Turns out that Momoko’s condition seems stable enough that she might be able to come home earlier than after she has the baby. Turns out that she might be able to come home this weekend. That would be pretty cool, provided she doesn’t get all uppity and tries to over-exert herself. I am sure between both her mother and I watching over her that we can keep her in check. But a greater incentive to stay relaxed would be the potentiality of going back to the hospital.

My birthday was pretty lame. Kidneys have been acting up again, so I was quite under the weather. And as usual, it rained - which limited my outdoor activities. I considered going shopping, but I actually don’t know what I want this year. I did get a new phone (pics to come shortly), but that was more out of necessity as my previous phone couldn’t keep a signal for a damn. Perhaps my depression is keeping me from getting excited about things, or maybe I am just adhering more to my buddhist sensibilities and diminishing my attachments. Or maybe I just already have “everything”. Who the hell knows? One thing is for certain, though… I am not going to be buying something just for the sake of buying it. I have been considering downgrading my home computer from the giant desktop to a new iMac, though - if you can believe that.

Akane is almost 2 kg (4 lbs for the US), so she seems to be growing quite well. The latest ultrasound images showed off some pretty nice details on her face, and everyone keeps telling Momoko how attractive the baby is going to be. Momoko has already expressed a potential desire for Akane to be either a model or a host on MTV if she looks “good enough”. I doubt Momoko would be one of “those” moms who forces the kid into something like that, and in the unlikely event that she would be, you can bet three sacks of grain and a cubit of something valuable I won’t let it happen.

Gaming-wise I have not been playing all that much. Work and health have been keeping my energy levels a bit low, so the only thing I have really played here and there would be GTA IV for the PS3. The single player is quite good, but the real fun comes from multplayer. Overall it is quite the stellar game, though I must confess that I am a bit disappointed that a good deal of the customisation options available to you in GTA: SA did not make it into the new game. I wish I could have more freedom to customise my clothes, colour of vehicle, etc. Maybe for the next iteration those things will make it back in the game. 

Work-wise things seem to be going well. On Monday Hakuhodo, one of Japan’s biggest advertising agencies, pitched two concepts to a big electronics company for the new branding for a new device coming out later this year: one from another design / production studio, and one from my team (cough*me*cough). Apparently the other studio’s work earned yawns, while our concept raised some serious eyebrows. We’ll know next week if we win the pitch. But everyone both here and at Hakuhodo were really happy with our submission. And this means that right now I can focus on the rebranding of the company I am at now - which is turning into a rather enjoyable project.

Music-wise not much has been happening. I’ve twiddled a few levers and knobs here and there, but not on a whole lot that I really feel like sharing. 

I’m also, clearly, trying out a new look for the site. Maybe this darker palette is easier on the eyes than the full on white design which I have been using the past few months. If anyone has trouble with anything on the site, please let me know.