About twenty years ago, I was walking down 6th Street, soaking in the usual Austin chaos, when something surreal happened. I passed by the massive window of Iron Cactus and instantly locked eyes with someone sitting at a table inside. Not just anyone—Weird Al Yankovic.

We both froze for a beat, and in that exact moment, there was a spark of recognition. I pointed at my phone, silently asking for a selfie. He smiled, waved me in. I dropped to one knee like I was proposing to the king of parody himself, said, "I love you," and tapped the shutter.

This was pre-2007—pre-selfie-culture, pre-front-facing cameras. I was rocking a Palm Treo, the cutting-edge smart device of the time. Feeling like I had just captured lightning in a bottle, I walked back out onto 6th Street grinning like an idiot.

Then I checked my phone.

No photo. No evidence. Just a ghost of a moment shared between me, Weird Al, and a Palm OS interface that failed me at the worst time.

I didn't dare go back in. He had already been gracious. The moment was over. It became one of those "you had to be there" stories I told every now and then, always wishing I'd had one more second, one better click.

Until today.

Thanks to some modern AI magic, I finally got to recreate that memory—this time, with a working camera. It may not be real, but the smile definitely is.

Speaking of digital selfies, here is one I took of Elvis Costello in the airport in Osaka, Japan in 1997. I had the brand new Casio QV-10A that took photos at 480x360. Which this photo below is in. Camera cost $500 back in 1997 and it was a big chunk of change for a guy moving to Japan. Crazy small resolution but you can clearly see younger me and Mr. Costello.

He was in line waiting to go through customs, and we chatted about my fancy new camera and was impressed with the way the camera lens could flip around, still show you the camera view on the small screen, and take a photo.

And finally since I'm a completist, here is another digital photo from that same trip. This was taken in Los Angeles just before I got on my flight to Japan. The bad news is that I didn't understand backlighting and how it blows out an image in the foreground. This is me and Erick Sermon.