I remember her hands. Not the hands themselves, but the pressure of her Wacom pen. She’d drag the (that beautiful, mathematical beast—P key, always ready) along the edge of a coffee bag photo. Anchor point. Anchor point. Bezier curve. Click-drag-release. Perfect. She never used the Magnetic Lasso. Amateur.

I am .

Adobe releases (19.0). It has the new Brush Smoothing. It has Variable Fonts. It has a “Learn” panel that patronizingly explains what a layer is.

Clara updates without thinking twice. One click. My 18.0.0 executable is moved to a folder called “Previous Versions.” Dark. Quiet. No chime.