Moby Dick!
Izzy the Red
Dream of the Stone Diplodocus
Morgan's Tarot
In the Abyss
Two Competitive Drops of Water from the Same Ocean

Moby Dick is one long, rolling Sea Monster Metaphor. I confess, I never made it to the end (this is one reason I don't fully oppose the idea of sending Middle-Easterners (such as myself) to internment camps during this post 9/11 time. I need to catch up on my reading). I'm somewhere in the middle of it now. I stopped at the sentence:

"So in the soul of man there lies an insular Tahiti."

Ah.

Melville is the best. Hands down. Even the aliens think so.

The intro to Moby Dick lays it out: "His book is difficult and complex because Melville does not reduce the dilemmas of the world and of life to childish simplicities." (unlike yours truly) "In Moby-Dick he is dealing with matters of profound mystery. Melville himself was concerned because he was unable to express all he meant, or even to bare all of his deepest thoughts."

Well, folks, I don't know how deep the thoughts here can get. I had a New Years resolution once: Deeper depths, slicker surfaces. I told this to some guy at the office and subsequently had to go in for extra sexual harassment counseling.

Does Melville even talk about slicker surfaces? Yes! As you will see.

I feel a lot of tension between buoyancy and depths in Melville's work. And there is a buoyancy here to my website, though I am compelled to track the leviathan as well. At a distance. Like a tourist. Perhaps I keep my vessel at that distance because I haven't yet found the right cannibal crew (Join my quest). Oh, and did I mention that Ishmael's friend Queequeg is a practicing Muslim of sorts? And "Ishmael?" See, I'm saying there is this pro-ME undercurrent.

You will notice, throughout, a gratuitous use of metaphors. It's not that these metaphors are even linked to something real that I'm processing. I'm just swinging from one metaphor to the next like a bored spidermonkey.

But back to the Master. What is an insular Tahiti and what does it have to do with Sea Monster metaphors? The Master speaks:

"And as in the great hunting countries of India, the stranger at a distance will sometimes pass on the plains recumbent elephants without knowing them to be such, taking them for bare, blackened elevations of the soil; even so, often, with him, who for the first time beholds this species of the leviathans of the sea. And even when recognized at last, their immense magnitude renders it very hard really to believe that such bulky masses of overgrowth can possibly be instinct, in all parts, with the same sort of life that lives in a dog or a horse." [That "Even so, often, with him" was classic Captain Kirk rhythm].

"But though, to landsmen in general, the native inhabitants of the seas have ever been regarded with emotions unspeakably unsocial and repelling; though we know the sea to be an everlasting terra incognita, so that Columbus sailed over numberless unknown worlds to discover his one superficial western one [See! Melville calls the Western world superficial!]; though, by vast odds, the most terrific of all mortal disasters have immemorially and indiscriminately befallen tens and hundreds of thousands of those who have gone upon the waters; though but a moment's (OK, Melville, where does this sentence end?) consideration will teach, that however baby man may brag of his science and skill, and however much, in a flattering future, that science and skill may augment; yet for ever and for ever, to the crack of doom, the sea will insult and murder him, and pulverize the stateliest frigate he can make; nevertheless, by the continual repetition of these very impressions, man has lost that sense of the full awfulness of the sea which aboriginally belongs to it."

OK, Dude, HEADRUSH. Wow. I tingle. One stop deep thought shopping, right there.

As to Tahiti:

"Consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself? For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all the horrors of the half known life. God keep thee! Push not off from that isle, thou canst never return!"

And so, heeding his words, I pushed not off from that passage to the next, which surely held thoughts deeper yet, such that I couldst therein drown; said passage which was entitled, "Squid".

You can read Melville on your own. If all else fails, when I am old, I shall make my grandchildren read it to me. (Yes! Pray my aging process will be like unto Melvilles description here: "At the time I now write of, Father Mapple was in the hardy winter of a healthy old age; that sort of old age which seems merging into a second flowering youth, for among all the fissures of his wrinkles, there shone certain mild gleams of a newly developing bloom - the spring verdure peeping forth even beneath February's snow.")

So this website is about the many Sea Monsters that stud my imagination, barnacles consuming the beams, octopi wrapped around the rudders. I am not initially planning on seeing how deeply I can think about them, but it may turn out that one grabs me and takes me under, to the very depths of the abyss.

