NUMBER OF LINES: 999 001=Usr:0 Null User 06/30/87 20:34 Msg:0 Call:0 Lines:19 1$If you are in need of help, you need but ask... 2$************************* INSTALLED: 12 MAR 89 *************************** 3$Welcome to BWMS II (BackWater Message System II) Mike Day System operator 4$************************************************************************** 5$GENERAL DISCLAIMER: BWMS II IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INFORMATION 6$ PLACED ON THIS SYSTEM. 7$BWMS II was created as an electronic bill board. BWMS II is a privately 8$owned and operated system which is currently open for use by the general 9$public. No restrictions are placed on the use of the system. As the 10$system is privately owned, I retain the right to remove any and all 11$messages which I may find offensive. Because of the limited size of the 12$system, it will be periodically purged of messages (only 999 lines of data 13$can be saved). To leave a message, type 'ENTER'. Use ctrl/C to get out 14$the ENTER mode. The message is automatically stored. If after entering 15$the message you find you made a mistake, use the replace command to 16$replace the line. To exit from the system, type 'BYE' then hang up. 17$Type 'HELP' to see other commands that are available on the system. 18$************************************************************************** 19$ 002=Usr:1 CISTOP MIKEY 03/12/89 12:20 Msg:3361 Call:19281 Lines:3 20 Unless you know _where_ you are, you don't know _who_ you are. 21 -- Wendell Barry 22 ****************************************************************** 003=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/12/89 12:27 Msg:3362 Call:19282 Lines:83 23 &*&*&*&*'s 24 Well I'm at the top again. 25 26 III 27 28 Patrick woke up early the next morning. He went out to the kitchen and 29 got himself some breakfast. Back in his room he sat the toast and juice down an 30 removed the note that Brian had left him from his desk. 31 Again he examined the symbol closly. It too seemed to move and go out of 32 focus, much like the symbols that Patrick had seen on the chalk board. Once it 33 came into focus and he almost said a word. But he chocked on a piece of 34 toast as he was about to mutter it. 35 His Breakfast finished Patrick returned the plate to the Kitchen and washe 36 it off. His Grandmother was up and he greeted her before returning to his room. 37 Being Sunday he had the rest of the day off. He could read a book, 38 go to the library or play with his Computer. There was a board or two he'd 39 like to call... 40 No, there was really only one thing to do. He had to go back to the Inn. 41 At the very least he should try to ascertain wether or not the Wanderer was 42 alright. As he had done the day before he prepared his pack. The inside was 43 now dry, and he left the books in just in case he should need the added 44 boyancy. Since he didn't want to make his Grandmother suspiciose he placed 45 the robe inside the pack along with the orb and the parchment paper that 46 Brian had left him. He opened the window and set the staff against the wall 47 below it. 48 "Grandma, I'm going out back. I might go to the library or somthing 49 later on." Patrick said feeling guilty about the lie. 50 "Ok, will you be in for lunch?" 51 "I'm not sure. I'd better go grab somthing out of the fridge just in 52 case." 53 He went into the Kitchen and pulled the stuff out of the Fridge that he 54 had not eaten the day before. 55 "Hello Cymry, want to come along?" Cymry wagged his tail in greeting and 56 followed Patrick out the sliding door. He retrieved the staff and started on 57 his trip. 58 The Inn was the way he remembered it. Being more familier with the 59 routine this time he simply walked in. It wasn't as loud as it had been 60 when he had viseted the previose day. Patrick looked around for the Wanderer, 61 but he didn't seem to be around. 62 Takeing a table by a wall he sat back to observe. As he had 63 noticed the previose day the people in the Inn wore many different styles 64 of clothing. Strangly he had no problem understanding most of what they 65 were saying, though an occasional snipet of unintelligable 66 conversation would drift over to him. Cymry sat at his side dozzing. The 67 Shepherd seemed to feel safe. 68 "Hello Patrick." Said a voice startling him out of his reverie. 69 Patrick turned and found the Wanderer seated in the chair beside him. "I 70 didn't even see you. Were did you come from?" 71 The Wanderer smiled. "From the air my friend." 72 "I thought you might have been hurt or somthing. When I uttered the rune 73 Brian,Cymry and myself were transported to my bedroom. You were nowere to be 74 seen." 75 "Yes,you caused me a bit of trouble there, Lets just say I too returned 76 home. I would appreciate it if you would not use that rune while I'm around. It 77 has an unpleasent effect on me." 78 "I don't even remember it." 79 "It will return to you. I've been told that once you use a rune it 80 stays in the mind. It does take time to recharge. With your lack of skill 81 it could take a long time before you again remember it." 82 Patrick tried again to picture the rune. "I can't remember it now." 83 He paused. "I suppose it might be usefull to return home whenever I wanted to." 84 "Perhaps, remember though that it is often unwise to let others know 85 were you come from. Home is a very preciose place." 86 "I suppose. Were do you come from?" 87 "I can't tell you that I'm afraid. Though I believe you have a clue or 88 two already." 89 Patrick shrugged. "Earth?" 90 The Wanderer shrugged. "Perhaps. I notice you are not wearing your robes 91 today. Did you bring them with you?" 92 "Yes they're in my pack." 93 "Good, Always carry anything with you that you might need. Never assume 94 that you will be able to return somewere to retrieve somthing of value." 95 "Patrick! there you are, were the heck are we?" 96 Patrick turned and was shocked to see his best friend William standing 97 beside him. 98 a 99 100 101 Well thats it for now. Next part tommorow hopefully. I hope somebody else logs 102 in before then. 103 104 An Astral Dreamer 105 &*&*&*&*'s 004=Usr:4 Milchar 03/12/89 15:13 Msg:3363 Call:19287 Lines:83 106 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 107 If you want to know more about Innisfall, you should consult a Keeper 108 of the Archives when he has his electronic tomes in full array about him. 109 Lacking that, I still believe it is possible to buy into the Archives- 110 it is about 18 megabytes of history. For a very short summary, I 111 suppose my own memory will suffice; I am sure any old-timers will correct 112 me in any particulars if I err. 113 To begin- Innisfall is the name of the land that the Inn resided. The 114 Inn was a starting place for adventures, a place to hold civilized debate 115 and good conversation, and a place to just pass the time with good friends. 116 People who lurked there were known as Innhabitants or Innklings, depending 117 upon to whom you spoke. The Inn itself is nestled within a small valley. 