Jedi Moby-Dick
banner
jedibyknight.com
Jedi Moby-Dick
@jedibyknight.com
Biologist. Mom. Nerdy redhead from Ohio. Blog: jedibyknight.com
Am I correct that Ish goes on for like 3 chapters about how great the carpenter is (even though he's never mentioned him before) and yet... he doesn't even get a name?? 🐋

Bulkington gets a name! The blacksmith gets a name!
January 27, 2026 at 5:01 AM
Before Japan, the Galápagos Islands were the major whaling base in the Pacific. When I visited in 2007, I saw what I assume is a whale skeleton on the island of Fenandina. 🐋

I'm sure Ish could tell me exactly what it is (there are like 20 species in the Galápagos, including sperm whales)
January 26, 2026 at 7:48 PM
Ishmael: Gosh, that Ahab is just so monomaniacal!

Also Ishmael: Let me tell you about whale species, and whale phrenology, and whale law, and... 🐋
January 25, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Ch 98: 🐋 Ish's cyclical depiction of time and events is giving me flashbacks to last January with One Hundred Years of Solitude 💯
January 25, 2026 at 9:15 PM
My husband: complains about dry skin in cold weather

Me: 🤓 you know what is great for soft hands?? 🐋🐋

(I already read him the ridiculous parts so he knew what I was referencing. Poor guy.)
YESSSSSS THE SPERM BATH IS HEEEEERE🐋
Hey there. It's okay, don't be afraid. Come closer. Closer. Here, take my hand. Let's gaze into each other's eyes and feel our souls merge. It's time to squeeze the sperm. 🐋

Even if you're behind, consider reading Chapter 94 today

Today: 94-99 (long!)
1/24: 100-105 (long!!)
1/15: 106-111 (long)
January 25, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Jedi Moby-Dick
in light of today's events, i want to share a story i was told during a study abroad summer in italy, where i took a class on the rise of fascism.

the picture below is the site of a mass grave. captive partisans were brought here by nazis, forced to dig, and then executed on the spot.
January 24, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Jedi Moby-Dick
NEW: A federal court ruling in Minnesota, which notes ICE agents broke the Fourth Amendment by entering a family's home sans warrant, lands as ICE faces scrutiny over a secret memo claiming their agents can enter homes w/ administrative paperwork alone.
US Judge Rules ICE Raids Require Judicial Warrants, Contradicting Secret ICE Memo
The ruling in federal court in Minnesota lands as Immigration and Customs Enforcement faces scrutiny over an internal memo claiming judge-signed warrants aren’t needed to enter homes without consent.
www.wired.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:28 PM
Reposted by Jedi Moby-Dick
"Oh my gosh, it was so nice to see you! Have a lovely day, fuck ICE!"
"Oh you too hon! Stay safe in that traffic, fuck ICE!'

- two older Minnesota ladies, bidding farewell after the protest
January 23, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Jedi Moby-Dick
ICE is sending these kids to the concentration camp in Dilley, Texas, where they're preparing to have so many children that they're opening a new school there. They're actively hiring teachers now. I reported on it last month. We have to get people out of there.
January 23, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Jedi Moby-Dick
Happy #RCVDay!

We're working to make elections work for the people in Ohio. Check out our RCV Day events and celebrate with us!

https://www.rankthevoteohio.org/calendar
January 23, 2026 at 2:40 PM
My Kindle percentage read stat has ticked past the 50% mark on Moby-Dick 🐋
a man with glasses and a mustache is wearing a white polo shirt and a white shirt .
Alt: a man with glasses and a mustache is wearing a white polo shirt pumping his arm yesssss
media.tenor.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Ch 74/5-It is hilarious to me that Ish keeps going on about how whales are so cool when he doesn't even know the coolest thing: their sonar. 🐋

Like, their eyes and ears are so tiny! And they have so much spermaceti in their heads! Oh well, those are completely unrelated and unknowable mysteries.
January 21, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Ch 68. Ish is once again bizarrely kind of right about whale blubber = skin 🐋

The blubber is the "hypodermis" layer below the epidermis, "dermis" being the Latin for the Greek "derma" or skin.

(People have these skin layers also, just adapted differently)
January 21, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Jedi Moby-Dick
today's bit of joy- one of my genetics students included a picture of their cat on their Welcome to Class assignment, and i am DELIGHTED to share that it is a three-legged cat named Tres Leches. perfect name, no notes.
January 20, 2026 at 6:16 PM
I love this one! Man, 11 years.
"The moon is such a planet" 😂😂
Happy 11th anniversary of me losing my fucking mind over this QVC clip
January 19, 2026 at 1:45 AM
I am a bit behind on Moby-Dick 🐋 and not catching up quickly because my 5 yr old is helping me by highlighting all the words he can read. So helpful. 😂🥰
January 18, 2026 at 1:37 AM
Reposted by Jedi Moby-Dick
The total NSF budget was 9 billion. I doubt they spend 89% of it on quail.
January 15, 2026 at 9:21 PM
The Cuyahoga!

(Yes, the one that caught fire. But that was before my time, it's really nice now)
My favorite Twitter prompt was "RT this with your home river," so reskeet this with your home river.

Mine is the Patuxent.
January 13, 2026 at 3:11 AM
Melville: Having given you an extensive list of whales, I will now give you an exhaustive list of Things That Are White.

Melville: Also, I saw a bird once (shoutout to Coleridge)🐋
January 13, 2026 at 2:39 AM
"It's never too late to shine like you were born to be" ❤️
“I’m grateful to be part of a song that is helping girls, boys, and everyone of all ages get through hardship and accept themselves.” 😭
January 12, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Not sperm whales, but still an interesting Whale Fact 🐋
Despite having parts of their ranges overlap in the tropics, southern right whales and northern right whales never meet because their migration patterns of when they spend time in the tropics are opposite (their hemisphere's respective winter). #AnimalFacts
January 12, 2026 at 3:29 AM
🐋
January 11, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Thanks to the Moby-Dick 🐋 audiobook, I just learned another word I've been mispronouncing due to only encountering it in books.

The word is hartshorn. Guess how I was saying it in my head? 😆 #readerproblems
January 10, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Ok, Melville was correct about "sperm oil" and "whale oil" being distinct! 🐋

Right whale (baleen) = triglycerides
Sperm whale = wax esters

doi.org/10.1016/B978...
Redirecting
doi.org
January 10, 2026 at 6:38 PM