Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte: I haven’t read this book yet and can’t wait to get my hands on it. I also predict that I’ll re-read this book more than once.

The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia: I read the first edition back in 2005. I have been wanting to re-read it, but keep pushing it off. The second edition just came out so it is a good time for a revisit.

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst: I read this book 2 times already, but still wanting to return to it every one or two years.

Designing Type by Karen Cheng: This book has so much technical details on typography that a second and third read is required.

JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan: Read this book on my vacation, but a second read is necessary.

DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model by Jeremy Keith, Jeffrey Sambells: Like The Definitive Guide, this book definitely needs a revisit.

Ordering Disorder by Khoi Vinh: Although this book is a quick read, the thinking behind the grid needs to be read again carefully.

Before heading out to Wildwood last week, we stopped by Super H Mart to pick up some greens. Dao and I went sampling the foods while Dana did the shopping. At the check out, I was like, “Damn, we spent $120 on vegetables and fruits?” Dana gave me that stop-being-a-cheap-ass impression. So I just let Dao swiped my credit card, something he loves to do when we go shopping, and brought the bags to the car.

Later on that night, Dana checked the receipt and found out that we paid for 22 cantaloups instead of 2. No wonder the total was so high and I was the one to blame again. I suspected the amount, but didn’t bother to check the receipt. Whenever I went shopping with my mom, she would make me check every item to make sure they charged the right amount. Sometimes a couple of bucks were overcharged, but I don’t mind. It’s just not worth waiting in line to explain about a couple of dollars, but the different between 2 and 22 were tremendous.

Yesterday we went back to the store for more groceries. I told Dana to give me the receipt and see if we could get the refund. I didn’t really expect to get our money back because I had no proof. Lucky for me, the customer service rep was a young man who spoke fluent English. I showed him the receipt and explained the error. He got it immediately and apologized for the mistake. I told him, “There was no way I could carry 22 cantaloups into my car.” We laughed and he issued a refund.

Lesson learned: check everything before leaving the store.

The week-long vacation is already over. Time went by fast even though all that I did was relaxing and hanging out by the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey. We were back yesterday and I am still recuperating before diving back into the regular schedule tomorrow.

Woke up early this morning and I already missed jogging on the beach biking on the boardwalk and listening to music. My favorite morning listenings were Art Pepper & Hollywood All-Stars’ Art Standards and Kenny Garrett’s Pursuance: Music of John Coltrane. I returned to these two again and again in one week.

For the first three days, we were completely shut off from Cyberspace, which was really nice. When the whole family, which consisted of eight adults and one kid, took a long nap or watched some TV, I did my reading. I finished a 1000-page book in less than week without Internet. By Wednesday, my sister-in-law’s husband could not stand it so he went out and get the MiFi from Sprint. Even though we were connected, I tried my best to stay offline and I did pretty well.

Dao was the only kid; therefore, he was spoiled by his aunts and uncles. They took him to the arcades on the boardwalk and got him all kinds of toys. He was having a great time, but refused to go on any of rides on the amusement park. The water was a bit cold so he didn’t like that either. In fact, none of the adults went into the water except for me. It was a little cold at first, but it felt nice especially in the afternoon when the temperature hit above 90 degrees.

We went to Atlantic City twice, but I hung out with Dao most of the time rather than playing cards. Pai Gow poker minimum was $25, which was too high for me. I don’t really like slot machines, but Dao loved them. He loved the lights, the spinning wheels and the sounds. I did let him play the slot machines at the arcade.

We didn’t eat out much, except for the first day Dana and I treated the family to a Mexican cuisine to celebrate our anniversary. We cooked most of the food at the house we rented. Dana FedExed 30 pounds of live crawfish from Louisiana. It turned out that 30 pounds weren’t enough for the nine of us. The crawfish were delicious because my sister-law-law used up most of my beers to cook them. In one pot she used 5 bottles of Yuengling and we cooked three pots.

It was really nice to spend some time with the family. I am glad that they have turned this into an annual event.

