||
-------- -- -----  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 152--6/21/97
<-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 12  ||  ------->
(Cup OWis152, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

OsoaWeek Book Twelve 9 "OsoaWeek152"
by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana, Tarb 6361 (6/21/97), copyright 1997



OBLIVIANA REGISTRY

NEW REVOLVERS
None

NEW CUPLINES
None

NEW CUPS
SEVERE REPAIR
Cups 11-20 of Goodbye Popcorn. Cups 5-10, which should have been added last week, were added also.

*OW*



LORD OF OBLIVIANA

Mon 6/16/97 * 11:29 PM

Spend an amount of time playing an Amusement. X amount of time. Record what you are doing, and various aspects of it.

You spend time and effort anyway. You engage in Amusement anyway. Formalizing the process has enormous benefits.

In Obliviana I have the seeds of a subculture. Childlike Wonder. Earnestness. Straightforwardness. Innocence.

The act of doing an Amusement, the ritual of starting and finishing and recording.

And the system that makes sense of all the recording. And playing in this system is also a kind of amusement.

Tue 6/17/97 * 10:58 PM

Limitation. Limitation is the key to honing Obliviana.

By this, I mean that the range of activites in Obliviana will be focused, and not general. This goes beyond the idea of "not being all things to all people, but a Wonderfulthing to a great many people". Whaat I am referring to is a specificity, wherein, for example, in the Little World of Racetracks, racing is THE activity.

Another idea I had on the bus was that it is indeed good to encourage social interaction via the lure of gaining Octagons. This takes away all pretense and creates and environment like "okay, you're here, and I'm here, and we both know we gotta talk for an amount of time to work toward that new Octagon we've been eyeing, so we may as well make the best of it". All pressure is taken off the structure of the thing.

An idea that comes to mind here is that interacting with as many fellow Oblivianers (note: first use of term "Oblivianer") as possible, with the minimum standard of interaction being "talking or chatting online for at least ten minutes".

So the process of coming up with categories becomes a lot more focused now. Obliviana is NOT going to be a medium into which a vast amount of content and activities will be placed. It will be a system which COULD support a wild array of content system, but it will contain only the Obliviana content system.

Here is the final list of Friction Enhancers from last issue:

[1] Fun With Reality Through Mixing
[2] Cool New Games and Activities
[3] Drinking Entertainment
[4] Creating Entertainment.
[5] Racing in the Little World of Racetracks
[6] Octagon/Fonosta Work
[7] Interact with Other Players
[8] Everything Else

This list need a great deal of honing, as it contains A LOT of generality.

The main problem area that I see is 3 and 4, drinking and creating (pouring?) entertainment.

I just spared the lives of two worthless bug that were crawling on my wall. I was a little rough with one of them, getting it into the styrofoam cup, and I did toss them into the grass, but considering their tiny weight, they have not the inertia needed to cause damage upon falling. It was a pain to get them away without killing them. Maybe I'll just smash the next bug that comes along.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand.

I developed a system of content formats a few months back, and I think this will come into play now. Specifically, the idea of the "Obliviana Primal" interface, with very specific limitations on content. (Ah! Limitations!)

Wed 6/18/97 * 8:52 PM

You do stuff and what you did is posted on the Obliviana website for all to see.

9:22 PM

As a general rule, limitation and specifity are called for in Obliviana.

Also, I can see Obliviana as really MINE, and therefore I'm not going to focus on publishing the works of other people. Or rather, works that I am not involved in, since I certainly want to work with some other people. But Obliviana does not have to have a huge array of stuff. So I should stick to stuff that I do and am involved in.

Thu 6/9/97 * 12:19 AM

I am honing my vision of Obliviana. I now see Obliviana as being a lot more limited.

What this means is that Severe Repair and Zope and Superior will be the main entertainment content. I used to have a problem with presenting my work in such a fashion, but I realize that with the system I have, the VALUE of the content is somewhat de-emphasized. That is, being that the content is part of a larger system, it need not depend solely on its entertainment value.

But I am not saying that my work lacks value! I'm just saying that I could put my work "on a pedestal" even if it didn't totally kick ass. So lucky for me that my work is so awesome, eh.

This all comes down to defined activities. And these should be "located" in LWOR. That is, each FE/Amusement/activity should be an object in LWOR. Since I need to organize the set of Amusements, I may as well do it in my Little World of Racetracks.

In fact, I am thinking that LWOR will be the focus of Obliviana. Note the word "Little". Little, limited, not big, not all things to all people.

