One of the earliest TI computer games I can remember playing is "Hunt the Wumpus." It’s a simple strategy game, sometimes studied in artificial intelligence classes, where you have to navigate out of a maze without falling into a pit or running into the wumpus. The TI version scared me to tears every time I ran into the wumpus. The screen would completely change to red, displaying an angry wumpus with the classic "you lost"-style music playing in the background. To a five year old, this was quite traumatic, but somehow I would find the courage to crawl out from under the bed and play the game again. I was just way too fascinated with the computer to let that wumpus get the best of me.

I recall having an equal collection of educational software and video games for the TI. I especially remember the math educational games. I learned how to multiply in second grade by playing the math game—in my elementary school at the time, multiplication and division weren’t taught until the third grade. I also remember being scolded by my second-grade teacher for inappropriately correcting her or something along those lines. Hey, she was the one who said that you couldn’t subtract a bigger number from a smaller number, like 7 minus 20. I remember being really excited when I screamed, "Yes you can! It is a negative 13!" That was the only bad memory I have of that teacher, so I think I just got her on a bad day. Or more likely, I was just overly excited, which I still get accused of from time to time even today. I was the kind of kid who would have the customer service desk at the local K-Mart page my parents saying that I was lost, just because I wanted to hear my name over the speakers.