Ten years ago today, I was using the first computer that I had ever owned: a bondi blue iMac, the first of the all-inclusive display and computer with a handle to carry it around. I was working at Strongarm Designs in Horsham, PA and hating it. Well, the job was actually quite good, but I was looking to be a rock star back then, and it just wasn’t panning out.

I was living in Manayunk on Silverwood Street with two dudes, loads of cockroaches and a sewage leak basement. We had a couple crazy parties at this house, one entitled “Forties and Shorties” in which we served Wawa Shorty hoagies and 40 oz. bottles of malt liquor. During one of these parties, the neighbor who rarely talked to us literally busted in our front door and screamed “Shut the fuck up!”

Design-wise, I was doing a mix of web and print, spending most of time updating “cut-sheets” that were layed out with Quark. I was starting to learn HTML at home, and dabbling in NetObjects Fusion to set up Strongarm’s first-ever web site.

My car was a white Saturn 4-door sedan, the first and only car so far that I bought brand new. (I later traded it in for my current ’97 Nissan Pathfinder.)

Back then, I didn’t have a digital camera or even a cell phone. I didn’t know anybody with a cell phone, except for my boss who could be “reached on the golf course in case of emergencies”.

I was age 25, and wasn’t dating anybody… I was using Photoshop 4 — not CS4, but Photoshop 4.

Back when I went to Kutztown university, I was one of the lucky ones fortunate enough to have a Brother word processor that clanked out 5-page reports in about 20 minutes and featured a tiny black display with bright yellow text. Sure, we had a computer lab in the library with about 25 Apple computers, but there was always a line or a wait and we hardly knew how to use those damn things back then.

My first computer was an bondi blue iMac, the first iMac that was ever released, back in 1998 I believe. My friend John Roberts hooked me up with Photoshop 4.0 and something called Dreamweaver and I was well on my way into the murky confusion of table based web design, and then the eventual dreaded “DHTML”. I clearly remember designing sites that stated “Click Here for Internet Explorer or Click Here for Netscape Navigator”.

In celebration of the past, here’s a look at some old school computers and diligent workers:

I never got to caddy for somebody like this chap, Max Miller. He looks like a Rodney Dangerfield and a Benny Hill rolled up into one. Maybe I just chose the wrong country club. Not many cowboy types at “Manny’s”…just a lot of frustrated angry old men.

For example, here’s the American "Alex Kidd In Miracle World" packaging:

Oh, that hypnotic simplistic grid with clip-artish illustration.

And here is the Japanese packaging of the same game:

Much more exciting!

I can’t tell you how many lame hours I spent in grades 7 – 9 playing the 8-bit Sega Master System. But, what could I do? I was a total dork and soon realized that I actually wasn’t going to be the next Mike Schmidt…or even Steve Jeltz for that matter. It really didn’t help with the ladies being holed up in my bedroom, mapping out role-playing games with pen and paper either.

Of course, seeing things like this didn’t help me either.

For all you Sega dorks out there, there’s a YouTube user named talbot1939′s that video tapes himself kicking ass and easily winning several games with ease. Brings back some memories! Here he is conquering the game "Black Belt":

Biking as a kid was my first true taste of freedom. It was really one of those trust bonds that you broke with your parents. Sure, I biked on down to Billy’s house four blocks away, but I didn’t tell them how we biked purposely until we were lost, or taking a wobbly ride on railroad tracks until we saw the white lights in the distance.

1987

In 1987, I was influenced by the freestyle bike craze that was happening in the burbs, and so, my parents got me a GT Performer for my birthday. I remember assuming an enormous responsibility with this bike, as it was expensive. I learned quite a few tricks with this thing and can’t believe that I was doing frame-stands down the Garden Road hill. It’s amazing that I didn’t destroy my manhood while learning how to do the “cherry picker”. (The above photo was taken from BMX Museum. My bike was actually lime green with pink tires, but was the same model as this.)

Throughout my 20s, I stuck with mountain and hybrid bikes. They were ideal for the hills of Berks County where I spent my college days, and ideal for Wissahickon Trail in Philly. I particularly had a GIANT Rincon and a GIANT Cypress.

2007

My current bike, the Bianchi San Jose, is an absolute joy to ride throughout the city. It is a single speed, super light Cross bike, that has a free wheel. The ride is ultra smooth and quiet. It is ideal for getting somewhere fast and commuting around the city.

People often jump up if I momentarily ride up on them or along their side because they can’t hear it! What’s more amazing is how quickly you gain optimum speed after having to come to a dead stop. It’s way faster than my 21-speed GIANT Cypress was, void of the grip shifting that seems pointless and annoying for urban cycling.

The Atari 2600 and the Intellivision were classics too, but the Odyssey was simply awful! Just look at the console! Instead of Pac-Man, they had a cheesy version of it called “K.C. Munchkin”. Check out this great commerical for it…What a Pac-Man rip off!

The glorious, and ultimately most dorky days of my life, occurred when I got the 8-bit Sega Master System in 7th grade. This was Nintendo’s rival, and I chose this over the Nintendo…on purpose. I’m still trying to figure out why, but I delved into those role playing games as if my own life depended on it.