Now, if I do focus on LWOR, then your Fonosta becomes YOU in LWOR.

So in terms of limitation, Obliviana is essentially a Little World where you have this little character called a Fonosta. And you want to become the greatest Fonosta. And the real you actually playing Obliviana Amusements translates into more power for your Fonosta via Octagons.

Now, with limitation in mind, I think I will go back to the model of LWOR existing on ONE FOW. That is, all the Racetracks will coexist in the 209 squares of one FOW board.

New Racetracks will be possible, but will be few and far between, and the subject of much fanfare when they open.

So what I'm talking about is a Little World that will remain very consistent. It will not expand at a wild pace; it will be a very stable and reliable place.

Now, if Obliviana get HUGE, with millions of players, then I could see adding another FOW of Racetracks, but I'm not gonna fret over that right now.

So now, everything that I have been developing will be germane to the design and construction of the Little World of Racetracks.

Thu 6/19/97 * 10:29 PM

So, regarding Little World of Racetracks, there will be theming, but it willl involve NEW themes.

Themes.

Fantasy/Medieval. Science Fiction. Wild West. Horror. Pirate.

Themes.

Rock'n'Roll. Movies. Ancient Egypt & Rome. Animals/Africa. War.

Themes.

I desire to come up with my own themes. But I do not want to sacrifice power for originality. That is, I don't want to make this an intellectual exercise; I want to come up with Wonderful, compelling themes, which are NEW.

Now, this is a place where a lot of people get. "I want to do X but in a Y way." It's very easy to state such an objective, but it's very hard to make it real. I know, cuz I've been through it myself.

So... eight Racetracks... eight Themes...

I did come up with such themes once. Let me get that info, as a launching point.

***********

Raceway America* (Liberty Square/Frontierland)
Raceway Archery* (Fantasyland) (Campus/Robin Hood/Alice in Wonderand)
Raceway Astronomy* (Tomorrowland)
Raceway Arctic*
Raceway Apparition* (Haunted Mansion)
Raceway Aftermath* (Rotten Apple (nuked NYC), faroutback)
Raceway Ancient* (Asian mystic theme?) (jungle temples/misty mounains)
Raceway Aqua* (Pirates of the Carribean)

*******************

Well, this set of themes is everything I DON'T want now.

[1] AMERICA--U.S. Colonial/Revolution, Patriotism, Wild West.

[2] ARCHERY--Fantasy, Robin Hood, Medieval, Forest

[3] ASTRONOMY--Science Fiction, Future, Space, Space Station

[4] ARCTIC--Snow, Ice, Cold, Desolation, Penguins, Polar Bears

[5] APPARITION--Horror, Vampire, Ghosts

[6] AFTERMATH--Post-Nuclear, Road Warrior, Cyberpunk?, Volcano, Lava

[7] ANCIENT--Asian Mystic, Jungle Temples, Mysteries

[8] AQUA--Nautical, Pirates, Tropical, Island

Yeah, that about covers all the major themes out there. A lot of video games follow a very similar set of themes. I'm tired of this set of themes. It's all over the place, I don't wanna be derivative!

Anyway, what is it that identifies a theme?

First of all, themes define worlds beyond that which we live. Or, to be more specific, a theme idealizes and distills a world, even if it is one that currently exists. A good example of this is the New York New York casino-hotel in Las Vegas. Another is the Mafia theme in the movies. And even the Generation X movies...

So, locations are a big part. So are people--the way they dress, talk, act, etc. Also colors, sounds, textures, animals, weapons, attitudes, ideals, music, etc.

I believe that I can build unique themes using these aspects. But can a theme be built from the aspects on up?

I think that a vital component here will be in being "suggestive". That is, I will not define a whole fantasy world and then make a theme out of it. Rather, I'll create a set of aspects, and then SUGGEST a world, but not define it.

Now, I have to tailor the set of aspects to the methods of presentation I am planning. Specifically, I see LWOR being presented primarily on computer. As well, I have a very limited set of formats that I will be presenting LWOR with.

This interface, Obliviana Primal (OP), is based on:

[1] YARGO. Grayscale image 278 pixels wide by 480 pixels high. Main visual content format. No restrictions on content.

[2] "3:29". This is a working name only. The idea is for an audio format that presents audio content is short segments. 3:29 is 209 seconds. I was toying with the idea of making all clips this length, but such a system is far too restrictive. I will probably go for a range of lengths, as in the next format.

[3] "TEXT CUP". This is the format I am currently using for Severe Repair. The range is from 2,000 to 5,000 bytes/characters. The idea is that you can read a Text Cup in about five minutes.

