Yesterday I did an extra lecture for my computer graphics class. It consisted entirely of old favorites — various interactive things that I created using computer graphics stretching back literally decades.
The students seemed to really like it, and for me it was an interesting journey as well. I found myself remembering where I was when I created this or that, and what else was going on in my life at the time.
Revisiting my old computer graphics, and talking about them, was opening a portal into my long term memory. As the lecture progressed, people and places I had not thought about for years came to mind.
And perhaps more important, I realized that the computer graphics creations themselves were, in their own way, old friends. And some times it can be good to visit an old friend.