Harvesting blueberries 14 hours of the day has left me with little time to do much else other than eating and sleeping. It’s been a tiring experience, but I’ve managed to talk with a few people in the evenings and replied to the few e-mails I get each day in order to keep up communication. I’ll be glad to be finished with the long hours in a couple weeks.
Today holy rain fell, so I was blessed with my first day off in two weeks. I thanked the fates for sending me one day of relative rest. I spent most of the day unpacking and arranging things in my room. Returning from Halifax has given me a much larger room, so I’ll try to make good use of it.
My life has been very static lately, and my thoughts have been on matters I’m not yet ready to discuss here, so this will be another short entry. I have plenty to write about, but I want to save those things until I am able to devote a proper amount of time to them. Instead, I’ll leave you with some generic questions and answers.

Thirteen random things you like:

01) stars
02) coffee
03) fall
04) music
05) foods
06) rain
07) forests
08) books
09) writing
10) romance
11) diversity
12) campfires
13) rocky beaches

Twelve movies you love:

01) Lord Love A Duck
02) Grave of the Fireflies
03) Three Colors: Blue
04) American Splendor
05) Dinner At Fred’s
06) Mulholland Drive
07) Enlightenment Guaranteed
08) Run Lola Run
09) Otes?nek
10) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
11) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
12) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Eleven good bands/artists:

01) Matthew Sweet
02) Poe
03) The Squarewaves
04) Shalabi Effect
05) Audioslave
06) Collective Soul
07) Matthew Good
08) Live
09) Buck 65
10) Feist
11) Valley of the Giants

Ten things about you (physically):

01) Blue eyes
02) Long red hair
03) 6′ tall
04) Thin
05) Large feet
06) Freckles
07) I have a slight scar on my forehead, above my right eye.
08) My legs and arms are bruised because of work.
09) I have a small birthmark on my left arm.
10) My left thumb is double-jointed.

Eight favorite foods/drinks:

01) Coffee
02) Lemonade
03) Chinese foods
04) Cheesecake
05) Stone soup
06) Stews
07) Chocolate covered coffee beans
08) Homefries

Seven things you wear daily:

01) black jeans
02) a black t-shirt
03) sandals or socks and shoes
**) That’s it, since I don’t wear anything else everyday.

Six things that annoy you:

01) People without compassion
02) Materialism
03) Politics that tend toward captialistic and facist spectrums.
04) People with poor work ethics.
05) Violence
06) Selfishness

Five things you touch everyday:

01) My pillow
02) My sheets
03) My laptop
04) My toothbrush
05) My clothes

Four shows you watch:

**) I don’t watch T.V.

Romance is an afternoon by a river eating dried apple slices and creating stories for the trees on the opposite bank.

Romance is awkward dancing before the end of the world, falling to the grass and laughing at the fullness of life.

Romance is fallen tears on a bed of leaves, sparks from a campfire and four lives interwoven beneath a starless night sky.

Romance is vanilla on our tongues, summer shade on our bodies and wind licking our limbs.

Harvesting the berries has been going about the same as it did in the first days. It quickly becomes boring, but I keep my mini disc player with me so that I do not lose my sanity to the hum of the motors. The one thing that may cause me to go out of my mind is the ruckus of the damn kids who have no work ethic and no sense of proper work behaviour. I’m becoming an old man, surely, but it fits.

Brevity is beautiful, but also necessary.

Another day in the field has come to a close. Today was better than the last, with my body getting used to the labour and better weather. I’ve worked every summer since I was five (and one year when I travelled across the continent) in blue berry fields, so I’m used to them and the hard work they bring. It’s in my blood, for better or for worse. My veins are blue.
Working all day muddies my head with many thoughts. When I do repetitive work I tend to do a lot of thinking abstractly, though sometimes on very specific and important matters. I require something to allow me not to focus on a task that would otherwise surely leave me insane from mediocrity and slow time.

I’ve been relucant to write much about the occupation of Iraq as of late. Since I’ve been unable to follow it as closely as I would like, I haven’t been fully confident in commenting on the events unfolding there. What can not be denied, even from the least broad vantage, is that the suffering of the Iraqi people is unnecessary and a terrible crime. You can plainly see the torture inflicted upon the Iraqis in the photos shared in this article, published by China Daily. The looks of anguish on the faces of the two girls and one man depicted should be a clear sign of the horrendous losses being suffered by the Iraqis. The Americans and Iraqis (and those few other nations involved in the conflict) who have embraced violence with such enthusiasm should be filled only with shame for harming so many innocents. There is no excuse for such recklessness. The Iraqis are in my thoughts.

