At the mall in Nara. Gets earlier every year. Why not just decorate 365 days a year ;-)

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Amazing stuff! 3D!

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“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” ― Albert Einstein

This great little film gives a glimpse into what surely a lot of people feel, at least sometimes, working in the big cities such as Tokyo. Life is short, you'd better do something you love. I love the ulta wide screen -- would be MUCH better in an actual theatre. Still good.

If the other video got you down, then here is life as a salaryman in 30 seconds.

Life is short. Do what you love.

From our room at Osaka Hyatt. Ferry just coming into port. Kobe off on the right and Akashi bridge in background left. Sent from my iPhone

Waiting for preso to start inside...

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The computer at its most useful state for generating ideas :-)

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View from the bathroom. Nice city view from the bath :-)

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Except for occasionally saying hello at the salad bar at Cafe Macs on the Apple campus in Cupertino, I never had much direct contact with Steve Jobs while I was at Apple. I regret that now. If I had a chance to meet Steve Jobs again I would of course thank him for creating Apple, but not for the reason you may think. The reason I am grateful most is because if Apple had never been invented, then I would not have met the woman who is now my wife and would not have our amazing little daughter. A long time ago, I used to be the president of an Apple User Group in Japan. The woman who is now my wife had just returned from getting her B.A. in Design from California and wanted to be a member of our Mac community as it contained a lot of designers and meetings were held in English. Over the years we became friends and she even visited Apple in Cupertino sometimes. Well, about 5-6 years after our first meeting, we got married. If Apple had not been invented there would have been no Mac user groups and it's hard to imagine I would have met my wife. So for me, this is the biggest reason why I will always have a special place for Apple in my heart. Below are a couple of pics from when my wife (then just a friend from Japan) visited me in the spring of 2001 in Cupertino.

ABOVE: My wife (on my left) with her friend, also a designer from Japan.

ABOVE: My (now) wife and me in my messy office on the Apple campus. The director of the department gave me the framed "Here's to the crazy ones" poster behind me.

Saying Thank You to Steve (Woz)
I never had a chance to say thank you to Steve Jobs, but I did have a chance to speak to Steve Wozniak a couple of years ago at TED in Long Beach. Just by chance, Woz sat next to me during one of the sessions. During one of the breaks I told him that if it had not been for him (and Jobs) then I would not have met my wife. "How do you mean?" he said. I then told him the story of how I met my wife. He seemed a little surprised and said "I'm touched" while he put his hand on over his heart. We laughed and chatted a bit and then went our separate ways at the conference, but I was really happy that I could at least thank 1/2 of the Steves for making Apple. Though, if truth be told, if Steve Jobs had not returned to Apple in 1997, there may not be an Apple today. In any event, no matter what happens to Apple in the future, it will always have a special place in the hearts of our family.

Above are some pics of Jiri, and Sebi, and me playing blues for about an hour under the stairs in the Shinsaibashi Apple Store. One of the other great ideas Steve Jobs had was to create the Apple Stores. I remember when he launched the first store -- all employees stopped what they were doing in Cupertino and watched his presentation. Steve gave a very cool, and impassioned presentation as he spelled out his vision for retail. Steve was certainly right about his vision concerning the success of the Stores to help drive the brand forward. They have really become community hubs around the world for local creatives (as well as business people, medical professionals, etc.) to meet and share their talents and the way they use Apple products to amplify their creativity and do better work or create great art. I have presented or played in Apple Stores all over Japan, the US, and the Regent Street Store in London. Hope to be back at the London store this November. I am thankful to Apple for allowing me to present so often in their stores.

I gave my first presentation in an Apple Store in Palo Alto just after that store opened while I was still working in Cupertino around 2002 I think. The PA store was one Steve would often stroll into as he lived just a few blocks away (I also lived in Palo Alto a few blocks east of Steve's house). It was very cool to see Steve hanging out there in the store on University Ave with a big smile on his face talking to "fans" in a low-key way who'd come up to speak to him. I vividly remember one sunny day when Steve was there leaning against the software shelf in the center of the store just taking it all in. Most people may not have known who he was, but many did and they all said "hi Steve" as they passed and some stopped to chat with him. I remember him asking something like "what do think of the store?" to some people who gathered around; the people seemed thrilled to be sharing what they thought. Obviously Steve could be really tough in meetings and in business in general. He did not suffer fools happily that is for sure. But I will remember Steve for that proud, gracious, and low-key guy who used to hangout in his local Apple Store with customers as if he was just another Apple fan. Anyway, I really just wanted to say that I am very thankful for these cool spaces called Apple Stores. We have Steve Jobs to thank for these too.