Let's see how long I can keep this shit up until I give up...

The Whiskey Tango Foxtrot regarding ISM Alpha And Bravo
Stories at Seanchai Today
Storyfest 2012 call for participants... GET YOUR STORY ON!
Scale down your builds!
Writer's Dash - Old
Perspective... seeking balance
Yet another timesink posting as a social network...

(We're five techs down today, so the odds of me adding more are zero and fuckin' zero.)

Yes, I'm doing 100 word stories at 5PM SLT today.

So get your inventory windows and Tiny Empires HUDs ready!

Oh, and...

I finished cleaning up the Wacky Adventures Of Abraham Lincoln last night, so the next step is writing up the material I'll toss in between stories to explain where I got started with writing 100 word stories, how I got hooked on Abraham Lincoln, where some of the ideas came from, and where I'm going with the rest of these horrible things.

Sure, that'll be an exercise in itself, but I can ramble up all that crap pretty quickly at this rate. It's just conversing with myself and getting it down on the keyboard, which comes really fast most days.

That is, if we weren't FIVE TECHS DOWN today.

I didn't think I had any material for last night's Lauren thing, but when I got asked if I had anything, I'd had such a fucked-up day I just said whatever, sure, okay... and after some copy-paste action along with quick padding, I rambled up 7 minutes of crap from the @SecondLie feed.

As for the rest, well...

I guess that's how I got the Abe stuff done. (My inventory's already nicely sorted, eh)

Totally beside myself with joy over getting 2005 and Abe and Mustard Man cleaned up... just gotta get those rambles rambled, along with the essay on Just Fucking Google It.

How about we add Tequila Krovac and her writing today.

Met her at Blue Angel on Sunday nights, she does some stuff with the 1920 Berlin sim... the poetry makes for a nice break in the SIM DEATHWATCH and other garbage people hurl at each other.

(I'll probably add Jami Titanium and her writing tomorrow... I keep trying to organize these, and then I go all CRAZY IVAN and toss up a suckup link or two. Oh well.)

Just saw that my old-old station got hit by a reduction in force.

Lots of good people getting the axe, which makes me wonder which of the barnacle crew that's still there after 18 years is still clinging on through dirt and sheer will.

Way back then, there was another RIF that gutted 12 fulltimers and some parttimers, and I put it on the very fresh and new website... the first website of any television station in the world... and the communications director wanted it taken off and the site shut down because it should be run by Marketing/Communications, not IT.

Never mind that the RIF was sent as a press release.

"If you sent it as a press release out to the world, what's wrong with putting it out on a website?"

They never did have a good answer. Just marketing-PR babble.

Oh, sure, I understand about Marketing/Communications running a communications tool, managing the message.

But on another level, a supposedly public resource using public spectrum with public education money that regularly spews begging messages of "We're YOUR station... you're members!" should be as transparent as fucking glass.

Ah, when did the cynicism win out over that young hell-raising optimist?

"We'll never take membership pledges over this thing," said the fossil of a membership manager.

She's still there, I bet. Probably boldly tacking into the rocks with every new opportunity to miss.

I suppose I should thank them for the early lesson in corporate bullshit speak... and learning when to stand up to volcanoes of hypocrisy.

Oh well. When the station manager Wisconsin Dough Boy shitcanned the way-before-its-time Computer Workshop Live and the marketing morons freaked out over Compaq's interest in the place, I should have learned then to get a real fucking job in a real industry.

*sigh* Just another goddamned talkshow... and then history repeated itself elsewhere with Duncanville.

Whatever, man. Whatever.

Hostile? Takes one to know one, Thirza.

COME JOIN ME IN MY HOT TUB FULL OF KETCHUP, MY EXODUS-LOVING SWEET MOMMA BABY! DIVE RIGHT IN!

(hah)

That's it for this morning.

Just in case there's anything left in the back of my head...

Do I have to spell it out?

I stand corrected... SIX technicians.

Man, we're fucked.

(Hits the security audits queue hard)

Seven. And here I was, thinking the protest sickout was NEXT week.

Go figure.

Let's see how long I can keep this shit up until I give up...

