Birthday Submissions - FINISHED

[B.]

I agree with Dante, I think the message should be positive. I think perhaps a story about the "supposed end of the world this year" could be put in as well.

[Dante]

That's definitely a good idea. If nobody else writes it, I will.

[Christmas Chief]

A positive message seems appropriately conclusive. Meanwhile - and I realize it might be too early to ask - how will we be presenting the stories? We've discussed the collage, but will the stories also be presented as an image, given that some of the stories might be using images themselves?

[Dante]

While I don't want to pre-empt anything, and I haven't tested this yet, it did occur to me that the text could be transcribed onto the appropriate image using an image-editing program of your choice. Sort of like these things.

[csc]

That's a good idea. And I also agree that your secret message is the best.

[Christmas Chief]

Jan 15, 2012 9:28:54 GMT -5 Dante said:

While I don't want to pre-empt anything, and I haven't tested this yet, it did occur to me that the text could be transcribed onto the appropriate image using an image-editing program of your choice. Sort of like these things.

I have a number of "blank" ASOUE illustrations (chapter illustrations without the chapter title) that would suit that purpose well. We'd probably want to place them vertically on some sort of background, though, to be sure the stories wouldn't be scrambled over the e-mail journey (and to have them in one convenient file).

[Dante]

I'll give it a few days and see what other people think. In the meantime, we should all be dwelling on the possibility of doing some writing in the near future.

[BSam]

Perhaps, "happy birthday, we hope you can manage a smile today."

Positivish, in a snickety kinda way. ;D

[Dante]

I really like that one, too.

[allegedly bryan]

I like yours and tk's. Tk's is humorous, but still positive in a blunt sort of way. The only question I would have is how we would insert exclamation marks and spaces.

[Christmas Chief]

I think the spaces would operate the same way as, say, Morse Code. You can infer them from context. And it seems we're not counting the punctuation as one of the 42 characters, either, so it isn't as though a story would have to start with "!" - the excitement would have to be implied through the diction of the message.

[Dante]

Quite so. It's not dissimilar to Sebald Code, or nearly any code of this type; you have to infer punctuation from the context. Although I suppose there's nothing stopping you from starting a story with "Y!", addressing a person of that initial, for instance. Although that'd be heavily dependent on the story in question.

[csc]

-Tripping on your shoelaces
-Hitting your toe on the edge of the table

[ghostie]

Here's a message we could use:

WE HOPE THAT YOUR BIRTHDAY CAKE DOES NOT CATCH FIRE

Oh and here's a story, for the idea "crabs" that S suggested:

I was trudging through the sand and seaweed, not suspecting any trouble, when suddenly I felt a pinch--a sharp, quick pain on my left foot. I looked down just in time to see that sinister creature scuttle away. I detest crabs.

EDIT: Here's another, for "repetitive noises":

You tap, tap, tap your foot, without a care in the world, without realizing how annoying you are. As your shoe keeps hitting the tile floor, everyone grows increasingly on edge. But you, you just keep tapping away, off in another world.

[Dante]

Thanks for the contributions, Sophie Baudelaire! I think those are just what we're looking for, as an example of how forty-two words can tell a tale well or capture a moment.