With two country-leaning contestants, American Idol Finale should have named Country Idol. So Scotty and Lauren battled it out tonight for 2011 Country Idol. As I had expected, the two went the opposite direction. After watching the show, I find it really hard to cast my vote. From the beginning, I have always rooted for the country boy for his hypnotic cello-like baritone, but tonight, Lauren convinced me on both Carrie Underwood’s and Jimmy Lovine’s pick. Her final performance won my heart. So sorry Scotty, my last vote for the season has to go to Lauren, but then again one vote for American Idol doesn’t really make a different. Now if Haley was up against Lauren, it would have been a very exciting competition.

With Haley voted off last night, the American Idol Finale won’t be as exciting. Haley has a much wider range than Scotty and Lauren, but most importantly, she is an interpreter of songs. She made the tunes her own with such a sexy, raspy voice. She has sung jazz, pop, neo-soul, country and even rock on the show. Her rendition of “I Who Have Nothing” was phenomenal thanks to Lady Gaga’s psychotic advice. Her version of “House of the Rising Sun” were just hauntingly beautiful, especially the accapella beginning (a great tip from Sheryl Crow). She did a fine job of covering Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” She also rocked out Led Zeppelin’s “What Is And What Should Never Be.” My personal favorite is her take on LeAnn Rimes’s “Blue.”

With the result last night, I won’t be looking forward much to the finale. Both Scotty and Lauren are from two different spectrum. Scotty dominates the low notes while Lauren commands the high register, but they both come down to country music. So the winner depends on which side you prefer. My pick between the two would still be Scotty, but my prediction is still going to be Lauren.

So far American is doing a good job of voting for the top four. I rooted for Scotty from the very beginning for his bass vocals, but I have been voting for Haley for the past three weeks. She has that burning fire in her raspy voice and she took more chances than the rest even though Jennifer and Randy kept shooting her down. James hasn’t been my favorite all along and Lauren is just too sweet for my taste. My hope is that Haley will come in first and Scott second, but my prediction is that Lauren is going to be the winner. I am hoping that my prediction will be wrong.

I finally got to know the awesome janitor who has done a great job of keeping the restrooms clean. About a month a so ago, the School of Business held a staff appreciation party. While we gathered to show our appreciation for those who has been with the school for 5, 10, 15 and 30 years, I wanted to show my appreciation to the fellow who has one of the most toughest jobs in the building.

It was just the perfect occasion and the perfect opportunity came when he went out to the balcony for a smoke. It turned out that he’s a very young kid who finished high school a few years ago. I encouraged him to take the advantage of the tuition benefit at GW, but he is not working for GW. He works for a contractor. He’s into music and played locally with a punk rock band. It was cool getting to know him a bit since we see each other every day.

The other day we met in the bathroom (I know what you’re thinking) and he told me that he just cleaned up a whole puke from the stall to the wall on the lower floor. I felt bad for the guy and just hope that people are a bit more considerate when they use public restrooms where someone will have to clean after them.

My dear friend, colleague and guardian will walk three days for the Breast Cancer Cure. Read her message and please give what you can for the good cause:

Dear Family and Friends,

Next September 23-25, I’ll be participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Breast Cancer Cure.

You all know that I am not a natural born athlete – I abhor all all unnecessary movement. So why am I planning to trek 60 miles over the course of three days with thousands of other women and men?

First, the 3-Day Walk helps to fund critical, innovative breast cancer research in leading institutions around the world. Second, the 3-Day also supports local community programs that provide educational outreach and medical services. These programs are very important to many who struggle in this tough economy as they make screening and treatment available to thousands of women who otherwise could not afford tests and treatment.

In the long run, we hope to go beyond mammograms and early intervention to a true cure. Many important advances in the fight against breast cancer have been made possible through Komen-for-the-Cure grants. Each of us knows someone who has benefited from this research – or who will benefit in the future.

I’ve agreed to raise at least $2,300 in donations. So I need your help – and who knows – we may all be surprised by the amount we are able to raise. Would you please consider making a donation? Every gift will mean a great deal when we combine them, and every donation will be deeply appreciated.

Now, I’m supposed to impress upon you the great distance I’m walking – 60 miles! – and how hard I’ll have to train – boo hoo. I’m doubting the wisdom of playing the training hardship violin since I’m pretty sure we’ll all get ice cream in the end. I’m not the one facing a hardship, we’ve all had friends and family who have. So let’s think of those who’ve fought breast cancer and give in their honor. The Komen folks urge us to suggest a specific donation amount, but I know that you have varied needs and responsibilities, and that your means range – so I will not name a universal number. Please give what you can, what you feel comfortable with, and know that every gift will make a difference.