Check Chestnut's comments... priceless!
Doc finds some pretty stuff
Hungerstriker Khader Adnan is a terrorist, not a baker.
Good Flick of the Day
Seanchai Library's story tonight
How Not To Be Seen
A Mighty Wind!
Writer's Dash: Midnight
Jeff Hite is not an SL-er, but he does writing and podcasting, and he's been a part of Weekly Challenge on and off. His stories are really good, so check him and World Builders Unlimited and Flying Island Press out, eh.
A call for help

Got enough?

Good! CLASS DISMISSED!

(I'll add more during the day... unless I get busy with other shit like, um, work?)

The NW Edloe Art Walk is looking cool... everybody's pulling their favorites out of their inventories and dusting them off.

Check it out at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Edloe/20/219/23.

(Do not lick the art.)

Today's blogroll addition is Living La Vita Segunda by Melissa Y.

I could make a cheap joke about "two good reasons to read this blog" but, actually, that's a part of the appeal.

Not in and of themselves, but someone who is different through extreme expression, yet just like everybody else.

The sense of belonging and wonder are the same.

(What makes YOU different that doesn't really make you different?)

While listening to Klannex and Leslye yesterday, I got through all the 2005 stories worth cleaning up last night, although I'm not quite happy about the tags I'm using. (I think I need Vampire and Alice and a few others.... but then I'll end up going overboard on tags again.)

Also started reading through Amazon's Kindle licensing and formatting and stuff.

I think I'll focus on getting The Wacky Adventures Of Abraham Lincoln cleaned up for the first book... 99 cents for 100 really goofy Abe vignettes seems fair to me.

(And then do 2006. And 2007. And 2008. And 2009. And 2010. And 2011. And 2012. And 2013. Ugh.)

Ahem... hands off my pants!

Paws are fine, though.

Myst has no boundaries... she goes where she wants to. (She was being a pest on the counter this morning, and I had to grab and hug her for a bit to convince her not to be a pest kitty.)

As for the cats in the park:

Tortie's okay.

(Time for work.)

You know, like Indigo does with G+ linking a bunch of sites, except without all that Hamlet pap.

Here we go:

Marx Dudek smacking "Businessman" Prokofy
Tatero Nino smacking Haters Gotta Hate
Ari K. smacking... golly, who could that be?

Writer's Dash: Cave Dweller

I'll add to this over the course of the day. Unless I don't. (I should do a Pinterest pin set or something.)

Heck, I might just teach a course from it: "Get The Fuck Off Of My Stupid Blog And Go Somewhere Else 101"

Pffft. Fuck it. You get an A.

Class dismissed!

Ever have one of these wake you up at 4 in the morning because he wants to snuggle up against his mommy but keeps kicking you in the face?

Yeah. Gotta love it.

(Bastard)

At least I got to sleep around 10 so I could afford to wake up at 4, eh.

(I'll nap at lunch as usual.)

Didn't get much writing or cleaning up of the archives this weekend done, although that Saturday session at Blue Angel was amazing... Perse and Leslye and Queen and Stosh turned it into something cool, and I'm waiting for Mithrilweaver to do a read of it sometime.

But if I keep up the 2-3 a day pace, I should have enough to read for Wednesday for people to sort their inventories to. (And more to chop up on a Saturday session.)

I really want to keep up the pace with the archive tagging and wordcount and cleanup because once it's done, I can move on to the next stage of pretending to be an author and storyteller and reader and such.

Today's addition to the blogroll is Lizzie Gudkov, a relatively new addition to my reads.

We crossed paths with the 100 word stories weekly challenge, and she's been posting her stories on this relatively new site along with thoughts and commentary here and there.

Also, she's got a separate store blog in case you're interested (check her SL profile URL, picks for the location SLURL.)

It's one thing to have good taste in art, but it's another to have good-tasting babies in art.

Yummy.

(Tomorrow, we go large. Very large.)

While exploring her castle, I came across a clock table.

Checked the creator, browsed the picks, and...

Voila! Vernian Sea!

Very cool.

(Amazing what you find when you just object and profile surf.)

Even though the guns kept giving me a pounding headache, I peeked in on a poor defenseless eviscerated robot... and stole a few gears to munch on.

I said hello to the cop that patrols the park in the morning, laid down the treats, and saw Orangeboy coming up over a new grating on the gate to the equipment shed under the bridge.

Orangeboy, baby panther, and stripey got treats.

No sign of Tortie. She's usually the first to run up to me and do mad little circles and backpedals waiting for the food.

