A great battle between two fantastic illustrators, Cindy Li and Veerle Pieters, at Layer Tennis.

Remember the victory speech Obama gave that lit a fire? Meet his editor Jon Favreau:

The pitch worked. Favreau and Obama rapidly found a relatively direct way to work with each other. “What I do is to sit with him for half an hour,” Favreau explains. “He talks and I type everything he says. I reshape it, I write. He writes, he reshapes it. That’s how we get a finished product.

My new job at GW and new life in D.C. area are so far so good. Now that I am getting into the groove of commuting, I kind of am enjoying it. Actually I have to thank my future sister-in-law for making my commuting painless by loaded up $250 onto my SmarTrip. I left it at home yesterday and it was a pain trying to get around without it. I ended up spent five dollars for a $1.35 bus fare because I didn’t have small bills on me. I am loving my future sister-in-law already (nothing wrong with a little kiss-up).

For the first four days, I kept forget to bring my camera out to lunch so I can take some shots of GW campus. Today I remember the camera, but forgot it is raining. So, I’ll try to take some next week. The budget guy came into my office yesterday to check out my MacBook Pro after seeing the bill came in. He said a PC usually costs about $1,200, but my laptop costs almost three grants. Luckily a student/co-worker next door heard it and tried to explain why Mac is way better than PC and how students are now used to Mac that they don’t even want to use the PCs in their classroom. I didn’t have to say a word.

At home, I have a crazy roommate too. In our first conversation I asked him how many brothers he has. He told me two and the oldest one has a big “con cu.” I was like, “you checked him out?” He replied, “Yeah, he’s my brother.” I was like, “That is strangest shit I ever heard.” He went on, “But don’t tell anyone I said that.” I laughed. I won’t tell anyone, just the whole wide world. So if you’re reading this, don’t tell anyone alright.

“Ching-a-Ling” (Remix)

NPR profiles Paul Desmond:

Known as “the swinging introvert,” Paul Desmond once described his sound as “like a dry martini.” With his darkly lilting approach, Desmond rose to fame while soloing in the crook of Dave Brubeck’s piano, teaming with the bandleader to help form one of the most heralded groups in jazz history. Desmond also penned one of the most successful jazz classics of all time, “Take Five.”

Check out the program here.

Vassar had put up my original theme that helped kick off the new homepage design. What a lovely winter scene captured by my wonderful colleague Tamar. I am feeling nostalgia already.

Thirty-seven-year-old shrimper, Lam Luong, Accused of Throwing Kids Off Bridge Expected in Court:

Authorities believe Luong threw the children from the bridge after an argument with his wife, but they gave no details on what the dispute was about. Luong had a crack cocaine possession charge pending in Georgia, and his wife’s brother-in-law described Luong as a drug addict.

Damn!

The life of commuting has been interesting. For the past three days I kept taking the wrong bus home and ended up walking and jogging a couple miles to get to the house. The evenings have been beautiful and I get a chance not only to burn off some fats, but also relax with Miles’ Ballads and Blues, so I can’t really complain.

As for work, I left a big office at Vassar to share a small-ass room with a part-time writer. The good thing is that she is very easygoing and they are trying to get me my own space. Let’s hope that will happen soon.

Today I got to check out the “soft” launch of the graduate department of the School of Business. The design will serve as a template for me to adapt to other sites. Unlike Vassar, which distinguishes each department’s individuality, GW wants every site to come under one big umbrella. So I will have to rip off the new design to make all the sites have a similar look and feel. The new site, which took a year and a half to complete, is clean and elegant so I don’t mind working off it. I got the license to steal. Isn’t that cool or what?

Today the writer, who shares an office with me, was writing a welcoming paragraph about me in the bi-weekly newsletter and she asked me what brought me to GW. I told her the tuition cost got me here. I am dead serious. After reading Forbes’s “America’s Most Expensive Colleges” (GW is number one and Vassar is number five on the list), I headed over to GW web site and looked up for web design position and to my surprise, they had an opening. What shocked me even more was that I received a call from my new boss four hours later. And four weeks after that, here I am. Isn’t that crazy? On the resume I will arrogantly state that I have worked for two of the most expensive colleges in the world.

IuneWind (strong design makes up for “weak English”)
Wanda Estudio (Graphics speak for words)

The day kicked off with 50 minutes of bus and metro commute. Spent the whole morning trying to stay awake during orientation. New boss took me out to lunch. The 60-degree weather was unbelievably beautiful, and so she gave me a quick tour to show all the eatery spots on campus.

Went back into the building and a spanking new, unopened MacBook Pro and two 20-inch Apple cinema displays waiting for me to use. By the time I got connected and installed a few programs, it was time to go home. Took the metro back but then somehow got confused during the bus rides. Ended up walked a couple miles home.

Feet hurt and stomach hungry, scooped up a big bowl of rice with pork caramel made by my landlord’s wife. I rented a room from a young couple who love food as much as me, but actually can cook. The wife came from Soc Trang; therefore, she can make southern dishes including Bun Mam, Bun Nuoc Leo, and other savory dishes that she’ll make. She guarantees to get me hooked while I am staying. We’ll see about that. Last night they did make some really banging Thai’s hotpot.

Although the transition is so far so good, I wish she were here. Two days without her went by in a glacial pace, and two weeks seem like forever. Damn! I miss her.