Art, technology, SF

I'm at Cafe Flore right now. My ex-wife introduced me to it in 96. It was decidedly less-crowded back then. The whole vibe of the city was more about art and less about activism back then. As everyone knows now, beteween 96 and 2000 most of the art collectives moved on and many of the independant artists as well. Buildings like Defenestration on Mission at 7th are all that remain of that once wicked-deep artist vibe. Defenestration is the building whith the exterior covered with furniture that appears to be escaping the inside.
}}they just served me my liver pate crostini and french onion soup. The crostini at Reverie in Cole Valley is so much better. Floré just shouldn't serve this. My hunger is the only reason I'm not sending it back{{
Anyway, it seems like these days I work on the web 24/7. When I arrived in the 90's I thought that by now my life would be about the art I was making, and it is, for the most part. Software architecture is an art. I do consider myself an artisan and my greatest works have been "hand-coded". Like my relevancy engine. Both labour of love and work of art, it's able to determine what words define an article or page on the web, regardless of language, in about 18 seconds. I consider it one of my very earliest masterpieces. 
I wonder what became of my friends who left in the wave of art refugees in the late nineties. It's so easy to loose track of people. Weak connections add a lot of strength to a network, but socially, they are the easiest ones lost when there is a cultural shift. I find that the question is the best testament to their art. For imagining them doing what they set out to do, and finding what they set out to find, inspires me and gives me hope that I'll find what I set out for. A home, love, a family, social impact and glowing legacy.