I couldn’t write, so I watched nineties-era id video game play-throughs on YouTube.

I still don’t know what to write, but now I am not just blocked. I’m blocked and nostalgic. If you ever played Doom on your librarian’s computer,¹ you would probably enjoy Masters of Doom by David Kushner. It’s fascinating to read about programmers from this era. What programmers can create now boggles the mind, but what was built back then feels so much more impressive. I can barely write a script now without Googling, and yet I once wrote a simple PDA program on my calculator,² using only the manual that came in the box.

This brings me back to the wonder engendered by all the information now online. Sometimes I worry I’ve lost my tenacity with the exponential increase in options for everything. For example, I used to get very good at very difficult video games, because I only had one game. Now I can download a new one the instant I get frustrated or bored.

Is this something vital I’ve now lost forever, or am I just old? I don’t know for sure, but I do know it is past my bedtime.