I tried MD many years ago. I got about 100pgs deep, but couldn't get over how offputing Ishmael was at the time. I just couldn't get past him being such an inept goofball in my high seas adventure story. Maybe I did it wrong?

You've inspired me to finally order a copy of Melville's complete short works.

I love this film unironically. Saw it first on late night TV ~8-9yrs old. Somehow they managed to cut or blur all the nudity. I'm sure it still made perfect sense.

Thanks for attending my "How To Integrate a Feint Into Your Story" TED talk.

Anyway, that was years ago, right before COVID. Things are so different now, I don't even feel like the same person. Like at some point I jumped into a different continuity or something. I have the grail on a shelf, and you can hardly notice my scars.

And just to be clear, I didn't want to cry because of the divorce. It was because of the *stress* of the divorce. The divorce was a gift that you had to crawl through glass to receive. It was like a holy grail, almost in reach.

One visit, this young doc berated me so throughly that I snapped and said, "I'm going through a divorce and I can't sleep. I'm just surviving." I forced myself not to cry. He looked surprised and said, "I'm sorry. Want to talk about it?" I didn't; what did he know? He was barely in his 30s.