Category Archives: History

“What was I thinking?” still races through my mind over this day when I turned in my two weeks at Dynamic Graphics. Austin was at best a “maybe” and there was no Plan B. Collecting unemployment was out of the … Continue reading →

So I’m ending the annual tradition of reminiscing about Christmas Break a couple days later than last year. Sorry, I didn’t expect 1988/San Diego to be an overwhelming mess I should’ve written up sooner; it’s much like that tumultuous year … Continue reading →

My first Christmas back in Austin was a rather lonely affair, reminiscent of 1994. Instead of moping about it, I took the opportunity to work at Apple versus staying home, going to Katz’s for dinner or pulling a holiday shift … Continue reading →

If Christmas 1992 was when my life hit rock bottom (grammatical errors and all with the link), then the following year defined what one unit from “zero” equalled. Turns out that my deep-seated problems of living in Central Illinois weren’t … Continue reading →

So with Disneyland completed, Christmas Break 1988 was off to an awesome recovery, canceling out the unpleasant beginning known as The Drive. Christmas preparations resumed in San Diego by Mom taking us to the closest mall in Poway (the ‘burb … Continue reading →

It took me two Christmas Breaks in college to finally realize that a month off was probably a couple weeks too long. For my friends, I figured their experiences were more pleasant. Most of them were returning to their homes, … Continue reading →

My first Christmas in Houston was predominantly dreadful. Other than my grand-parents visiting, everything else sucked. I didn’t like the private high school I was attending. I didn’t have any friends who lived close by. My grades were mediocre. I … Continue reading →

Last year I kicked off my holiday (or was it holidaily?) series The Six Days of Christmas as a personal exercise in reminiscing. It received one positive response and zero complaints, so by the very spurious logic of the NeoCon movement, … Continue reading →

On this day, Dr. Douglas Engelbart gave a demonstration of this enhancement for computers at the Fall Joint Computer Conference. How I indirectly thank him practically every day of my life since the late Eighties. The other night, Somara and I were … Continue reading →

Facebook strikes again! Another friend I had from the wild and carefree days of North Dakota contacted me. Thankfully, it wasn’t a poke but a request, which sounds more polite. Even better, this person from my past isn’t female…but if … Continue reading →

Picayune underwent its first major makeover around this time. While I was un-/underemployed, I ratcheted up making more of them but they still had the amateurish appearance of a newsletter or mock newspaper. By mid 1993 they were shrouded in … Continue reading →

Thanks to the explosive growth in Houston during the early Eighties, school at Clear Creek started before 8 AM and with a 45-minute bus ride, this meant I had to be at my stop before 630 AM. Getting up around … Continue reading →

October is almost over and I have neglected to explain the banner. It does seem rather dated looking because it should. It’s an imitation of an Eighties rock station logo, namely WQFM. I found a memorial page to Milwaukee radio … Continue reading →

My return to Austin was going pretty well by now. I was temping at Apple again, I had been to four concerts with two more on the horizon, I found a coffee shop in Round Rock to hang out at … Continue reading →