Yes, that day of the year is coming. I know how stressful it is for a guy to look for that perfect gift for his lover. To make your Valentine’s Day less headache, Simplexpression had handcrafted simple gifts that express from your heart. Go check it out and grab something quick. It’s only one-of-a-kind gift.

Một người bạn giới thiệu một số bài Tục Ca của Phạm Duy:

Lời nói đầu của chính tác giả trong Tục Ca 1 đã giải bày một cách trọn vẹn cái giá trị của 10 bài Tục Ca này, đó là giúp nhạc sĩ họ Phạm diễn tả tất cả những trạng thái và cảm xúc của ông và qua đó ông có thể hát ca một cách trọn vẹn hơn. Theo tôi, thì phải nói là để chửi đổng một cách trọn vẹn hơn. Phạm Duy đã thuật lại một câu nói thời ấy mà nó vẫn còn đúng đến bây giờ: “Nhất đĩ, nhì cha, ba sư, bốn tướng”. Ít ra đĩ còn có chút tự trọng vì họ gần như chẳng bao giờ lên tiếng dạy đời hoặc phê phán đạo đức kẻ khác.

Người bạn này viếc nhiều bài về chính trị của Mỹ lẫn Việt Nam rất thẳng thắng. Nếu bạn có thời giờ thì đọc lại những bài củ anh đã blog. Sở dỉ lâu nay tôi không link qua là vì sợ Mulitiply sẽ đóng cửa vào cuối năm qua. Nhưng đến bay giờ trang này vẫn còn tồn tại.

Dr. Monica Williams-Murphy speaks on death and its reality:

When a doctor does not speak the truth and does not say the words, “Yes, you are dying,” then you are robbed of the opportunity to live fully in the present, savoring each song, each touch of a child’s hand, and the heft of your favorite book.

Live everyday as its your last or as Trinh Cong Son said, “Each day I choose one happiness.”

Love this piece on The Onion:

Users said they yearned to return to a time when they could simply visit a site and experience its content without being asked “What do you think?”, “What’s on your mind?” or, more directly, “Respond to this video.”

Furthermore:

In addition to demanding less interactivity, Internet users requested fewer links and clickable icons connected to social media outlets through which they could email, share, tweet, pin, blog, or re-blog content.

This is the reason I removed all of the social media share buttons and closed the comment section. I just want you to come, scroll, read (if you find something interesting) and move on.

Mấy bữa nay khao khác thèm đọc sánh. Sáng thì phải trông hai thằng nhỏ. Tối khi nó đi ngủ thì tôi cũng mệt mỏi. Cầm quyển sách Mastering Type mà mắt mở không lên. Những tháng ngày tự do thong thả đã qua.

Cu Dao is obsessed with train. He plays with train all day. Even when we took him shopping today, he looked for train. When he couldn’t find any, he looked for his best friend aka mommy. Now he’s watching train on my iPhone while his mom is surfing on the iPad. Dan is the only one sleeping right now.

We’re spending the last few days of 2012 in New Jersey with my in-laws. Cu Dan is now walking all over the house. He walks like a little drunk dude falling and tripping all over the place. Whenever he gets a hold of my iPhone somehow he manages to turn on Thanh Thao’s 2012 Remix and dances to it.

My days have been filled food and kids. I definitely need to change my eating habit next year. I am eating way too much and feeling like shit most of the time. When the kids go to bed, I stay up to work on a side project. Even though I turned down quite a bit of projects in the last few months, I can’t turn away one of my favorite clients. I love the clients who give me complete freedom to shape the site. I am very excited. The site is coming along well. I hope to launch it early next year.

I am rereading a few books on typography because I didn’t get to learn much in my Advanced Typography class. Sofie Beier’s Reading Letters: Designing for Legibility is such a pleasure read for such a technical topic. Ellen Lupton’s Thinking with Type (2nd edition) is a great preview. Jost Hochuli’s Detail In Typography is a little gem.

I’ve also learned that I have two very young, loyal readers. I have to be careful with my word choices. It was strange and a bit embarrassing to hear my nephew read out loud my posts on parenthood.

I came down with a cold in the past couple of days. I hate coughing; therefore, I try to prevent it as soon as possible. Been taking NyQuil to get rid of it. Tonight should be the last night taking it. My head is getting a bit heavy. The drug is kicking it. Goodnight everyone.

Spending the last few days of 2012 eating donuts, drinking coffee, watching the snow, being with family and reflecting on the past year. 2012 was rough. We lost our main man. We struggled emotionally, but we maintained. We stayed together to raise our lovely kids. They are growing up fast. We’re deeply thankful for the family support.

As for myself, I was busier than ever. In addition to holding a fulltime job, I started grad school despite having two toddlers. Now I could see why people can’t finish school when they have kids. The demands on both sides are impossible to keep up. I going to take it easy next semester.

For 2013, my goals are to manage my time and my appetite. I need to balance my time for work, school and family. I also need to balance my diet. Eat less and get back to jogging. That’s all. Happy New Year my lovely readers.

While the kids are sleeping, I am sitting on the blue sofa and looking out the rainy, snowy, dreary sky. I used to observe my father-in-law doing the same not so long ago. I miss the man.

Last night Cu Dan woke up every two hours and refused to go back to sleep. The only way to get him to settle down again was to lock ourselves in the bathroom with the fan turned on and rock him in my arms. In order to keep me energetic, I jammed Thanh Thao’s remix in my headphone and it felt like I was in a club again. The room was dark and the music was pumping. The only different is that I was getting my groove on with a baby instead of a chick.

Hôm nay là ngày cuối trong văn phòng của năm. Hai tuần đến phải dành trọn thời gian cho gia đình và ngủ bù. Không blog, xem email, Facebook hay Twitter nữa. Chúc các bạn một mùa Giáng Sinh vui tươi hạnh phúc.