Below I suggest that
Scrapbook 107 may be a puzzle that serves as an instruction manual for how to play at least part of the
TTOTC game. I am fairly agnostic as to the character of the game in
TTOTC but have been generally bounding myself with the following assumption: Fenn created a self-contained universe within
TTOTC and I would need to only draw from that universe in order to solve his puzzle. With this assumption, which I fully concede may be completely wrong,
TTOTC on its own should contain all the information I need in order to solve the puzzle. All the additional Fenn material beyond
TTOTC should either complement information that is already in
TTOTC or place further constraints on the correct solve.
The scrapbook's title
People Just Don't Understand relates to the third paragraph's rhetorical question: "Please don’t tell me that I’m the only Homo Sapien on the entire planet who cares about these things?" While "people" do not comprehend things, Fenn refers to himself in this rhetorical question as a "Homo Sapien" for wanting to instill order to things--disorder represented by a tangled phone cord and a haphazard cutlery drawer. As seemingly done throughout
TTOTC, Fenn draws attention to word "Sapien" through its erroneous use. The correct word is "sapiens" ("Sapien" not capitalized and, as this is Latin, the "s", or lack thereof, does not indicate singular or plural). Our human species was called "sapiens" from the Latin word meaning wise or discerning. Wisdom, discerning, and understanding are hardly pertinent to the absurd little story in this scrapbook; words more pertinent are meticulous (untangling and organizing) and, ironically given that first word, forgetful (license, gas, and phone charging). Perhaps the wisdom in question relates to at least a portion of the methodology that Fenn has used in constructing his game, or at least a portion of his game, in
TTOTC. Might this scrapbook be an instruction manual for at least some of the techniques he has used? With this presumption in mind, the non sequitur that is the third picture becomes our challenge: use our wisdom and discernment to organize it.
In the first paragraph Fenn is talking a pictured phone with a twisted cable, which is presumably on a table in his home; after all, next to the phone there is a note seemingly from his wife and a pad with a picture of his dog. Who are these "copious people wandering by that spot?" With the presumption of the previous paragraph, these "people" who "don't understand," are not his house guests or family but rather those playing his game. The "spot" would refer to the location of the hidden treasure. He is therefore accusing searchers of "talking and twisting the thing," which figuratively refers to the game. This "jumbled" cord humorously "distorts" "the sound," which contrasts with the "straight" priorities in relation to his "meticulous" ways that we are told in the second paragraph. Therefore, we need to straighten the tangle so that what we hear is no longer distorted.
In the second half of the scrapbook Fenn tells us an absurd story about a failed outing to get his "driver's license renewed." The arc of the story--going out into the world, experiencing some failure, and retreating back to his comfort zone--is similar to many story lines from the first portion of TTOTC, such as The Totem Cafe Caper and Looking for Lewis and Clark. In this particular story, he goes out to renew his driver's license, runs out of gas, and returns home to the safety and comfort of his dog, fire, and order.
The notion of "address" is brought up in the absurd little outing in the scrapbook. The "honks brought every cop in town to my 'location.'" Of course, game players are looking for his '"location'" which he further associates with treasure with the phrase "robbed a bank." To find his "'location'" in the story, a very analog system was used because he forgot to charge his humorous described "idiot" phone, which is presumably a smartphone. Note how Fenn connects this story to the introductory paragraph: there is the clever play on words with "copious" in the first paragraph and "every cop" in the absurd little story; and the "that spot" in the first paragraph and his "'location'" in the absurd little story.
On the surface, the third picture has nothing to do with the story presented in this scrapbook, in contrast to the first two pictures. Could this picture be a puzzle created to help us "understand?" Like the tangled cord and messy drawer, might Fenn be asking us to use our wisdom and discernment to put it in order?
With this in mind, let's examine the third picture; it shows an envelope with a partially obscured address, a loose stamp, an uncapped pen, and a five dollar bill. The placement of the items appears deliberately haphazard.
In the second paragraph Fenn draws attention to the incorrect use of "write" instead of its homophone "right," and achieves an ironic twist of the meaning: " there’s always a write way to do something and a wrong one." Just like his phone cord and cutlery drawer, we are going to make the third picture "right." Some of the "write" that we are going to make "right" is the address on the envelope. We can ponder whether "write" refers to his puzzle game found in
TTOTC, a work of written prose. Finally, as we will see below, "write" is a homophone for the direction "right," the opposite of left.
We will begin our examination with the five dollar bill. It is only partially present in the picture, is upside down, and has a corner folded. The folded corner neatly covers all but the last letter of "Treasurer;" hence the fold covers, or hides, the word "treasure." Further, this bill is money and consequently has some value, as does a treasure. Therefore, this folded bill is a symbol for hidden treasure. Lastly, we can ponder the relationship of this symbol to the idiom "turn this place upside down" in our search for something.
