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"Now, a mere two weeks since we got it, my husband and I find ourselves completely hooked on Icehouse and the various games it's inspired. Within a week, we'd picked up two more Icehouse stashes, the gameboard bandana, and Playing with Pyramids (not to mention Aquarius). We like the games very much, and we also really like the LooneyLabs approach to things in general." -- Emily of Oakland, CA, in comments accompanying an order

Thursday, October 23rd, 2003
by the Writer's Guild of Wunderland

What's New?


What's Going On? too much perfume causes headaches

Last May, when we printed the Summer 2003 Promo Cards, we snuck three extra cards onto the card sheet while we were at it. Two of them (the Nuclear War reference card and the Time For Peace Card) were included on the Official Guide to Looney Labs Promo Cards which Andy created a few weeks ago. But the third card never went up on the site anyplace, since we decided we had not playtested it well enough yet.

Well, I playtested it this week. And although it was not a particularly successful playtest (in fact the whole experience was both unfortunate and unpleasant) it made me realize I want to start using these cards much more aggressively so we can find out if they work or not and redesign them if they don't.

Andy and Alison designed this card for me as a birthday present this year (Alison drew the art, and Andy wrote the rant) so we would have a way to help explain my perfume problem to strangers we meet in public - and since I get to write the web site this week (Andy is in Europe with Russell and Kory at the Essen Game Fair) I get to write about what's been on my mind this week.

As for the story of my playtest... Alison and I have been taking a pottery class at the local community center, and there is a woman who works at the front desk who's perfume has given me a migraine several times since the class started 4 weeks ago. It has always been at the very end of class, since she shows up to lock the door at 10 when the class is over, and we are often just finishing cleaning up.

This week, as we were walking down the hall just before class, this same woman was standing in the doorway to our classroom. So we turned into the classroom before, where they do all the glazing and hand building, to avoid her. She followed us into the room, and we moved to the back. She moved towards us to the middle of the room and we awkwardly tried to explain and ask her to let me get past her without getting near her. Ultimately she stormed out of the room exclaiming how rude we were.

I went after her and tried to explain. I said I wasn't being rude to her - but that I needed to stay away from her since her perfume gave me a really nasty migraine headache. (And yes, my head was pounding by this point.) But she just yelled at me. Told me I was rude. Told me I'd better well be out of there by 10 tonight. Alison went back to try to explain and she just left the room. We left her one of these perfume cards, but I'm not sure if she even read it.

We went home. We cried. But when I think about it, I realize that I was being extremely rude to her, by NOT telling her what the problem was much sooner. That first night when she came to lock up and I got a migraine from her perfume, I should have given her one of these cards right then. I didn't know I would see her again - but I could have guessed I might. I'm sure she could tell we were avoiding her - and without knowing why, she was clearly offended by the way we were treating her. Who knows, maybe she was just having a really bad day.

But is the text on this card any good? Would she have been just as offended that first night if we had given her one then and tried to explain it to her? I'm thinking maybe the card should say "It's not you, it's your perfume." I don't know. But I think I need to start using these cards more aggressively - before people get the chance to get a vibe from me that I'm avoiding them for some unknown reason. The problem, of course, is that either I can't get close enough to talk to someone about it - or my head is pounding while I'm trying to talk to them about it. Neither of which works very well. And people wonder why I don't go out much. Anyway, if anyone wants to help me playtest these cards - send me a SASE and I'll send you a few of them.

But while we are on the topic, I want to say thank you to everyone in my life who is careful not to wear perfume when you are around me. In particular to those close friends (and co-workers) who I am near on a regular basis who have changed their deodorant or shampoo or even their laundry detergent for me. Thank you (and again, I'm sorry) to friends who have sent their friends away without getting past the front foyer, when they showed up at our house with some sort of a scent on. And to other house guests who have been escorted immediately upstairs to take a shower and/or change into borrowed clothing. Thank you. Please know that I greatly appreciate the sacrifices that you make to accommodate this horrible handicap of mine.

And to the woman who works the front desk at the pottery studio. I'm sorry. Please forgive my rudeness - it's not you, it's your perfume. Would it have helped if I gave you this card 3 weeks ago, the first time we met, and tried to explain?


In other news...

Unlike a year and a half ago when our pet snake, Benji, refused to eat the local mice our little cat was catching for him, this week he has eagerly feasted on all three mice that Alison (with the help of little cat) has, thankfully, removed from our pantry.

And while she wasn't catching mice, Alison finished mortaring the pond this week! It has been such a rainy summer that we never managed to get back to work on it until this fall... but I am very excited to report that the pond in our back yard is now ready for water, fish, frogs, and landscaping!

Speaking of which, can frogs and fish coexist in a pond? I'm a little worried that the the fish (that Andy is looking forward to) might eat the tadpoles of the frogs (that I am looking forward to). At least they should all get along well with the flowers and shrubs that Alison is looking forward to... although the cold snap that hit our area yesterday means the landscaping will probably have to wait until the springtime.

   
Previous pond updates...

March 28, 2002

April 25, 2002

June 6, 2002


Don't Forget to Play!


the story so far

Thought Residue
The Space Race has a new competitor! China just sent their first man into space, and I've heard they want to go to the moon, by 2020! I wonder if watching Chinese explorers visit the moon will inspire us to finally go back there...

"America's drug warriors are shameless hypocrites who believe in one standard of justice for ordinary Americans and another for themselves, their families and their political allies. That alone should completely discredit them. But there's an even more disturbing possibility: that the people who are prosecuting the Drug War don't even believe in its central premise -- which is that public safety requires that drug users be jailed. The Bushes and Ashcrofts and McCaffreys of the world may believe, correctly, that individuals fighting a drug addiction deserve medical, not criminal treatment. That would explain why they're not demanding that Limbaugh be jailed. But if that's the case, these politicians have spent decades tearing apart American families for their own political gain. And that's an unforgivable crime." -- Joe Seehusen, "America owes talk host Rush Limbaugh a debt of gratitude, Libertarians say"
"BTW: I ordered a bag for my games with my first order last year, but Agents of the DEA decided to steal it when my car was unlawfully seized and searched without my knowledge or consent... luckily they didn't steal the hundred dollars worth of Looney Labs games which it contained :)" -- Andrew of Louisville, CO

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