until thursday, and then I get back and start working nights on friday for another stretch of 7.

*%&$’n nights.

tom cruise is probably the only one in need of ritalin here.

much as I may agree to an extent to his wariness of drug taking to cure something, lately this “scientologist” has been grating on everyone’s nerves with his wild imbalanced actions. He needs something to smoove him out. and apparently the copious amounts of weed that he and other scientologists smoke isn’t helping.

but don’t get me started on scientology…that’s an entire rant unto itself.

I’d better write my 2-3 page response paper to Moby Dick.

it’s supposed to be on what stood out for me in the book, an image, a scene, a pattern, what have you. And I’ll be honest…what stood out for me most was how absolutely WORTHLESS three quarters of this book is.

Of course, I can’t write that. I’ve learned certain…limits to how far I will go in order to get my point across. Can’t say that I’m exactly the same person who wrote a book review of Dr. Seuss’ “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” and it’s relationship to understanding time for first year honor’s class in undergrad.

Instead I’ll probably focus on the two examples of facing the ‘other’ in the book. In one instance, we have Ishmael and Queequeg, and the other instance we have Starbuck and Fedellah. The interactions that each have with their opposite may reflect on how or why there was a survival. Ishmael, in engaging Queequeg the savage, and endeavouring to understand him, made his life easier on the voyage, giving him someone to trust, even in death, having Queequeg made executor of his will.

Starbuck, on the other hand, in ignoring to the best of his ability the parsee Fedellah, is unable to communicate or understand the other side that is affecting Cap’n Ahab. Starbuck is never shown attempting a conversation with the pagan charm thrower that is Fedellah, and neither Fedellah back towards him. As a consequence, Starbuck is unable to communicate fully with Ahab, as each time it comes to trying to persuade the cap’n away from the hunt, a wall is hit and ahab turns away.

In the end, Fedellah is killed, Starbuck has no way of ever hoping to sway the Captain from the hunt, no way to fully understand the other side of his own way of thinking. Ahab fulfills the prophecies from the pagan, while Starbuck in his stark religiosity is unable to save either the captain, or himself.

Ishmael, on the other hand, though Queequeg dies, is saved by his other in the form of Queequeg’s coffin which had been intricately carved by the savage himself. The aspects of Queequeg saves Ishmael in the end.

That’s what stood out(secondary to the crappiness of the book)…was the example of the importance to listening to the other, and keeping an open mind.

*sigh* goddamn it. I sound like a psychologist…or worse, a liberal. Oh well, it’ll go over well I’m certain. There may be some tie to the narcissus myth here too, I haven’t quite written the paper yet.