(I hope she's okay.)

I'm glad that Rusty saved all his announcements and bundled them up, put them together for reads, because they're a cool example of microfiction... a story arc... a thread which we slide along.

The places may change, the faces may have a hard time rendering, but the spirit's the same.

Speaking of spirit... how about the podcast?

100 Word Stories Weekly Challenge #304

This week's 100 Word Stories Weekly Challenge offers up stories from SL's Jessi Firethorn, Tura Brezoianu, Zak

Claxton, Botgirl Questi, Buttermilk Panacek, Jeff Hema, Bonchance Longfall, Lizzie Gudkov, Bluesmoke Hextall,

TalkWithMarie/RedGoddess, Uriel Wheeler, Danny Dwyer, NorvalJoe Parkin, and Crap Mariner... among others.

You can listen via the website: http://podcasting.isfullofcrap.com/

Next week's challenge is "The Meaning Of Life."

Thanks,
-ls/cm

I rambled a bit much, but that's because Nardo was chatty and I let him get a few words in. (That orange jerk will NEVER shut up!)

I'm surprised I woke up in time for Plunder on Saturday morning... was a bit rough getting started yesterday.

(I love Derender in Exodus Viewer!)

Piper Point's going to have a bit of shifting around for a bit... Carrie and Taralyn are doing a bit of that old Parcel Slide.

It'll be neat to see what they come up with.

Today's blogroll addition is the artist Miso Susonowa.

Sure, she does most of her interacting with folks on Twitter these days (which I guess I do myself, eh.), but she'll collect up the longer threads and hashtags or the thoughts too big for the Tweetstream into her blog.

She's heavy into this Anonymous/OWS thing, so you'll get a take from her perspective on it.

Yeah, some might think of her as a rabble-rouser, but I think her intentions are good... maybe a bit out of frustration from various things out there which don't make sense.

It's good to see that I'm not alone in being confused and a bit worried by it all... or am I?

Checking the forecast to see if it's safe to do my To The Best Of Our Knowledge hike today.

Nardo and Myst are out here on the sofa with me... they don't want me to go...

Oh well. They'll be here when I get back, right?

SUNDAY

It will come as a shock to many that I'm going to add Thirza Ember's SL Art Parks site to the blogroll today.

In addition to letting people who when "traditional" Second Life artists like Wizzy and Soror and Miso have gallery openings, she's also an inspiration for the occasional 100 word story:

Lemons and Tomatoes

The optimist takes the lemons that life hands him to make lemonade.

But when the artist has tomatoes thrown at him for his art, there are so many more options.

There’s a rich tomato bisque on the back burner there... smell that... it’s good, yes?

I made a bottle of ketchup the other day that’s thicker and richer than any store-brand ketchup you can buy.

What else is there on my stove? Oh, that’s a spaghetti sauce.

Here. Taste it. Try it.

A little more salt?

Let me take some out of this wound they tried to rub it in.

So, should her gig as a roving, raving critic ever come to a close, she can find comfort in being one of my many inspirations and muses.

With deepest affection, you go on the list.

Well done.

(Tomorrow's addition? Probably some store... maybe Soror and Wizzy themselves... maybe I need to get Soror, Wizzy, and Miso there in a 1-2-3 combo... how about that?)

MONDAY

Now that we've experienced the bitterness of a frustrated artist posting as an art critic, let us move on to the delight that is a friendly and supportive one: Nazz Lane.

Nazz gives a rundown of events coming to the grid, whether it be gallery openings or performances.

It's a good curation of quality events, so you don't have to pick through the scattershot Events list full of bikini contests and Best In Hats dances.

(Tomorrow I'll get to that trio of artists. Promise. Cross my heart and hope my enemies die.)

TUESDAY

Today's blogroll addition is... Marianne McCann.

Whether she's giving advice or tips, posting an update about her latest event, or just sharing a few snapshots... ah, childhood?

Just because we laugh at the Lab for their mistakes, it doesn't mean it's all we do, right?

Life is meant to be lived.

(I swear I'll get to the Hansen Brothers of Art soon... okay? OLD TIME HOCKEY! BOBBY SCHORR!)

WEDNESDAY

Today's blogroll addition is artist Soror Nishi.

Soror has been a strong critic of Linden Lab's policies and handling of art, education, and other stability issues while supporting alternative grids and platforms.