[4] PELTER. RGB image 512 by 512 pixels. Restricted to abstract content. Scales to 256, 128, 64, 32--I have to decide which of these will be "official".

[5] OPMARQUEE. RGB image, 304 by 88 pixels. Used to identify Revolvers and Cuplines.

[6] FORGE OF WANDER. 304 by 176 pixels. Used to depict the FOW board in its various forms.

One issue I want to tackle is that of weapons. I have talked before about how I want to avoid mindless violence in Obliviana. Weapons are a powerful thematic element, but I am thinking about not using them. Except, for the enormous Swords that will be "stuck" into the "ground". So maybe a lack of other weapons will give the giant swords more potency, being that they are the ONLY weapons represented.

Now, the limited formats I have to restrict the thematic aspects I can use. BUT, in the real world, folks playing Obliviana might like to adopt thematic traits from the Racetracks. This would focus on clothing, hairstyles, etc. And I don't know if I want to include such aspects.

Fri 6/20/97 * 8:51 PM

For the purpose of perhaps being able to say a big I TOLD YOU SO, I want to reiterate my theory that the scientific model of space, the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars is all wrong. Additionally, I believe that the Apollo moon landings were absolutely faked.

Y'know, in this current cultural climate, I feel like a total nut stating these views. But isn't that interesting? I come to a conclusion, and I am made to feel "crazy" for expressing that opinion. If someone wants to repress X, it's very useful to say "Aw, anyone who believes X is a wacko!"

On the subject of UFOs, it seems that a whole lot of people believe in them, but they believe that the aliens are from outer space, from a planet far, far away. I believe that these aliens are from HERE, the Earth, but from places we don't know about.

Why is everyone so hell-bent on this "space alien" theory? This idea implies that our connected human societies KNOW for a fact that no other sentient creatures live here on Earth with us. Of course we don't KNOW that! We just ASSUME that we would have come across these creatures at sometime. But apparently, we have. And we say they're from outer space.

I feel that the veil may soon be lifted, that the truth will come out about space and aliens and moon landings and all that. It's all interrelated. If one part comes out, maybe all the parts will come out.

As I have stated before, I do not think that such revelations will be very good for society. And if it were up to me, I would have to think long and hard before releasing such information. I think that other people are in a similar position--lacking total proof, but also very reluctant to burst one of the biggest bubbles out there.

Here in OsoaWeek, I'm only sharing my thoughts. I don't have incontrovertible proof. But I did observe something this evening, during sunset. First of all, the sun can get very red and very dim (in comparison to its noontime intensity) at sunset. Could it really be that the light of the sun dims THAT MUCH when passing through more of the atmosphere? And could dust in the atmophere make it THAT red?

Also, the moon and the sun are the same size in the sky. And also, these heavenly bodied DO look larger near the horizon than they do at their apex. This is difficult to observe with the sun, but I'm sure everyone has been a little stunned at the hugeness of the moon near the horizon sometimes. Is it just an optical illusion? I would think it would be fairly simple to quantitatively measure the "size" of the moon using photographic equipment. If it turns out that the moon is indeed that much bigger on the horizon, the scientific model of the moon is totally invalid, for the variations in the distance between the Earth and moon are nowhere near this level in the scientific model. That is, the moon's orbit is said by scientists to be elliptical, but nowhere near extreme enough to produce such size changes.

So I just want all you folks out there in the future, near and far, that right now, I, Frank Edward Nora, hold these beliefs.

9:23 PM

So, here is something from OsoaWeek039, 4/20/97:

***********

WASTE
Main Color: White
Secondary Colors: Brown & Gray

PATRIOTMain Color: Blue
Secondary Colors: Red & White

SPAN
Main Color: Red
Secondary Colors: Purple & Yellow

HOLIDAY
Main Color: Magenta
Secondary Colors: Cyan & Orange

VISION
Main Color: Purple
Secondary Colors: Black & Orange

BLUSTERMain Color: Gray
Secondary Colors: Yellow & Green

DELUGE
Main Color: Green
Secondary Colors: Blue & Cyan

MONICA
Main Color: Black
Secondary Colors: Magenta & Brown


*******************

I played around with those color schemes in Illustrator.

Now, since I have two different "completed" sets of Eight Roadways/Raceways/Racetracks, I think it makes sense to merge these two sets and use them as the basis for the FINAL set...


