A summary for those that haven’t been keeping up with this series:
I found a number of 5.25″ disks at a thrift store a number of years ago. I finally got around to acquiring a 5.25″ disk drive and extracting the contents a while back. Since then I have been posting the contents here.
Based on the contents, at least some of these disks were apparently once owned by someone named Connie who used to run the “Close Encounters” Special Interest Group (SIG) on Delphi in the mid 1980s.
A specific definition of this SIG was found in a document on one of the disks: “This SIG, known as ‘Close Encounters’, is a forum for the discussion of relationships that develop via computer services like the Source, CompuServe, and Delphi. Our primary emphasis is on the sexual aspects of those relationships.”
This service was text based and was accessed via whatever terminal program you used on your computer to dial in to Delphi’s servers. Many of these disks have forum messages, e-mails and chat session logs. All of this is pre-internet stuff and I don’t know if there are any archives in existence today of what was on Delphi in the 1980s. In any case, much of this stuff would have been private at the time and probably wouldn’t be in such archives even if they existed.
This post includes the contents of DECORATE.DOC which is dated September 21st, 1985. This saved document was originally an e-mail (or Delphi’s version of e-mail… I think they called it DMail for Direct Mail?). It is from Rod to Connie and includes lyrics to a song that no doubt makes him think of her. I can’t say I’m familiar with the song (You Decorated My Life).
See the previous post here.
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DECORATE.DOC
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#3 20-SEP-1985 16:20:06 MAIL From: BOS1A::RODM To: CABUYS,RODM Subj: resend w/copyright info So very often today songs are writen with little or no continuity to the lyrics, the lyrics are burried by the intensity of the beat or rhythm of the music, but every so often a song 'makes it' that has the beauty that the one I am sending has. There is a lot of background to why I am so affected by this song and some of that might have even prevented my even hearing it but life has grabbed my attention and caused me to find new beauty in places I might never have gone. Until recently I didn't listen to much music at all and CERTAINLY NOT country music but my life was affected by several people and after emerging from a 'cave' in which I was hiding I started hearing the words to songs, seeing the fantastic things life has to give, and learned the importance sharing, feeling, and loving if life is to be worth living. I hope that everyone that reads this knows already or will realize very soon exactly who they would recite or sing these words to and perhaps give them to that person as the 'flower' for that day! ** "You Decorated My Life" (D.Hupp/B. Morrison - Pub. by: Music City Music) All my life was a paper, once plain, pure, and white 'Til you moved with your pen, changing moods now and then, 'til the balance was right Then you added some music, every note was is place And anybody could see all the changes in me, by the look on my face And you decorated my life. Created a world where dreams are a part And you decorated my life by painting your love all over my heart You decorated my life! Like a rhyme with no reason in an unfinished song There was no harmony, life meant nothing to me, until you came along And you brought out the colors. what a gentle surprise Now I'm able to see, all the things life can be, shining soft in your eyes And you decorated my life. Created a world where dreams are a part And you decorated my life,by painting your love all over my heart You decorated my life! **Written by: D. Hupp / B. Morrison Published by: Music City Music, Inc.
