okay. i'll update.

a few pointers about me that may be interesting to read:

1. i've started apartment hunting for places in kansas city for next summer. yes, it may be a bit premature, but i'm more looking for areas rather than actual apartment complexes. i want to move downtown. like in the city or just outside. i want my suburban mindset to be challenged and i want to be among those in poverty.

2. i've been listening to a lot of bobby bland and al green which is an interesting juxtaposition. the latter sings about love and how great it is and the former sings about how much he's been burned by women and is so bitter about it. i think i lean more toward bobby. i've been offsetting these two with john mayer and ben folds who sing about both and make everything seem more balanced. and akon too.

3. books i'm reading: gone tomorrow: the hidden life of trash, something beautiful for God, and the audacity of hope. i'm farthest in obama's book (almost done with it), and i've just started the other two. i haven't really gained a whole lot of new insight from obama's book but i have confirmed a lot of the thoughts i had about him already. he and i share at least one opinion: there is extreme inequality in this nation and something needs to be done about it.

4. okay, this one isn't about me. aaron rodgers is a stud. i completely understand why the packers wouldn't want brett favre back (although brett favre wasn't too shabby for the jets yesterday). aaron rodgers also looks very much like ryan from the office (season 4).

5. this shirt came in the mail a few days ago:

also, watch kanye's VMA performance: love lockdown.

6. seirra nevada pale ale is officially my favorite beer. it can join ranks with vanilla coke, red bull, white cherry freezoni, and guatemalan coffee as my favorite of a certain beverage type. (soda, energy drinks, slushes, and coffee respectively.)

-ap.

the paris plan.

"Barack wants to focus on new technologies to cut foreign-oil dependency, and McCain wants offshore drilling. Well, why don’t we do a hybrid of both candidates’ ideas? We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight, while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars. That way, the offshore drilling carries us until the new technologies kick in, which will then create new jobs and energy independence. Energy crisis solved."

-Paris Hilton

that's hot.

i think we're probably closer to electric cars than we are to off-shore oil though. which means that we're spending extra money on two methods to create energy independence. that doesn't mean i don't support her idea still.

here's what i wish was added though: nuclear power plants. mccain mentioned them last night in his RNC speech, and that excited me. i guess in a moneyless world having all three of these things sounds great, but hello taxes. it's doubtful we'd be able to do all three at once - which would lead me to support nuclear plants and electric vehicles, but not off-shore drilling.

otherwise the RNC came across rather hokey and uncomfortable for me. mostly due to the few fanatic Republicans at the convention who come across somewhat similar to Phelps picketers. okay, maybe not that extreme, but almost that weird. but not nearly as weird as the woman that led the DNC Roll Call. she's gotta be a half-troll.

-ap.

mormons.

i think my house has managed to work its way onto some sort of latter day saints' database in manhattan resulting in a fruitful friendship with the mormons over the last two years. we've met with them every couple weeks in streaks over that time asking questions, learning, and solidifying what i believe to be true versus what they do.

there are major discrepancies. huge ones:
different levels of Heaven.
they don't believe in the Trinity.
marriage/family is eternal.
women can only enter the highest realm of Heaven through marriage.
slight variation in text.
infinite grace from a God with no wrath.

on the outside mormons appear very similar to Christians, but the more i reasearch into it, the more i realized just how skewed and obscure what they believe truly is...and how different their Jesus truly is.

i've now had lengthy conversations with 6 different college-aged mormons regarding their faith and what they believe. they seem to be all about fulfilling a list of tasks in order to attain the highest level of heaven (a level that i'm not able to attain unless i accept the book of mormon and follow the ways of Joseph Smith - hereby denying a handful of truths i've believed and continue to believe now.

evidently, when Joseph Smith discovered the "Book of Mormon" he also discovered a list of passages in the original Canon that had been corrupted throughout the 1800 years after Christ - coincidentally it's all the passages that don't directly support the Church of the Latter Day Saints. hm.

