A few years ago, I read an article about this place in Florida called Weeki Wachee Springs State Park (it's on the Gulf Coast side, not too far north of Tampa) which has a mermaid water park. (Here's the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/fashion/06mermaids.html) I thought it sounded really cool. (The pictures above are of Weeki Wachee mermaids.) The sweetest part of the article for me was that kids who come to the Mermaid park really believe that the mermaids who work there are real. One mermaid said kids often ask her what she eats for lunch and sometimes she answers "seaweed sandwiches." Then just a few weeks ago, I came across a post of a woman who attended mermaid camp for adults at Weeki Wachee: http://thehairpin.com/2011/06/last-weekend-i-went-to-mermaid-camp#more (If interested, you should also check out the same woman's post on five ways to become a mermaid: http://thehairpin.com/2011/03/five-ways-to-become-a-mermaid) The camp sounded like a lot of fun! I doubt I would ever attend it, but I suppose if the opportunity ever presented itself (which is unlikely, but you never know...) I would take it. The fact that both the mermaid theme park and the mermaid camp exist is what makes me happy. If I'm ever in Tampa, or the Gulf coast of Florida (which I would like to visit one day) I will definitely go to Weeki Wachee and watch a mermaid show.
The mermaid water park's location seems perfect given that I've always associated mermaids with warm water, and the Gulf is (at least during the summer) as warm as bathwater. Maybe because all the Caribbean islands are in the Atlantic, but I associate mermaids with the Atlantic, and not the Pacific, ocean. Although I suppose the Pacific is warm in parts of Southern California, Mexico, and Hawaii. However, I still think mermaids go better with the Atlantic ocean. My warm water theory also finds opposition in the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen (see picture below), which I hope to see in person one day, because I imagine the water must be cold there. I wonder if Hans Christian Andersen was imagining a warmer sea than around Denmark when he wrote the Little Mermaid. Or maybe he thought mermaids are just fine in cooler waters too.
I remember as a kid both seeing (and really liking) Disney's The Little Mermaid, but also reading (and liking) Hans Christian Andersen's much darker story. My favourite part, which I still remembered all these years later (but googled to check I was right), is how mermaids turn into sea foam when they die. It makes sense to me because then mermaids will always be a part of the sea. I've heard of people who have had their ashes dropped into the sea after they died, and it just seems an extension of the mermaids turning into sea foam thing. I think the idea of mermaids wanting to be human - central to both the Disney and HCA versions - is just an example of the grass is always greener. Or simply makes for a good story that some humans would like. (The kind of humans who think we're the best species ever and of course everyone would want to be like us if they had the chance.) My guess is that most mermaids love being mermaids and would want to remain mermaids for their entire lives. The ocean would be a lovely place to live, and swimming around all day would be fun. Plus, mermaids can come up to the surface when they want, can talk below and above the water, can be friends with fish (like Flounder!) and dolphins, and could go for trips through all the oceans of the world. I think if I were a mermaid, I'd want swim through the Panama Canal and then go explore the Pacific Ocean.
When I went to Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula in July 2004, I saw a lot of souvenirs (like matchboxes, purses, t-shirts) with Mexican loteria images. Later, back in California, I found postcards with the same images at Avant Card and bought a whole bunch of them. There are so many cool ones (like La Luna) but La Sirena (see picture below) is one of my favourites. I love her red tail, and how she's half in the ocean/half out. And, I like how she looks very different from Ariel. It'd be interesting to see representations of mermaids from all over the world as I'm sure different countries must see them differently.
Back when I was 19 and first growing my hair long, my goal was to have my hair be long enough to cover my breasts like a mermaid. I can't actually remember if it ever got that long but I do know that if I were a real mermaid I'm sure I would have just above the shoulders hair as I don't think I'd be able to deal with all the seaweed which I know would get tangled into longer hair. Plus, I also like mermaids' sea shell bikini tops, and shorter hair would let me show mine off. :)
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