Speaking of "the Abyss."
This James Cameron Movie (buy it here !) begs for a sequel. Failing that, we can just do a completely different story which sounds more like an African folk tale - How the Ocean and the Earth became friends. See, in "The Abyss," we never find out where those creatures came from or how they got such awesome water manipulating power. At the end they have the earth surrounded by giant tsunami waves just standing up, ready to crush the cities, but held back. Very "parting of the sea".

Question is, where did they come from? Obviously they arrived in this big droplet of water from a giant water planet. The water people's sun exploded billions of years ago. Before it did, they jetisoned off droplets that were spaceships the size of planets. And these "ships" landed on various planets. One hit earth. (See, the drop of water and the rock collide and lo! Life! Like my First Apocalypse! Now I see why this resonates) And then there was life. Then of course, the water beings ignored things for a while (4 billion years?) aside from the occasional Atlantis experiment and various mermaid activities. At the point of "The Abyss" some of the droplets took an active interest in human affairs and revealed their existence and power. Much to their regret, you see. I suspect that even if you hold up giant waves up to intimidate people, and even if your intentions had their best interest in mind, it doesn't really change them very much. Pesky rambunctious people. More on this later.

This Abyss thing reminds me of The Alchemist. There's a scene from the Abyss where the droplet of water imitates the woman's face. She gets a 3-D reflection of herself. Well, generally in water you can get a 2-D reflection of yourself. And so the story of Narcissus and his fascination with his 2-D reflection is retold in the intro of the book "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coleho. This is a great story. Love the punch line. Narcissus was this really pretty dude, so pretty he fell in love with himself (I'm, too sexy for this myth, too sexy for this myth). And he would go down by the pond and just look at his own reflection for hours and days on end until he turned into a lump of vegetation. So in this Coleho retelling, after Narcissus vegetates, the other creatures of the woods come and gather around the pond and talk about how much they miss that pretty boy, because apparently they all used to love looking at him as he wandered through the woods. And the pond says, "Yeah. Really do miss that boy." And then one of the creatures says, but you were so lucky, you got the best view of him because he'd sit for hours and look at you. That image of his beauty must be burned in your mind. And the pond says, um, actually, I wasn't really looking at him, It was just that I got such a good reflection of myself in his big-o eyes. A narcissistic pond! What are the odds.

One thing that bugged me about this book, though. The main story is based on an old sufi fable but the book doesn't give credit anywhere to that fact, so it's as if the author acts like he made the whole thing up. That or I didn't read the preface carefully. And it's public domain. Sufi dudes? Long dead. Still, some credit, some "based on" thing.

The Ubiquitous Sea Monster appears in my first screenplay, Izzy the Red. Yes, click on that link to go to the confidentiality agreement. Agree and you will click through and be able to read the first thrilling ten pages which feature the Ubiquitous Sea Monster.

Then there's the Dream of the Stone Diplodocus. This was a geo-erotic dream I had. For the most part it's more geo than erotic, and in fact it's a profound metaphor about union and spiritual matters. However, given that my subconscious used the heavy-handed language of erotica to convey this spiritual message, I will have to keep this story out of reach of the youth among us. If you are over 18 years of age, you can go to the adult page, otherwise, wait a few years for this revelation. Like it's going to kill you to wait. Go do your homework. Don't even think about clicking the link. If you're underage and you click the link, not only are you doing what I told you not to, but you are LYING. Ooh. Don't you realize that it's the lack of integrity that makes you powerless in this world? For the rest of you, here's the link: I am over 18 years of age.

Morgan's Tarot

(Illustration and Text from Morgan's Tarot Deck reproduced by permission of U.S. Games Systems, Inc., Stamford, CT 06902 USA. Copyright 1983 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. Further reproduction prohibited.)

And there is the sea monster featured in the amazing Morgan's Tarotcard deck on the "There are no others" card pictured to your left. I am thrilled to find that Morgan's Tarot is now available online! The cards are out of print, but the spirit lives on in cyber space. You can go and do it LIVE! Don't forget my other favorite card, "Du Wacky Du", also a favorite of Juju the Cage Bird. Perhaps we can get Du Wacky Du to guest star as Bobo the Free Bird in the series. Except he probably has a busy schedule.