118 A path ran near the front door, running from a hidden pass to the outside 119 world to a footbridge that spanned a small stream. Many ducks and other 120 waterfowl played and lived in a small pond downstream from the bridge. 121 A large Rowan tree shades the large oaken door. Fine stables behind the 122 Inn house the steeds of visitors. 123 Upon entering, a visitor walks into the Commons area. Tables are scattered 124 haphazardly about. The lighting is rather dark, except near the large 125 hearth. A semicircle of comfortable chairs surround the hearth, and there 126 always seems to be room for one more. The atmosphere is relaxing on the 127 whole, despite the tendency for odd happenings and strange goings-on (such 128 as people appearing and disappearing into thin air). 129 The Innkeeper takes orders for fine food and drink from a counter that 130 streches across most of the back wall. A staircase leads to the guest 131 rooms on the second floor. Another door leads to a hallway which provides 132 access to the kitchen, pantry, and a back room. Another staircase leads 133 down from the hallway to the wine cellar, which also contains a few 134 surprises the Innkeeper keeps tucked away. 135 This picture of the Inn was built up in my mind by the many tales told 136 here on BWMS; among those responsible are the Innkeeper, Piper, Voyeur, 137 the Bard, L'homme sans Parity, the Ninja, Fast Fred, Pam, and others too 138 numerous to mention. It was not the only view of the universe in which 139 contributors wrote; another prominent example was the adventure-packed 140 world of the NET: super-spies whose efforts kept peace in an unstable 141 world. Their names are also legion- Ian MacHinery, Joshua, L'homme, 142 Gaudy Minsky, Petrov, Mohammed Wassir, Farley, Flemming, McKane... 143 Choose whatever world you wish to write in. Make one of your own if you 144 prefer, the multiverse is rich in adventure. Above all, enjoy! 145 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Milchar ++++++++++++ 3/12/89 ++++++++++++++++++ 146 ######################################################################### 147 Finding a dealer of coins wasn't difficult. The city was laid 148 out in an orderly fashion; quite unlike Dunbarrah where the natives get 149 lost. It was a little shop with a spry little proprietor who looked at 150 our tokens with great interest. They caused my fingers to tingle, as 151 they always did. 152 "Gold, are they?" he chuckled. "It's been quite a while since I've 153 seen the like here. Used to be common, long ago. Now..." he trailed off. 154 "We'd like to sell them if we could, sir. Would you be interested 155 in offering a fair price?" Fortunately for us, he did not know we'd take 156 any offer he made. We were at somewhat of a disadvantage, not knowing 157 the value of the local currency. 158 "What- you want to SELL them?" A bright smile lit up his face 159 for a moment, then a frown darkened it. "I'm afraid I can't offer much." 160 "What can you offer?" 161 "Er...um...one hundred." 162 "One hundred?" 163 "Each, of course." We had shown him eight tokens. 164 I smiled. "Sold, sir. One hundred times eight, if you would." I 165 handed him the coins. 166 The shopkeeper's eyes widened. "Tokens!" he cried as he touched 167 them. "There's no mistaking that feeling. Where did you boys obtain 168 these coins?" 169 I could think of no reply other than the truth. "These are our 170 allowance from the School of Magick in Dunbarrah, sir." 171 "Dunbarrah! Well, welcome to Earth, boys. I hadn't recognized 172 your tokens, it has been so long since I've been home. I'll give you the 173 fair exchange rate if you still want to sell them." 174 "You're from Dunbarrah?" asked Merryl. 175 "Migrated here long ago. Fond of technology, that's why I moved. 176 There's other problems that come along with it but I get by. I still have 177 a bit o' magick to rely on if things get rough. Some punks tried to rob me 178 about a month ago; they suffered sudden existence failure." 179 "We're trying to return to Dunbarrah. We got here my mistake- a 180 miscast spell. Do you know where a Power source is?" 181 The shopkeeper smiled. "Yes, I do. You got sucked in here by 182 Power, huh? That'll happen. Okay, I'll tell you. There is a large slab 183 of stone in the South Park blocks, moved there by the city. Of course, 184 they didn't know it used to be a worship-stone long ago. It radiates a 185 lot of Power." 186 "Tell us how to get there?" 187 ### Pan #################################################### 03/12/89 ### 188 005=Usr:113 James Of Cassand 03/12/89 18:03 Msg:3364 Call:19294 Lines:31 189 . 190 And alas another day will pass. And all of the tension will subside, into the 191 dark that is the night. 192 193 Though it may seem like a principle it is only really your inner self, fighting 194 with the shell with which you surround yourself. True feelings are very rare. 195 196 The foundation is a small grey stone. It is somtimes cold to the touch and 197 somtimes warm. But it is always there holding up that which sits so 198 precariosly above it. 199 200 You can feel it if you try. Reaching out is so hard somtimes. The Poet 201 can never be sure wether a vision is simply an illusion or a truth that is 202 hidden. 203 204 The forrest in its greeness is as we all are. The shadow under the trees 205 will always harbor somthing to make us nervouse. And this is as it should 206 be. To be to sure of ones self is to be a fool. Always doubt but feel 207 secure in the knowledge that your doubt brings you strength. 208 209 The roundness of the earth is inself an illusion. Though I to would like to 210 think that it is a truth. For is the earth not speckled with the mountains 211 and valleys that make it so much more the a sphere? 212 213 Each feature may bring back a memory and even the smallest things are 214 beutifull in some way. Symetry. 215 216 Below the sky is were we all reside. Perhaps some day we will travel out ane 217 there discover more wonders. The scale at which you view things is a 218 reflection as well. May we all be kind in whatever scale we care to see. 219 . 006=Usr:289 Audie Huber 03/12/89 18:18 Msg:3365 Call:19295 Lines:10 220 3.14159265358979323846 221 (Sorry to interupt) Did anyone see Douglas Adams when he came to 222 Powell's book store last Thursday. It really pissed me off because he was 223 only there from 12:00 to 1:30. Although he did read some of the funnier 224 bits from Life, the Universe, and Everything. He was promoting his new book, 225 'The Long, Dark, Tea-Time of the Soul. The title incidentially is found in 226 the first chapter of 'Life, the Universe, and Everything.' I had him sign 227 my omnibus edition of Hitchhikers, and both the Dirk Gently books. 228 Ah well, back to Economics and Western Civ. 229 3.14159265358979323846 ----Audie Huber, 3/12/89. 007=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/12/89 19:29 Msg:3366 Call:19299 Lines:7 230 &*&*&*&*'s 231 I hadn't even heard he was going to be in town. Drat. Oh well. Are the 232 Dirk Gently Novels any good? I really enjoyed the Hitchhikers series. 