The History of The Road To Nowhere

     In the 80's, I watched computers grow up from sophisticated calculators to fun toys. In the early 90's, I was introduced to the wonderous fun of interacting with other computer-users via a modem. And not long after that, I discovered Bulletin Board
Systems (BBS). For those of you who have never heard of a BBS, it is basically a mini-internet. Most BBSes consisted of one computer and few had more than one phone line (meaning only one person could access it at a time). A typical BBS consisted of a message area, a file area, and a door area. Doors were programs such as games, voting booths, etc. This is turning into a history of BBSes, so I will move on. :)
     My favorite thing about BBSes were the door games. They were the original online games, and allowed you to compete against other people. However, they were turn-based since only one person at a time could play a game. Some of my favorite games were Legend of the Red Dragon (which inspired the text-color theme that I used on my BBS, as well as this website), Planets, Tradewars, Barren Realms Elite, Solar Realms Elite, Land of Devastation, Assassin, Netrunner, and my all-time favorite Barneysplat! (your goal in this game was simple: you played a role on the Barney show, and you could do all kinds of things to Barney & friends to score points, such as getting them drunk or high, and finding different ways to harm them). There were of course many more games I liked, but those were the most notable. I have not been able to find any games to add to this website that even closely resembles a door game. Legend Of The Red Dragon can actually be played online on its official website, and the maker of Land Of Devastation was working on a website version of that game last time I checked. Door games were the main inspiration for starting my own BBS.
     I went through several handles (nicknames) before starting my BBS, but the one that stuck was Voice From Nowhere. I chose that name after a rather inspirational acid trip (something that I have since stopped doing for various reasons). I don't remember my exact thoughts, but I was alone and started thinking about who I was. I considered the fact that I was adopted (and there were no records of my birthparents), and I considered that I moved around a lot when I was young. I also considered the way I expressed myself. I am a very artistic person, having talent with fine arts, writing, and to some extent - music. However, in person-to-person conversation I tend to be very shy and unable to express my thoughts clearly. As my mind wandered further, I began thinking about how I was almost like a body without a voice and...(no doubt due to the acid) how it would be kind of cool to be a voice without a body. I reflected on all of those thoughts and came up with the name Voice From Nowhere.
     Strangely enough, later that month I heard the Ozzy Osbourne song, "Road To Nowhere", for the first time. The lyrics seemed to reflect my life at the time. I could not believe how unbelievably appropriate it would be to name my BBS "The Road To Nowhere", and use the name of Voice From Nowhere. It seemed like more than a coincidence that both names had significant meaning in my life. This coincidence became even stranger when at some point later, I heard Faith No More's song "From Out Of Nowhere". The lyrics of this song expressed exactly the way I felt about my highschool sweetheart and one true love. That song inspired the name I gave to my fantasy/sci-fi saga, "From Out Of Nowhere" (which is available to be read on this website). The non-coincidence of the "Nowhere" theme became virtually undeniable when I took the time to listen to the lyrics of the Beatles' song, "Nowhere Man".
     After a couple of years, my BBS had aquired a decent amount of local users. Unfortunately, the success of my BBS was to be short-lived. The internet became public and spread like wildfire. People stopped calling, and there was eventually no reason to keep my BBS running. That was extremely disappointing for me, as I had put so much time and effort into it and had never had so much fun with a hobby in my life. I did not use my computer for much after that except playing games and working on my stories. It wasn't until around April of 2001 that I decided to rebuild my BBS into a website. For several months, The Road To Nowhere website was nothing more than a cheap homepage. Around the time that I started my internet radio station, The Pit, was when it actually started looking like a real website. The Road To Nowhere is now, for the most part, better than it was as a BBS. The only thing that has suffered was the game room. I have yet to find a game to put in there that is as fun as the old Door games. The Pit makes up for the hole (pun intended) left by the absence of Door games.