Both yesterday and today my productivity was highly affected by watching the E3 keynotes – Microsoft on Monday, Nintendo and Sony today. I would feel bad about it if my coworkers wouldn’t be “working” just as hard at watching the World Cup games. This actually reminds me of the last year in high-school when I used to sneak out to the computer lab while most of my classmates were out on the field playing football. Things haven’t changed much apparently.

So far the Microsoft Kinect demos were technologically impressive – the sports, dancing and workout games looked fun. Nintendo didn’t impress me much – the 3DS looks nifty, but I haven’t touched my NDS or PSP since I got the iPhone. I doubt I’ll get it – unless they release another Advance Wars or Fire Emblem. Sony hyped the PS Move, but after seeing Kinect it kinda felt flat. It’s basically a glorified Wiimote. Their presentation was much better though, while MS and Nintendo’s presenters kept using marketingspeak – “franchise”, “mass market”, “consumer trends” – Sony’s Kevin Butler went with a funny speech crafted for their target demographic. Too bad Jack Tretton went back to BS right after. I also thought PSN Plus is crap since you basically rent the content – it’s yours as long as you pay the subscription.

Wish I was there though – Microsoft gave free Xboxes to all keynote attendees and Nintendo had pretty girls demoing the 3DSes. Games-wise, I’m excited about the next Mortal Kombat, that should be fun. The Medal of Honor, Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 trailers looked really good. Should be a fun holiday season.

It has been a busy week…

After a long-awaited Memorial Weekend (= 3 day weekend, for my non-US readers), I started a very “social” week, with outings on every single night.

On Wednesday I met up with a friend that just got back from Boston and got me a new camera case (thanks, Angela!). We both have the GF-1 – I was the one who pitched it to her – and she knew I have a makeshift case (it’s actually a mini video recorder case) so she got me something more fitting. Earlier that day I had a long discussion with Mihnea about lenses (now I finally understand what all those numbers mean) and that made me very eager to get some more. I guess my next purchase will be a 14-45

On Thursday after work I met with a romanian friend that was passing through New York for a couple of days on her way back home. We never met before, but my father knew her mother and through some intricate stageplay we became friends on Facebook. I took her to Shake Shack for some “authentic” New York burgers. She loved it.

Friday was great – for two reasons: one, through some unexplained miracle, my company decided to give us summer Fridays (from now till Labor Day) which means from now on we’ll bounce at 3PM on those days. Second reason was the fact that Roxana and Slava finally tied the knot – legally at least, the ceremony and everything will take place in France at the end of August. Therefore we had a small party to celebrate – on a downtown rooftop – so make sure you check out the pictures.

Holy crap, it’s been over a month since I wrote anything! No wonder people are asking if I’m still alive…

Well the thing is, the second half of April was very busy, and not just because of my birthday. It went by – screwing with my head and my heart – with tumultuous consequences. A lot of drama followed – not something I want in my personal life – but what’s important is that everything is ok now. I apologize if I’m not making much sense, but at this point, if you’re reading this blog then you already know what I’m talking about…

But yeah, things are pretty awesome now: I have a wonderful girlfriend, work is going great and I’m planning a trip to France, Spain and Romania in August-September.

So, back to work!