Comparison

Just for the record: I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite. It really depends on my mood and the weather. Apples are easier to eat on the go since they don't have to be peeled, but you've still got the core to dispose of (which isn't too hard). You can simply eat the whole thing, of course. I've done that a couple times, minus the stem. But if I'm going to eat the core I usually prefer just the part in the middle, with the seeds. Some apple seeds are actually pretty good, and taste very...apple-y. I assume there's some additional nutrition in there. Some cores are a little husky though. While oranges do have to be peeled, you can't deny their packaging is also a plus. You don't have to wash the fruit itself, and it is kept safe while rolling around the floor of your car or across the ground or, in rare cases, dropped into a goat's pen. It's fun to eat the sections of an orange or tangerine. Navel oranges also come with a bonus baby orange on one end. Can apples do that? I don't think so. Then again, you can't make very good pie with an orange. Or cobbler.

...I better stop now.

Storm Chaser

When we were kids we used to try to catch wind by holding pieces of cardboard over our heads as a storm rolled in. We would run and jump with the gusts. It was hard to hold on, but it did make us jump farther. Anything to feel like flying.
Hope everyone's safe during the hurricane.

Goin' Underground

A bit extreme, perhaps, but I wouldn't mind at least having a garden. When you live in an apartment, your options are limited.

Alternate ending:

Or maybe there's a dude down there pushing a button, like in Lost. Better yet, how about giant crystals and mushrooms and reptiles. Journey to the Center of the Earth fueled many a childhood fantasy. (Oh, and I just remembered Land of the Lost too, haha.)

Dramatic Lunch

Make it exciting, right?

Yummers

heehee

Another Spider

I can kill 'em if required, but Heaven help me if they ever get on my person.

Opinions

This doesn't refer to anything specific exactly, but I had a couple subjects in mind. What happens is I go online and start reading comments from fine young people on forums (college age like to blast their thoughts the loudest), both Christian and otherwise, and I start getting annoyed by all the wasted words and attitudes.

"I'm going to disregard your entire intelligently presented post by calling it your opinion."
"All our opinions are valid; believe in whatever works for you, man. (unless it crosses my path)"

But I think people hold tenaciously to many things they don't actually believe. Because they want it their way. I do that myself. So, I should extend grace to others. Personally, my biggest beliefs are things which I can't deny. I don't necessarily want to believe in something that takes extra effort from me and requires me to deny myself and surrender my time and authority, but I can't deny that that is the only right course to take. When Jesus' words have a %100 track record in life, I can't deny them. I don't want to believe I can overcome fear; it would be easier to say I'm biologically broken and just pop some pills and not have to suffer the shame of defeat over and over, but I can't honestly believe that. And why would I want to voluntarily avert my eyes from "hot" women? To be self-righteous? Yeah right! I'm not that righteous. I don't do it just for some ideal. Still, I listen to how convincingly some people stand by their opinions, and I wonder how they got so comfortable in those thoughts that they seem indifferent to any other. Or are they really that comfortable? I guess only they know.

Anyway, for all the crazy opinions out there, there are plenty of decent ones as well. If I can't take comfort in those then I need to head out into the woods for a long walk!

Victor the Mouse

I have one more comic to share from the olden days. I think I'll do this in three updates, while I'm getting used to my new laptop and making sure the graphics tablet is working right on it. (Kinda funny to be talking about getting a new lappy after the last post, but the two events occurred without knowledge of each other. Plus, my old one was on its last leg. That makes it a need, right? Yeaaaah.... ^^)

Anyway, let the slapstick rodent adventures commence:

Sir Punch-a-lot

And now he is Sir Huggington.

Pet Rock...

This is a rather aimless adventure, but I can't change it now!

I used to have some pet rocks. They didn't look like this one though; they were basically one flat rock with a smaller one glued on top for a head, and maybe four pebbles glued around the sides for legs. And buttons for eyes. And some colorful paint. Fun to make, but then they just sit on the windowsill. Actually, they'd be good for in a planter, if you used permanent glue.

(The gnomes are a bit jealous, being made of concrete and therefore more susceptible to acid rain. At least, I think that's the case.)

Squire Squirrel

Another old comic.

Andy Ant

Here's a comic from when I was 16. I always liked making up little animal stories.

Oh no!

Notice the strange dark rock at the bottom of the waterfall. That means it was covering up something I didn't like. After drawing all the panels I probably went back and tried to add more to the splashing water, and went too far and had to "fix" it with a rock.
Also, in the next picture I see that Andy has his own mini Bible. =D

Forager

The "poisonous plant fable" is a term that wild foods expert Samuel Thayer uses to describe the fear (of the unknown) spread among the general public about foraging. It's the kind of propaganda that sensationalized the deaths of people like Chris McCandless and Euell Gibbons. Not that you can't hurt yourself if you're not careful, but the thought is that plants look so much alike that even an experienced forager could pick the wrong one by mistake. That's like saying you could mistake your own family member in a crowd. Well, from the front at least!

Anyway, I only know a puny amount about wild food, but it really interests me. A true hunter and gatherer would have to devote lots and LOTS of time to reap a significant harvest, but I like knowing that it's at least a healthy supplement to my modern life of dependence. Although...I tend to get a little self-righteous about the things I'm passionate about. ;)

Sin and Consequences

Silly humans! How quickly we forget/never learn/do it again anyway. We know the resultant pain is not worth the indulgence of sin, but we're a broken record. How can I choose to do what ALWAYS hurts me, and not do what ALWAYS gives me peace? Nuts, I tell you.

Spider!

Usually it's just the daddy longlegs that inhabit bathrooms (which technically are arachnids but not spiders), and they can't do you any harm, but I still keep my eye on them. They're real good at tickling.

Detective Caraway 5 & 6

As a kid it kinda used to bother me when the ghosts or monsters in a cartoon always ended up being a guy in a suit at the end. Always the same thing. I didn't believe in ghosts, but it still disappointed me. The problem was that when they'd show the ghost at the beginning, it would be floating and moving in a way that a guy in a suit couldn't possibly move. It would suddenly appear in front and then in back of its victims, or other things humanly impossible. And then it gets caught at the end and it's just a normal dude in a sheet.

Similarly, I don't like when books pull the same stunt and then explain it all away by saying it was in the person's mind. Or a split personality. There are some stories that pull off the split personality thing well, but now I've seen it used too much. It seems like a cheap way out of an impossibly amazing plot. Not that I can do any better, mind you. ^_^

Detective Caraway 3 & 4

This is a very condensed comic. Join us tomorrow for the somewhat exciting conclusion!

Detective Caraway 1 & 2

Attempt at another little comic episode. Stay tuned for the rest of this super amazing, slightly boring toon.

For the Love of Goats

Disclaimer

The faith and healing subject is always interesting; trying to find a balance between believing for the gift of health and knowing God doesn't always answer our prayers like we wish.