The first day working on the harvester went better than I had expected. The work is not all that difficult, and time seemed to pass quickly enough. I did not make it through the day without damage, though. I have bruised my knee and have small bumps along my arm where berries, leaves and other plant matter battered my arm for much of the day. It was a long day, but it feels good to be doing honest, hard work (though my back and knee deny this fiercely).

It’s fitting that I’m inspired to do a lot of writing now that I am unable to do so (I’m cutting into my sleep time just to make this short journal entry). I hope to store this creative energy somehow. I can’t let this holy water just evaporate. There are pages that need blessings, I know.

Learn of history, learn of music, learn of true, mythic stories, learn compassion, learn hope and learn love. Become a sage of the holy, simple arts. There’s magic and fullness in knowing.

I’m once again in Dean, the place where I’ve spent most of my life. This afternoon I travelled back here, with about half of the things I had at my apartment. I’ll be bringing back the rest, which includes my bed, dresser, record player and a bunch of other items, before the end of the month. It’s less strange to be relocating than I would have expected. I’m quite at peace with it.
Beginning tomorrow I’ll be working quite long days. For two weeks I’ll be working on a blueberry harvester, leaving here before seven and not returning until nine or ten in the evening. It’s likely going to be extremely tiring and monotonous, but I’m quite thankful for the job.
When this job ends I do not know what I will be doing. I’ll have some increased resources, but perhaps not the ability to return to the city I love. I haven’t had much luck finding employment there, sadly, so I would consider relocating somewhere else if my odds would be better, and if the place seems amicable.
I’ve thought a lot lately about where I might relocate. I feel that a new location would offer me the freshness of environment to evolve in ways the somewhat stagnant places I’ve grown up in has not allowed. I’ve long wanted to at least revisit Ottawa or Montreal, so perhaps I should look into what opportunities are available in those cities. Both are more bilingual than Halifax, and the ability to reawaken some of my hibernating French would be very welcome. I know I was quite enchanted by both places when I was last able to visit them.
I would appreciate some of your thoughts on this. I wouldn’t leap into any decision, but I am sincerely looking for a chance to find change of the external sort, and want to do so responsibly and with as much care as I can. Please advise away, dear friends.

Since I last shared my thoughts here in my journal, I did see about an hour of busker entertainment as part of The Halifax International Busker Festival. I went with my sister one afternoon and viewed typical busker acts. It was entertaining, but far too predictable for someone like myself who has seen busking of the sort showcased at this festival for years. I was very pleased, however, to be able to listen to Laliya, the duo I mentioned in my previous entry. They were much more exciting to me in a live setting than on recordings, and added a great flavour to the mostly tired waterfront. Look for them in Toronto (Toronto Buskers Festival) and in Barcelona, Spain (Arts de Carrer) following that.

Have you heard the first K-Os single, “B-boy Stance”, from his new album, Joyful Rebellion? If you have, surely it’s been stuck in your head, buzzing like a mosquito from ear to ear. If you haven’t, be sure to brace for it, because it’s the feel good hit of the late summer. I’ve been listening to some of his songs quite a lot and highly recommend that you check him out. He produces the sort of hip hop that deserves to be heard.

I’ve been doing battle with the heat and also with a cold. It hasn’t been a pleasant couple of days, but I’m surviving well enough. I have not, however, stopped longing for the fall.
In Halifax this week The Halifax International Busker Festival 2004 (which has a poorly designed, difficult to navigate website that should not discourage you) is taking place. I have fond childhood memories of seeing the buskers, but I recall it becoming a bit repetitive in later years. I’m thinking of giving it another chance tomorrow afternoon, at least to see a couple of the musical acts, notably Laliya, “an instrumental fusion of traditional instruments played in a contemporary style. The ambient tones of the Appalachian dulcimer are played through modern digital effects combined with the percussive rhythms of didgeridoo and djembe.” I’ve listened to a couple tracks and enjoy them, so I’d like the chance to hear them on the street or, more accurately, the waterfront.
I must confess I’ve developed quite a musical infatuation with P.J. Harvey. Her newest album, Uh Huh Her, is immensely enjoyable and I can’t seem to stop listening to it. I couldn’t do it justice in my cold-induced haze, but trust that it’s superb.