233 234 An Astral Dreamer 235 &*&*&*&*'s 236 008=Usr:113 James Of Cassand 03/12/89 20:50 Msg:3367 Call:19304 Lines:9 237 . 238 So what is it that I see. Looking out at patrons of the inn. The hearth is 239 warm. 240 241 Stages. Moving growing . Why must some change faster then others. To the level 242 of all that is. 243 244 To bother. 245 . 009=Usr:233 molusk the crab 03/12/89 21:44 Msg:3368 Call:19307 Lines:3 246 *************************************** 247 To Observe. That Is Why I Am Here. 248 *************************************** 010=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/13/89 00:19 Msg:3369 Call:19314 Lines:12 249 &*&*&*&*'s 250 Whoops looks like the Inn emptied out. I guess I'll have to start posting 251 Backwaters number to tinny bopper boards. We really need some new blood 252 here. 253 254 By the way, I'm semi-seriose about the tinny-boppen comment. I'd almost 255 rather see this board filled with two line messages then this nearly 256 unbrocken silence. 257 258 An Astral Dreamer 259 &*&*&*&*'s 260 011=Usr:322 Stray Cat 03/13/89 05:13 Msg:3370 Call:19316 Lines:5 261 262 AD - would a lurk notice appease you. Please don't bring on the kids. 263 They're okay in private conversations, but tend to get obnoxious 264 on their public messages. 265 012=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/13/89 11:32 Msg:3371 Call:19325 Lines:13 266 &*&*&*&*'s 267 Lurk notices are ok, but how about some real action? I certainly have 268 nothing against the 14 and 15 year olds out there, But I will admit they can 269 get a bit out of hand. 270 271 So, Why don't the other 3 peoplw who call this board try to get some more 272 mature users. Baring that I really don't see any alternative to posting 273 the number for Backwater on every board I can find. We need some new blood 274 here. 275 276 An Astral Dreamer 277 &*&*&*&*'s 278 013=Usr:233 molusk the crab 03/13/89 13:13 Msg:3372 Call:19327 Lines:3 279 **************************************** 280 What? Tommorow Perhaps. 281 **************************************** 014=Usr:113 James Of Cassand 03/13/89 14:12 Msg:3373 Call:19328 Lines:4 282 . 283 The formal education is inspired by the lack of seeking. To know is to 284 end the search. Yet there is no end. 285 . 015=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/13/89 15:25 Msg:3374 Call:19329 Lines:6 286 &*&*&*&*'s 287 Hmm, a little action. Not much meaningfull dialogue though. I'll upload part 288 fourteen of my story tonight. Later. 289 290 An Astral Dreamer 291 &*&*&*&*'s 016=Usr:4 Milchar 03/13/89 15:52 Msg:3375 Call:19330 Lines:8 292 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 293 Ah, AD. Such little patience! Backwater has always had cycles, no 294 one can produce all the time. For my own part, I have always been 295 much more adept with the written word after a short vacation. Then 296 again, storytelling is not all that goes on here- poems, debates and 297 other discussion is common. Afterwards the writing goes on. Or 298 perhaps during. You never can tell here on BW. :-) 299 +++++++++++++++++++++ Milch ++++++++++ 3/13/89 +++++++++++++++++++++ 017=Usr:71 David Shult 03/13/89 16:38 Msg:3376 Call:19331 Lines:53 300 696969696969 301 THE QUIET REVOLUTION 302 303 The Quiet Revolution is a systematic grass-roots educational campaign whose 304 purpose is to cultivate awareness of the ways in which our personal decisions 305 collectively shape our world. 306 307 Each person impinges on his or her society, species, and biosphere in six 308 ways: spending money, earning or investing money, voting, using resources, 309 relating to others, and paying taxes. Of these, five are largely or wholly a 310 matter of personal choice. 311 312 The Quiet Revolution is based on the premise that the Earth can be saved--our 313 terminal global cancer can be cured--to the exact extent we each take personal 314 responsibility for the Earth in all of our decisions. The basic maxim is this: 315 Make all choices on the basis of what promotes the health, competence, and 316 adaptive flexibility of self, society, species, and biosphere. 317 318 Specifically, this translates into the following: 319 320 Good Buy: Cultivate awareness of the personal and systemic effects of your 321 spending habits. Before you purchase anything, ask yourself three questions: 322 (1) Where is most of the money for this thing going? (i.e. to support the 323 local economy and/or sustainable enterprise, or to enrich the polluters and 324 exploiters) (2) What good is this thing to me? (Is it a tool, conducive to my 325 health, competence, and flexibility--or is it an addiction, conducive to 326 momentary self-gratification at others' expense?) (3) Does this purchase 327 constitute a responsible use of the Earth's resources? 328 329 Good Work: Cultivate awareness of the personal and systemic effects of your 330 livelihood. Before you take a job or make a decision about your career, ask 331 yourself to what degree it is slavery (squandering your vital energies for 332 someone else's vested interests that may be detrimental to the health of the 333 planet) or work (doing what you are best at for the best interests of self, 334 society, species, and biosphere). 335 336 Good Will: Cultivate an awareness of the personal and systemic effects of your 337 interactions with others: those you love, work with, compete against, do 338 business with, or involve yourself with in any way. "Do unto others as you 339 would have them do unto you," whether the "other" is your lover, your cat, a 340 skid row derelict, a wilderness area, or the Earth herself. This has never 341 been improved upon as the central axiom of enlightened personal and planetary 342 ethics. 343 344 To the exact extent that people apply these principles--acting on the basis of 345 what is best for self, society, species, and biosphere simultaneously--to 346 every nontrivial decision they make--what to buy, where to work, how to 347 relate--the Earth will be transformed into a healthy and balanced planet once 348 again. --sponsored by Oregon Gaia Institute 349 350 696969696969696969 351 352 018=Usr:131 THE VISION 03/13/89 17:26 Msg:3377 Call:19333 Lines:16 353 ____________________________T_H_E__V_I_S_I_O_N______________________________ 354 Well I'm ... so since only the 14 and 15 year old messages are annoying, 355 I am ok to post. There sure has been much going on here. To comment on the 356 stories: AD, your story work continues to be an incredible experience! You 357 must be careful though that someone does not use your ideas.. for if you 358 typed and binded together you're whole story you would have a definite 359 bestseller in the fantasy field! Pan, you too are doing very good work. 360 A missed a little bit at the beginning so I am a little bit lost but still, 361 very good writing! Milch, your description of the Inn was truly incredible. 