Chapter 116: The Dying Whale

Well, things are finally turning around a bit.

Just a quick update on the saga of my dental problems: I had my root canal this week! At long last! Honestly, it was mostly fine, as I was simply laying there dazing in the chair hopped up on nitrous oxide the whole time. It cost a bit extra, but man it was worth it. And now the pain in that tooth is gone. Everyone talks shit about root canals, but they really do the damn thing. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, which this week is a deep, dark subject….

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Chapter 115: The Pequod Meets The Bachelor

Man, I had a weird week.

I apologize for missing my post last weekend, call it a holiday off. I read the chapter, but couldn’t come up with anything, my head wasn’t in the right place for it. Then I had another dentist appointment on Tuesday, had some more fillings done. Unfortunately, those fillings were right next to the tooth that is still very sensitive and in need of a root canal, so it was… not very comfortable, shall we say. I was recovering from that the next couple days, and had a very stressful time at work. But, I’m feeling much better now, things have been resolved, just a bit.

Anyway, let’s get into it.

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Chapter 113: The Forge

Ugh, once again I have been offended by that great, terrible orb in the heavens.

We had some hot weather here the last couple days, is what I mean. Not too bad, not over 90, but it was the first time in my new apartment, and it turns out that sea breeze does not make as much of a difference as I hoped. My new fan performed admirably, though. But still… I may need to invest in some conditioned air, at some point in the future. Well, let’s get to it.

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Chapter 111: The Pacific

Let’s keep this train a-rollin’.

I apologize for being a bit late this week, things were busier at work and I’ve been a bit stressed over my upcoming move. I’m really workin’ on it in earnest now, getting things organized, packing up all my books and video games and movies, etc etc. A lot of that is all squared away now, plans are set, all that’s left is to be ready on the day itself.

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Chapter 109: Ahab and Starbuck in the Cabin

I almost forgot!

This week I read the chapter early, because I was bored at work, and thought about writing the post really early. Then, I almost forgot to come and write it this evening because I was too caught playing Unicorn Overlord (which is really good by the way). But no! I will continue posting, and I will see this through to the end.

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Chapter 108: Ahab and the Carpenter

Dang, I should’ve saved the Walrus and the Carpenter image for this week. Ah well!

Trying to get back into a groove here, not make that last post a one-off. Especially since this one follows up on it in an extremely direct way. Why, if it weren’t for the complete shift in tone and genre, they could’ve been combined into one chapter. Perhaps an author with a different bent might’ve done so, if somehow combining the ideas presented previously into the milieu of this scene in order to make a more harmonious whole. But Melville is not such an author, and neither is Ishmael. The medium is the message, it would do you well to remember.

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Chapter 106: Ahab’s Leg

Summer continues apace here in Pacific Northwest, and it has been awful, here in my little apartment.

This place was not designed to deal with this sort of heat. I get the radiant warmth from lower floors, so it is nearly impossible to maintain livable conditions without sitting directly in front of a fan at all times. And, over the past weekend, we had some awful wildfire smoke to boot! Ugh. The rains of fall cannot come soon enough.

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Chapter 104: The Fossil Whale

Guh, my friends, the heat has come to torment me once more.

I do so despise the summer. I picked this week for my vacation thinking it would still be nice and mild, like it was last year, but I was wrong! It’s always nice to have a break from work, but in the future I may elect to take more time in the fall or spring, rather than the doldrums of summer.

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Chapter 100: Leg and Arm

Ahhhhhhhhh, a hundred chapters! Hard to believe I’ve made it this far. It’s very funny to me how the first 75 ot so posts were written in about a year, while the latter 25 have taken… significantly longer, shall we say. The events of the last, oh, three years have not exactly been conducive to my creative endeavors, or those of many others, I imagine.

Speaking of, I must apologize for the gap between posts, once again. I’ve taken a crack at this chapter several times, I got a bit too… in my own head about it. Lost the thread about what I was even doing with this blog for a while, went through cycles of overwhelming confidence and a complete lack, you know how it is.

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Chapter 99: The Doubloon

Hoo boy, this is a big one.

I’ve really got my work cut out for me this time ’round. This is a very important and fascinating chapter, and has been the subject of a lot of study and discussion over the years. It’s not hard to see why, there’s obviously a lot going on here, and I will do my level best to untangle it, and perhaps offer a bit of my own commentary on top of all the others.

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