Ray Currier - why ray's octopus

I have an affinity for octopuses. They are highly intelligent, exhibit both short- and long-term memory, and some observers have witnessed what appears to be “play” behavior. Because of this intelligence, some countries have granted them “honorary vertebrate” status to afford certain protections (like anesthesia) to them when they are subjects of research. They're also just really cool looking, with all those legs and suckers and different colors.

Similar to the numerous legs of an octopus, I have numerous interests: music, photography, hiking, spiritual development, etc.

Octopuses can change color to communicate or escape danger. I've often felt that the moods embodied in my work closely resemble what octopuses achieve via changing color.

Many species of octopus can also change their musculature to manipulate their visual texture, enabling them to blend in more closely with their surroundings and making them less easily spotted by predators. Music and photography are all about texture and textural contrasts: light vs. dark, major vs. minor, dense vs. sparse, fast vs. slow – you get the picture.

For a discussion of why i'm using “octopuses” versus “octopi,” which is what I learned was the correct plural as a youth, see the discussion in the “Etymology and pluralisation” section of the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus.

© 2023 R. Currier III