Also, there's quite a bit of Soror's RL artwork on the blog in case you're curious what they're up to.

They do cool things with non-pixels stuff too.

(Hopefully I'll get Wizzy and Miso in tomorrow and Friday to complete the trifecta.

THURSDAY

Blogroll? Yeah, let's keep going.

Wizard Gynoid does a lot of mathematical and geometrical builds which resemble art... or are they art that resembles geometrical and mathematical builds?

The language through which God speaks to the universe is mathetmatics, after all... so could someone who builds within the world based on the principles of mathematics be considered a prophet?

Let us turn our slide rules to pi and pray...

FRIDAY

Okay, so... how about that Blogroll deal, right?

Let's see... who do I add today?

Let's go with Gracie Kendall, who's been more marketing and sales than art as of late, but still does a bit of expression and comic smirking now and then. (The Valentine's Day post was a hoot.) And she's got a history of discussing identity, roles, and other issues in this avatar age.

As for 1,000 Avatars and the books, is it art or is a collection of the art of others, or is it a collection of the collage-assembly efforts of others using yet another someone's art?

Something to ponder in this copy-paste world, I suppose.

(I know. You were expecting Miso. Heh. Gotcha. She'll arrive eventually.)

SATURDAY

Put on your blogroll adding shoes, folks, and let's dance a bit with Yordie Sands.

She's got another of those personal, slice-of-second life sites there, a bit of shopping and travel tips on places to go.

All in all, a good peek into what other folks are up to.

(I'll post the roundup in a bit.)

Suggestions for blogs are welcome. My Google Docs Spreadsheet has a lot of room to fill, and my Google Reader is wanting the material.

I'm not talking about churches or synagogues or mosques or shrines or that kind of religious bunk.

I'm talking about places that people put so much love and dedication and detail into, so much of their lives, that they take on something beyond the pixels and the textures and the scripts and the trees and the tier.

Well, almost the tier.

While the Lab's been spewing announcements about pathfiding, speculative fiction products, blogging for free, and other nonsense, the price for sims has remained oppressively high for the arts and music, and after years of struggling, the annoying SIM DEATHWATCH posts at Hamlet's keep coming.

Circe Broom's Laurel Arts Isle has been a Mecca for music and poetry and performance for years (well, more than a Mecca, since she allows everyone to partake in the events there and not just "the faithful" beheading the infidels who trespass).

The heydey and easy years of corporate sponsors are gone, and the wave has left many gasping and flopping on the shore, but some made up the difference with their own funds to try... try to keep on... contributions from others who cares as much.

But in the end, the numbers finally get too much, and I'm sorry Mr. Jones, it's time.

The past few weeks have been a series of final performances, goodbyes, and memories. Last night, Kaklick Martin (Bryan Baker) was the last to perform on The Luxor Stage...

No, I'm no oldbie, but to me this place was one of the originals: Laurel Arts... Old Salt's... HIPS... Soho... Lingmell... Lily Pad...

Yeah, the dancefloor had alphas and messed with the invisiprims in heels, but hey... just shoot from the knees up or get the performer on stage, the world's not perfect, right?

It's about the music. It's about the people.

Of course he went long... usually does, a few more songs inspired by Second Life and this place, and one special person...

One less private sim squeezed dry to pay for stuff like this pathfinding crap that nobody really needs or will probably use instead of making the experience affordable and sustainable while promoting the struggling independent microcommunities of arts by the customers.

I've heard boats describes as holes in the ocean that people pour money into.

Second Life islands don't just take the money... but the love... and the soul, too.

And that which was once holy... gone.

Sure, I know that there's private efforts like Art Screamer and Thinker's Cookie and Tornado Gallery, or event little art walks and galleries here and there... those that will continue because those folks can manage to keep them going, and that's great.

But how much more could there be... how many more could find new ways to express themselves in ways their outside lives cannot afford, allow or even discover?

Is there a formula? An equation?

Is there more profit and less expense with overpriced, underpowered resold server space than a service growing and thriving and expanding and evolving?

It's bumming me out, man.

Put on your blogroll adding shoes, folks, and let's dance a bit with Yordie Sands.

She's got another of those personal, slice-of-second life sites there, a bit of shopping and travel tips on places to go.

