Already it sounds quirky, doesn’t it?
Over in my blogroll there on the left side of the page, you can see a listing for Need Coffee, which is the headquarters of the sleep deprivation institute. I’ve been reading Need Coffee since back when I was in college, which makes it a good ten years, now; I used to love their DreamCasts features, wherein the contributors would name the ideal actors for various, ubergeeky movie projects (including The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, X-Men, and Good Omens: The Nyce and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Wytch).
Given that, I’m sure it must be one of the longest running blogs on the Internet, especially since I was reading it multiple years before the word ‘blog’ had ever been coined.
A man named John Robinson, known by the moniker Widgett Walls, is the administrator of the site. In addition to maintaining it, Widge/John (Widge is John’s pseudonym, or vice-versa. Whichever you prefer) has also published a novel and a short story collection.
Today, Widge posted a link to his latest project, Emily & Oscar, which, according to him, is meant for children, albeit not “normal” children.
So far, the site itself is a bit sparse, with just a single picture of the eponymous heroine and her eponymous octopus (well, and, of course: the text of the story), but it sounds like he plans to do quite a bit more with it. I hope he does, because in all honesty, what is there could be expanded to become the sort of strange amalgamation that would have occurred if Bill Watterson had grown up reading Lovecraft rather than Peanuts. I think it could go in quite a number of different, brilliant directions, and I, for one, am interested in seeing where it goes.
I thought you might be, too.
Plus, John would like people’s thoughts/reactions/comments. So if you follow the above links and have any, leave some for him.