Every big idea starts somewhere ridiculous. This one started in a sketchbook, with a bird in a space suit, on Mars, with a lot of opinions about goals and a houseplant named Bryson. This is the origin story of The Martian Visitor Center — told in the order it actually happened.
It started here. Sketchbook open, creating Seeds and Worms, and suddenly — a blue-footed booby in a space suit on Mars. I declared myself a professional simplifier on the spot.
Favor systems in place of goals — and simplicity in place of optimization.
The idea kept pulling. Out came the watercolors. Pages of quick sketches, scribbled notes, and that familiar feeling that something bigger was forming.
The very first Martian Visitor Center was called Dual Planet. Stosh — in his clunky NASA capsule suit with the clear egg-shaped helmet — rambling about why exactly he moved to Mars.
Baker(Bird) and Bug from Seeds and Worms sent a sign: Stosh’s Place on Mars.
Stosh moves into his new Mars home and gets a roommate — Bryson, a houseplant with a face painted on the container. Bryson never talks (that we can see). But he answers Stosh. Every time.
The first-ever coffee brewed on Mars. This is where the ideas really started to churn — maybe Stosh becomes an inventor. Maybe he starts creating everything a person needs to live on Mars. Maybe the whole planet is his workshop.
Got to have water on Mars. The search is over. Introducing Stosh’s first invention — The Stoshgernator Water Drop.
Stosh
Blue-Footed Booby · Mars Pioneer · Professional Simplifier
Bryson
Houseplant · Best Friend · Surprisingly Good Listener
Baker & Bug
Seeds & Worms · Baker is also known as Bird · Sent the Housewarming Sign
And there it was. The Martian Visitor Center — with Stosh and Bryson welcoming everyone. It had a name. It had a purpose. It had a houseplant co-host.
Stosh needed a lab for all his Kans-of-Worms inventions. He bought into the Seeds and Worms franchise — but his version caters to people visiting Mars. The K.O.W. Extractor 4000.3 is operational.
And then the first visitors start arriving — and it is none other than the most famous anti-hero of them all…..
OK — I hope you enjoyed this brief intro to The Martian Visitor Center. I hope you stop by soon while on your intergalactic voyage. Stosh and Bryson will have the coffee on. The Stoshgernator Water Drop is fully operational. And the K.O.W. Extractor 4000.3 is warmed up and ready.
Leave a Reply