|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- ARTICLE 1--INTRODUCTION TO ZOPE --------  ||  Zope  ||  Zope Almanac  ||  -------> (Cup ZPza001, Created v3 (10/3/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = I created Zope 13-and-a-half years ago in February 1986. Zope asked me once if he was as popular as Snoopy yet. I had to admit to him that he wasn't. But Zope is absolutely at the heart of Obliviana. He is to me as Mickey Mouse was to Walt Disney. Here, in the Zope section of Aerie Obliviana, I will be setting down all things Zope--history, thoughts, musings, archives of Zope comics, etc. I established Aerie Obliviana with a number of design protocols, and one big protocol is that it does not contain graphics of any sort. This was a tough decision to make, but it is absolutely vital to the success of Aerie. Unfortunately, the world of Zope is, at its core, a comic strip. So in Aerie, I won't be able to present any actual Zope comics. Text transcriptions will have to do. The graphical nature of Zope has also definitely had something to do with my "neglect" of Zope. I don't have much skill in the technical side of art. That is, my drawing ability is limited. For example, I've always had trouble drawing full body poses of characters in Zope, stuff like that. Also, to me, sitting down and writing is easy, but sitting down and drawing is quite a bit tougher. So I tend to procrastinate more when it comes to drawing Zope. In fact, I have written a number of "Text Zope" episodes, which are like Zope comics, except they're written instead of drawn. But this is ultimately untrue to the spirit of Zope; Zope is a comic strip at its heart. Right now, it's 9/30/99, and I am faily confident that Obliviana is poised to truly bloom and launch and become a reality in the next year. Up to now, Obliviana has been totally obscure, with only a few people being aware of it. But if all goes well, Obliviana could have a real audience in the not-too-distant future. And I very much want Zope to be a central part of Obliviana. I am considering several options for making Zope a big part of Obliviana. One idea, which is pretty mundane, is to have a daily or weekly Zope comic on the website. The problem with having JUST this is that Zope is just another piece of content, on par with Severe Repair or Superior. And I want Zope to be more than that. An idea that would make Zope more core to Obliviana is to make Zope the "host" of Obliviana, wherein he would be the "voice" of Obliviana. For example, in pages on the site that talk about Obliviana, it would be him talking, with pictures and/or comics of him. But I have to work on this idea some more. In any case, this period of time marks a transition for Zope, from what it was to what it will be. A note on semantics: "Zope" is a name of a character, but it is also the name of the Revolver in general. So when I refer to Zope as "it", it's Zope the Revolver and not Zope the character, eh? In Aerie here, I intend to record all of what Zope has been, as well as keeping up-to-date with the current state of Zope. So, foir example, if I do have weekly Zope comics, there will be text transcriptions of them here. I have to complete Aerie v3 in three days, so I'm only gonna be able to include a limited amount of Zope stuff in this version. But rest assured, more Zope stuff is to come! Zope rules! -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----