In an Act of Self-Interest

[SpamKey]

So, before I start off, I'm going to say that this is going to be a varying style; I'll be using this thread to experiment with various styles of writing for different fics. There'll be quickies, long ones, less descriptions, spelled out sneezes, non-spelled out... Et cetera. But I should also war you; this will be purely fanservice, and will in no way, shape, or form focus on plot. Pure. Fanservice. Hoo-flipping-rah.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

---

Zoe Ashland sneezed again.

She moaned and pulled out her handkerchief; a quick blow was all she managed before sneezing again. And again. And once again.

"Hitchuh! HahaHITchuh! HahahahaHITCHUH!"

Another moan, a longer, wetter blow, and she removed the handkerchief from her reddened, streaming nose. The pollen was insane that day; as it had the day before, and before, and before, and as it would be for a while yet. Zoe hated, hated, hated spring! She was allergic to anything that photosynthesized, had fur, or collected on flat surfaces, had the worst immune system on the face of the planet, and was even a photic sneezer! You name it; Zoe probably sneezed because of it.

"Hitchuh! Hitchah! HetCHUH!" She sneezed again, desperate and spraying. She sniffed deeply and gurglingly, earning a few glares from people also waiting for the bus. She ignored them. At twenty-two, she was plenty used to looks like those by now.

"Hah-ah-ahahAH-hitchuh!" She sneezed again, snot spraying from her nose into the already dampening handkerchief. She blew; even more runny fluid flooded the cloth. A wet sniffle completed the process, and already, Zoe could feel her nose getting itchy again.

A throat clear to her right caused Zoe to glance over; a young man was standing there. "Got a cold?" He asked, his voice sympathetic. Zoe stared.

He was... Oh, god. Not hot, not even handsome, no. He was beautiful. Perfect hair that she would later not recall the color or style of, smooth skin that seemed to have no memorable hue, a perfect smile that she could not remember the shape of. But beautiful of all were his eyes; a veritable rainbow of hypnotic colors, swirling in a beautiful manner. Perfection. The man was perfection.

"U-umb..." Zoe forced herself to answer, wincing at her stuffed-up voice. "N-ndo, justd allergies." Her nose decided that moment was the best moment to demonstrate. "Huh-hetchoo!" She sneezed wetly, just remembering in time to bring up the handkerchief. She glanced up hesitantly, worrying the man would be disgusted, but he merely smiled and laughed a beautiful laugh.

"You must be quite allergic." He said, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, yeah, umb, justd aboutd everything m-mbakes m-mbe-hetchuh! Ah, sndeeze." Zoe said, rambling, but unable to do a thing about it. Those hypnotic eyes just willed her to speak. "B-butd I catch cold real ea-ha... Easy--HETcheh! Ugh, real easy tdoo." She finally allowed herself to blow her increasingly messy nose. The man smiled.

"Well, then, good luck with that." He said as the bus pulled up. Zoe looked up in dismay to see it was hers. "See you around, Zoe Ashland."

Zoe was too distracted to wonder how the man knew her name. Once the bus pulled away, the man tapped an earpiece.

"Mr. Shehua? I think I've found the perfect candidate."

---

Okay, seriously, this is the last bit of storyline, basically. You get no elaboration, nothing, really. Unless I feel like it. Muahahahahaha!

...Really, though, you're going to get nothing but shameless character torment.

[VoOs]

you're going to get nothing but shameless character torment

That is quite fine with me.

Yup. Very hot stuff, this. Thank you for sharing!

[Paul]

Feel free to do what you like, it's your story I do like that others are noticing her spray, although they don't seem to like it much.

[PetalPunk]

no! I must know what happens! What does this man want with her? and how does he know her without Zoe introducing herself.

I really like it, though my sister is named Zoe (spelled the same way too) so reading this as Zoe as the first word.. kind of turned me off for a second, but your great writing made me get over it. Can't wait for more!

[SpamKey]

no! I must know what happens! What does this man want with her? and how does he know her without Zoe introducing herself.

I really like it, though my sister is named Zoe (spelled the same way too) so reading this as Zoe as the first word.. kind of turned me off for a second, but your great writing made me get over it. Can't wait for more!

Whoops! Sorry about that! After trying so hard to find a name that I didn't know personally...

