|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 116--10/12/96 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 9  ||  -------> (Cup OWis116, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [[BEGIN116OW]] [[01161CV]] * * * O S O A W E E K 1 1 6 * * * October 12, 1996 "The weekly ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement!" by Frank Edward Nora CONTENTS 01 116 CV--Cover 02 116 LA--Lord of Obliviana 03 116 LM--Life Mysteries 04 116 ZP--Zope 05 116 SU--Superior 06 116 SR--Severe Repair OsoaWeek116, October 12, 1996 Twelfth issue of OsoaWeek Book Nine Written by Frank Edward Nora Published weekly by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement obliviana@aol.com http://www.obliviana.com/~osoa 1-800-OBLIVIANA All contents copyright 1996 Frank Edward Nora Regarding this file, you are free to make digital copies, so long as they're not altered or sold. All other forms of reproduction require permission from Frank Edward Nora. *OW* [[02116LA]] Lord of Obliviana Sunday 6/13/97 * 6:10 PM Obliviana. Where is it at? I'm here. Obliviana is here. The question "What is Obliviana?" has been answered. Now I'm into the specifics. Another issue is the idea of how I spend my time creatively. That is, what will I be working on an focusing on? Severe Repair is big. I've been delving into it recently, and I have a massive amount of stuff to work on in it. It is indeed my primary work. But I have been neglecting Zope. Part of this neglect stems from writing Zope in text format. The future of Zope is in Yargo format. I have to convert ALL Zope material into Yargo. So this means that all Zope comics that are drawn now must be scanned and formatted in Yargo. And all text-only Zope features I must draw and put into Yargo, and all NEW Zope must be drawn and made Yargo. So Zope will thrive with Yargo, whereas Zope faltered when in text-only form. Superior is another major thing, but I am considering it part of Severe Repair for now. There are a lot more things I have to focus on as well. Obliviana Radio is one of them. Programming the Primitive Interface is another. And Obliviana in general, and Little World of Racetracks, and 209 and... You can see I have a lot to do. It has always been this way. My list: Fonosta 209 Primitive Little World of Racetracks Severe Repair Zope Obliviana Radio OsoaWeek This list outlines the areas of Obliviana. There is still a lot about this list that is vague, but in general, this list defines what Obliviana is. I need to move from a state of answering the question "What is Obliviana?" to a state of building Obliviana. The list of eight is broken up into four sections. Each of these sections is a distinct thing. I: SR/209: Ancient ideas, long forgotten, now coming back. II: Primitive/LWOR: Rethinking computer interfaces and interaction on computers. III: SR/Zope: My own creative works. IV: Radio/OW: Rethinking traditional entertainment, an easily drunk "front end" for Obliviana... One key idea here is that Obliviana will mean different things to different people. The largest number of people will just be entertained by Aspect IV. This is the "outside" of Obliviana. IV will not have the media restrictions of II, as it will be meant to appeal to a wide audience. The "inside" of Obliviana, I, II, and III, is a place that will be experience though the Primitive Interface. Less people will be into the "inside", but it will still be a considerable number. Each "insider" will be into Obliviana to a certain extent, and this extent will be quantified. Most "insiders" will be into Obliviana casually. They will come to Obliviana over the Internet and drink the infostimulation there, but they will not have a Fonosta. Then there is the group of Insiders who do have Fonostas. Anyone who wants a Fonosta can have one, for a fee. Out of this set of people, a small number will be "accepted" into Obliviana, four times a year. Being in Obliviana will mean that you are part of what the "outsiders" are seeing. Okay. Let me step back here. What I am describing is a very ambitious entertainment production endeavor. This vision is specifically the way I see Obliviana once it is fully implemented. I have to plan Obliviana this way. Now I look at the present. Me sitting here in my messy apartment, smoking a cigar, listening to Bach, waiting for my fiance to call me, feeling tense and tired, having tomorrow off but then having to go back to work Tuesday, having just had my engagement party yesterday. I am here, and Obliviana in full bloom is in the future. In order for it to exist there, I have to build it. And that is my challenge now. 6:59 PM The main challenge for me is to define Aspects I and II. Fonosta, 209, Primitive, and Little World of Racetracks. Fonosta is the central idea here. Entering things you do on 11x19 grids, as represented in Primitive, as organized in LWOR, for the purpose of exploring 209. 7:37 PM That last paragraph is quite awesome. It describes what Obliviana is all about. The whole thing is centered around people doing things. With 209, the idea is to do new sorts of things. If people were just doing totally mundane things in a mundane way, the whole thing would be kind of pointless. But with Fonosta, no matter what you do, you do view it in a new way. Obliviana is all about exploring all the wonderful things people could be doing if they could only think of doing them. Wow. There's another awesome paragraph. 2/17/97 * 6:19 AM Watched many hours of Twin Peaks with Denice and Carrie earlier. Gotta go to bed soon. Dawning outside. There is a contradiction in my work, and that is that I myself am not living an Obliviana lifestyle. But of course, this makes sense, as I am just now developing real tools to enable people to live an Obliviana life. So it's no wonder I haven't been living Oblivianally--no one has. But once I create the necessary tools, I think a lot of people will be getting into Obliviana. So this is a benchmark. Once *I* am able to live Oblivianally, the same tools will be applicable to others. Ah, getting closer all the time... Get all Obliviana. *OW* [[03116LM]] Life Mysteries LIFE MYSTERY 25 "The Magic of Contraception" by John Nora It was carried in a small yellow plastic bag. I left it on the seat of my truck, as if it were an indian medicine pouch, and went on my date. Similarly, I always carry a small rubberbanded notebook, mostly just to keep my writerliness alive and aware, like a continual dawn. Before I left this evening, in the shower