[1] AMERICA--U.S. Colonial/Revolution, Patriotism, Wild West.
PATRIOT--BLUE, Red & White

[2] ARCHERY--Fantasy, Robin Hood, Medieval, Forest
BLUSTER--GRAY, Yellow & Green

[3] ASTRONOMY--Science Fiction, Future, Space, Space Station
SPAN--RED, Purple & Yellow

[4] ARCTIC--Snow, Ice, Cold, Desolation, Penguins, Polar Bears
WASTE--WHITE, Brown & Gray

[5] APPARITION--Horror, Vampire, Ghosts
DELUGE--GREEN, Blue & Cyan

[6] AFTERMATH--Post-Nuclear, Road Warrior, Cyberpunk?, Volcano, Lava
MONICA--BLACK, Magenta & Brown

[7] ANCIENT--Asian Mystic, Jungle Temples, Mysteries
VISION--PURPLE, Black & Orange

[8] AQUA--Nautical, Pirates, Tropical, Island
HOLIDAY--MAGENTA, Cyan & Orange

Sat 6/21/97 * 11:13 AM

One element I have to discuss here is that there has to be an OVERALL Obliviana theme, which is common through the Eight themes of the Racetracks.

First day of summer today. Equinox.

11:19 AM

There was a movie on last night with Checy Chase and Sigorney Weaver and Gregory Hines about arms dealers and there was a hotel suite 1119. For those of you not in the know, 1119 can be interpreted as 11 & 19, and of course, 11*19=209.

1:22 PM

I just found some old notes which have some different assocations between the two systems. Plus, more notes. Here they are:

***********

WASTE/Arctic
Main Color: White
Secondary Colors: Brown & Gray

PATRIOT/American
Main Color: Blue
Secondary Colors: Red & White

SPAN
Main Color: Red
Secondary Colors: Purple & Yellow

HOLIDAY
Main Color: Magenta
Secondary Colors: Cyan & Orange

VISION/Ancient
Main Color: Purple
Secondary Colors: Black & Orange

BLUSTER
Main Color: Gray
Secondary Colors: Yellow & Green

DELUGE/Aftermath
Main Color: Green
Secondary Colors: Blue & Cyan

MONICA/Astronomy
Main Color: Black
Secondary Colors: Magenta & Brown

More on these in Book Four!

3/26/96

Obliviana Roadway One: OBLIVIANA PRIMAL
American--patriotic

Obliviana Roadway Two: SEVERE REPAIR
Arctic--snow

Obliviana Roadway Three: SUPERIOR
Ancient--pyramids, arenas, etc.

Obliviana Roadway Four: ZOPE
Aftermath--postnuclear

Obliviana Roadway Five: 209
Archery--forest

Obliviana Roadway Six: FORGE OF WANDER
Astronomy--space/future

Obliviana Roadway Seven: SUPER OBJECT
Ape--jungle

Obliviana Roadway Eight: WELCOME TO THE WEASEL VILLAGE MALL
Amp--rock'n'roll, decadence, college, alcohol

*******************

The second list above is different from my current working list in the order of the names, and it also has two different names. APE instead of AQUA, and AMP instead of APPARITION.

The second list links AFTERMATH with DELUGE, instead of MONICA. And it links ASTRONOMY with MONICA, instead of SPAN. But I am not going to change these in my current list, since I think my current choices are better.

Now, here's something else from the past, the list of Totems from OsoaWeek001. I want to look at this in terms of thematic attributes.

***********

83 TOTEMS
Aircraft, Arrow, Bear, Bird, Blade, Boardgame, Book, Box, Braid, Breeze, Bridge, Bug, Building, Candle, Car, Cards, Castle, Cat's Cradle, Chair, Clock, Coffee, Crescent, Crowbar, Daze, Dice, Door, Dragon, Explosion, Fairie, Fence, Fire, Fish, Flora, Ghost, Graffiti, Gun, Hallway, Hammer, Hand, Highway, Ink, Joker, Magic, Map, Math, Monkey, Motorcycle, Mountain, Music, Nuclear, Optic, Origami, Patriot, Penny, Pinball, Planetarium, Predator, Railroad, Reptile, Robot, Roller Coaster, Saw, Scarecrow, Scribble, Smoke, Sphere, Spiral, Star, Sun, Tank, Thunderstorm, Tiger, Triangle, Trophy, Tubing, UFO, Unicorn, Video Arcade, Volcano, Waterfall, Web, Wings, Wood

*******************

And, here are some more notes from the past (from March 1996):

***********

Arctic Thrill Concourse
Forest Memory Drive
Pirate Monica Boulevard
Western Cleansing Pike
American Freedom Street
Pleasure Wave Avenue
Future Popular Lane
Collegiate Blast Parkway
Military Amazement Way
Heaven Cool Drive
Hell Scream Boulevard
Ancient Song Trail
Space Risk Path
Metropolitan Truth Route
Arboreous...
Azimuth...
Aviary...
Apparition...
Antimatter...