Aaaanyway, since I have nothing better to do (coughinsomniacough) I guess I'll continue. Enjoy!

---

Zoe woke up, and immediately wished she hadn't.

"HETCHUH!" A powerful, spraying sneeze was the first sound out of her mouth (nose?), and it was followed by several more. After five sneezes, she managed to open her eyes. Her first thought upon doing so was 'Why are there so many plants?"

Her second: "Where the hell am I?"

Before succumbing to another fit of sneezes ("HETchuh! Snnnnf... Hatchuh! Hetcheh! HetCHAH! Snnf... Ah-hah-hahahahaHATCHUH!") she registered a rustic, cabin-like room that was mostly bare; just the bed and a small table with a box of tissues on it. Out a window (open, but with wire mesh blocking it) stood trees of all sorts, all tinged yellow by a coat of pollen. The field the trees stood in was freshly mowed, flowerbeds scattered about it, tufts of ragweed, and even inside, there were hanging pots of pollen-rich, dangling flowers.

It was allergy hell. Somehow, someway, Zoe was in allergy hell.

"Haaah-hatchuh!" She sneezed sporadically, desperate sneeze after desperate sneeze, her nose flooding with snot in a desperate attempt to rid itself of the pollen it registered as a harmful body. "Hatcheh! HETCHUH! Snnnf... Hah... Snf-hah... Hetchuh!" In a quick bid to get as far away from the allergens as possible, Zoe got up, and made her way half-blind from her siezing nose to a door she had spotted in the opposite wall. This lead to a sparse bathroom, she realized after her sneezes slowed down slightly. She looked at herself in the mirror between sneezes.

Her long, auburn hair was in a messy ponytail, her freckled face was splotchy with allergic tears, her button nose was red and dripping, her green eyes bloodshot and watery. As she watched, her face slackened whilst her nose twitched and quivered, the flood of snot redoubling its efforts as her breaths began to hitch.

"Hah... Snf-snf-hah..." Her sizeable breast shook beneath a simple white nightgown (how had she gotten into this?) as her chest jerked with each shuddering, desperate breath. "Hah-haaAAah... Heh-heh... Snnnnf-hah... Hah-hah-haha-hetchuh! Hah-HETchuh! Snnnf... Hahah-ATCHUH! Snnnnnnf.... Ugh.." She grabbed a tissue out of a box on the counter and blew her nose several times, once splitting the tissue with a sudden sneeze and ending up with mess all over her hands. In the relative sanctuary of the bathroom, she thought about her situation.

"Where the hell amb I?" She muttered, not really expecting an answer. Thus, it came as a complete surprise when a voice answered.

"You are in a perfect sneeze environment." Zoe screamed as the voice, a man's with a slight Chinese accent, came from seemingly nowhere. "I have taken you here to offer you a deal."

"Wh-whatd deal? Where are you?" Zoe asked, whirling around, looking for a speaker or something. The voice chuckled.

"I am Mr. Shehua. And the deal is as follows," The man, Mr. Shehua, continued. "Once a month, you come here for however long I like--never longer than a week--to be subjected to certain conditions designed to make you sneeze, in one way or another. For the purpose of my entertainment."

"Hell ndo--hetchuh!" Zoe yelled. Mr. Shehua tutted.

"You will change your tune once you hear your end of the deal." He said chidingly. "In return, I offer you one million dollars after each session."

Zoe froze, certain she hadn't heard right. "A mbillion?" She asked.

"One million. To be deposited directly into your bank account. No muss, no fuss." Mr. Shehua confirmed. Zoe paused, considering.

On one hand, she would be miserable and sneezy for upwards of a week each month. On the other... She was set for life.

"Alrightd." Zoe said cautiously. "I'll d-do hah... Itd--hetchuh!" Mr. Shehua chucked.

"I thought as much." He said. "Now, if you'd kindly step back into the main room...?"

Zoe sighed, sniffled wetly, and oblidged.

---

Heheheheheheheheh. I am evil!

[ValkyriePleasant]

Evil? No. Brilliant? YES.

[Sneezermissy]

I love this. I think what you have so far is so entertaining and amazing.

[PetalPunk]

WTF WTF WTF did I just read? Is this even legal?!?! OMG! that was just GAH!! so much sneezing! I think she's going to die from all that sneezing! Holy bejeezus!