their belief in Heaven really irks me. they believe that for all of us to even be on Earth, we've already found favor in God's eyes. we start as spirits with God, and God sends the deserving ones to Earth. Therefore we ALL GO TO HEAVEN once we've made it this far. there is no hell for those who come to Earth, just different levels of Paradise. the celestial (read: those who are mormon) get to be with God again, the terrestrial (where my current status is apparently) have a middle-ground Heaven awaiting us, and the telestial is for those of us who aren't the slightest bit righteous, but who God has infinite grace for and will save anyway*. we can deny Christ and still make it to Heaven. God has no wrath. no judgement. just infinite love and compassion and grace.

anyway. i could go on and on about their tactical antics. they avoid questions they dislike the answer to, and any Scripture that is presented that doesn't support their views is quickly refuted/dodged via Smith's Book o' Biblical Corrections.

i guess i'm just left with a sense of sadness now. that people with enough faith to believe this extensively absurd business aren't going to Heaven. that a lifestyle such as theirs can be utilized running in the wrong direction is disappointing. their hearts are so great too, but their faith is so off. i'm praying for their eyes to be opened to the lies they've believed. the Jesus they serve is not my Jesus. they simply can't be the same.

more info:
mormon.org
EDIT: or read the second comment to this post.

-ap.

* 1 Cor 15:40-41 (KJV) - i consider it a misinterpretation. i dont understand how one warped perspective of one verse can lead to an elaborate hierarchal system like that.

God > Brett Favre

-ap.

eggshell off-white like a dupont finish.

september should be one of the more exciting months of the year. football starts. pennant races are building in suspense. and kansas is provided with simply perfect puffer vest weather.

however, this september - though the weather is indeed perfect - provides me no sporting excitement whatsoever. my teams are all expected to flounder or have already gone under, and i have yet again failed to join a fantasy football league. i don't understand how i've always managed to surround myself with individuals who don't give half a crap about sports once september arrives. but alas, another year.

the good news is that football is still amazing even though the chiefs are not. so sundays and mondays will continue to be ruled by quite a bit of read-while-watching time. which is probably good - reading is something i've really come to enjoy recently. i'm in the middle of obama's book right now; this probably wasn't the best decision. only one of my eight books i ordered online has come in yet, so i've got some catching up to do.

other things to be excited about in september: ben folds, nelly and robin thicke all have cd releases. burn after reading - the latest coen brothers film - comes out in theaters on the 12th too. i'm not sure if the theater in manhattan does midnight showings (probably the only downfall of this town), but nick and i are seeing that movie.

-asap.

like whom does my future look?

every once in a while i have to sit back and think, "what if youth ministry isn't where i end up?"

here is the progression of what i do next:

1. wet my pants.
2. change my pants.
3. try to figure out what people with sociology degrees actually do.

so i did some detective work. in my research i discovered the following people all have/had sociology degrees: martin luther king jr., ronald reagan, regis philbin, and paul shaffer. this brought a terrific sigh of relief because these are all people i admire. except i continued to dwell on these names and realized the following: reagan double majored in economics too, dr. king obviously continued education and got his doctorate, and paul shaffer has some seriously natural musical abilities.

that leaves regis.

i wouldn't mind being like regis someday. hosting a tv show, hosting a game show (so great), and holding the world record for most time spent on camera (something like 16,000 hours of air time and counting). so that's comforting - that someone with no real direction after graduation can turn out like that.

maybe i'll grow up to be regis philbin someday. that wouldn't be so bad. these fresh pants would look good on camera too.

refreshing bit number two: martin luther king jr's course of action sounds remarkably like mine: socology followed by an interest in ministry (he graduated with an mDiv and then got his PhD in systematic theology). he strikes me as a bit more driven individual than i am - duh - but it still feels good to read. i wouldn't mind being like dr. king someday, that's for sure. talk about something to aspire to...wow. maybe if i start getting excited about school i could somehow achieve something to that 'degree'.

anyway. after discovering this fact about these gentlemen, i've decided to read a biography or two about each of them in order to see if my life does actually parallel theirs in anyway. maybe i'll end up being a slight blend of the two - some sort of on-camera theologian who changes the world and gets assassinated while running some sort of marching game show in alabama...and i'd be half black.