362 I can now picture this place in which I reside. Excellently and vividly 363 explained. Thank you. Until next time then, keep up the good work! 364 _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*__ 365 366 _______________________________L_A_T_E_R_______________(5:32pm 3/13/89)_____ 367 368 __T_H_E__V_I_S_I_O_N__ 019=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/13/89 18:27 Msg:3378 Call:19336 Lines:80 369 &*&*&*&*'s 370 Milch, I know what you mean,its just that I get frustrated easily. I like the 371 idea of the quiet revolution, I wonder if it stands a chance? 372 373 VISION, thanks for the praise, my head is begining to swell. I'm not sure 374 I'll be able to get out of my room without getting it stuck in the door frame 375 :-+) (Mustachiod smiley.) 376 377 On the subject of people stealing this. What I enter here is generaly a first 378 draft. I have made many changes to the earlier stuff and you may notice that 379 the story has continued to evolve. When it is fully done I will print it 380 all out. This is my third or so attempt at writting a novel, I hope this one 381 will succede. If I could find somebody with a Commodore 128 I could get them 382 to copy my last attempt over. I think I was around 100k into that one. Which 383 is a bit more then 2 times as much as I have done on Patricks tale. 384 385 I don't seem to be able to write in anything other then Novel length. Well, 386 eugh of this rambling, on to part 14. 387 388 "How did you get here?" 389 "Well, actually I came over to apologize. Your Grandmother told me 390 you were in the back yard. I didn't see you but I thought you might be 391 hiding in the dog house or somthing." William finally noticed Cymry. "Wow, 392 Cymrys back! Excellent. Were did he come from?" He bent down to scratch 393 Cymry behind his ears. 394 "You came over to apologize?" 395 "Yeah, I've been a bit of an ass lately. I'm afraid since I found 396 out how good I am at sports I've gotten a bit big headed." 397 Patrick and William had been best friends since grade school. They had 398 both been about average height untill last summer. William had started a 399 late but substantial growth at that time. Patrick figured him to be around 400 6'2 and 220 pounds now. It was needless to say a difficult change to get used 401 to. 402 "Yes, you have been avoiding me lately." 403 "Well, untill this year, and try not to be to offended by this, we've 404 been geeks. I mean most of the girls wouldn't give either of us a sideways 405 glance. So suddenly I'm stud athlete, I'm afraid I didn't handle it very 406 well." 407 "What brought all this on?" 408 "I'd be lying if I didn't say I've been having a great time, But I got 409 out my picture album for the heck of it and started looking through it. And 410 I realized that we'd had some great times before I was ever populer. Your 411 about the only person I know who likes me because of who I was, Not because of 412 what I have become." 413 Patrick looked at this giant, and for the first time in a long time 414 he saw the friend he had known for so many years. He smiled and held out his 415 hand. "Friends again then?" 416 William smiled back and shock Patricks hand. "Friends, So were the heck 417 are we? One minute I'm walking towards Cymrys dog house and the next I see this 418 big wooden building. I couldn't see your house anywere so I walked up and 419 knocked, somebody let me in and I noticed you over here sitting with some 420 hippy type... Say were did that guy go?" 421 Patrick looked around and found the Wanderers chair empty. "He seems 422 to have a habit of dissapering. You'de better sit down, this is sort of a 423 long story." 424 An hour later Patrick had finished running through all that had 425 happened to him so far. 426 "Pixies and Treants? Why didn't you tell me about this stuff?" William 427 paused for a moment. "Heck we've been in your back yard hundreds of times 428 and I never noticed any of that stuff." 429 "Thats why I didn't tell you. I seemed to be the only one who could 430 see it. For all I knew everybody had these sorts of things in their back 431 yards. Since nobody talked about it though I kept quite. I remember telling 432 my mother about it when I was a kid, She'd just smile and tell me I was 433 cute." 434 "Yeah, I see what you mean. Say why don't we go back to your house. 435 This all makes me sort of nervouse." 436 "Sure." he said motioning for Cymry to follow. 437 They got up and made their ways out of the Inn. Outside Patrick 438 looked around and then waited. 439 "Which way is home?" William asked him. 440 "It ussually just appears. when I want to go there. I don't remember it 441 taking this long before." 442 They waited for fifteen minutes. Finally William voiced their worst 443 fear. "Patrick, I don't think we're going to be going home as soon as we 444 thought we would be. 445 446 447 An Astral Dreamer 448 &*&*&*&*'s 020=Usr:228 Phoenix Polymorp 03/13/89 21:00 Msg:3379 Call:19339 Lines:1 449 Wow! SE20! fenix was here! 021=Usr:82 SWORDSMITH 03/13/89 23:15 Msg:3380 Call:19346 Lines:1 450 SS.SS.SS.SS.SS.SS.SS.SS.SS.SS. 022=Usr:220 alyx * 03/14/89 12:42 Msg:3381 Call:19358 Lines:37 451 *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* -- alyx * -- *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* 452 my interests include (but are not limited to): cross-country skiing, dancing, 453 photography, writing, reading, drawing, and traveling. currently i'm working 454 on my private pilot's license and next week i hope to start learning tai-chi. 455 456 i work as both a hardware and software engineer but am beginning to think that 457 i what i really want to do is architecture. i like the people aspects of 458 computers but i don't make the technical side my life (read: i'm not a nerd :-) 459 460 re: AD and his impatient side. first let me say that i currently like the 461 atmosphere here as is. if you find this board too slow perhaps you should 462 also check out other boards? that way, things could take their natural course 463 here and you would be in touch with more folks. i like the blue parrot and 464 jd's place... 465 466 does anyone suffer from writer's block? the version that is afflicting me 467 currently is that basically i am a perfectionist. when/if i have a stroy 468 (i mean, story) in my head, i can get impatient with my (seemingly) in- 469 ability to communicate it *exactly* the way it is in my head. i suppose 470 the best way to get around that is to just practice and possible revise 471 when i feel some important details are missing... 