Remembering How I Used to Look at the World

This morning, as I was standing on the Metra platform waiting for my train… I saw a flutter of light. I cast a long shadow over the rails, and some cloud must have drifted by because for a moment all our shadows disappeared, then reappeared again.

It was as though someone turned off and on a switch. And in seeing the shadows fade in and out like that, I remembered my earlier career working with Flash and motion graphics.

I used to look at the world through a different lens back then, seeing shadows and movement. Wondering how I might recreate a certain instance or effect in Flash. I’d be taking the Blue Line to or from work, and the rapid shimmer of light within the train car made me think about keyframes and masks.

I hadn’t really thought of that much, until this morning. And when the shadows flickered, I began wondering how one might go about recreating that effect.

It also made me think about my time in graduate school, back when I wrote a lot more poetry. I used to see so much of the world as stories – where nearly everything person or thing I encountered could become the subject matter of a poem.

That’s lessened a lot for me, over the years. And something I do regret. I think I still have that ability from time to time, but it’s a creative muscle I don’t exercise nearly enough.

It’s an odd thing, encountering a mindset or perspective you once had… but haven’t had in a long, long while. Even though it was a brief moment, I did see the world differently – the way I used to see it. Once upon a time.

Related:
Remembering Gabocorp.com and the Early Days of Flash
Remembering Hillman Curtis
Odd Reflection, Caused by a Unique Confluence of Glass and Light
Sunlight Patterns
Goodbye, Columbus

This Post Has 1 Comment

  1. An extra bit of sadness: Chrome just recently started showing notifications that it will no longer support Flash after December of 2020.

    What’s going to happen to all the Flash and .swf files I have posted on here? Will people even be able to view it at all? Most if it’s silly and fluff, but there’s a decent amount on here. It’ll be a shame to see so much of that content just wiped clear away.

    avoision Reply


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