I will have no man in my boat,” said Starbuck, “who is not afraid of a whale.” By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.
Chapter 26, Knights and Squires – Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Category Archives: Oceanic
19-Rush
Drainage
Perception of time will eventually condense into an infinite now. Until then, observe the rush of random thoughts as they travel downstream.
19-Isle
Radiance
High above the flying scud and dark-rolling clouds, there floated a little isle of sunlight, from which beamed forth an angel’s face; and this bright face shed a distinct spot of radiance upon the ship’s tossed deck.
“Ah, noble ship,” the angel seemed to say, “beat on, beat on, thou noble ship, and bear a hardy helm; for lo! the sun is breaking through; the clouds are rolling off – serenest azure is at hand.”
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
20-Glue
Swimming
Smile!
It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem.
For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much – the wheel, New York, wars, and so on – whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.
But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man – for precisely the same reasons.
So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish by Douglas Adams (1999)
27-Trip
Dihydrogen Oxide
The triple point of pure water is at the temperature just above freezing (0.01° C) and at the pressure (0.006 atm) at which it can exist in equilibrium in all three states: liquid, solid, and gaseous.
Yes, water can freeze & boil at the same time!
The triple point is used to calibrate thermometers.
26-Maia
Using the language of topology to describe complex systems, leads to new insights about waves and weather patterns on earth. Some features of fluid flow on Earth can be explained by principles that traditionally apply to quantum systems.
Earth’s Oscillating Weather – Quanta Magazine
12-Murk
It needs scarcely to be told, with what feelings, on the eve of a Nantucket voyage, I regarded those marble tablets, and by the murky light of that darkened, doleful day read the fate of the whalemen who had gone before me.
Yes, Ishmael, the same fate may be thine. But somehow I grew merry again. Delightful inducements to embark, fine chance for promotion, it seems–aye, a stove boat will make me an immortal by brevet.
Yes, there is death in this business of whaling–a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what then?
And therefore three cheers for Nantucket; and come a stove boat and stove body when they will, for stave my soul, Jove himself cannot.
Chapter 3 – The Chapel, Moby Dick by Herman Melville
04-Serv
Wanted to avoid clambering up and down muddy hillsides, so this trail was ideal: completely paved path along the level shoreline. We doubled back at the 2-mile mark to get just enough exercise.