Recall that in
Teachers with Ropes Fenn tells us: "One girl said that when the Bureau of Engraving designed the one-dollar bill they reversed the image of George Washington for some reason. In the actual portrait he is facing right but on the bill he is facing left" (p.113). In the scrapbook picture, Abraham Lincoln on the upside down five dollar bill is facing left instead of right (homonym of "write") and the letters in each word are also upside down and facing the opposite direction. The transformation is not exactly the same as the description from
Teachers with Ropes, but it is similar in spirit. If there was intent behind the five dollar bill compared to any other denomination, one long stretch of an idea is that Lincoln is widely known to have made a famous address, and an address is a key part of this puzzle picture.
In Fenn's
TTOTC game we are trying to find a hidden treasure: "So I wrote a poem containing nine clues that if followed precisely, will lead to the end of my rainbow and the treasure" (
Gold and More p.131-2). As an envelope has an address, this is the symbol for where or how to find the hidden treasure. Conveniently, this envelope is addressed; inconveniently, the address is partially obscured by the pen, its cap, and the five dollar bill. Therefore this obscured address is a symbol for the puzzle, or at least part of it. As an unnecessary prompt, an envelope will contain a letter. As a homonym, letters also make up the address.
The first line of the address reads "(M)r. U(_P)UCEET," where the parentheses indicate partially or completely obscured areas; second line reads: "1921(_)LDErNES (_);" and the third reads: "(_)[o][v or r]en[c](_)," where the brackets are uncertain letters. Note that the addressee has a peculiar name, as does the combination of letters in the street name (although proper names are often peculiar). Also note the "r" in the street name is the only visible letter in that line that is not capitalized and the "N" is written slightly oddly. Lastly, note that the address becomes more obscured as it progresses downward.
On the first page of text in
TTOTC, Fenn tells us: "I tend to use some words that aren't in the dictionary, and others that are, I bend a little. My only goal in this endeavor is to talk about a few of my life experiences and if any readers over the age of twelve don't see a little of themselves in this mirror, then maybe they deserve another turn" (
Preface p.4). From this paragraph, extract the following notions: "words," not "in the dictionary," "bend," "over," "mirror," and "turn." The address does on the surface appear to have "words" not "in the dictionary" (although proper names are often peculiar). The upside down five dollar bill brings to mind "over" and "turn" and, by extension, "mirror" given the parallel image from
Teachers with Ropes. Therefore, with this in mind, let's examine each line in turn from top to bottom, with most of our focus on the writing to the right of the pen.
A phonetic reading of the first line "Mr./UP/U/C/EET" yields "mister, up you see it." A simple reversal of the letters in the first line to the right of the pen ("PUCEET") yields "TEECUP;" this is phonetically equivalent to "tea cup." This may relate to the concept of "over," "mirror," and "turn" discussed in the previous paragraph. Two techniques were used to transform the addressee's name into something different: (1) phonetic understanding of words/phrases and (2) reversing the order of letters.
The degree of obscuring increases in the street address on the second line. The partial street name "1921(_)LDErNES (_)" doesn't appear to have a phonetic meaning, in contrast to the first line. Similarly, a simple reversal of the letters to the right of the pen ("SENrEDL") doesn't appear to have a phonetic meaning. However, a vertical mirror applied to the reversed phrase "SENrEDL" yields "ZENLEDr" which is phonetically similar to "send letter." This is made possible by the lower case "r" and accentuated by the slightly odd "N" (see pictures below). Three techniques were used to transform the address' second line into something different: (1) reversing the order of letters (2) application of a vertical mirror, and (3) phonetic understanding of words/phrases.
The degree of obscuring further increases in the place address on the third line. The partial place name "(_)[o][v or r]en[c](_)" doesn't appear to have a phonetic meaning , similar to the second line. Similarly, a simple reverse of the letters ("[c]ne[v or r][o]") doesn't appear to have a phonetic meaning. A vertical mirror applied to the reversed phrase "[c]ne[v or r][o]" yields "cu[6 or b][n or l][o]" which can be read phonetically as "see you below." (see pictures below). Three techniques were used to transform the address' third line into something different: (1) reversing the order of letters (2) application of a vertical mirror, and (3) phonetic understanding of words/phrases.
Many loose ends:
(1) There is a usual case of misspelled word: "licence" in the pictured note by the phone.
(2) What to do with the "Mr." and "1921" portion of the address? Do we ignore things to the left of the pen? Do you have any thoughts to share?
(3) The loose stamp depicts an American flag and a exploding starburst firework. The envelope and stamp brings to mind the postmarks that begin many of the chapters in TTOTC. Further, each postmark is associated with a location, which is in the same category as address (one postmark contains an actual address). Fenn claims that it's the "last date" to get his "driver's license renewed;" a more conventional way to say this would be "last day." This draws attention to the word "date." Finally, the starburst on the stamp is reminiscent of the prevalent I/eye/star imagery within
TTOTC. Do you have any thoughts to share?
(4) The pen/marker and its cap. Obviously relates to the "write" joke made in the scrapbook. Is it more? Does it point? Is it an angle? Does it form a shape? Does it relate to the "soda pop caps" that Fenn talks about at the beginning of Gold and More (p.129)? It does touch a capital letter. Do you have any thoughts to share?
Have a great weekend!