this would be nice. it gives me hope that my life isn't going to be a total failure.

merry september,
-ap.

mccain-palin.

lets first point out the obvious: for a 44-year-old, sarah palin is a total babe.

more importantly, however, she's an ethics oriented governor from alaska with a terrific grasp on domestic issues, specifically oil and gas resources. she's not from washington (which is a plus), and - she's a woman.

when i first heard that mccain was throwing a never-heard-of-her woman for VP i was skeptical. the choice of a young woman is genius as far as getting into the presidency goes. she's an advocate for change and she pulls former hillary votes away from obama-biden. however, my initial thoughts were that she wasn't going to be perfect for the job when/if mccain makes it into the white house.

but i made that judgement before i read her credentials and put them side by side with mccain's. mccain is an honored war veteren with way too much experience and not enough movement for change. but when coupled with a change-minded youngster who shares his beliefs on today's issues and can emphasize one of the biggest domestic issue truly important to the american people right now (oil and gas) the mccain-palin ticket becomes much more attractive.

scary thought: mccain has had a number of run-ins with cancer, and on the off chance that he were to die during presidency, would we really be comfortable with a one-term female governor of alaska running the country? its a risk that mccain is willing to take apparently.

however, without assuming the worst, this is a money stroke by mccain. it's nice to see that even seasoned geezer like mccain is so capable of making savvy veteren maneuvers like this; say what you will about mccain's desire of change or lack thereof, but the fact that he's able to select an inexperienced woman as his running mate displays that he's looking for change too and acting on it.

poor woman has to debate joe biden though. i hope she's got a witty comment or two up her sleeve that rips him a new one - cause if she doesn't it's going to be ugly. hopefully she lives up to her nickname: barracuda. i'm excited about her cause she doesn't sound like my mom like hillary does, but moreso cause i think she's the right person to back mccain.

this race just got a lot more interesting. however, i think i'd rather have a idealistic visionary in office with an experienced vp than the other way around. people can rally around an idealist. kennedy was an idealist. lincoln was an idealist. obama is too, and i think he's what's best for this country. "country first."

this doesn't change my vote, however, as always, i'm still open to be influenced.

-ap.

question of the day:

which of these will happen first...

1. i get married.
2. the Royals finish 3rd in the AL Central.

-ap.

Kanye West - Good Morning

-ap.

HP and the DH: Post-game.

i made the mistake of starting harry potter and the deathly hallows yesterday afternoon. this was only a mistake because i finished it at 5 am. but since i don't have class until 1 on tuesday then it wasn't necessarily a long term problem.

i read it in 22 hours the first time. round two took a couple months. round three: 11 hours. i'm not sure if i'm considering it a waste of time or not.

as i layed down to sleep late last night with the adrenaline pumping through my system it occurred to me that i hadn't written anything substantial in the wake of the release of HP and the DH in july of 07. i had written a fantastic pre-game entry with all my expectations, predictions and love confessions.

somehow i failed to write a post-game entry. i don't know how, i can't explain how i could've had anything more important cycling through my brain than the contents of this bulbous novel. i'll claim that i intentionally waited as to not spoil the book for any one who hadn't had the chance to pour through its pages yet. so here are the "more thoughts to come."

i made a list of predictions in my pre-game: a list of things i needed to have happen in the seventh book. let's see how if i came out on top in my predictions.

harry versus draco cage match: it didn't come as i anticipated. i wanted a full on duel, but i suppose one could argue that it did happen anyway. to some extent at least. harry swipes draco's wand (therefore - as far as the wand is concerned - defeating his opponent), and they did have somwhat of a row in the Room of Requirement, but not a "cage match". however, harry also saves his rear twice during the battle of hogwarts. my wish for ron and hermione to get involved was fulfilled though, coming to a climax when ron suckerpunches him from under the invisibility cloak after saving him the second time. i was somewhat correct, but not entirely. no points awarded or deducted. Correct/Incorrect: +0

snape has to be good: thank goodness. if snape was evil i would've been flabbergasted. however, he definitely had quite a bit of loyalty to voldemort and wished to follow him, but his love for harry's mom ran deep tipped the scale easily toward good. Correct: +1