472 473 one final word on "stealing ideas". give a roomful of writers a storyline 474 or plot and virtually no two stories will be identical. i could take the 475 story of patrick and tell it my way but chances are, i would wander off in 476 another direction or perhaps develop patrick in a different way, etc. i 477 have taken two creative writing classes (different teachers) where the first 478 was real particular about 'protecting ideas' and the second was not. the 479 class was set up as a workshop - every student got a copy of everybody eles's 480 (argh! that's else's) work to critique. in the first class we had to return 481 each copy to the author. i had wanted to use them to practice and revise 482 after hearing the critiques or use the basic storyline to tell a story my 483 way. in the second class, the teacher *encouraged* exactly that. usually not 484 to copy the whole story line but to answer the question: what if he/she did 485 that instead or if this happened, etc. i think you get my point (if there ever 486 was one :-) 487 *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ -- alyx * -- 3/14 -- 1p -- *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+**+*+* 023=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/14/89 14:25 Msg:3382 Call:19362 Lines:32 488 &*&*&*&*'s 489 Hello alyx. Re: my impatiance. Sorry if I seem a bit neurotic about that. I 490 tend to get uptight if nothing interesting happens for more then 24 491 hours. 492 When I got here last summer things were much more active. Of course we also 493 had to put up with some stiwt, but that is the price you pay. 494 495 I just joined up over at jd's place, I'm not sure I've been validated as I 496 can't enter messages. I'm also on Blue Parrot under my real name. 497 498 I've noticed that very little writting is going on. This is true on all the 499 writting oriented BBS's in town that I have found. 500 501 As far as writters block goes, I get it only when I'm really busy or in a 502 bad mood. As far as perfection goes I don't worry to much about it on 503 a first draft which is what I upload here. I try to make things as good 504 as possible in that first draft but I realize I'm going to have to go back 505 and change parts of the story later. 506 507 I'm not worried about people stealing my ideas, They are really not that 508 origional. The only thing I really worry about is somebody taking one of 509 my stories, correcting the spelling and then saying it is theirs. 510 511 Hopefully I'll be able to afford a real WP soon. right now I use a text 512 editor that has no spell checker, thesaures etc. As you may have noticed 513 I really do need these tools. 514 515 Well, enough for now. I'll upload the next part of my story tonight. 516 TTY A L. 517 518 An Astral Dreamer(3/14/89 2:30pm.) 519 &*&*&*&*'s 024=Usr:131 THE VISION 03/14/89 17:06 Msg:3383 Call:19367 Lines:7 520 521 ___V_I_S_I_O_N___ 522 Hello Alyx. Nice to hear about you and your interests. 523 AD, I give praise where praise is due, and it was due to you. :) 524 Excellent story work. 525 Hmm, Kurfur is gone again. I think his modem popped again. 526 _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ 025=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/14/89 23:04 Msg:3384 Call:19380 Lines:81 527 &*&*&*&*'s 528 Ok , heres the next part. ACTION! 529 530 They stood awhile longer before returning to the Inn. They returned to 531 their table. 532 "Hey, whats that?" William said noticing a small brown pouch on the 533 table. Beside it was a scroll. 534 "Looks like its for me." Patrick said noting his name on the outside of 535 the scroll. He opened it up. It was a note from the Wanderer. 536 "Sorry to have left so suddenly,I had business elsewere. You will 537 find contained in the pouch 40 gold pieces. Use them wisely. You should be 538 able to stay in the Inn tonight, there is a large common room upstairs 539 that will serve your purpose. 540 Oh, I'm not sure who closed your doorway, It is not within my power to 541 open it either I'm afraid. Good luck to you and your friend William. 542 543 May your Journeys be long and prosperouse ones, 544 the Wanderer." 545 546 William had been reading over Patrick shoulder and now reached out and 547 lifted the pouch from the table. when he opened it he saw the golden coins 548 that the note had spocken of. They were roughly dime sized. He pulled one 549 out and looked at it. On one side it showed an ingraving the Inn, on the 550 other side it said "This coin is legal tender for all things within the 551 land of Innisfall." these words cirled a small crescent on which many 552 intricate and hard to identify symbols were etched. He handed the pouch to 553 Patrick. "Mind if I keep this one?" 554 Patrick dumped the coins out on the table. "We'd better split them up 555 evenly, In case we get seperated..." 556 William nodded solemnly. 557 They devided up the coins and placed them in their pockets. 558 "My mother is going to kill me." William noted after they had sat silently 559 at the table for awhile. 560 "I'm really sorry about getting you into this." 561 William stared moodily out into the center of the common area of the Inn 562 for a moment. He looked back at Patrick. "No, its not your fault. If I hadn't 563 been such an ass recently I wouldn't have had to come over to apologize. Its 564 sort of poetic justice. but What do we do now?" 565 "I'm not sure, if I could get us to Brians school of magic we might be 566 able to get some help from him. I don't know how to get there through the lake 567 though." He paused and pounded his fist on the table.(Cymry looked up at him.) 568 "If I could only remember that symbol I used to get home from Brians School. 569 we'd be back in my room." 570 They sat in silence again untill William spoke. "I'm getting kind'of 571 hungry, why don't we have somthing to eat?" 572 Patrick sighed and smiled at his friend. The guy could eat twice as much a 573 him and not even blink an eye. "Pardon me, am old we order somthing 574 t a? arc sed the barmaid when she next passed there table. 575 h mlda hem "somthing, what would you like?" 576 Give me a double burger and fries. Oh, and a large root bear if you 577 have it." William answered. 578 "And you sir?" 579 "Oh, I'll just have some apple pie if you have it." 580 "Certainly, I'll be back in just a bit." She said walking back to towards 581 the kitchen. 582 "Wow, she was good looking." Noted William. 583 "Huh? Oh yeah, I suppose." Patrick replied. 584 "You're begining to worry me buddy. Show some interest man. Your nearly 585 17 years old." 586 Patrick began to turn pink. "Look," He said unsteadilly, "Just because 587 I don't pant at every pretty girl..." 588 "Women." William corrected. 589 "...Ok, Women that walks by that doesn't mean I'm strange or anything." 590 "Ok, Ok relax. I was just teasing you." 591 Cymry began nudging Patrick in the side. "Whats then matter boy?" He 592 asked the dog. 593 "I don't think he needs to go, He went when we went outside earlier." 594 William reminded him. 595 Just then Patrick again noticed the little silver tube on Cymrys coller. 596 He reached out and touched it. 597 "Maybe he's just hun... shit!" William Said as Patrick slumped to the 598 ground. 599 600 601 Whoops, Looks like a bit of munging. Basicly patrick asked the waitres if 602 she would take his order and she said she would be glad to. 603 604 An Astral Dreamer 605@/clubs;/sel commodore 606 &*&*&*&*'s 607 026=Usr:113 James Of Cassand 03/15/89 00:47 Msg:3385 Call:19384 Lines:5 608 . 609 Wow. Action. everthing is here. To much. On to the silvery lake of the worlds. 610 611 A trip well done. 612 . 