do live in North America but maybe I'm one to travel the world simply looking for great soda! So far Malawi and Belize have been locations where I have enjoyed such beverages.

A great fellow once said "We should do some art, because I'm bored right now". Another thing you should know is that I love art!!! I think I would like to post my art up as I go hopefully.

ART -- it's amazing! Get into it yo! You're not good? - go abstract.

I also have hopes of just putting random stuff out and up here. Don't expect consistency because you might not get it. Anywhere from possibly life happenings to stories? I don't know. And a definite effort towards art.

So here's to fun blooging,

Your friend PINEAPPLE!