September 20, 1991
[In SF] Nonstop meetings every day since I arrived, with different groupings of people. Even lunch is a meeting. It’s exhausting, and exhilarating. To be acting, to have a purpose, feels wonderful after a month of tourism.
Prince 2 is happening. I’m relieved… guardedly optimistic, anyway.
I’d been afraid I’d arrive to find the project scuttled, or at least that I’d have to fight tooth and nail to keep it afloat; but although I’d heard rumblings to the effect that the Powers that Be (John Baker and Michelle) were shocked and dismayed by the project’s size, all they’ve done is, quite reasonably, express concern that it not grow out of control, and entreat me to get as specific as I can, in the two weeks I’m here, about what graphics work will be required.
For now, it’s all going (seemingly) smoothly… a lot of work, taking the storyboards and spec’ing out how much graphics will be required to implement them. As to the actual content – what will be on the screen and how it should look – everyone is deferring to me the way a film crew defers to the director. Somehow, I’ve acquired that magic quality, credibility.
As long as they continue to trust me and believe in me, this job is a dream. If they ever start to doubt me, it could become a nightmare.
Mac Prince has been pushed back to January, which isn’t as good as shipping in October, but, after two years in the netherworld of “almost done,” will come as an enormous relief.
Dinner last night in SF with Tomi’s new collaborator, Bill Purdy of Purdy and Young, the job shop she’s contracted out the Authorware accounting program to. They are, in fact, young and purdy.