I had a strong, unadmonished hope of having sex with this girl who knew me and liked me so well. (It was a contraception assortment that had been used once, that I would carry.) It was a simple feeling, unhurried, unharried, unscarred by reality. I felt like it was not a certainty. It was warm wishful gold. And it stayed that way, as I carried through with the pleasantries, hoping, but not minding either way, like a breakthrough into adulthood, a delightful ulcer. She looked british in blue buttoned up to the throat and cool yellow-tint glasses that were new and a short cut head that gripped her scalp tightly at the hem of an urbane homeliness that was a beauty. It was a platonic-type date, but definitely of seeing each other, like seeing beautiful things together. I was at ease and said a number of funny things to her that brightened her being, as her lenses brightened yellow the world around her. What else is there to do? The most of what I wanted was to see her! I had thought of making it a full Romantic Sex Kit, in a shoe-box; the contraceptives, K-Y, pack of cigarettes (and matches), and tissue-wrapped wine glasses and a small bottle of fine, dry red wine. But all the spirit I needed was fit inside the small yellow plastic bag. *OW* [[04116ZP]] Zope ZOPE 043: "Zopelike" ZOPE We're going home. LINDEN Pardon me for asking, Zope, but what will become of me? ZOPE I don't know. I was thinking of crashing you and making you into a video arcade slash restaurant slash community center slash hangout for the local bad kids. LINDEN Um... and I could perhaps be in charge, run the place? ZOPE Of course! LINDEN And the crash... ZOPE It'll look good but you won't be disabled. LINDEN I see. And how do you propose to accomplish this precise crash? ZOPE A wish, of course. LINDEN You would really waste a wish on me. ZOPE This guy Frank who took over your mind and claims to be my creator said that there is no limit to my wishes. I'll go ahead and accept that as true, since it's what I want to be true. LINDEN Pardon me, but won't this revelation cause you to start wishing more, and the theory of absolute power corrupting absolutely... ZOPE Don't worry about it. I know what you're saying, but I've grown as a character. I think I can handle the power without abusing it. LINDEN You aren't sounding very Zopelike. ZOPE No, I think I am just BEGINNING to sound Zopelike. LINDEN Huh. *OW* [[05116SU]] Superior SUPERIOR 617 * 10/27/96 The joy of seeing a jet take off is that the jet is alone and not connected to anything and is getting away. SUPERIOR 618 * 10/27/96 People are stupid. How much of our lives is occupied by parking? People are cool. SUPERIOR 619 * 10/27/96 I have as art a question about meaning. I hear crickets at night but I've never run across one during the day, where are they? There is the human mystery, it's the best story. SUPERIOR 620 * 11/7/96 The way got blank and got WHAM. Solidify combine group fortify regroup concatenate resolve resolve 31active mind. Consolidate. *OW* [[06116SR]] Severe Repair $~GRD008 "Big Bed" ~~SEVERE REPAIR: A Hypertext Novel by Frank Edward Nora Storyline "Get Real Daptin" Packet 008 00018 * 3.216K * New '96 * OW116 Copyright 1996 * All Rights Reserved~~ So I met Bonnie in Jersey City and we drove up to Delhi in her brand new black Toyota RAV4. Nice vehicle. It took us like three hours to get there. Bonnie was driving fast, but we stopped a couple of times. Bonnie Pollard was already my girlfriend at the time of my entry into this world. As the fake memories go, I met her in a New Jersey chat room on America Online, and we met and really hit it off. She has long black hair and glasses, wears dresses and has a nice shape. She looks like a teacher or something. She does some cool stuff in bed. So, the roads leading up to this farm are pitch black and we have no idea where we're going and we realize that if we don't get to this fucking farm we're gonna be totally lost and screwed. But we found it eventually, down a hill from the road. There was a light on in the house and we knocked and after a minute or two, which seemed like a really long time, Abigail answered the door, motioning us inside while talking on a cordless phone. We walked in, and it was a nice place. Real rustic. She showed us to a couch and we put our bags on the floor and sat and waited for her to get off the phone, which she finally did a few minutes later. "Sorry about that. It was my sister. Anyway, I have some bad news--my boyfriend couldn't make it. One of his friends got into a fight and almost got killed. Yeah, he's in critical in the hospital, and he was like involved in it and the police and everything so..." she nodded with an apologetic smile, "it's just us." She showed us to our room (her parents') and soon we were drinking wine and eating microwave nachos and watching a video of her performance in a local avant garde play. Then she told us she wanted to show us something outside, and we followed her under the moonlight across this field, and a car went by on the road up the hill and it was the only sound, and finally we got to this big bed at the edge of the field! It was one of those deals with the posts and the drape thing on the top and everything. It was real nice out, but a little chilly. "I used to love sleeping out here when I was a kid." she said sitting on the bed. Me and Bonnie nodded, somewhat confused. "Ooh, it's chilly!" Abigail said. "Let's all get under the covers!" She giggled and dove under the covers of the neatly made bed with a really comfy looking quilt on it, and somehow I managed to get in the middle between Abigail and Bonnie, after we took our shoes off, and it was REALLY comfortable, and I felt like taking my jeans off, cuz that would make it even more comfortable. Bonnie was real quiet. I couldn't tell how she was reacting to this. I mean, I know what she was thinking cuz I was thinking the same thing, I think, that this boyfriend story was made up and this Abigail was some wild swinger who had gotten us in this bed with her and stuff, only Bonnie might have thought I knew about the plot all along. But it could also have been totally innocent. Abigail was telling us about her childhood and Bonnie was cuddling with me pretty aggressively. Insecurity I guess. Then Abigail said it. "Hey, why don't we all get naked? It would be so warm and comfy in here like that!" My dick was hard as iron. ~$GRD008 *OW* [[END116OW]] -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----