I’m once again at my coastal perch. Sunrays drop before me through the clouds, seeming to enclose the far shore in a great pyramid of light. A crow is hopping along the rocks below me, searching for food. The tide is on a slow retreat and the rocks it uncovers remain damp with surf. I’m drinking a cool salt air.
Few sailed ships are traversing the harbour this week. Only small pleasure craft are in motion now. Last week, however, was the Tall Ships Festival, which was a rather large tourist draw. From what I was told, the main water front was covered by a swarm of people. Along with the upcoming Busker Festival, it’s one of the biggest summer tourist events in Nova Scotia.
The ocean breeze I’m filled with now has become something I long for each too-hot summer day I’m unable to visit here. It’s rejuvenating in an indescribable way, containing some vital element of life beyond oxygen. As much as I love forests and mountains, I think the coast and I are lifemates. She whispers in my ears and dances in my lungs, trying to seduce me into a bed of smooth rocks.
I must claim my polyamory, in truth. I am as willful a participant in my union with each of those in my landscape triad of lovers. Oak leaf tresses, stone limbs and salt water torso mingle in a perfect vision.
As I returned through the tree-lined paths, I was called to collect leaves. It was only a pair, one oak and the other red maple, but their presence in scent and sight on both sides of my window is a pleasant reminder that the world beyond these synthetic walls is growing and living.

From time to time I attempt to write about myself so that whoever stubles upon my site can learn more about me more quickly than reading each of my entries. I usually find it a very tedious process, mostly because I don’t like writing about myself. There are so many more worthy topics, I assure you. You can find my last attempt, “Apollo In Silhouette” in the Year One Archives, but there’s a lot of overlap with this entry. Without further ado, here are some information and some scrawls about me.

Nomenclature:

• Name : Apollo
• Nicknames : Saviour (It’s a long story.)

Origins:

• Birthday : December 10, 1982
• Place of birth : Middle Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Youth-home : Dean, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Star sign : Sagittarius
• Year of the : Dog
• Native language : English
• Genetic heritage : English and Scottish (Lemmons and Crawfords)

Locations:

• Current residence : Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Favoured terrain : Coastlines, forests and mountains.

Physical Attributes:

• Sex : Male
• Height : Six feet
• Hair color : Red
• Eye color : Blue
• Writing hand : Right
• Clothing and Accessories : Sandals, black jeans, black shirts, black boots, glasses, headphones.

Spirit:

• Spirituality : I wear a patchwork of beliefs and experiences. (Belief-O-Matic results of New Age (100%) & Unitarian Universalism (100%) )
• Motivations : Compassion, love and appreciation of beauty.
• Personality Type: INFP (Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving)
• Political Compass : Socialist or Libertarian Left (Economic Left/Right: -8.88 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.51)
• Vision of Divinity : I don’t have belief in a sentient god, but rather in the spiritual forces that connect all things.
• Material approach: Minimalism
• Season : Fall
• Animal : Crow
• Colour : Blue

Passtimes:

