So I’m back from the incredible adventure that was SummerSource. I have a truckload of impressions in my mind to deal with, scores of new friends, dozens of ideas, and in general a very busy and exciting time ahead (optimism rocks).
Dureing the weeks mad camp, I practically carried my PalmPilot around with me all the time. I used it to jot notes of the actual sessions, but even more importantly to jot down words, thoughts and ideas throughout the week.

On the plane journey home, having slept only about 5 hours total in the last 2 nights, I put myself in stream-of.consciousness mode and merged my on-the-spot emotions with these obscure notes from the week. This is the result:


source code
code is free
free to hack

hack hack hack
secure
the hangover.

gunner gunner wojtek wojtek
wojtek wojtek gunner gunner over

low connection, slow connection, no connection. I ping, I ping, I ping, but noone answers. The world is empty.
luckily. Right here, next to me, a hive of inquiring minds. Probing, pinging, hacking.
My mind.

my mind this morning
i’m feeling
dynamic, diabolic
dyne:bolic
AND WHY IS THAT? I ask. Again and again, as morning becomes circle, becomes session. Why is that? you ask. What came before?

wakeup call,
stumble to the bathroom.
Suddenly remember that croatian army toilets are non-intuitive interfaces. Stumble back.
Again. Like an ancient screensaver. Again.
shower. A failed attempt to dampen the pain of my thundering frontal lobe. but then. Breakfast. Chit chat, morning circle. Colors. Groove. Energy disperses and recollects in another plane of being.

What a week. Who are these people with such extreme inquisitive minds. These heroes from all over the world? Who are they?
I hand them a little nugget of my knowledge. They leap at it. Tear at it. Expose it’s faults. Shine on it’s strengths. Remix. Reinforce. Rethink.

As morning becomes circle and reenacts the previous day. As session flows into freeform, and training is replaced by learning, i absorb. It is the nature of this beast. It will pry open the fortress of the mind, and force a retreat. Never before. Never in so few days have i reconsidered so many assumptions. And reinforced so many beliefs.

how? Why? And why here?
Routing
dynamic routing
dynamic routing of minds, conversations, relationships. A gently coaxed dynamic routing protocol.
coaxed, nudged, guided into new paths. Always trying to find the optimal path between minds.
A geeky metaphor but so appropriate for this place outside of time.

in retrospect i find it hard.
Hard to focus. Sleep deprivation will do that.
As i remember 4am discussions. Lack of mental faculties apty replaced by ample volume. Remember exhaustion from answering questions. Asking questions. Questioning both questions and answers.
remember the healing properties of an adriatic backcrawl. Remind myself of the beginning of the week. So far away now. so remote. as i think back to sessions. Skillshare. Screwdriver drills and the bizarre. I taste again the salty yoghurt, the pivo and the soy. I hear again the voices of fifty new friends. Kind words, warm hearts, amazing people.
The quiet excitement of the moment. The infinitely less quiet excitement of some of the other moments. My face is tired from smiling for a week. My mind is tired from being open. My body is tired from being attached to this beer drinking machine at the end of my neck. I am exhausted. excited. exstatic. explosive.

4 thoughts on “Ode to SummerSource

  1. Hello Tomas,

    the camp was a blast indeed! made new friends – of which i hope you’re one – and learnt so much in the process, let alone the mediterenean paradise that Vis actually is:-)

    there so many thoughts and ideas that will certainly take some time to settle, and it’ll be damn hard resuming back to normal life! i’ll make sure tham my next beer and spliff is dedicated to tac-tech-col-, gunner, vis, and everyone who made the camp what it really was, and look forward to seeing you again.

    i’m sure there’ll be a next time, especially given that i’ve just applied for a research job at the Compenhagen Business School. So, fingers crossed!

    keep in touch

    the gggggggggpl gue as you ‘d say:-)

  2. Tomas,

    I too was bewildered and dazed sometimes. Your stream-of-conciousness meets mine. Thanks for this. You can be sure that you will here from me someday… You are now my wireless guru.

    Three cheers for the camp and everybody who was there!! Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah!

    Omar

  3. Hey Tomas,

    Some truly apt poetry for an amazing week, and thanks for your enthusiasm! If you’re ever looking for new challenges or interesting holidays, there’s always place in South Africa.

    Here’s to free beer, football and wireless cucumbers!

    Rudi

  4. Thanks for dropping by……

    looking forward to a future where even more people share our vies and visions

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