...more recent posts
Nice time last night at J.'s party. Saw some old friends from school which is always interesting. I guess J is a friend from school too, but I don't think of her that way any more now that we've been hanging out for so long in NYC. Those Providence college days seem long ago, which I guess is a complete cliche, but not surprisingly it is also true. I had a great time back then, but I don't miss those years. Things are happening now. I was always young before. Now, suddenly, I'm not. And that doesn't have anything to do with chronological age. I think it has to do with engaging the task that will be the work of your life.
I talked to J.B. for a little bit amid all the wine. He always seems genuinely interested in what I am doing, and I really appreciate that. He's smart. I tried to argue something about cool software being produced (or at least completely thought out) by one person. That it has to bear the stamp of an individual if it is really going to catch the fancy of people. But I wasn't able to argue (explain) my point well. Of course most software will be produced by teams of people. Most of it is too complex to do any other way. This will be especially true of large projects. But I think that the really revolutionary software (where revolutionary doesn't necessarily mean 'world changing' but just something like 'suddenly popular out of left field') will be the result of one person thinking through a problem. Individuals have a better chance than teams at making breakthroughs (although probably highly isolated individuals are at a disadvantage - so the whole issue is sort of muddy.)
I hope I get the chance to continue that conversation with him.
Now playing: two Gram Parsons CDs in one (mostly with Emmylou Harris) -> GP and Grievous Angel. How could it be I had never heard of these albums? Nice weekend listening. "Love Hurts" is beautiful. I know the Kim Deal (and Bob Mould?) version from, I think, the Love and a .45 soundtrack, but I never knew where the original was from. Incredible. Not very often I feel too young these days, but not knowing about this stuff before almost does it.
[update: O.K., I guess the Gram Parsons / Emmylou isn't the original Love Hurts. A lot of people recored it, but it was written by Boudleaux Bryant.]
I'm making good progress on the new [editpage].
This is going to solve some long standing and subtle (but still annoying) problems. I really feel like it's coming together.