h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Welcome to newcomers! Do take a moment to check A304354 for details of our customs and where to find fresh towels.

Before anything else, I know I speak for everyone when we say, come back soon, abcBen! We know you're busy, but we'll keep the backlogs burning for you to find your way back.

It was a dark and stormy three weeks. Some found it exhausting, most found it surreal and fun. We'll do it again some time.

I'm talking about the game of telling a story through the subject headers. It worked surprisingly well, allowing for simulposts that tended to momentarily split the narrative.


This time, we'll do something far tamer: a mere word game. As before, you can opt out by typing [...] (as invented by Marv) or interject some other thought in square brackets. The person who is first to the forum gets to start -- and as there are bound to be contenders, the TRUE FTTF will be the starting word. The next word after that has to contain a run of three letters from the previous word. You can pass by using [...]. If there are more than 4 passes, the next entity to post has the option to start a new word. No points, no winners, no losers, just intellectual exercise. Attempt to eschew the monosyllabic.

Are we clear? Each word has to contain three letters in the same order as in the previous word.

d'Elaphant is trying to find the story in the subject headers of the last conversation: you can check his progress at A1139465 .

So what was happening under the subject headers?
Lil was experiencing local politics,
Solnushka was trying to organise a new career direction that would get her back to England,
Caer had a problem with stereotypical Siamese cats,
Toccata was juggling specialist brewing and DIY,
FG's wild plum jam won first place at the Western Montana Fair,
Z was attempting diplomacy with angelfish,
Caer took delivery of the new car,
a heat wave was washing over Europe and many parts of the US as well, except in Lincoln, where Lil experienced flooding,
stinkywigfiddle was also feeling flooded, but in his case it was the universally reknown Atelier Backlog,
Lil opened her planet workshop and discovered that the software needed to participate was too hevvy for a lot of salon computers,
FG was at one point loosely surrounded by wildfires,
Z had some CV problems in re the LGB,
Hypatia's H came through another 'episode',
the intimations of a new virus pandemic began to be felt on various computers throughout the atelier,
Phil seemed to be doing less work in his new job than responding to fire alarms,
Professor Tonks did superbly in his exams and enters Durham University for an M.Sc.,
BP4 was still laboring under the worload of the University of Phoenix,
Coely was waiting for hundreds of exam results,
Amy's very strange and rare medical problem put her out of action for another spell,
part of the US and part of Canada experienced a blackout,
Lil's cat Vinnie contracted a case of Toad-in-Mouth,
Mars approached the Earth, in a manner of speaking,
Titania started organising for the second Harvest Festival at Village de la Vavoom ( A1144315 ),
MR staggered under the weight of her fall schedule,
ox was briefly seen adding a clause to the subject header story,
Lil was very busy preparing a presentation on the image of Billy the Kid,
Tocc was preparing to give to talk about brewing to the local Rotary,
FG was given notice to leave her flat then lucked into a beautiful new place,
Marv continued to work out his redundancy notice, mostly in a state of acute boredom,
Lil acquired a traditional Chinese chop,
Marv attended a wedding,
MR was working on a quilt,
Hypatia got a haircut, the first in a VERY long time,
Z attended Europride in Manchester,
Phil went to Chatsworth House and Sherwood Forest,
Sporky was among the first to obtain Soul Calibur II,
Hypatia was on TV,
"down there" achieved its first mention in the salon,
Amy dreamed of scuba diving with Styx the Rat,
Z dreamed of arguing the merits of the NHS with George Bush,
it snowed in Sweden (in August!),
and then it seemed to cool off everywhere,
London had a blackout,
Phil attended Victorian weekend in Glossop (complete with companion beer fest),
Coely took Moonlight to the Tate and then the Eye, and Americans then learned what the Eye is,
the Beeb suffered a massive Webjello attack,
many salonistas suffered withdrawal pains as Hootoo access became nearly impossible,
Lil's presentations went very well,
Amy had a strange medical experience,
even jr52 popped by to add a few words to the subject header story,
Garius continued redecorating his new house,

Birthdays: Sporky, Zeppo

Some other subjects that were discussed, some at great length --
medieval history
varieties of plums
shoes -- fashion vs fit
flash mobs
vivid dreams
Linux
interfering aunts
tourists and guide books
West Nile Virus
long hair and the librarian stereotype
provocative fashions for children
eyesight and contact lenses
Mormons and their weddings

Welcome to
Mystic Martin
life is like a cup of coffee
Zomnker, another SLC denizen
Vip (who was passing through, I think)

Well done to recently-joined useless hound, who was selling his/her business (have you sold it?) for keeping up with the backlog!


That's it. A new conversation begins. Matina has just made fresh cinnamon buns, and coffee, tea, and practically anything else you can think of are available for refreshment.

ooh am I first?

Matina brings Caerwynn an FTTF mug of Irish coffee and lingers, curious to hear what the first word will be*

Thank you so much Matina!

It has only taken two years!

Well done, Caer! I don't think I'll ever win a mug.

Z I just wanted to be second, usually I completely miss the start of a new thread

Good intro Lil. And Drat, I missed the FTTF due to chatting with cow orkers.

Just checking that I've understood the rules. Is that right?

I think so

Yes. But they don't have to be the same three letters. And the vagaries of simulposts will add the usual twist.

Remember, I NEVER get an FTTF mug.

Close, oh so close.

Courtesy

trigonometry follows from illustrious -- I picked a different run of letters. See? But Zomnker's response is also correct.

And the letters have to be in the same order that they were in the previous word!

This game appeals a bit more to me, Lil. With the last one, I had much trouble coming up with anything good to add, which is why I so rarely participated. This game at least gives us the chance to show off some vocabulary.

Ah, I had understood but I simulposted with Marv.

I'm honored to be mentioned three times in the intro! I didn't realize what a crazy month I had until I saw that!

I was glad to mentioned once, tho, I was at the same wedding Marv was.

Well this game could be interesting with me playing it I really need to teach myself to spell in the near future. I do worry that I appear to much in the review. Am i too self centred on here? Is asking a question asking if i am self centred the ulimate in self centredness? Self centreness a word?

and the quilt is still not done. I am having a devil of a time putting the back and the front together!