Daily Archives: May 4, 2014

9% done with A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Like now, when we look at powerful institutions (government, church) we remember and focus on the scandals yet never mind at all the majority of boring people who are trying to do their best. We think of the medieval church as a gang on lecherous thugs squeezing money from filthy dirt farmers, yet the truth is far more complicated.

I like how their was a code of dress for fine clothing; a rich person’s uniform.

page 478 of 615 of Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

This book wouldn’t work at all if it wasn’t for how beautifully written it is because he teases out the white whale for so long that you feel just as insane to get to him as Ahab does.

And that’s the art here. While we SHOULD be reveling in the beautiful sea, the glory of the biology of the whale, the wonder of sailing, all we can think about is “get on with it, man! To the white whale and slay him already!”