Moby Dick – The Beige Moth

Week 1: What’s Past is Prologue

May 5, 2025May 5, 2025 Robin VanGilderLeave a comment

Alright, let’s try something different.

I want to write more, so I thought I’d get in the habit of posting some sort of regular update on my habits and thoughts. Almost like some sort of log, as on an old timey sailing ship… but rather than being locked in some old wooden chest, it instead lives on the marvellous web of information. Some sort of… web log… if you will. Perhaps we shall come up with a shortened term at some point, if it ever catches on.

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Epilogue – But What Does It Mean?

April 20, 2025April 21, 2025 Robin VanGilder10 Comments

Well, here we are at last.

Friends, we’ve come to the end of the road. After this, there’s simply no more book to read. Oh, I may come around and do some sort of official wrap-up post, sum things up, but I would prefer to leave it all on the field, so to speak. Part of me can’t believe I actually got all the way to the end, much like when I read this book the first time, all those years ago. But I did! Or at least, I will shortly.

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Chapter 135: The Chase.—Third Day

April 13, 2025April 13, 2025 Robin VanGilder3 Comments

Alright, I’ve delayed enough, let’s finish this monster up.

I’ve had a real sense of impending doom lately, had some sleepless nights due to anxiety and whatnot. There are things I can do to combat that, and I know that I am in fact given to seeking out portents of disaster and using that as an excuse to take refuge in paralysis, but it would also help a lot if the country I live in wasn’t rapidly descending into fascism. Therapy is all well and good, but sometimes material conditions are the root concern, y’know. And yet, here I am, ready to finally finish out this years-long project. Let’s get to it!

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Chapter 134: The Chase.—Second Day

March 30, 2025April 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

As we approach the end of this great tome, I find myself in a reflective mood.

Thinking back upon the story as a whole, its many detours and sidequests, and the thrust of its narrative. This past week I even went and read some other criticism of Moby Dick, to refresh my memory a bit. The… pacing of this project has definitely been lopsided, with my having covered more than half the book in the first year, and then slowly grinding out the last bit of it. But that feels appropriate, as Ishmael dithered and delayed in telling the end of his tale, so do I struggle to embrace the entirety of this enormous work with the inadequate span of my typing fingers.

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Chapter 133: The Chase.—First Day

March 23, 2025April 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder1 Comment

Ugh, man, I finally feel like I’m waking up again.

Last week I had some minor oral surgery. Nothing too serious, no teeth being removed or anything like that, but nonetheless I had to go under general anaesthesia; that is, I was knocked out cold. It’s always a strange experience, I haven’t had it since I had my wisdom teeth out, and I’ve been some time recovering from it. The last few days have felt a bit like an extended dream which I cannot fully sink into nor awake from. But now, I’m coming awake again, and none too soon: the hunt is on!

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Chapter 132: The Symphony

March 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder3 Comments

Ahh, man, I had a nice vacation.

Didn’t go anywhere, but just… hung out at home, like the old days. Reconnecting with the version of myself who was a layabout in college and when I worked at the market, playing Final Fantasy XIV for hours and hours every day, sinking time into JRPGs, so on and so forth. It’s refreshing, getting away from work and indulging in old pleasures like that. But, it’s time to get back to business.

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Chapter 131: The Pequod Meets The Delight

March 2, 2025 Robin VanGilder2 Comments

I’m on vacation!

Well, just about, anyway. I suppose it starts properly tomorrow, this is just a regular weekend where my sunday evening does not have any creeping dread. Or not for the usual reason, at least. I already feel myself decompressing a bit, able to open my mind beyond my usual routines. I always try to get completely out of the work mindset for these, though it can be difficult at times. Well, let’s get back to this ancient tome, I still want to keep this streak of posts alive.

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Chapter 130: The Hat

February 23, 2025 Robin VanGilder3 Comments

Another week gone by of 2025, and the world continues to fall into madness.

But at least my little slice of it is relatively calm and peaceful. It’s pouring down rain here today, and will be for the next week or so, and I love it. My favorite weather, as a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. Even living in the middle of a city, there’s a certain peaceful coziness that comes from settling down inside on such a day that is utterly unmatched, at least in my personal experience.

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Chapter 129: The Cabin

February 16, 2025February 16, 2025 Robin VanGilder1 Comment

Oh man, it has been far too long.

I can only beg your forgiveness, shipmates. I have been overwhelmed with stress in my life in recent months, and thus have not found the fortitude to continue this project, preferring to distract myself with video games and movies and other amusements. But now, many things have been resolved, and I may once again take to the sea and do some deep thinking about whales.

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Chapter 128: The Pequod Meets The Rachel

November 24, 2024November 24, 2024 Robin VanGilder6 Comments

Where does the time go?

I can’t believe it’s late November already. Well, I suppose the time around the election was a bit warped, to my perception, but still. I feel like I’ve hardly had time to catch my breath lately, one thing or another going on. But this weekend, I had some time to myself, got a little caught up on some other reading, and on relaxation. So, I find myself once again in a mood to reflect upon some proper lit’rature. Let’s get to it.

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