MOBY-DICK 2: THE CARPET-BAG

"With halting steps I paced the streets, and passed the sign of the "The Crossed Harpoons"—but it looked too expensive and jolly there."
—from chapter 2 of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, "The Carpet-Bag"

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Then Ishmael passes on another inn, the "Sword-Fish Inn," for the same reason: "too expensive and jolly again. So he eventually settles upon The Spouter Inn, which he come across upon "such dreary streets! blocks of blackness" as he heads for the waterfront and the cheapest places to stay for the night. But these streets appear to be much more in keeping with his depressive state. The exterior landscape reflects his interior landscape. (Or vice versa.)

MOBY-DICK 1: LOOMINGS

"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world."
—from chapter 1 of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, "Loomings"

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I myself have set sail in my favorite novel once again. This time I head out with fellow readers, participants in the adult summer reading program of the Puyallup Public Library. While out on the waters of Melville's novel, I am selecting at least one quote from each chapter that speaks to me for one reason or another. I am also jotting down a few notes for each chapter as a way to remember what I see this time, on this particular journey.

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Hopefully, I survive this sailing unscathed!

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I find it interesting that the novel's narrator doesn't give us his name and won't give us a specific time for his tale, but his descriptions of the place he starts from (and the other places he encounters) are described in such detail. If I knew his New York City, I believe I could find my way around it from his love for it.

DEEP DREAMS in the DEEP DREAM

I had an artificial intelligence deep dream my chalked deep dream of an artificial deep dream of an image offered by a human.

Does it appear more human than my chalked original?

(I see more realistic eyes, an added right ear, a shadow person.)

View the two images side by side.

FROST PARK: DEEP DREAM

"Deep Dream" by Troy's Work Table. Chalk art for Friday 10 July 2015 at Frost Park.

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Google artificial intelligence is "deep dreaming" our images in its neural network, producing new from the old.

I did the same, by "deep dreaming" one of the Google AI's images and likewise made it my own.

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And then the chalk happened.

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It appears the Mother Octopus must still be bouncing around inside me somewhere, especially since the Google AI seems to favor the canine in its "dreams" while I seem to favor the cephalopodic.

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I describe the particular Google "deep dream" I used for my dream-source as Edvard Munch meets H. P. Lovecraft on the dance floor.

Mine, for me, feels like Queequeg meets Mother Octopus in the cosmic bath.

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View more pictures of "Deep Dream" HERE.

FROST PARK: STARS AND STRIPES

"Stars and Stripes" by Troy's Work Table. Chalk art for Friday 03 July 2015 at Frost Park. A rare wall chalking.

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Sperm whale meets star-spangled banner.

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The Starchild.

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Seven stars of Revolution or seven stars of Revelation?

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View more pictures of "Stars and Stripes" HERE.

MOBY-DICK: "READ A CLASSIC" BOOK CLUB

“Green Melville” by Troy Kehm-Goins. Sidewalk chalk, charcoal, and chalk pastels on concrete.

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Join Puyallup poet Troy Kehm-Goins and others as we head off in search of the ever-elusive White Whale as part of Puyallup Public Library’s adult summer reading program. We will meet for two evenings, one in July and one in August, to explore Herman Melville’s classic American novel, MOBY-DICK.

On Wednesday, July 8, 2015, we will look at a brief history of how MOBY-DICK came to be written, its poor reception when first published, and its “rediscovery” in the 1920s. Then, Troy will share some of his favorite passages and chapters, and will provide some different ways to read the novel, whether one is new to the story or has made several sailings with it.

On Wednesday, August 05, 2015, we will reconvene to share our impressions of the book, discuss our new-found joys discovered in its pages, and talk about some of the challenges we encountered.
Copies of MOBY-DICK will be available at the library, but you are encouraged to bring your own well-worn and weathered copy, if you have one. A list of related books, movies, and music will be available both evenings.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/480371352118277/ to join the 7/8 event!

FREEDOM

Seven sunflower stalks / each with its own strangling vine // deft hands and sharp knife / leave them stretching toward sky / unbound once more.

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Or:

Seven sunflower stalks
each with its own strangling vine

deft hands and sharp knife
leave them stretching toward sky
unbound once more.

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My hands were digging in the rich volcanic soil of the Puyallup River Valley—pulling weeds, removing roots, sifting out rocks. Oh the joy of the garden.

FROST PARK: YMIR

"Ymir" by Troy's Work Table. Carport chalking for Friday 26 June 2015.

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The Norse creation myths have the world of humans (Midgard) being formed out of the body of Ymir, a giant born of the primordial ice of Ginnungagap and later slain by Odin and his two brothers. These three then fashioned Ymir's body into the various elements of the world.

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I've taken some liberties with how Ymir's body was repurposed, partly aligning it with a medieval cosmological model I recently encountered. Therefore, I've made a band of ocean/sky out of the bone of Ymir's skull and flames out of his hair to represent the "northern" Niflheim and the "southern" Muspelheim.

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Plus I've added some tree for stubble on his upper lip.

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But otherwise, I tried to stay mostly faithful to the intent of the story.

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This is a fairly large piece, with Ymir's head being about five feet in both width and height.

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You can view more pictures of Ymir HERE.

NOUNS

Screenshot of the website of Meghan McClure. 

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Meghan McClure is poet, essayist, and editor.

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She also curates one of the most consistently interesting digests/reviews of literature and art.

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She titles each "exhibit" Nouns, although they could easily be titled Dreams. But these aren't your grandmother's dreams, nor are they always comforting. They are, however, always filled with challenge and wonder—a way of instruction in seeing the world; a reminder to keep one's eyes, ears, and heart open to that which one may easily encounter but often overlooks or misses.

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The images she selects and the text captions/summaries that serve as "points of departure" are beautiful in their own right. Stanzas of an elaborate poem.

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These are items you perhaps wouldn't have discovered otherwise, so each is a prized gem. This is the New City adorned in jewels and riches. Enter, read, and reflect.

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View her most recent "exhibit," Nouns XXII HERE.

GHOSTS of GAUGUIN

"Ghosts of Gauguin" by Troy's Work Table. Carport chalking for Friday 05 June 2015.

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If you put the words "Tahiti" and "Gauguin" into a search engine, the resulting collection of images looks something like THIS.

It's a collage of Fauvist dream imagery.

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The yellows and greens of the land and flora. The yellow-browns of Tahitian bodies. The oranges of homes. The reds and browns of soil, rock, mountain. The brilliant blue of the sky and the pure white of clouds that inhabit it.

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The white, yellow, and red flowers adorning the heads of women—solitary blossoms, duos, halos.

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Fruit, palms, animals.

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The beauty of the land, the people, and the interplay.

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My chalk can merely capture the ghosts of all in pale imitation. I try for homage, but fail.

(I actually turned to one of Gauguin's wood sculptures for primary inspiration, with the paintings as secondary flavoring.)

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View more pictures of "Ghosts of Gauguin" HERE.