i dashed home then out the door to TND. the city is scary at night, but as soon as i walked in the door, i felt safe and welcome. Jonathan Steuer, the founder of Cyborganic, was at the top of the steps, greeting and wearing an Eyeore shirt. "Just as I got out of bed, I thought, 'this is an eyeore day.'" So, he introduced me to the surrounding folks and recommended the gumbo. I wasn't too keen on beelining for the food, so I wandered into the room adjacent to the kitchen, where various Macintoshes occupied key desk space. sensing an easy way to retreat from the smells (weed from the balcony) and sounds (a School House Rock CD-ROM on the 'puter across the room) bombarding me, i logged onto the spacebar (the chat server for cyborganic) to see if i could catch anyone's name by listening to the conversations going on around me and the text flowing across the screen. after a few minutes of lurking on the 'bar, i was drawn out by the smells of spicy cuisine and the young dude next to me, who presently told me that he works here for Jonathan. "Hi, I'm Jon." i could see that names were going to be a problem. but, we talked for a little bit, which gave me confidence to go for the food. at the "bread bar" i met Marin, who chatted quite friendily and introduced me to the surrounding folk, one of which was a graduate of Penn. he looked the part, i must say. speaking of which, i gained Much Points for wearing my "im@miwits.end" shirt. the geeks seemed to appreciate its simplicity. and, yes, there were geeks. we were all geeks. geeks in geek paradise, actually, because every room had at least one terminal and everyone had some freaky quality or two. there were angst-ridden, black-clad quiet types, newbies like me, the wild and the reserved, lots of piercings, hair of almost every color, thin, large, tall, short. all of them, beautiful to me. i was just happy to be there, and to connect to the feeling of instant belonging, so peculiar and yet so familiar. it was like going to the Olde Club after finishing your midterm. combined with that feeling of impossible deja-vu of looking into the future and seeing the past that i love about science fiction. there were digital editors and freelance websters, graphics greats and undiscovered talents, bystanders and shakers alike. and we were all enjoying the gumbo. and, of course, there was Sonic, Queen of the Universe. she's hyper, alright. i picked her out immediately from justin's description, sitting at the terminal to my left, typing 120 wordsaminute. everyone knows her, she floats around the place, metabolizing the very air she breathes. we talked as she typed conversations into the spacebar, and she only learned my name when we exchanged cards (how 80's). "HEWLETT-PACKARD!" she screamed, as i shusshed her. "ahh, you're corporate," commented the room. then, the barrage of questions: "What do you wear to work?" "Button-down shirts?" "Slacks?" "SHOES?!?" it seems people measure the coolness of your job by the dress code. i told them about Casual Friday and i thought again of the cartoon you sent me. i looked up from my view of the floor and saw jahall's hair coming up the stairs. he saw me, approached and hugged hard the way justin does. immediately, my respect level from those in the room jumped about ten points. "you two know each other?" naw, we replied, eager to catch up. seems he's being bumped out of room and board from Howard, whose wife isn't too keen on having another roomie. so, tonight he'll be sleeping here, and, say, how's your girl? as people filtered out, wishing each other fun at Burning Man (an annual pagan, fire-burning desert festival coming up this weekend), i gave justin my first impressions of the place. he sat at Jonathan's desk, holding audience and surfing the occasional reference as we talked. he told a friend about his new project, Electric Minds. he had t-shirts, would i like one? i told him i'd wear it to work today, and he was flattered. i managed to snag a ride to the Colma BART from Mr. Steuer and Jenny Cool after visiting their plush pad a block away. we talked about VWs and Volvos, and i learned that he did the long distance relationship thing, too, before his girlfriend moved out from NYC. he has a little brother, as well. and, as i sped home, my mind abuzz with the sensory input of the night, i thought of my new friends that are actually my old friends and 67 Ramona, which was exactly the Cyborganic that i had pictured.
Excerpted from a letter to an ex-girlfriend.
- Thursday Night Dinners - 8/30/96