[SpamKey]

WTF WTF WTF did I just read? Is this even legal?!?! OMG! that was just GAH!! so much sneezing! I think she's going to die from all that sneezing! Holy bejeezus!

In the literal sense... Probably pretty dang illegal.

WARNING!!!! MALE SNEEZES AHEAD!!!! (But don't worry, it'll lead to some great Zoe ones next time! )

---

Zoe spent one day in the so-called "perfect allergy environment". It was an absolute nightmare, and her normal allergies were aggravated because of it, but Zoe quit her crappy job and moved into an apartment in the better end of town, so she convinced herself it was worth it.

True to his word, precisely one month later Zoe woke up on a bench in some strange train station with Mr. Shehua's voice sounding in her ear.

"Alright, my pet." His accented voice came from an earpiece. Zoe decided against asking how she'd gotten here, because she really didn't want to know. "On the train directly ahead of you, boarding right now--you have a ticket, do not worry--you will find exactly one empty seat. Take it. Ride the bus to the end of the line. Do not switch seats."

"Okie-dokie." Zoe muttered sarcastically. Judging from her experience last month, Mr. Shehua would likely not speak to her again, so she removed the earpiece and put it in her pocket. She boarded the train, gave the conductor her ticket, and walked along the cars, searching for an empty seat. She frowned, confused, when she found it.

The seats were two-person booths, each person facing the other in relatively close proximity. Across from the one empty seat was a perfectly normal-looking man (relatively attractive), in a business suit, flicking through his phone. Shrugging, Zoe took the seat. The man glanced up, nodded and smiled, then looked back down before Zoe could do more than smile back.

The train ride, Zoe realized, would be twelve hours long. Zoe moaned, and searched her pockets. Surprisingly, she found a fully-charged tablet in the large inner pocket of her jacket, with a sticky note saying "You're welcome" on it. She found numerous games and a full-time satellite uplink on it. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad...

About half an hour in, Zoe became suspicious as to why she had been placed near the man. He began sniffling--slow at first, but quickly rising in frequency and relative snottiness. After an hour, he pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose with a long, wet gurgle. Another fifteen minutes, and he sneezed.

"Hakchuh!" He sneezed, strong and extremely messy, spraying in all directions, but particularly towards Zoe. He snorfled deeply at the mess left beneath his nose, and raised his handkerchief to catch the next one; "Hekchah!" He blew his nose again, long and gurgling.

His next words confirmed Zoe's suspicion. "Sdorry. I thikg I'mb catchig ah... Ah-hah-snff... C-co--hetchuh!" He barely raised the handkerchief this time. Zoe felt a slight bit of revulsion, but felt she was in no place to judge; she spent most of the year doing the very same thing, either sick or allergic.

"Cold, huh?" Zoe muttered as he cleaned himself up. "That sucks."

"Yeah..." The man said vaguely, snorfling into the handkerchief. Zoe sighed, looking back down at her tablet. She supposed that this time Mr. Shehua expected her to get sick. That wouldn't be too hard. The first sniffle would have probably done it for her, at the rate she caught colds...

The man's cold got worse as time went on; a surprisingly short amount of time. After half an hour, he transitioned from singles to stringer triples ("hetcheh!.... HetCHUH!... HEKshuh!..."). His blows got messier, and pretty soon his hankerchief was too soaked to be of any use beyond half-blocking his sneezes, so me merely snorted and snorfled constantly, just managing to keep the flow above his lip. Zoe found herself sympathetic rather than repulsed; she could relate at least five times a year.

People on the bus started staring, especially after the fits started. "Huh... Ahh... Snnf-ah-HEKSHUH-HEKSHOO! Snf-ah-HA--HEKCHOO! Snffffff--ah-snf-ah-HAHAHAHAKSHOO! Ugh... G-god--HETCHUH! Dammbitd--HEKSHUH! Hah.... Ah-hahahaHAHAKSHOO! EtchetchetchETCHOO! Hah-ah-ha-snf-ha-HEKCHOO!" Huge, splashing, spraying, snotty fits that lasted anywhere from ten to fifteen sneezes, each with their own sniffly, snorfly, desperate, hitching buildup. His handkerchief was soaked to the dripping point, and actually left behind more of the runny, germ-laden snot than it picked up, and was next to useless in blocking the contagious spray. Zoe winced slightly at each of these messy, germy fits, sometimes even physically feeling the spray on her. Poor guy...