027=Usr:498 Hagbard Celine , 03/15/89 01:34 Msg:3386 Call:19385 Lines:30 613 614 {} 615 616 Wanderer and/or Milch(?), is the Inn no longer located in the 617 gravity bubble I moved it into? Are the arches gone? Re: 618 just where is everything? I'm a little confused now. 619 620 A good story, AD. Vision is right; you should consider making 621 a proposal to a publisher by sending only one or two chapters & 622 seeing what the response is. 623 624 H. Celine 625 626 *** 627 628 Almost forgot: will you be including "regulars" from the Inn 629 within your story? 630 631 *** 632 633 So what happened to the two on Earth? Are they still at the coin 634 shop ? 635 636 *** 637 638 Suffering from confusion, 639 640 H. Celine 641 642 {} 028=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/15/89 17:39 Msg:3387 Call:19391 Lines:1 643 &*&*&*&*'s (workalurk.) An Astral Dreamer. 029=Usr:131 THE VISION 03/15/89 19:15 Msg:3388 Call:19394 Lines:5 644 __V_I_S_I_O_N__ 645 Workalurk? Cute. I like that AD. 646 Hagbard agrees w/me AD, so you'd better do it! 647 Later later later 648 _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ 030=Usr:93 DAVE ELKMAN 03/15/89 20:13 Msg:3389 Call:19395 Lines:6 649 $$$$$$$$$$$$****************$$$$$$$$$$$**************$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 650 CCCCCCCChhhhhhhaaaaaammmmmmpppppppppppp 651 Why did the chicken cross the road? 652 653 654 To show the possom it could be done. 031=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/15/89 22:20 Msg:3390 Call:19399 Lines:21 655 &*&*&*&*'s 656 Hmm, I think I'll wait on making any submissions. Need to learn how to spell 657 first. 658 659 Oh, the workalurk idea was stolen from febuary of 1986. As soon as I have the 660 money I'm buying into the archives. 661 662 were are you Piper, Bard, and all the rest. Oh well. 663 664 I'll be uploading an extra long entry tommorow, right now I'm really feeling 665 tired. Plus I've been a bit busy. 666 667 Oh, Hagbard. The Inn appears on many different levels. The one you mentioned is 668 one aspect. It may very well be the real one. Innisfall is just the most 669 commonly known of the aspects of the Inn. 670 671 Good day and glory be to all of you! 672 673 An Astral Dreamer 674 &*&*&*&*'s 675 033=Usr:4 Milchar 03/16/89 03:08 Msg:3392 Call:19406 Lines:16 677 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 678 Hagbard: I was recounting what the Inn WAS like. When BWMS II came 679 on-line, most of the stories revolved around the great change of the 680 multiverse. The Inn as it existed then was destroyed. However, if one 681 traverses the spheres long enough, its like may be found once more. 682 AD: I forget what the going rate is to buy into the Archives (it decreases 683 as more people buy in; the money you pay is divided among those who have 684 already purchased it)... but I am sure it can be arranged. It exists on 685 many different formats- MS-DOS, TRS-DOS, cartridge & 9-track tapes (I 686 still smile at that one!). I don't believe anyone has tried to print the 687 whole thing out yet (18 megs? about 3400 pages?)... 688 AD: After thinking about it for a bit, I believe the current low-level 689 of activity is due to the lack of multi-authored stories. There are 690 problems with maintaining such, but they do produce a lot of creative 691 writing! 692 ++++++++++++++++++++++ Milchar +++++++++++++ 03/16/89 ++++++++++++++++++++ 034=Usr:131 THE VISION 03/16/89 16:20 Msg:3393 Call:19412 Lines:12 693 __V_I_S_I_O_N__ 694 AD I'll be looking forward to your long entry ! 695 Sounds like it will be killer! 696 Hmm oh yes I would like the disks too. 697 How do you get them ? 698 What about cost and stuff ? 699 I guess the last 2 ?'s are directed to Mikey 700 Hmm oh yes it seems that the champ!$ is back. or was that the same 701 champ i know ? the one from seaside? if so you've been gone for awhile! 702 later later later 703 _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ 704 035=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/16/89 21:18 Msg:3394 Call:19418 Lines:7 705 &*&*&*&*'s 706 Ok, almost done with tonights entry. I'll be on somtime around midnight 707 to upload it. 708 709 An Astral Dreamer 710 &*&*&*&*'s 711 036=Usr:113 James Of Cassand 03/16/89 22:54 Msg:3395 Call:19421 Lines:4 712 . 713 A hundred lines have passed me by. I see them as the words that fly across 714 my terminal In endless flashes of distinct light. 715 . 037=Usr:71 David Shult 03/16/89 23:06 Msg:3396 Call:19422 Lines:85 716 HEATED WORDS OVER COLD FACTS 717 718 Say good bye to baseball, sports fans. If we don't, it may mean the end o 719 life as we know it on earth. 720 This year, the baseball bat industry expects to sell more than 2,300,000 721 wooden baseball bats. That translates to about 250,000 trees. Yes, in 1989 722 alone, baseball will reduce our planet's capability to absorb carbon dioxide an 723 produce oxygen by at least a quarter of a million trees. That figure of course 724 does not include the trees that bite the dust for the sake of baseball progrqms '25 newspaper pages devoted to the sport, and paper cups for the beer, not to 726 mention the annual Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated (which may not be 727 influenced by baseball so much as by another sport). 728 729 Without those trees< scientists tell us, the amount of carbon dioxide in 730 our atmosphere will increase. And with the rise in carbon dioxide level comes 731 the dreaded... 732 Greenhouse Effect 733 We used to think of greenhouses as pleasand< sguet-smelling, lush oases in 734 the cold barrenness of winter. No more. This greenhouse is going to kill us, 735 we're told. How? Well, with all that carbon dioxide, sunlight gets through to 736 warm the earth, which in turn heats the atmosphere< but infrared radiation is 737 absorbed by the carbon dioxide, so the heat doesn't dissipate by radiation into 738 space. Got that? Before too many years go by, the earth's atmosphere heats up 739 and we die. 740 Don't panic yet. Halting the }anufacture of baseball bats won't help an 741 awful lot. That's because there are other problems. A lot more trees are cut t 742 clear land for agriculture (such as South American cattle raising). And, the 743 real big sources of carbon dioxide are txe industrial burning of wood and 744 petroleum products and respiration by humans and other animals. Burning is 745 especially bad, because it releases particulate matter into the atmosphere, and 746 that increases the density of clouds and the inability ov the atmosphere to 747 transmit light and heat from the sun to the earth. And you know what that 748 means: global cooling and the dreaded... 749 750 Perpetual Winter 751 Yes, scientists tell us that this pollution gyll sause temperatures to 752 drop, which will increase the size of the polar ice caps and cause currently 753 temperate areas to become agriculturally unproductive and even uninhabitable -- 754 another ice age. Got that? Before too many years go by,0dhe earth's atmospher 755 cools down and we die. 756 Don't panic yet. The scientists who believe in greenhouses are still 757 fighting with those who prefer the idea of a perpetual winter, and the earth is 758 waiting to see which side can yell the loudest. 