Cthulu-ination

I am in the throes of an escalating octopus obsession. This is surprising, as I have given the tentacled creatures little previous thought. I cannot quite pin down the advent of my current fascination as, simultaneously, a multi-fronted assault on my senses began. In December, I read, for the first time, H.P. Lovecraft's 'At the Mountains of Madness', a tale hardly designed to make one fond of the deep-sea monsters. The collection of short stories by the pioneer of weird fiction was my actual introduction to his writing. Somehow, while aware for years of his canon, I had never found time to read any of his compelling stories. My impressions of his alter-world can wait for another time; for today, it is enough to say that the strange life-course of that world has adhered somewhere in the murky depths of my creative mind, which absorbs so many magpie bits and bobs.

During that same yule-time, while shopping for loved ones, I discovered that my favourite source for artisan-crafted wares, ETSY, is replete with Steampunk goodness. Steampunk is the enchanting marriage of late-Nineteenth Century Victoriana with fantastical, science-infused fantasy. The octopus is a favourite representation of the SP sensibility, especially in the form of jewelry.Being, in my own amalgamated fashion, something of a fashionista, I love the fresh, one-of-a-kind feel that Etsy artists put into their artwares. Regardless of what the lady magazines, stylists and trend-forecasters are trying to push as the next next-big-thing, my accessories of choice for the upcoming warm weather months will be adorned with tentacles and suctions. A bit unexpected, yes, yet undeniably ideal for the skin-baring seasons.

The third front of the ambush came while Stumbling. I came across the engrossing, delicately horrific and technically precise art of Englishman Dan Hillier. Lovers and individuals leap from the page, their proper, understated Victorian garb giving way to a startling anatomy of human limb and octopus tentacle. He personally sells his own art out of a stall at a London market on weekends.His work is also available through his web-site.

Perhaps the most surprising angle to my Cthulu-ination is the discovery that I enjoy eating the graceful beast. I avoided octopus as calamari for more than 3 decades. When a young girl, my mom would regale me with stories of her travels in France, pre-me. Being unsure of much of the cuisine, at times she subsisted on bars of chocolate and Camembert cheese, a breakfast treat she allowed me to indulge in on the rare occasion. In her tales, the food that she recalled with the most horror was, of course, calamari. After coming tongue to tentacle with my first ring, I was in love with the dish, and have remained so. Coming deliciously full-circle, it was I, a few weeks later, who convinced my mother to, at last, give it a whirl.