• Writing : Writing is my greatest passion, though my skill and time devoted to it are sadly lacking.
• Nature : I very much enjoy spending time in nature, especially walking and hiking in it.
• Literature & Stories: I have a great love for stories, be they historic, mythic or fictional, and the art of storytelling. Some of my favoutite authors include:
  • Elizabeth H. Boyer
  • Terry Brooks
  • Mark Z. Danielewski
  • Charles de Lint
  • Diane Dreher
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Tanya Huff
  • Mike Jefferies
  • Jack Kerouac
  • Ross Laird
  • The Dalai Lama
  • Ursula Le Guin
  • Haruki Murakami
  • Richard & Wendy Pini
  • Irene Radford
  • J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Terri Windling
• Music: I am always listening to music of a wide array of genres. It’s a vital part of my everyday life, and I find it very rewarding. Some of the artists I listen to are listed below, but it’s far from a complete list:
  • A : A Perfect Circle, A Silver Mt. Zion, Ace of Base, Aerosmith, Age of Electric, Alanis Morissette Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, April Wine, Aqua, At The Drive-In, Audioslave, Auf Der Maur, Avril Lavigne
  • B : The Beatles, Beck, Belle and Sebastian, Bif Naked, Big Sugar, Big Wreck, Blinker The Star, David Bowie, The Brokehearts, Broken Social Scene, Buck 65, Butch Walker
  • C : Cat Power, Eric Clapton, Tom Cochrane, Collective Soul, Jason Collett, Collide, Conjure One, Billy Corgan, Chris Cornell, Counting Crows, Crash Test Dummies
  • D : Danny Michel, Delerium, Ani Difranco, Do Make Say Think
  • E : Elastica, Duke Ellington, Esthero, Melissa Etheridge, Everclear, Eyes For Telescopes
  • F : Faithless, Fastball, Feist, Filter, Finger Eleven, Foo Fighters
  • G : Garbage, Gin Blossoms, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Matthew Good, Matthew Good Band, Goo Goo Dolls, Gowan, Great Big Sea, Gruvis Malt, Bruce Guthro, Gym Class Heros
  • H : Juliana Hatfield, Terami Hirsch
  • I : Incubus
  • J : Jaga Jazzist, Joydrop
  • K : K-Os, Keyke, Kidney Thieves, The Killers, Klang, Lenny Kravitz, Chantal Kreviazuk, Krishna Das
  • L : Marit Larsen, Le Tigre, Led Zeppelin, Lederhosen Lucil, Geddy Lee, Lene, John Lennon, Limblifter, Lisa Loeb, Live
  • M : M2M, Ashley MacIsaac, Marilyn Manson, The Mars Volta, Marvelous 3, Pepper McGowan, Medieval Babes, Katie Melua, Metric, Charles Mingus, Mogwai, Moist, Morphine, Shawn Mullins, M?m
  • N : Nickelback, Sigridur Nielsdottir, Nine Inch Nails, Northern Pikes, Heather Nova
  • O : Alix Olson, Our Lady Peace
  • P : Charlie Parker, Tom Perry, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Placebo, Poe, The Presidents, Prince
  • Q :
  • R : R.E.M., Radiohead, Rainbow Butt Monkeys, Rawlin’s Cross, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Red Rider, Ellen Reid, Sam Roberts, Rockets Burst From The Streetlams, Rush
  • S : Sandbox, See Spot Run, Scratching Post, Sevendust, Sam Shalabi, Shalabi Effect, Tommy Shaw, Sixtoo, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sneaker Pimps, Solas, Soundgardens, Sparta, Squarewaves, Stabbing Wesward, Stars, Stranger Than Blue, Strawberry, Sun Ra, Matthew Sweet, Swirl 360
  • T : Tas 1000, The Tea Party, Tegan and Sara, Third Eye Blind, The Thorns, Three Doors Down, The Tragically Hip, The Trews, Tuesdays
  • U : U2
  • V : Elizabeth Anka Vajagic, Valley of the Giants Vast, Virgos, Virgos Merlot
  • W : Tom Waits, The Wallflowers, Weezer, Hawksley Workman
  • X :
  • Y : Neil Young
  • Z : Molly Zenobia, Rob Zombie, Zwan

Contact:

• E-mail : frozentruth @ gmail . com

For the past week one album, Lisa Loeb’s The Way It Really Is, has been playing most often here in my room.The Way It Really Is has quickly grown on me, becoming one of my favourite albums she has released. It holds elements of her previous albums, and is uniquely a Lisa Loeb album, but is less upbeat than her two recent albums, Hello Lisa and Cake and Pie. This is a favourable development, I believe, since I’ve always been partial to her more subdued songs.
I must admit I have a bit of a bias when it comes to Lisa Loeb. In my teen years she was my first and last great celebrity crush. I was enthralled by her intelligence, songwriting, and physical beauty in my youth, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit some of that taint still remains.
That said, this is a great album. The standout track for me on first listen was “Diamonds”, the the rockiest track on the album that has the lyrics, “diamonds are a runaround, a game you can’t win, while you wait for your life to begin”, seemingly a statement attacking the lightness with which many people treat marriage. “Will You Wander” is the second track that hits me most, with its classic theme of sought commitment and requited love. “Probably”, an obvious second single after “Fools Like Me” leaves the charts, is a light love song that lifts the album to a level of catchiness that each of Lisa’s previous albums met. It’s this signature song that will likely please the more casual fans of Lisa’s music most.
The Way It Really is will come out a week from today, marking Lisa’s third album in two or three years. I believe it to be the strongest of these, and will not disappoint. It’s the album that may just return Lisa to the top of the charts, and is at the very least a great new addition to Lisa’s discography of excellent albums.