Whoops! Did I hit a nerve? Is somebody Panicking right now? Is Tarot too occultic for you? DON'T PANIC! If anything, Morgan's Tarot is random Bhuddism, no more occultic than opening a book of poetry at random and attempting to let it speak to your present reality. Sure, you may be thinking, but like POT which is considered harmless by some, this is a disingenuous attempt to lull people into being comfortable with the occult! It's just a door to bigger and more frightening things! Well, my friends, you're right. I found this picture on the web, and in order to have permission to use it for free, I have to put in this notice:

Visit the world's best source for tarot at www.usgamesinc.com

Yep, I sold your souls for that. But my father sold out paradise for some wheat, so what do you expect. Anyway, why do I like this card so much? It features the type of sea monster I used to draw in my girlhood pirate maps, the coiling snake body looping up out of the ocean in receding semi-circles, stitching the sea together. In this illustration, the monster's head faces one of its loops poking out of the water. It is staring at its own body with confusion. The caption says "There are no others." The wise blurb explains:

"Despite the truth of the claim that there is no reality but reality, and that wherever we look we see nothing but God or a manifestation of the universal divine consciousness, often in this weird universe we find ourselves with the unmistakable impression that we are faced with somebody else."

What a lovely way to explain "monism."

Two Competitive Drops of Water from the Same Ocean:

OK, it's not a Sea Monster, but this is the title of an animation which will be my first foray into flashing. Of course, for now I will just have to settle for describing the animation, which is fine for the visually impaired anyway. You will all have to use your imagination.

We start with a calm patch of ocean water, a gentle undulation as a wave or two passes through (the waves don't break. They just rise and fall, building). By and by we notice a bump of water in the smooth undulation. With eyes. Another pulse of water passes the screen. The little bump with eyes uses the force for leverage, lifts off, separates from the ocean (the thrill!) and does a back flip - WHEE!

It settles down into the water pleased with itself. To its left, another bump pokes out (perhaps jostled by the first) (yes, at some point we may notice this is a multitude of droplets jostling eachother, but looking smooooothe on the surface). Its pair of eyes opens and watches.

Another wave pulses through. The first drop of water does another flip. The second drop does a DOUBLE flip. It settles back with a friendly wave (WAVE! Heh). The first drop notices the second. Its eyes slant. The next wave comes. First drop does a double flip with a twist. Next wave. Second drop does a double flip and at the top transforms into a flower shape then hits the water like a swan (see with animation they can morph into things).

This continues for some time, the drops one-upping each other in more flamboyant ways. The stunts! The breathtaking athleticism of water! Yet it's not all fun. The first drop is irate because the second one seems to do everything so effortlessly. The first drop is sweating (you haven't seen irritation until you've seen a drop of water sweat.)

So how do we end this tale of conflict, achievement and resentment? Well, you'll just have to wait until I learn web animation. (Actually, I'm thinking that we can - and it's probably already been done - have a software program available here so that all we Ajabanites can add to the animation and build up each stunt. Don't know why. Just fun I guess.) I guess this is just another nod to monism as well.

You know, everywhere I put this "monism" thing I need to put a free floating panic button for those who are freaked out by it. Yes, the panic button has not yet begun to turn into the sophisticated tool it was meant to be. Stay tuned.

Other Sentences that Stopped me from completing overbearing...er, lovely works of literature:

In Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" I couldn't get past "Smiling ball of meat". (Find that quote?) I started composing songs right there about that rotund fellow. Actually, the book was just dragging on and on (we all ramble) and I was wondering "When does he blow up the building? We need a big explosion here", evidencing my Hollywood training. It's already the mid point. Where's the blowup? Sadly, according to a friend who read the book, Mr. Meatball didn't turn out to be very important for the story but we can take creative license. If anyone wants to develop a musical version of "The Fountainhead" with me, please email me (Join my Quest). I probably need permission from the estate. If we don't get it, let's just get together and spend a week in Tahiti doing it on our own for fun. We'll sing Ayn's words in operatic harmonious ways. Another useful song for the venture is "Something's gotta give" as in "when an irresistible force meets an immovable object, something's gotta give, something's gotta give, something's gotta give." That will be the Prosecutions big number. Don't know who to get permission from for that.