All in all, a good peek into what other folks are up to.

(I'll post the roundup in a bit.)

Rainy day... gotta plan out when I can get some walking (and walking away) shoehorned into the day.

I'll shut up now.

You know, I remember at SLCC when Rod said "I won't talk about pathfinding or speculative fiction engines" and people got all pissed off and were demanding them louder and louder and...

Okay, okay... let's be serious here.

Having intelligent pathfinding NPCs or objects is a cool idea, giving developers the power to create engaging environments. If it's a more efficient procedure than tour systems and physical objects, it could save a lot on lag. But I worry it will just cause more as homeowners put out their one or two pets, everyone on the sim has one, and you're now having problems setting your own path to follow.

And there's also the fact that NPCs don't pay tier. Fill a grid with all the pathfiding NPCs and other creatures you want, but their prim wallets aren't going to have much in them other than scripts.

Then there's the possibility of speculative fiction interaction engines allow for vibrant conversation-based learning and storytelling on the grid. (It would certainly be useful if they plugged one end into the Jira and current support issues and the other end into Support Chat... and more useful than the current chat support which usually tells you to file a ticket.)

That's nice, but aren't there plenty of storytellers and poets and roleplayers out there... people playing elves and vampires and steampunkers and other roles that... well... also have trouble paying tier and are downsizing and moving to other grids. Replacing them with intelligent NPC engines doesn't pay the bills.

The problem is, with any new doo-dad or gadget or neat toy, you've got to have property to rez it on and people willing to pay for that land.

A lot of corporations came in with the hype, spent a lot of money, got a lot of fancy empty monuments and tombs with little or no social engagement or community buy-in, and left.

Repeat after me: They ain't comin' back.

Most of the development companies who rooked those corporations and organizations left for greener pastures (or went back to making cappuccinos at Starbucks) when the money was gone.

Repeat after me: They ain't comin' back.

Educational institutions came in, some of them made some great progress with distance immersive learning, but in the end most of those institutions have bailed with the elimination of the educational discount and the cheapness/control over roll-your-own OpenSim and sim-on-a-stick options.

Repeat after me: They ain't comin' back.

And individuals who are bold and pioneering enough to try to create engaging environments and experiences on their own end up like Ina Centaur, tangled up in sim costs and fumbled support/billing issues and other Lab mistakes.

Repeat after me: They're tryin' to come back, but the boneheads in billing can't figure out how to fix their damn accounts, so they ain't comin' back.

So, really, who are they developing these technologies for? Who's left?

I dunno, man. (Notice how I cleaned up my "shit if I know." catchphrase there. See, I can be all clean-talkin' and shit, right? Wha... Mom? Put that soap down... put that... GWAAAGGHHHHHHHH! PUH! PUH! PUH! Dammit.)

Folks are screaming that the cash cow's being squeezed harder and harder, and they're hanging an expensive hands-free talking GPS off of its collar.

Anyway, add this to the stack of reactions from various bloggers, pundits, blowhards, jackasses, addicts, and freakjobs... and then pour on the lighter fluid generously.

TOSS ON A MATCH!

*FOOM*

Now that the bums and junkies and occupy Jerks are gone, stripey has returned to the park.

I've seen orangeboy, tortie, one baby panther, and now stripey.

I hope the other baby panther is okay.

As for our baby panthers:

They love to hang out with their mommy when she's reading.

Nardo, on the other hand, has been sleeping on a pillow on the bed...

With a towel under him because he's got issues.

Zak was most happy and fun in his show yesterday.

And you know what else is fun?

KETCHUP!

I'm a Heinz kinda guy, but I'm willing to check out other ketchups.

Let's see... who do I add today?

Let's go with Gracie Kendall, who's been more marketing and sales than art as of late, but still does a bit of expression and comic smirking now and then. (The Valentine's Day post was a hoot.) And she's got a history of discussing identity, roles, and other issues in this avatar age.

As for 1,000 Avatars and the books, is it art or is a collection of the art of others, or is it a collection of the collage-assembly efforts of others using yet another someone's art?

Something to ponder in this copy-paste world, I suppose.

(I know. You were expecting Miso. Heh. Gotcha. She'll arrive eventually.)

Despite getting close to my goal in June last year, a lot of shit's been piling up on my plate since then.

I wrote up a list and looked it over. Then looked at the empty bag of Famous Amos on my desk.

