It’s so slow… takes forever to sync my iPod. This morning I plugged it in and 25 minutes later, it was still syncing. I had to stop the sync because I needed to take the kids to school. Now my iPod has no podcasts, and only a few playlists… But it still says I only have 3.5GB free… go figure. Plus the iTunes store is (and always has been) super slow. Maybe I should downgrade to iTunes 6 again. This is ridiculous.

I have been enjoying Trace Memory (taking my time, enjoying the experience) and have been wondering if a similar game will be coming out. And so comes “Hotel Dusk: Room 215“, by the same game developer, CING. This one looks like a true detective story, and you hold the DS sideways, like a book, similar to the way you do in Brain Age. The trailer movie looks very cool, and the music has the same type of feeling as Trace Memory. I have wanted a game that flows like a mystery book, and this one looks like it fits the bill!

I love how you can add the words “in bed” to the end of fortune cookie fortunes. I was reminded of this when one of Courtney’s flickr pics came across bloglines: “A friend will soon reveal an exciting secret to you!” If you are one of the few people who don’t add those two words, give it a try next time. Lots of fun.

Yesterday I picked up my silver DS Phat and the strap got caught on something and the whole thing fell on the floor. Luckily it was carpet and I figured the DS wouldn’t have any damage (that thing is pretty tough). But when I put in a game and started the system up, the normal startup sound that sounds like a little chime sounded like a tiny bell. I thought that I must have broken something. Maybe the speaker popped loose or something? The game sounded fine however. And then I plugged in a pair of headphones, and it sounded fine as well. But the startup sound was still super high-pitched. I thought that there must be a reset or something, but couldn’t find it. Anyways, I charged it up overnight, and this morning when I started it up, it was fine. The normal sound was back. So now I am thinking that maybe the battery was really low and that was some kind of indicator? I just hope my DS is ok. I’d hate to have to buy one of those slick DS Lite’s. 😉

The Japanese CM’s are on the Wii.com site. I like the fishing commercial. I can’t wait to get a Wii!

On my run this morning, I took out my earphones to unwind part of it that was twisted, and the little foam thing that covers my right earbud came off… It was too dark to find it on the street. Now I gotta look for those extra covers.

I went running the other morning. I don’t wear glasses when I run, and I usually run at 5:30am when it is still dark. At about mile two, I saw a row of dead piglets on the sidewalk. When I got closer, I realized that they were just sandbags from a house under construction. Was pretty shocking at first, though.

Surfer Girl – The Beach Boys
My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars
All Night Long – Faith Evans Featuring Puff Daddy
Show Me – The Pretenders
Paradise – Sade
Lovefool – The Cardigans
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye
When Will I See You – Pretenders

One of Mariko and mine’s friends is a sushi chef (as well as makes regular Japanese dishes) at a restaurant here in town, and we sat at his sushi bar last night and enjoyed an amazing omakase. He pretty much chose the best fish, and created lots of sushi that I had never had before. I mean, the types of fish weren’t exotic types that I had never seen before, but they were combined and presented in a way that was special and unique. All of it was awesome! Like a dumbass, I forgot my camera, though… My favorite was a makizushi that had ikura, shiso and a special sauce made from uni. We also had baked tako with a little bit of cheesy spicy sauce on it, with crispy garlic slivers. It was so great. And an asparagus sushi with a miso/mayonnaise sauce. To end the meal, we had ama-ebi which was oishiiiiiiiii. I love eating the deep-fried body of the shrimp too, although it seemed like lots of people were watching us, since it is not something Americans would normally eat. We did think it was weird that people put their miso soup bowls on top of their plates when they ate it, though. And I had to ask Mariko about putting wasabi into the shoyu… something that I never do anymore and is rarely done in Japan. FYI, we put a little wasabi on top of the fish, then make sure to dip the fish-side into the shoyu, not the rice.

It was such a great meal. Omakase is wonderful because you get to eat dishes you would never eat otherwise. Normal sushi from the sushi menu is good, but omakase creations are the best!

Here’s a great article on the how to’s of enjoying sushi: Sushi Eating HOWTO, by Eugene Ciurana

What’s up with people calling California, “Cali”? It sounds very odd to me. Never heard it called that when I lived there. It’s funny, but I often hear it called that from people who think of themselves as Californian (maybe lived there for a few years). But I don’t think any natives would actually say Cali. SoCal sometimes, but not Cali. I don’t know… whatever! Nevermind me.