I remember.  Still in the attic are pads and pads of sketch paper and tracing paper from the art store.  Remember those?  I used to trace things, not to copy them, but to get a feel for the foreshortening and perspective, and it was all moot.  I just do not have a brain that can manipulate a shape in 3D and put it down on paper.  Buildings and landscapes I can do.  Color and composition I can do.  But the human figure eluded me.  I needed some kind of model I could move myself.

So one day I received a software catalog and inside was an ad for Poser.  I immediately wrote a check (there was no PayPal then, or online banking) and headed out the door to mail the order form.  On my way out, I found that day's mail and lo and behold inside was yet another software catalog from the same company, only this issue announced the debut of Poser 2!

Only a few weeks before, I received a gift of Bryce 2 from my brother.  Before Bryce and Poser, my computer was used solely as a glorified word processor which I turned on maybe twice a week.  Now I practically live in front of my computer.