Erp. Damn. No wonder why I'm a wreck.

Welcome back, Winter Whale Effect.

Yesterday, I got hit with a glancing blow health-wise, the result of undercooked eggs in a soup and hot sauce in the fat-free ranch dressing I use to dip carrots in... that and egg-based kolaches *always* get me.

Gurk. Blech. Ugh.

I'm telling myself "If I can get my shit straight once, I can do it again and make it stick."

It's going to be a lot harder this time around, but I have no choice.

The weather's good. Gotta do the walks. Especially during lunch... no more naps, despite being exhausted.

Gotta get the situps back. Weekend hikes. Plenty of podcasts to listen to and lose myself in, man.

I know what bullshit I pull on myself, and it's a matter of being my own worst enemy in a good way again.

Of course, if I do die, I can take a break from the writing. (And cleanup. Finished cleaning up July 2005 yesterday... or was it August?)

Although the podcast will continue Monday through Saturday until the middle of June next year.

(You'll need to sort your inventories and do your Tiny Empires huds on Wednesdays without me.)

Thank you, Rez Magazine.

Feel free to use whatever of my garbage does best in the compost-heap behind the headquarters.

I'm talking about Zak. I really want to check out Zak's Happy Fun Show tonight at 6PM SLT.

He is promising music and silliness, of which I believe he has ample supplies.

With Circe's going down soon, yeah, a little mirth can dull the grumpiness.

Once the inventories were sorted, huds were put away, and stories were done...

Had to do a bit of scrubbing and cleanup at home.

And a lot of sitting on the floor, and watching... listening...

Is it time?

Tell me.

No.

While Nardo sleeps on the bed, worn out but still looking up and thumping his ragged tail, I'm petting Myst in the dark.

Every day... every night... I wonder if it's time?

It's wearing me down, and I feel guilty for hoping he just goes in his sleep.

Gathering up the list for Piper Point.

We'll see how it turns out in a week or two.

Writer's Block Hunt has started, and...

Didn't send in a clue or make a gift for it. Dropped out.

The Heart-Shaped World gift has my mind locked for the moment, didn't think of anything beyond that for the hunt.

Maybe a slideshow shadowbox in the future, but for now, not into it.

Just not in the mood right now. Too many things clogging up my head. And there's enough newbies as it is wandering around the park at weird times.

Instead of bringing folks in to enjoy the stories, the Destination Guide entry attracts newbies and fashion models into the area for the park.

Hrm.

(Perhaps it's time to plant a few land mines?)

Blogroll? Yeah, let's keep going.

Wizard Gynoid does a lot of mathematical and geometrical builds which resemble art... or are they art that resembles geometrical and mathematical builds?

The language through which God speaks to the universe is mathetmatics, after all... so could someone who builds within the world based on the principles of mathematics be considered a prophet?

Let us turn our slide rules to pi and pray...

TOPIC THURSDAY: What shouldn't I write a story about?

(I've already written one for today, and I really need to get July 2005 cleaned up tonight to keep on pace for this wordcounting and tagging project.)

Time for work...

Tortie, one baby panther, and orange boy came out for treats. The baby panther hissed when I got too close with the camera.

I wonder where the other baby panther and the stripey went.

And then I get a note... Fricker Fraker's scaling a few things back, and he's let me know that he's going to be departing SE Piper Point soon.

So once again, the numbers for the open parcel:

• 1666 prims
• 72/72 footprint (But pretty spillover into the Ravine is ok)
• Estate/Region Manager
• Terraforming
• Try to keep within the overall feel/theme of the island

If you're curious or interested (heck, why not both?), drop me a line at isfullofcrap (at) gmail.com or IM in-world to Crap Mariner.

We'll do the usual buildup of a list, discuss amongst the locals, pull pigtails, and then toss darts at a wall.

If you're looking for a nice residential spot, then yes... this corner is adjacent to excellent landscaping, good view of water to South, strange lights in sky to East with Marie's fireworks thingies that you can trip out to.

If you're looking for a location to put a music venue, odds are this will not be an optimal place. There's already The Lonely Yak, Idella's pavilion, and Industrial Grind within stone's throwing distance.

If you're looking for a place to put a store... hrm... depends on the type of store, but I think locals are hoping for residential/park style theme to continue.