The man was obviously miserable-shivering, pale face, bright red, dripping nose, watery eyes, hair and suit rumpled--yet he apologized profusely before his face would inevitably slacken, his nose twitching and seizing and streaming with a germy, torterous, insatiable itch, and he would launch into another snot-spraying, germ-ridden, desperate fit of incessant sneezes.

"I'mb so sorry ah-abah-ah-HEKCHUH! Snnnf--a-aboutd--HAKSHOO! Th-this--HETCHUH! Snnf-snff-hah-hahahaHAKCHOO! I j-jus... J-juh-jus--HEKCHUH! J-ju-huuUUuust--HEKSHOO! C-can'td--HATCHOO! Snnf-hah-st-snnf-stopb--HEKSHUH! S-nee-snnnf-hah-HAKSHOO! Sn-sneee-HEKCHOO! Sn-eee-zah--HAKCHOO! Sneezig--HETCHUH! Ahahahaha-snnnnf-ha-HAKCHUH! Ugh-ha-HA-HAKSCHOO! Snnnnf-hah-snf-snnf-hahaHACHOO! Huh-eh-etchetchetchETCHOO!" On and on, sneezing, hitching, snotting, sniffling, dripping, spraying, seizing, dabbing, streaming... And he just seemed to get worse, until he capped after about five hours, and just stayed at the same wet, drippy, itchy, sneezy level of misery for the remainder of the ride.

Finally, at the last stop, the man bid his sneezy, apologetic, runny, snorfling, spraying farewell, and Zoe got off the bus. A car was waiting for her, and took her to an apartment. She was instructed not to leave for any reason, and, exhausted and expecting a cold, Zoe went to sleep immediately.

---

God. I know I said these'd be shorter, but when I get into it... I just can't stop.

Gosh, sorry, had to indulge all my kinks at once right there... Apologies, just had to be a guy for some reason. Yummy Zoe sneezes next time, promise!

[PetalPunk]

no no no no no no!! Don't ever stop! This is great! Stop apologizing for things that don't need an apology! You're doing great! I love this story. I hope Zoe wakes up with a miserable sneezy cold! I like colds, I think more than allergies.

[blurr001]

Just discovered this and I love it! Keep going my friend!

[a_nonny_mouse]

OH WOW. This is awesome and I'm looking forward to seeing more. =)

[Merc_With_A_Mouth_69]

*shivers with delight* The thought of her being forced to spend hours in direct contact with an incredibly contagious person sneezing on her non-stop just makes me feel so naughty and dirty and excited. This is absolutely wonderful! *fans self*

[lovessneezes]

Wow, that last chapter... I prefer colds to allergies, so this story has definitely made my watch list. Looking forward to the next update!

[Klingon]

am enjoying this and hope you'll continue! this story's very well written so far Spamkey-san!

[SpamKey]

Sorry for the wait, finishing finals; decided to use my break time from studying to write another installment.

So, you know how I said I'd be experimenting with different writing styles? Well, this is the first time I'll be making good on that. This one will be written in a sort of pseudo-obs style. Think of it as though Zoe were trying to tell us about her experience with her cold... While still experiencing it.

So, without further ado, here we go!

---

I woke up the next day with a distinct tickle in my nose. Not enough to make me sneeze quite yet, but irritating. I quickly got up and reached for a tissue on the bedside table of the apartment Mr. Shehua had apparently arranged for me--small, one-room, probably with hidden cameras, but that's not important.

"Huh... Ahah... HAhahahaAHha... HAhaHaAH-HEKCHUH!" I sneezed wetly, that one enough to soak the tissue. My sneezes are always worst during a cold; they tease more, the itchy tickle rising and falling, moving and fluttering, for sometimes minutes on end before finally allowing relief. And this is before the fits start.

The sneeze unblocks the congestion in mby ndose, and suddenly it starts runnding like mbad. I sniffle and snorfle a few times, butd all this does is mbake the itchy tingle worse. My breath startds hitching again; "Huh... hahah.... HAhha.... haheaAH.... HAHH...HETCHUH!" A flood of snot shoots out of my ndose, into the air and all over mby face. I sniffle deeply, grabbing another tissue to clean mbyself upb, but just as I start to blow mby nose, a sudden sneeze sneaks up ond mbe. "HURESCHOO!" and there's mbess all over mby hands. I mboan and mbake mby way over to the small bathroomb.

