Fenn's Rosebud, a fitting disappointment

[bartleby]

Everyone who thought the chest was a one-of-a-kind 11th century relic had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who thought Fenn would never share private hints had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who read hundreds of weekly words and scrapbooks and Forrest gets mails expecting them to contain hints had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who expected not to have to break the law to retrieve the chest (or have a lawyer on hand) had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who bought into the idea of a fun family activity designed to get the kids off their texting machines only to learn you had to cross a river had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who thought the blaze would be something that would last 1000 years had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who thought no one would stumble on it without solving every clue in the poem had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who expected the chest would be found one day by a clever puzzle solving outdoorsman rather than an easy-money seeking tax-schemer exploiting an old man's foibles had to accept being disappointed.

Everyone who thought a brilliant imaginative solution would be revealed that rivaled or exceeded their own had to accept being disappointed.

So...

ls there any rational reason to expect that the poem and solution shouldn't be disappointing as well?

Home of Mr Brown, a long dead unimaginatively named fish. Fenn's Rosebud. Could anything be more fitting for this whole fiasco?

[Spoon]

That's a lot of disappointment, bartleby . I presume that's all based upon the emerging narrative? Do you believe that narrative?

[Knowledge]

When the real solution is known, no one will be disappointed. I have seen rosebuds, roses, lilies, flowers of all kinds in the chase, I know their beauty is more than for a season.

[JacksBeer88W]

No one will be disappointed. Tell me something new. Seems like the whole thing has been disappointment.

[Old Pilot]

No one will be disappointed. Tell me something new. Seems like the whole thing has been disappointment.

There are a lot of folks involved in this hunt. I suspect that some will be disappointed when they learn the real location of the hidey spot, as it's not in a spectacularly dramatic place. But the nearby area(s) can be associated, visually, with some symbolism that was meaningful to FF. The more important things are to learn what he wanted to teach us all (lessons in life). Please think about that word "chase". As always, all part of my oPInion.

[Old Pilot]

As I remember, the name "Rosebud" was associated with a sled that the main character in the movie "Citizen Kane" cherished as a young boy. I also seem to remember that a sled is used to slide downhill -- sometimes in a mischievous ("devilish") manner . . . oops ! -- I mean, hee hee !

[CRM114]

To believe NMH solve is to believe Fenn was a simpleton who wasted 15 years mulling an inexact poem about a fish that resulted in a place you had to brute force search with a damaged clue in a mess of trees that isn't special. We are to believe he used a fishing line to find his way and simultaneously "well, it's somewhere in this football field of trees and logs - good luck."

The treasure hunt that "could last a thousand years" was the worst ever of any famous ones. The Secret and Masquerade pure genius by comparison. Precise, and full of "ah, why didn't I think of that" solution elements. We get a tangled field of logs and a fish. Instead of a book full of hints, it's a book with a picture of where the fish lived. Just throw the rest away - oh, wait, the blaze hint is in there too, but forget that, it was damaged anyway, and what the hell good will it do in s field of trees and logs anyway? Just get out the metal detector and hope you don't get caught.

If what little media that cares about this thing catches up to the NMH consensus being pushed, it will be a story about a hunt that expected you to break the law or perhaps die or deplete your savings trying to find it instead of solving a clever puzzle. A perfect hunt for the brainless.

[Sherif Billy]

Bart--
I can't begin to think how your disappointment will be when you learn the real story....
1f Billy

[whiskynovember]

To believe NMH solve is to believe Fenn was a simpleton who wasted 15 years mulling an inexact poem about a fish that resulted in a place you had to brute force search with a damaged clue in a mess of trees that isn't special. We are to believe he used a fishing line to find his way and simultaneously "well, it's somewhere in this football field of trees and logs - good luck."

The treasure hunt that "could last a thousand years" was the worst ever of any famous ones. The Secret and Masquerade pure genius by comparison. Precise, and full of "ah, why didn't I think of that" solution elements. We get a tangled field of logs and a fish. Instead of a book full of hints, it's a book with a picture of where the fish lived. Just throw the rest away - oh, wait, the blaze hint is in there too, but forget that, it was damaged anyway, and what the hell good will it do in s field of trees and logs anyway? Just get out the metal detector and hope you don't get caught.

If what little media that cares about this thing catches up to the NMH consensus being pushed, it will be a story about a hunt that expected you to break the law or perhaps die or deplete your savings trying to find it instead of solving a clever puzzle. A perfect hunt for the brainless.

Fenn was a better salesman than writer, poet, thinker. The intensity of that feeling you have right now is a good measure of how well he sold you on a thirst trap project of saddling up and leading yourself to a place from which even now you can't make yourself drink. Happy trails.

[CRM114]

Fenn was a better salesman than writer, poet, thinker. The intensity of that feeling you have right now is a good measure of how well he sold you on a thirst trap project of saddling up and leading yourself to a place from which even now you can't make yourself drink. Happy trails.

It's odd you say that. I am often accused by the opposite sex as having no feelings whatsoever. I certainly wasn't having any in the post you referred to as I was simply being sarcastic for humor. Most of my interests lie in knowing the truth.

My use of "simpleton" was being polite. Let's face it, if the NMH solve is correct, the whole chase was conceived by a moron. People died of their own accord for a poem about a fish created by a moron.

Now you could assume Fenn was not a moron, and if NMH is correct, then it's quite possibly a joke or revenge fantasy against his fellow humans. Lure the dumb people to kill themselves or the smart successful people to deduce the poem and solve was intentionally written to be moronic and requires you to search illegally with a metal detector, then navigate a "legal shitshow" for a mere $800k box of trinkets. It still requires two years of your life, and by the time you deduct your costs, and account for the chances of finding it, your expected returns may be nil, so why even play?

So just what in the hell is going on? You call him a salesman. Sure, he was, but that doesn't answer which of the two scenarios above, if any, apply. I personally have eliminated the complete moron, but good salesman scenario. That leaves the evil Fenn, good salesman scenario, or some other as yet to be determined explanation.

I actually enjoy some of the things Fenn wrote and alluded TO in scrapbooks and other places, and look at the present condition as some form of cosmic comedic entertainment. Before Fenn, I had no idea what Catlinite was, who it was named after, how rare it is, or the various connections to other things it has. That's but one of a myriad of connections I followed, and I certainly don't regret learning the various things I have doing so. In my gleaning of his writings, I have concluded Fenn was not a moron. If he sold me that learning experience, I'm very satisfied with that part of my purchase.

But I am still interested in truth.