I do want to tell you about one of my personal motivators for taking this journey – next year I will turn 60. That’s right – the big SIX OH! Those of you who feel inspired just might like to mark that milestone with a gift of $60 – gifts at that level will be rewarded with unlimited and merciless mocking rights – as I limp along for six months after the walk. If that sounds like fun, then you really should make a donation!

You can give online at The3Day.org. Just follow the link below to visit my personal fund raising web page to donate:

3-DAY MOLLY

You can also call 800-996-3DAY to donate over the phone, or print a form to give a gift through the mail.

Somewhere in the world, a woman dies from breast cancer every 69 seconds. That’s why I’m walking so far – to do something bold about breast cancer. I hope that you’ll share this incredible adventure with me.

Thank you in advance for your generosity, and please pass this letter along to any friends who you think would also like to support this cause.

With love and gratitude,

Molly

P.S. Please consider asking your employer, or anyone else you have embarrassing photos of, if they will double your donation through a matching gift program. All my friends, and every last one of my relatives are good looking!

Two weeks ago, the dean asked me for a recommendation on a digital camcorder to film his talks. Before I began my research, I knew that I needed a camcorder that would work on the Mac since both him and I are on MacBook. I don’t know much about camcorder, but based on my previous experience Panasonic and Sony were out of the picture.

About a year and a half ago, my colleague asked a professional videographer for a recommendation and he suggested Panasonic. I couldn’t remember the exact model, but it turned out to be a nightmare. Panasonic worked only on PC and the format was proprietary. Getting the clip off the camcorder alone was a pain. All the editing had to be done on a PC and then exported out into a format that could be posted on YouTube. The dean has a Sony and we faced the same issues.

My next step was to get on Apple web site and search for Apple’s recommendation. After searching and reading some reviews, the Canon VIXIA HF S200 seemed like a good choice. The regular price is $899, but Amazon listed for $679. I made my suggestion and the dean told me to get it within 3 business days for his next talk. I ordered a one-day shipment through Amazon, but the expected delivery date was not fast enough.

The alternative step was to find a local store. I looked up Penn Camera and they carried a Canon VIXIA HF M32 for $599 after $400 instant rebate. I hopped on the Metro and brought the camcorder. The salesman was very nice and helpful. On the Metro ride back, I opened up the manual to read up on the new camera because I knew I’ll be supporting it. To my surprise, the manual has pen marks all over the pages and food stain as well. The camcorder worked fine, but if I shook it lightly, I could hear the weird noise as if something was loose inside. I was disappointed that they sold me a used camcorder.

I came back to the store the next day to report the issues and would like to exchange for another one. The nice salesman from yesterday changed his tone a bit and told me that he didn’t remember hearing the clicking noise before the camcorder left the store. Since that was the last one they had, I exchanged for a Canon VIXIA HF M300, which also had $200 instant rebate. The only different the M32 and M300 is that the M32 has a 64-gig hard drive built in and the M300 has none. To compensate for the differences, I bought a 32-gig external disk and an extra battery that has a double lifespan of the one that comes with the camcorder.

The M300, as Apple describes it, “a superb blend of capability, quality and convenience for shooting Full HD video,” turn out to be a great choice. The camcorder is easy to use and the quality is superb. The only painful feature is the touch screen navigation. Luckily the M300 comes with a very convenient remote control.

Yesterday I filmed his talk in L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, which had very low light room, but the video turned out decent. Editing the clips with iMovie is straightforward. All I needed to do was firing up iMovie before plugging in the USB and importing the video. I use iMovie for the very first time last week and already loving it. As with many of Apple’s applications, iMovie is so easy to use. The app has enough features to help me make a decent video and upload directly to YouTube. I am thinking of purchasing one for my own personal use.

As previously mentioned, our 2011 Toyota Sienna stalled when I stopped at the ATM to get cash last Thursday. The van stalled again several times when I was stuck in traffic. I drove the van straight to the dealer where we bought it. The dealer couldn’t figure out the problem so it contacted Toyota. Toyota suggested to replace the fuel pump. Today the technician called and notified that the fuel pump was replaced, but the problem remains unsolved. So now the dealer has to work with Toyota again to see how to get it fix. Any Sienna owner ran into this problem?