When you make not so positive posts most of the time, you’ll get negative comments sometimes. I made a light muse yesterday and it turned into a heavy hate (from the reader’s view that is). For the first time I am being compared to Hitler. Coming from a confused broad, I am very flattered. I am joking again, but let’s get back to the food rant.

I do not have a problem with other ethnicity making a living off our food if they keep it authentic. A while ago, I went to a Vietnamese restaurant owned by Chinese, ordered a bowl of grilled pork vermicelli (bun thit nuong) and got grilled pork with mung bean noodles (bun tau). It was the weirdest combination I have ever taste. Much as I love my mama’s food, I didn’t like her version of pizza. Thankfully, she only made it once.

On the other hand, I do have a problem with Vietnamese restaurants that ran by Vietnamese but disgarded our true authenticity for American customers. Even though there are two restaurants, Miss Saigon and Saigon Café, located on the same street and two blocks from Vassar’s campus, I only visited each once. I ordered a bowl of Pho from Miss Saigon and asked for rau que. The owner told me, “Americans don’t eat rau que.” After I finished eating, she asked me how was it. I told her it is not so bad (comparing to instant Pho).

Leslie Hunt was voted off today even though she sang “Feeling Good” with a gorgeous scat. Before going home, she encored the tune with much more power and ended the show improvising: “Why did I care to scat / America don’t like jazz.” That’s my girl.

The new AIGA is clean and organized, but the visual looks dull and gray for a site that targets designers. The archives, which designed by Second Story, is much livelier.

Ngoc Khue’s colorful, imaginative Giot Suong Bay Len has been my creative juice for my work. I was jamming the album on my headphone yesterday while creating a comp in Photoshop and a fellow designer whose office is adjacent to mine heard it. He came over and asked what is that cool music I am playing. After filling him in on the mixture of contemporary and traditional vibe, I cut him a CD right away. I was astounded that he’s opened up to something that is even alien sounding to our own people. Music sure is a universal language.

As for the album, I can’t get “Ba Toi” out of my head, especially with the opening line: “Ba toi dua toi ra dau lang / Mot minh ba doi ca troi nang to.” Just love the way she carries the whole heated sun on her. The main reason the song appeals to me is that I don’t have a fond memory of my grandmas. My mama’s mama already left this earth before I entered into this world. My strongest memory of my father’s mother is that she made banging com ruou (rice liquor) and I was buzzed every time I ate it. Whenever we had family gathering, she would make an extra jar of com ruou just for me. Love you and your com ruou, granny. Hope you could feel me up there.

Although I only get to know you through your words, I have a great deal of admiration for you. Both of us are active bloggers, but I am nowhere as vivid or expressive as you when putting our personal life out in the public. Reading your posts, I feel as if you have welcomed me into your world. It takes courage to pour your heart out on the page the way you do, and you still have the freedom to write whatever you like. So don’t let people take that away from you. Give them the middle finger if they don’t feel you. Life is full of dramas, but like my man Trinh Cong Son said, “Hay yeu ngay toi du qua met kiep nguoi. Con cuoc doi ta cu vui.” So let the wind blows and go with the flow, baby.

Not sure if these women’s shoes are walkable, but they sure will boost up your altitude.

A white man who sings and translates Trinh Cong Son’s music. Not bad, Richie!

Japanese people sure have some sense of humors in their English-learning video. “Hey Toshi, Come On! My grandmother gives good head.”

Another rendition of Quoc An’s “Hat Cho Nguoi O Lai” by JBlues (Julia Thuy), UBlues (Phuong Uyen), and DBlues is nothing new since they can’t surpass My Tam, but that back up singer does sing like a bitch, which makes the song sound even worse.

In an interview, Doan Van Toai, Ha Tran’s father-in-law, said, “Khi Thanh Lam va Tran Thu Ha sang My thu nhac, neu noi ve sac thi dang le no phai me Thanh Lam chu.” Sounds like the old man got more pimp juice than his boy.