Preface 1

Task Zeno: Confessions of a Mechanical Man began as a handful of old photographs purchased from Manhattan street vendor more than twenty years ago. Strolling down Canal Street perusing the shops and street vendors one Sunday afternoon in October of 1986, I stopped to check out a vendor near the south east corner of Canal and West Broadway. To this day I have no idea what the man was selling beyond the single cardboard box that I was drawn to. Fifty cents each or three for a buck was scrawled on the front and it was filled with old photographs. So I dove in.
At first nothing grabbed me, family photos, cute vintage babies and the occasional studio portrait. And with the vendor giving me the eye like I was about to bolt with a fist full of his precious photos, I decided to have one last look before continuing on my way. And there it was, a photo of four old men, brothers as it turned out, having their picture taken at a family gathering. Reaching in again I pulled out a handful of more old guy photos. And being delighted that I had apparently struck a vein of cool stuff, I momentarily lost myself in what must have appeared to be a detailed excavation of the box and its contents. Unfortunately after picking out only a dozen or so the spell was broken by the box being slowly pulled from my grasp and the announcement that they were closing.