So, the place we ended up going to this weekend was Azumino in Nagano. We stayed overnight in a cabin, had a BBQ, drank a lot, ate soba, took a hike (like a five minute one), played in an unbelievably fucking cold stream, and then popped into a onsen (traditional Japanese hot spring) on our way home. Oh, and we ate way, way too much.
Today I did — um, pretty much nothing so far. I think I organized a tad bit of paperwork and played with the princess but that was the gist of it. Maybe I’ll get lucky and manage to get something done before bed.
Went to go buy a pair of jeans today because I only have one wearable pair left (with holes all in them) and I stumbled across this wallet. I’ve never been much of an impulse buyer but I had to have it — so now I do.
It’s been a busy day, the majority of it being spent on filling out paperwork and going to the immigrations office to apply for a spousal visa. I’ve been meaning to do it for literally years now but I’ve just kept putting it off; the application process is an utter pain. Anyhow, it’s submitted now so we will see how it goes.
The fit show yesterday was rather fun by the way. To be honest, we were a bit out of place: we were much heavier than the other bands and I get the feeling that the venue kind of leans more towards lighter pop than what we do in general. The sound was definitely a bit too clean for us. Regardless though, the staff were really nice and I did enjoy playing. It’s always fun to get up on stage and let out some steam of course.
Oh yeah, I’m going to be out of town for two days starting tomorrow. We are going to be heading to — somewhere — with some friends to — do something — I’m not really sure excatly what. I know it has something to do with staying in a cabin. And riding in a raft down a river. And drinking. Granted the order of importance may be in reverse, but whatever.
Just came across this postcard on PostSecret and it gave me a good sigh — along with a sense of gratification that my daughter is too young to understand.
Defying all odds, the wifey, did in fact, manage to wake up. Granted it was almost midnight, but bah. So we had a midnight baked cheesecake making party!
We had some lemons left over so I threw together some lemonade:
Yes, in case you’re wondering, that is a 2-liter coke bottle with the top cut off — our one and only pitcher is in use for mugicha (barley tea). The wifey has been drinking a lot of that lately to cut down on caffeine. The princess drinks a rather large amount of it as well.
So yeah, the cheesecake:
And wow, it is some good cheesecake. I’m seriously not trying to come of pompous here but it is some of the best cheesecake I’ve had — easily better than anything I have ever bought. The recipe came from the same recipe book that our rare cheesecake came from, and I tell you, that book is proving to be magical. We are definitely going to have to try out some other stuff as well.
Anyhow, being that we had to wait about an hour for the cheesecake to bake, we watched “Semi-Pro,” which had me laughing my ass. Gotta love Will Ferrell.
Ok, movie rather. And no cheesecake — yet.
The wifey and I had a “date day” today, which means we put the princess into daycare while we went out to eat lunch and then relaxed around the house for a bit afterwards. We went to the theaters on our last date so we picked up a movie to take home this time instead. One thing about being parents is that you never really get to watch movies anymore, and even if you manage to, it takes so much effort it isn’t really worth it to start with. That being the case, it’s actually kind of cool because the video store is stocked with all sorts of good stuff that not only have we not seen, but we have never even heard of.
I picked up “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” but, it was rather blah to be honest. The CG was good, and it had some novel ideas, but the plot was just rather disjointed and silly. Kind of a shame really.
As for the cheesecake, we have the makings of the crust in the refrigerator right now and the plan is to continue working on it tonight — but its completion rest on the shoulders of the wifey, and her ability to wake back up after putting the princess to sleep. And lets face it, the chances of that happening are rather slim.
So, what should I do? Should I try to make it myself and surprise her in the morning? If I succeed, I win “lovely husband” points, yet if I fail, the wrath of death shall fall upon me. Decisions, decisions.
Oh yeah, and I still need a job.
New cabinets!
I swear, these things looked so much smaller in the showroom. Just think of all the dead bodies we can hide.
Speaking of death, we have a show coming up at Roppongi Morph next week and we are down to two sprained wrists and a brutally cut finger. Taka, so far, is the only one who is not yet mutilated in some form or another.
So come on out — chances are high you can see his arm fall off on stage.
Man the princess is getting big. I know I sound like an old man saying this but they just grow up so damn fast. She’s speaking a lot these days, predominantly in Japanese, but I guess that is to be expected. Then again she does have some words she says in English — like “no” (she’s really good at that one).
Oh, and I have an announcement (albeit a hideously late one): we have another baby on the way — this time a boy!
The whole annual produce of the land and labour of every country [...] naturally divides itself [...] into three parts; the rent of the land, the wages of labour, and the profits of stock; and constitutes a revenue to three different orders of people; to those who live by rent, to those who live by wages, and to those who live by profit. The interest of the first of those three great orders [...] is strictly and inseparably connected with the general interest of society.
But the rate of profit does not, like rent and wages, rise with prosperity, and fall with the declension, of the society. On the contrary, it is naturally low in rich, and high in poor countries, and it is always the highest in the countries which are going fastest to ruin.
The interest of this third order, therefore, has not the same connexion with the general interest of the society as that of the other two. [...] The interest of the dealers [...] is always in some respect different from, and even opposite to, that of the public.
“The Wealth of Nations,” Adam Smith
6th Edition, Copyright 1937, pg. 248-250
Is it me or does anyone else find it funny that Adam Smith, the man who is widely regarded as the intellectual father of capitalism, also happens to rather explicitly point out one of the biggest fundamental flaws with the ideology in the same work that helped popularize it?
I’ve been interested in doing this for literally years now but given my new state of unemployment, combined with the need to clean up my portfolio a bit, I have started developing on the game engine I started oh so long ago. The idealistic plan is to create a new engine from scratch, along with a new level/game editor. Who knows how far I’ll actually manage to get with it though — it’s a learning experience more than anything else.
Anyhow, so far so good: simple maps and textures are being loaded dynamically, mipmapping is in place, and the mouse-look control system is functional (although it probably still needs a few adjustments). Next on the road map is anti-aliasing and from there, I’m going to look into trying to put the foundation for the editor together.
For the editor, I’m considering dabbling into C# being as I have never really messed with it before. Should be interesting anyway.
What is it about being unemployed that puts me in the mood to make dinner? Last night I tried out making some cheesy garlic bread stick thingys. We met up with Maggie for lunch but I forced her to stay for dinner being as I fucked up the recipe and ended up having to make a metric shit-ton of dough to compensate for the water I poured in.
This is just plate one by the way. I purposely made the bread a bit thick so I could manage to fit it in the oven.
Today, the wifey headed out with the princess to let her play with her friend in the park and I stayed back home to try to get some work done. I was a bit exhausted from staying up too late the night before though so I didn’t manage as much as I wanted, but I guess I did handle a little bit — better than nothing anyway.
Oh yeah, and I’m loving the new Eminem CD. I’m pretty sure comment attack squads across the globe are going to kill me for saying this but I think it’s one of my favorite albums from him so far. Seriously.
Speaking of Eminem, holy shit.
Wait through to the second verse by the way, it’s well worth it — it shouldn’t be humanly possible to freestyle that well.