Felix and I

In my memory it’s always the same picture: He is young – twenty four – sitting at the black computer table by the wall of his living room. I’m looking at him side-on. He’s silhouetted by the huge window with a gorgeous view of the neighbourhood church. Green trees outside. The sun is shining brightly.It’s summer. Probably “The Hot Summer”, when our friends G and C came over to hang and see what he was working on. This was at the one-bedroom apartment where he lived on his own for the first time. There was a small fan struggling to hold back the 35 degree heat. It was 20cm in diameter so it was ineffective – it was phenomenally hot and still a good time. He was showing all of us something on the computer screen. When he built that desktop he used a mini-motherboard, aiming at a small form factor. But at the last step, when it came time to buy the case, only a comically-large one was available. He took it. This compromise grated on him but it was a pragmatic way to finish the build and…