Lately while working on a new puzzle game called Interst8, I’ve been delving into road geek forums and getting into all things highway. These topics reminded me of my own experience on one of the westernmost roads in the country, the Pacific Coast Highway. Traveling on the PCH is a goal of mine, but so farm I only had a taste of it; while in Los Angeles filming Superhuman, I used some free time to visit Santa Monica and crossed over the highway on a pedestrian walkway. Nothing but a means to get to the beach.
Fast forward a few months later and I’m back at my day job. Bugs are found. Our QA lead calls me to her desk. She opens Chrome, clicks the bookmark for our corporate email, and comments on the splash screen. Default Outlook splash screen with generic stock photos.
Then it hits me.
The bridge. The sandy coastline. The buildings in the background. It’s the pedestrian walkway I visited. Phones were taken out of pockets. Photos from Dropbox were loaded and compared with Google Street View and the Outlook splash screen. It was all a match, and it was all beautiful.
I know the novelty will fade as my insomnia wanes and I’ll finally be able to sleep, but for the moment I’m basking in the awe and satisfaction of having been somewhere so beautiful that its photo was used as a cheesy login screen background. There’s something special and amazing about it.