I clean mbyself off and decide to take a shower. Mr. Shehua told mbe that there were ndo cameras ind the bathroomb, but there were mbics, so he could still hear mbe. He mbust have been glad, cause when I got in the shower the steam loosened up mby sinuses, and, apparently, mbade the germs go crazy. "Huhhauah-ASHOO! Huahh-HEKCHOO! Hahah-ahAHA-HETCHUH! Hhaha.... HHahahHAH-HETCHOO! Huh.. Dammbit--HETCHUH!" And so ond and so forth, for fifteen mbinutes until I was done. I gotd out and dried off, then redressed in the sambe pajambas fromb yesterday, and went to watch TV.

However, just whend I turned the TV ond, I saw Mr. Shehua appear ond the screen. "Hello, pet." He greeted. His face was blurred out by a mbosaic, butd I could recognize the slightly accented voice. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you won't be able to relax today."

"Serio... Sous.. ahahAHH-HETCHUH!" I sneezed sprayingly, seeing Shehua's head twitch slightly. "Seriously?" I asked, snorfling and holding a tissue to mby streaming ndose. "Thags to you, I feel li... Hhaha.. Likge crah-ahhah-HETCHUH! Ugh, like crapb." I blew my nose; long, wet, and gurgling, butd it still did ndothing to help mby ndose.

"Yes, really." Mr. Shehua said simply. "I need you to play the part someone else played for you earlier; ride the same train round-trip, sit in the same spot. Infect the person across from you. Do not switch seats, etc. etc.. Understood?"

"Huh...HETCHUH!" I finished the last sneeze of a fit that lasted all while Mr. Shehua was talking. "Finde." I said, rolling mby eyes. "Hah--have--HETCHUH! It'd--HETCHUH!--Your--HETCHUH!--W-waaaaay--HATCHUH! HETCHUH! HetCHOO! HETchoO! HATCHUH!" I trailed off into a long fit, and Mr. Shehua had signed off the television by the timbe I emerged. I sighed. This was going to be a long day, I could tdell.

--- (so this is more just 1st person... Sigh, I can never actually write the way I set out to :-/ Guess I'll switch to an observation!)

Topic By; GentleladySneezette

Topic; One of my Favorite Assignments Yet!

Tags; Female, Illness, Contagion, Messy

So, I got on the train, like the guy asked, and sure enough, there was only one empty seat, across from this young woman. I'll describe her for you, and you'll see why my employer asked me to sit with her!

She had long red hair, all mussed-up. Her green eyes were tired and a little bloodshot, and her freckled face was really pale. She had this cute little button nose that was all red and drippy. Like, seriously; faucet nose. So adorbs! She was wearing a thick blue scarf and a warm sweater, but still looked a bit shivery and tired.

So, pretty clear that she was sick. I mean, duh. Why else would he send me here? So, I know the drill, I've been doing this for a while now, so I sit down across from her pull out the complimentary tablet. I can hear her sniffling; she isn't sneezing yet, but I doubt it'll be long. Poor thing probably woke up with it. If I know my employer's specials, it was really bad when she woke up, then backed off, and would come on even worse as the train ride went on. This is one of his favorite scenarios, and I like it too!

After a while, I notice her nose twitching, and decide to have some fun. "Hi, there, I'm Lacey. What's your name?" I asked, doing my best "oblivious blond" voice. Helps that I actually am blond, and look a bit like a perky sorority girl or something. Meh. I just like the look. I'm actually smarter than that.

"Huh... I'mb-ah... Z--HETCHUH!" She sneezed just after getting the name out (we'll call her Z for privacy reasons). It sprayed thickly, mostly in my direction. Apparently, my employer hadn't seen fit to supply her with a hankie or anything, so she just snuffled and snorted at the mess under her drippy red nose. I felt my heart melt a little!

"Catching a cold?" I said, trying to sound sympathetic instead of excited. Z just nodded, her face slackening as another sneeze approached, her cute little button nose flaring and twitching with what must have been a torturous, germ itch! "Hahahah...HAHAhah.. HEhehe... HEHE...HETCHOO!" Another wet, spraying sneeze, and gurling, snorfling sniffle. Z muttered an apology, then glanced back out the window, sniffling and snuffling in misery, clutching her arms to keep from shivering, a sneeze escaping every few minutes. Poor girl! As you can imagine, I just wanted to tuck her right into bed, but at the same time... Well, let's just say it's great being a girl and leave it at that!