759 760 Until recently, it appeared that the greenhouse fans were gaining. In 761 fact, this group of scientists became so sure of themselves that they decided 762 they could afford to spend a little time to check their theory against txe data 763 they have been accumulating during the last century. They wanted to pin down 764 the rate of temperature increase so they could tell us exactly how long we have 765 before human life (and baseball) perishes. 766 What did they find? Nt much. They started by checking temperature 767 statistics for the United States over the last century and found that there is 768 no indication of any warming or cooling trend. The scholars were shocked and 769 dismayed -- no evidence that the end of life is near. How disappointing. But 770 scientists are not easily discouraged, and they came up with two reasonable 771 explanations. First, their data may not be any good. Scientists like to 772 throw out their data when the numbers don't support their views. And second, 773 just in case no one believes that the scientists have been collecting bad 774 numbers, they hypothesize that the U.S. may be a special case, a "local" 775 climate, an anomaly surrounded by a warming earth. Qfter all, they explain, 776 the most significant changes caused by the greenhouse effect would be seen at 777 the poles and in the tropics. 778 So the scientists looked at the poles and the tropics. Nothing. Things 779 seem pretty much the same as they were centuries ago. 780 781 What does this all mean? 782 783 It means that baseball may not destroy life after all, even if it does 784 severely interfere with TV schedules. And the baseball bat industry is doing 785 its pard by converting to aluminum bats, cutting the production of wooden bats 786 by about 75 percent over the last 15 years. They would do even better if 787 aluminum bats were legal in professional baseball. 788 Are you breathing easier? 789 790 0 Don't. Clearing all those forests in South America will give a needed sho 791 in the arm to the economies of several countries by allowing them to expand 792 their cattle industries and increase the production of beef, which (scientists 793 tell uc9 insreases the level of serum cholesterol. Before too many years go by 794 our arteries clog up and we die. 795 ------------------------------ 796 This is Number 133 in a series of articles designed to explain the world to 797 those who plan to |ive0there and to visitors alike. 798 ------------------------------ 799 800 038=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/16/89 23:28 Msg:3397 Call:19423 Lines:9 801 &*&*&*&*'s 802 Interesting stuff above. Life will kill you too. Maybe the earth will jusd 8 3 get tired of all of us humen types and swallow us up. And the we would die. 804 Milchar, A Multi-Author story would be nice. But the format I would like 805 to follow would be like the Thieves world series. My current story is 806 connected0do the Inn. Many others could be as well. The Inn would be the 807 'common element.' 808 Well, here is part 16. More tommorow. 809 039=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/16/89 23:41 Msg:3398 Call:19424 Lines:29 810 Again he floated above the table with0the crystal ball. This time the 811 girl who had come through the door was sitting in a chair by the table. 812 "Anji!" Patrick said, now recognizing her. 813 "Ah, you know me! I look different when I am not 9 inches tall I suppose." 81$0She0added sadly "Of course I also lost my wings." 815 "What does all this mean?" Patrick asked her. 816 "You are in great danger!" 817 "Of what?" 818 She shook her head. "I cannot go into details now. You must hide." 819 "Hyde? Gilliam and I can't return home." 820 "Yes, that is unfortunate. It was a hard decision, but we had to close 821 the gate. Somehow William got sucked in when it happened. We are deeply sorry." 822 "Sorry, who are you? Who are 'we'." 823 Anji frowned. "I cannot tell you that." 824 "Ughh!" 825 "Your Cute when you're angry." She said, her cheeks dimpling as she 826 smiled. 827 Patrick began to feel himself fade. 828 Anji noticed. "You should not contact me agai~ to0soon. The disturbance 829 will be noted by Acerik." 830 "Acerik?" 831 But it was to late. With a sudden jolt Patrick was back in the Inn. 832 "Pat Buddy! Your awake. What happened?" 833 "Huh? Oh, I... could you help me sit up/" William helped him into a chair. 834 He sat gasping. 835 "Are you sure your okay?" 836 Patrick took a deep breath."Yeah, I'm alright." He explained to William 837 what had happened. 838 "Sorry we can't return home? Great.You know, It is begining to look like 040=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/16/89 23:51 Msg:3399 Call:19425 Lines:56 839 somthing really deep is going on here." 840 "Yeah, the adventure of a life time." Patrick yawned and looked at his 841 watch. "Great, its onli noon and I feel like sleeping. 842 "Noon? Oh yeah, the waitress brought the food after you passed out. 843 Whan't some?" 844 "No thanks, you can have the Pie as well. I think I'm going to go to 845 bed." 846 "You sure your ok?" 8470 "Yes, just tired. I'll get a room for us." 848 "Ok, I'll be up as soon as I finish eating" 849 Patrick went over to the counter and talked to the Inn keeper. After 850 a short discussion he handed him one of the gold coins and recievud some 851 silver and copper ones in return. 852 "It's the second door on the left at the top of the stairs. I paid for 853 lunch as well." He walked tiredly towards the stairs. "Oh, you might want 854 to keep the pouch, I have the pack after al|." (55 "What ever you say Pat. Take it easy dude." 856 Upstairs He opened the door and went inside. It was a fair sized room with 857 two beds, dressers and desks. Everything was neat and well kept. He managed to 858 stumble over to one of txe beds before falling asleep. 859 Sometime later he felt someone shake him. He opened his eyes to see 860 William standing above him. 861 "How you feeling?" 862 Patrick sat up and yawned. "Better. I just needed some rest." 863 "Dxatc0good, you had me worried. I was talking to some of the people 864 downstairs. Nice enough for the most part. Found out some interesting stuff." 865 "Such as." 866 "This Inn is located in a place known as Innisfall. It's supposed to be (67 fqirly peacfull. We're a good way out from any settlements. The lake is as 868 you said a gateway to many different worlds. Combat is rare and nearly 869 unheard of in the Inn itself, though it can be a bit wild at times." 870 "Seems safe enouwh. Where is Cymry?" 871 "He's lying down by the other side of the bed. I got him some dinner and 872 let him do his business before I brought him up here." 873 "Good, I'd hate to lose him a second time." 874 "That lake must be an interesding place to go fishing." 