Pirate
Old West/Frontier
Forest/Robin Hood
Modern Metropolis
College Campus
Arctic

*******************

Wow.

A lot of raw material here!

So let me establish some guidelines for me to move ahead with the development.

In the Eight Raceways, I want there to be an OVERALL theme, with associated thematic elements. That is, I do not want the Eight Racetracks to deviate wildly, but rather, be as variations unto the main theme of Obliviana.

For example, if I was to have a thematic element "animal", I would have one general animal classification, such as BIRD, for all Obliviana, and then a particular bird for each Racetrack, as opposed to all different sorts of animals.

In terms of colors, I am thinking along the lines of having one main color scheme, with variations. But I don't know about the idea of restricting any colors outright.

It is important to indentify some basic ATTITUTES that the Racetracks should have. That is, I want to give each Racetrack its own unique personality.

Let me look at the set I have now, and determine the basic attitudes.

[1] AMERICA. Patriotic, Idealistic, Conservative.
[2] ARCHERY. Freedom, Nature, Magic.
[3] ASTRONOMY. Exploration, Technology, The Unknown.
[4] ARCTIC. Remote, Cold, Barren, Alone.
[5] APPARITION. Dark, Hedonistic, Evil, Murderous.
[6] AFTERMATH. Failure, Anarchy, Violence.
[7] ANCIENT. Calm, Mystical, Magical.
[8] AQUA. Wildness, Initiative, Pleasure.

Some of these things are no longer in synch with my vision. APPARITION and AFTERMATH represent evils which have no place in Obliviana.

It is important to have darkness and pain represented in Obliviana, though, because these are things a lot of people identify with. But I want to do it in a different way.

Lt me analyze that last paragraph. I am making the point that people are drawn to things with mirror their emotions. The whole vampire/goth craze seems to feed off of teen alienation and misery. I was thinking of appeal and making Obliviana compelling. And indeed, I DO want to include these elements, only in a much more subtle way.

Look at the early Disney animated features. They are chock full of darkness, and yet it is done in a subtle and Wonderful way.

I guess the final comment I have on this issue is that I will not have gratuitous violence, misery, or monstrosity in Obliviana.

2:11 PM

In the Obliviana development process which I have been going through for many years now, I often find myself focusing on a particular aspect of Obliviana, to the exclusion of other aspects. I don't want this to happen right now, with this Racetrack development. I want to keep on top of everything.

The Racetracks of LWOR are extremely central to Obliviana, but so are a lot of other aspects.

In the big picture, Obliviana is more limited than it was envisioned to be before. People have Fonostas in LWOR, and in order to better their Fonostas, they go on Stormjaunts in the real world.

Fonostas themselves... one idea I had was to have them be like "guys" in videogames... the characters you control... but I want there to be some thematic logic to the "identity" of the Fonostas.

That is, will they be birds, South American gods, astronauts, cats, etc.? The nature of your Fonosta is tied to the theme of the Racetrack your Fonosta lives on, and also the overall Obliviana theme.

Now, an overall thematic element that is firmly established is RACING. The first thing that comes to mind related to this theme is checkerboard patterns, as in the flag. Now, checkerboard patterns have always fascinated me, and I would have wanted to incorporate this anyway, so checkerboarding with various colors is a definite thematic trait, overall.

Another major element here is the idea of drivers and vehicles. The drivers are the Fonosta. Vehicles could potentially range from cars to tigers. But remember, I want to be limited, and not have every kind of vehicle and steed under the sun. Still, the idea of various sorts of vehicles, from motorcycles to alligators, from rockets to dump trucks, is appealing. But I must establish a range.

One thing is certain, and that is that the vehicles/steeds will be a primary means of identifying the themes.

Idea: riding stormclouds

Idea: rails alongside roads to accomodate trains

Idea: riding spheres

Idea: Waterways along racetracks to accomodate boats and dolphins and things

Okay.

In the interest of limitation, I am not going to have such a variety of things along each road. Or... would it be just road, river, rail? The three Rs... I don't know...

I think that since unneccesary complication is opposite to limitation, that I should stick with just roads.

