Labor Day: Eight years ago this weekend I moved into my apartment. Also, this journal is 11 years old.

A week of computer-y things.

We were at NVScene in San Jose. I went for the break in the monotony, and since things have been so tedious I didn't mind the flying. Better to risk death than to keep doing the same boring thing.

I thought I would work while we were there and Andrew bought me a seat at the conference for that purpose. I didn't really know what to expect, other than to see large-screen demos and some European guys with long hair and wearing black shirts. Andrew said it would be noisy, but that's no different than our office. In fact, it could be a better experience if the Internet connection were stable.

Our flight was insanely early and I protested against it completely. But when we landed it was 8:00 a.m. and the dry, clear air of a bright California morning made me remember other trips to California and reminded me that I don't adventure as much as I used to because I'm chained to a bloated job. I suddenly wanted to live there awhile, just to absorb the dry heat, just long enough not to be revulsed by the sprawl.

Checked in, registered, said hello, and grabbed a seat. Then the talks began and I hardly worked at all. It's not my subject, computer programming, the art of demos more so, but the talks were utterly compelling. They were intricate and math-y and of course most of it was over my head. I learned a ton.

When they played the demos and the colors and shapes and sounds passed over the gigantic screen and huge sound system, it was a marvel to know that the entire sequence was generated in real time from only a 4K, 64K, or maybe 180K executable file. They were so beautiful! At the end of each day when they played a series of demos or when the compo was held and the theater was dark and the sound turned way up, I wished for some drug or drink that would numb me a little and let me sink deeper into timelessness, and I wished that the demos would not end and for them to be played again.

It was the most compelling experience I've had in a long time.

Since we've been back, I've been watching demos everyday, downloading them and running them full-screen—whatever will play. What won't play, I watch on YouTube. Although, that is a terrible substitute in every case.