Morge!

 

I woke up this morning with this song in my head, particularly the line, “Oh man, what I used to be. Oh man, oh my, oh me. Similarly to Ryan Adams I have had a hard time catching on to Fleet Foxes. I first heard them several years ago by a friend (the same friend who introduced me to Ryan Adams, as it is) and I couldn’t get on the bandwagon. Finally, last year I indulged the FF and listened to “Mykonos.” I listened to that one song for a year and now with the release of Helplessness Blues methinks Fleet Foxes and I may have the beginnings of what looks like a relationship.

I had intentions of sharing this second tune anyway because of how superb it is. So I it appears to be a two’fer day. Huzzah!

 

 

I hope today is one of the best days of your life.

 

 

I’ll Miss You, Moby

Today we wrapped up Moby Dick in my 1850s literature class. We spent two weeks on this masterpiece and each day for the past 14 days I have spent an hour or

Aghh, my back!!

two reading it. Now, I feel like a small part of me is missing (or rather a big part since that whale is a massive monster).

Last night as Adam and I were cooking dinner he asked me an interesting question: Academic lens aside, did I like Moby Dick? I tried to answer objectively, but unfortunately found myself unable to do so. I liked the book, truly. But part of me is convinced that I liked the book because it was a challenging book and I understood it and I completed it. That made me like it. I would not have picked up this book otherwise, of that I am mostly sure. In tonight’s class, however, I found myself believing that I liked the book because it was a discovery for Melville while writing it, Ishmael (the quasi-narrator) was discovering while on the exploration, and I was doing some discovering on my own whilst reading it. So, from a further perspective, now that I have (sadly?) put the book to rest, I think I can deduce that yes, I liked Moby Dick.

But I’m not reading it again.

Next up in that class is The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne. We read The Scarlett Letter by him a few weeks ago and I am interested to see what he has to offer in this next book.

 

Photo courtesy of livingunbound.net