snape under imperius curse in book 6: i should've known it wasn't going to be that easy, but being so in love with lily potter?! whoa. snape develops to be maybe the 4th or 6th most important character in the whole novel (depending on if you ran him above or below ron and hermione in importance, clearly he ranks after harry, voldemort and dumbledore.) the chapter late in the book when harry is in the penseive watching snape's memory was one of the most enlightening and answer-filled chapters in the whole series. Incorrect: -1

ron and hermione kiss: there were so many moments when i thought this was going to happen - starting all the way back in like book 2 - and when it actually did happen i dropped my book and gave a double fist pump. this is one of the things that could've really messed up the whole series for me if it hadn't happened. i've been banking on it for years and reading it like they were already a pseudo-couple forever. probably Rowling's exact intent. Correct: +1

ron dies: wrong. however, fred died...kinda a consolation. Incorrect -1

Hogwarts finale: candy from a baby. easiest prediction ever. where else would it have happened? Godric's Hallow? no way. the Ministry of Magic? so book five. Dursley's?! get real. it had to be Hogwarts. the only thing that would've enhanced it at ALL would've been if she'd incorporated two things: the Quidditch field and/or Harry on a broomstick (which we still got a taste of early in the book). i wish they'd kept all the Slytherins hostage too and made 'em squirm a bit. especially Pansy Parkinson. Correct: +1

lucious malfoy dies: wrong. the dude didn't even have a wand the entire book and he was scared the whole time. all he wanted was his son's safety - very unlike him. i thought he was done for when voldemort borrowed his wand and it didn't work. voldemort wasn't quite as merciless as i thought he'd be. Incorrect -1

draco is cornered by harry but harry is merciful: boom goes the dyno. starts to duel but then pulls him out of a flaming Room of Requirement and then saves him from a Death Eater. Correct +1

voldemort dies: this is like stealing. Correct +1

hagrid dies: wrong. i'm happy about it. Incorrect -1

peter pettigrew dies via grawp: got it, then missed it. Correct/Incorrect +0

Those-Who-Cannot-Die: " hermoine, ginny, neville, snape.....tonks." i got the first three, got snape wrong, but saved myself on tonks by my next call. 4/5 ain't bad. Correct: +1

Lupin/Tonks Combo Death: here lies my loophole prediction for tonks. i figured that whatever lupin did, she would do also. i'm on a roll here. Correct: +1

Neville is a badass: okay okay. i totally nailed this one. neville steps up huge and takes out Nangini, Voldy's snake Horcrux. this is what i would refer to as neville "saving the eve." it's the event immediately preceding the climax of the book (the harry potter/tom riddle duel, thus, neville flashes his chops and rules just as i'd called. Correct +1

Neville avenges his parents: man. this one surprised me, but i think i was just being idealistic in this prediciton. i thought neville would take out bellatrix lestrange for sure, avenging his parents' torture and death at the hands of the witch. turns out bellatrix was replaced by nangini and EFFING MOLLY WEASLEY WENT OFF INSTEAD. holy crap what a moment. never ever ever saw that coming. incredible. Incorrect -1

viktor krum is saved by ron: too bad he had an insignificant role and never shows up again after bill and fleur's wedding. Incorrect -1

fawkes is inherited by harry: i actually really thought this would happen. and then when hedwig dies in the first 100 pages i was certain that dumbledore's phoenix would show up to replace it. i figured that dumbledore was going to have a large role somehow, and i thought it would've been through fawkes somehow. dangit. i loved this prediction. Incorrect -1

minerva mcgonagall turns out to have some chops: as if we didn't all see this coming. dumbledore's gone, so it makes sense. when she runs off snape right before the battle - so much attitude. i'm pumped to see her duel when the movie comes out in a few years. Correct +1

overall: +1 i'm not sure what this tells me other than i predicted more things write than wrong. i suppose i'll give myself a pat on the back.

predictions about the movie still to come:
cameo appearance by either chris brown or beyonce.
linkin park for the credits music.

-ap.