Sat 6/21/97 * 4:33 PM

Well, it happened again. A few weeks ago I was at a party and I left because I just wasn't having a good time, and it was hot, and I had to work on Obliviana.

I went over to Denice's house for her brother's graduation party, and it was outdoors, and very hot, and I was feeling very awkward. Denice went in the pool and I decided not to, and eventually I was just sitting in a corner by myself, and then she told me basically to just leave and come back later.

So I drove home, feeling quite bad about the whole thing.

I told her I was just being honest. But maybe the lesson here is that people would rather you be a phony. I don't know. But I expressed my feeling and I was punished for it.

But it is my fault, to some extent. I should probably have not gone, or gone later on. I guess I overestimated my ability to... to what? To be at a party?

And now, I'm writing about this stuff instead of writing about Obliviana. And I left before I ate, so now I have to waste more time and make some pasta.

Yeah, altogether a pretty rotten situation. So now what do I do? Do I go back later or not? Both have their problems. Probably better to go back later on. But any way you slice it, I appear to be a weirdo, a jerk, a fucking asshole, to a whole lot of people.

Thinking about it, it would have been much better to decline going altogether.

I mean, I legitimately have to work on Obliviana, and I DON'T have time to spend all day at a party.

Ah, what's the use. I'm in a no-win situation, and I got here by not looking ahead. I could have just told Denice that I had a lot of work to do today, and I'll stop by later for an hour or so.

But it's too late for that.

THIS is what it means to be human, stupid little situations like this.

Anyway, I think I'm gonna work on Severe Repair, since I can't really get my thoughts together for developmental work right now.

7:54 PM

Well, I just finished Cups 11 thru 20 of Goodbye Popcorn. I'm going back to the party soon. I was crying pretty bad before. Nothing wrong with that.

So I just want to address some developmental issues before leaving.

Drivers and vehicles. I am still lured with the idea of boats and trains, but I have to keep simplicity in mind. In fact, I have to be careful not to have too great a variety of vehicle/steed categories. I want to keep the whole thing under control.

So I will start with the Racetracks being roads. In terms of vehicles, cars seem to be the most basic for this setup. But I do want to allow such as bicycles, unicycles, skateboards, rollerblades (in-line skates for those of you against trademark infringement), mopeds, etc. And of course motorcycles and trucks.

And there's always footpower. "Footpower"... one of the first words spoken in the lost EPCOT ride, "World of Motion"...

I think that steed are also called for. I think that maybe different Racetracks will have different TYPES of vehicles/steeds. And you gotta have an ostrich and goose, to pay tribute to Joust...

Now, as to the nature of the Fonostas, these will be inspired by classic videogame characters. These too will be themed in each Racetrack. But as I have been stating, the range of variation will be LIMITED.

Sun 6/22/97 *11:51 PM

Well, time to finish this issue up.

Today, I figured out all the prime numbers between 1 and 209, and I mapped them onto the FOW board, and then I took this set of 47 squares and rotated it 180 degrees, and superimposed it on the original set, as in crossword puzzle symmetry. And what I got was eight L-shaped "pieces" of three squares, eight 2-square segments, eight sungle-square segments, and two four-square segments.

This is a major breakthrough, and will be the basis for the layout of the Racetracks in LWOR.

Wore a blue button-up shirt today that was a little too small. It felt good just now to take it off.

At my grandmother's house, I found a Hallmark card from 1938 which was in the form of a matchbook, with real matches, and the whole thing was toally intact. She let me keep it. I think I'll scan it in, cuz it has a really awesome hand-drawn font on it.

There was a power failure earlier, so I couldn't work on Obliviana for a few hours. I went to a coffee shop (I Can't Believe It's Not Yogurt) across the street, and it was all dark inside, but they still had some coffee, so it was cool.

My Jeep's right blinker has been out for awhile, and I unscrewed the covering on the rear light, and ckecked the bulbs, and they were okay. Then came the quick little thunderstorm that knocked out the power. And then... when I left for the coffee shop and my grandmother's house... I discovered that the blinker was working!

I was gonna add 10 more Cups of "Office Complex" this week, in addition to the 10 new Cups of "Goodbye Popcorn", but the power failure messed up my schedule.

My new answering machine message says "Thank you for calling Obliviana Super Occult Amusement. This is the Lord of Obliviana speaking. Please leave your message." I had to rerecord it cuzza the power failure. Digital answering machine, see.

That's it. Seeya next week. Get all Obliviana.

*OW*



------->

------------------- -----------
-------- -- -----