Anyway, people were starting to stare (I admit, I glared at the angry ones!) and I couldn't really blame them; poor Z was sick as they come! She soon began to sneeze in fits from 7 to 15 sneezes long! That's good even for my employer's special blend! I'll try to write one out for you; "Huhhahahe-HETCHUH! HahaHAHeh-eheha-ETCHUH! HahaheHAHH-HATCHAH! HehehehEHEH-HETCHOO! HuuuhUUUuuhHU-HAKSHUH! HehehhEH-HETCHUH! HETCHUH-CHOO-CHUH! HAaahahHHA--HATCHOO! HETCHOO-ah! Ah! AHA! HaaaAAHAH-HATCHOO!" She always had this long, shuddering breath to build up with, and each sneeze was violent and extremely desperate, as if the poor girl wanted nothing more in the world than to rid herself of that germy, torturous itch! Poor Z, she was so miserable; I didn't have any handkerchiefs on me, or I might have considered breaking the rules and offering her one, her nose was simply streaming and dripping and snotting all over the place! Sure I enjoyed it, but she must have felt miserable. Each sneeze sprayed out far and wide (mostly in my direction, of course!) and I could see the occasional splatter pattern on the window . I mean, seriously! Heaven! For me, at least, poor Z was so embarrassed. I think she may have been new to this whole affair--and perhaps not "one of us", so to speak. Nevertheless, I daresay she'll grow used to it over time. Besides, the fringe benefits once you're converted... Wow!

Back on track, the poor girl seemed to get worse and worse. By the end of the ride, she could barely speak for sneezing, no that she had much to say. She was a royal mess, and had been reduced to wiping her nose with that pretty blue scarf. She was sniffling and snuffling almost constantly, and still could only just manage to keep the flood of mucus above her lip--and sometimes not even that! Poor Z! She was such a sweetie, too. I hope to meet her in casual company again. It is a shame that we aren't allowed to communicate on-duty. Perhaps we will be given a joint assignment? I hope for cat allergies, you guys seemed to like my self-obs last month!

Anyway, after a long, 12-hour ride, she finally got off. I made my way to my pre-arranged apartment, but made sure to keep her in sight, so I could watch her go sniffling, hitching, seizing, sneezing, and stumbling down the road to her own abode. I was most tempted to walk after her, but alas... Rules are rules. Besides, my nose is feeling a bit snuffly. Expect a self-obs tomorrow!

Cheers!

GentleladySneezette

---

Hope you guys like the unorthodox format! I realized afterwards that I had written the obs in a rather refined tone (this is what I get for alternating between this and studying for my Shakespeare essay) so I made the username reflect that. If you guys like Lacey, we may see more of her!

[SexyGodlikeHair]

I just found the story-and really liked the ob format! Though I'd kind if prefer it be more of a rare, every once in a while thing-and I'd really rather see more of Zoe than Lacey if that's ok! (Btw, Splashing; best adjective for a sneeze fit, oh my god)

[a_nonny_mouse]

Ooh. A sneezer in the know, with cat allergies no less? The plot thickens. *gleeful face*

[Merc_With_A_Mouth_69]

Ooh, this Lacey seems like an interesting character so be added to this awesome story!

[PollenFiend]

What a creative new way to write a story! I like the innovative perspective, and I think your descriptions of itchy sneezes (particularly allergic ones) are fantastic. Eagerly awaiting more.

[Katsuo]

Love it! Hope to hear from you soon

[Pearlised]

I love this omg

I love the different styles, the idea and the characters. Please never stop writing this <3 <3

[monochrome]

This is amazing!

Please write more <3

[Likesn]

This is great!! Really looking forward to the next part. Any chance both girls will get to sick together?

[Pilgrim]

This story is nothing like what I expected it to be each chapter and it's really interesting to see your experiments; I used to try new stuff out all the time too when I was still writing regularly and it's great to see someone else keeping things fresh. I don't know if you were planning on continuing, but what you've done so far is a great read! I'd be interested to see whatever you came up with next.