875 Patrick smiled. "I'll bet, I wonder if anybody around here has tried 876 that?" 877 "I saw the Innkeeper heading out with a pole just before I came up 878 here. Must have a fascinating collection of stuff." 8'9 0 Patrick nodded. 880 William walked over and sat down on the other bed. "So Pat, what do we do 881 now?" 882 "We wait I guess. I'm all out of ideas for now. Unless..." 883 "Yeah?" 884 "I still have the piece of parchment thad0Briqn gave me." 885 "Do you know what it does?" 886 "No, but it must be good for somthing." 887 888 Note: Seems to be a bug in the current version of the BBS. I had a lock up 889 on line 838. I had to hang up and call back. This happenet once before, But 890 I didn't really pay attention. I was still sending by Backwater was not 891 echoing. 892 893 An Astral Dreamer 894 &*&*&*&*'s 041=Usr:113 James Of Cassand 03/17/89 15:13 Msg:3400 Call:19436 Lines:3 895 . 896 Here I am. There I go. 897 . 042=Usr:131 THE VISION 03/17/89 22:36 Msg:3401 Call:19447 Lines:8 898 __T_H_E__V_I_S_I_O_N__ 899 Who's the guy above who puts a "." before and after his entries ? 900 AD, GOOD STORY WORK !! again some cool stuff you have thebu Mi{e (whoops AD!) 901 Well not much else (OH YES, that envionmental stuff was very very very good 902 whoever you are that entered it. 903 Well well I am off. 904 Later later later 905 _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*__ 043=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/18/89 0#:12 0Msg:3402 Call:19453 Lines:21 906 &*&*&*&*'s 907 Thanks yet again VISION. I don't have anything to upload right now. To much 908 gaming recently has cut my writting time to zero. I'll be spending most of 909 tommorow catching up 910 911 Hopefully dhe disk will fill up and be changed. I don't think there is enough 912 space right now to make an upload. So... If you call please leave a comment 913 or two. If we fill the disk we'll be able to maintain out 1 per week pace. 914 915 Mikey, What doec the archive cost? Milchar isn't 100% sure. I can't 916 afford to pay right now, but in a month or two... I really do plan on 917 putting together the history of this place. Even if it is only for personal 918 consumtion. 919 920 I wonder whad0happened to KathyD? Kaitlyn? and all of those others. Hagbard 921 makes himself much to rare these days. What of Friar? JD Silverman was also 922 a reguler at one time. 923 924 Oh well, Signing off at 3am 3-18-89 925 An Astral Dreamer 926 &*&*&*&*'s 044=Usr:131 THE VISION 03/18/89 11:17 Msg:3403 Call:19455 Lines:16 927 __T_H_E__V_I_S_I_O_N__ 928 AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD 929 you're welcome for the comment ! 930 I, too wonder what happened to them. 931 I remember Kaitlyn had finals, sayd she wouldn't be on, came back for a 932 day, then left again without a trace !! 933 Well it's too bad. KathyD left too, suddenly. 934 HMMMMMMMMMM maybe it's meeee I don't know. 935 I am leaving messages so the disk 936 will fill and Ad can put in hic excellent story 937 work and I can read it and everyone else can read 938 it too. It's very very good stuff !!!!!!!!!!! 939 That's enough for me. I'll leave room for you. 940 BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE BYE 941 AD AD AD AD AD AD 942 _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*O:_*O:_ 045=Usr:379 Phoenix Polymorp 03/18/89 13:31 Msg:3404 Call:19458 Lines:5 943 'ello, Phoenix here. Can anybody tell me how I can get my hands on _all_ 944 the back water disks? 945 946 PP 947 ^C 046=Usr:84 Michael Miller j 03/18/89 15:1 0 Msw:3405 Call:19461 Lines:7 948 &*&*&*&*'s 949 I'd imagine the person to talk to is Mikey, as he is the one who has them all. 950 He's been awfully silent these last few months though. 951 952 An Astral Dreamer 953 &*&*&*&*'s 954 047=Usr:219 Friar Mossback 03/18/89 15:37 Msg:3406 Call:19463 Lines:27 955 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] 956 Friar is still here. I have been reading and watching and enjoying. I am not 957 really a creative griter in any sort of useable way. I synthesize and 958 aggregate, but rarely do I write the fantasy type of stories in vogue at this 959 time on BWII. 960 I do enjoy reading most of the stories, though, and will continue to read them. 961 I am sure that0some of you will go on to be poets, journalists, novelists, as 962 a profession rather than an avocation. Be wary that in becoming a profession 963 it does not lose its lustre as a reason for being. 964 I could never fly as a profession, because dxat ys not why I fly. Sometimes I 965 think I would like to, but my inner self has always held me back from that. 966 It seems I have a very wise inner self. I fly now for the joy of it, for the 967 peace it brings to me, for the memories of other worldc and other times. If I 968 *HAD* to do it, it would never be the same. 969 The same is true of writing for many. I have talked to authors who must keep 970 writing, to eat and sleep inside. They begin, after a time, to resent being 971 forced to be creative. "It isn't a valve you can turn on and off!" more than 972 one writer has screamed at his/her publisher/editor. Keep that in mind as you 973 choose, but remember that no choice is permanent and you are always free to 974 choose a diffurent future, or a different past. 975 Those of us who don't write value your offerings, we value the soul we see in 976 them. We value the beauty, and the truth, that is expressed there. The beauty 977 and truth always is, but sometimes it takes a nudge in the right direction to 978 allow us to see it. Keep putting your heart into it, and your heart will 979 become larger and larger, allowing more to be given. 980 Thank you for the writing, keep it up. 981 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Friar, bqck to lurk again [][][][][][][][][][][] 048=Usr:131 THE VISION 03/18/89 15:52 Msg:3407 Call:19464 Lines:16 982 _____________________________T_H_E__V_I_S_I_O_N____________________________ 983 Welcome Back, Friar. Hmm.. there are only a few lines lefd. I might as well 984 finish them off so that the disk can be changed and AD can upload the next 985 part of his story, which, by the way, I am eagerly awaiting. So what's 986 everyone up to during Spring Break? I know most of you consider yourselfus 987 Spring Breakless for whatever reason or another. I have a whole 9 days 988 (sarcastic) for Spring Break, but I'm doing nothing special. Well, bye 989 everyone, and AD, I'm looking forward to your next part!! 990 _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_ 991 992 LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLater | 3/17/89 4:01 PMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM 993 994 __T_H_E__V_I_S_I_O_N__ 995 996 Oh Kurfur, If you don't like how I used your idea to sign off, then just 997 say something and I will use it no further. Here's 2 lines for someone => 049=Usr:113 James Of Cassand 03/18/89 16:40 Msg:3408 Call:19467 Lines:2 998 . I am who I am. Good day and may the Inn be available for entry again soon. 999 . Remember all that is here is here for a reason. Even if its only to be smwere