Once upon a time, I couldn’t see the point of these new-fangled gadget cell phones that can text-message, play MP3’s, take pictures, and sometimes can just barely not even make a phone call. (You know what I’m talking about.)

Today, however, I copied all the files from my cell phone onto my computer, and I found numerous photos that I and my kids had taken, some of which are kinda cool, and others of which bring back memories. Most of us don’t carry a camera around, but we do carry our cell phones around. So when a photo-op presents itself, good thing we have some way to capture the moment.

(By the way, my cell phone takes pictures no better than any other cell phone, of much lower quality than the camera my brother’s uses to take his pro-quality photos. Most of the shots on there stunk. But some of them I was able to salvage, and the images you see here have been enhanced and processed to look half-decent.)

Start with this cute shot I took, across the parking lot from my favorite Starbucks. When I saw these two storefronts, side by side, the only thing I could think was, I wonder if they’re in business together.

(You can click on the photo for a higher-resolution image.)

I did not laze around on the beach all day, everyday, reading books, writing on my laptop– Ah, that would have been fun.

I’m actually still on my “summer vacation,” even though the calendar and the weather both say we’re well into autumn. Because it wasn’t really a vacation, although it was a vacation from full-time writing.

I’ve been spending most of my time on a full-time software contract, developing software for a commercial search engine (which does not have a ‘G’ in its name). A big surprise to me: I discovered that I haven’t lost my touch. I fell into developing code just as easily as if it had been riding a bike. But I also have been maintaining a sense of distance from the project, doing the work for the money–doing my best work, yes, and giving my best advice, but not becoming personally invested in the results. (And if you don’t understand why this is such an important transformation for me, I recommend a National Geographic documentary about stress, which I recently watched, especially the very last segment.

I also discovered that I still make mistakes after almost 30 years, but at least I learn from them. And at least the mistakes are on the margins, subtle.