Just downloaded Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy for $3.99 on Amazon.

My buddy Tim gave an inspiring, informative talk on “More Perfect Typography.” Glad to see him doing well at Typekit.

“Who Can Resist a Man Who Sings Like a Woman?,” an interesting piece by Fernanda Eberstadt:

The countertenor is a 20th-century phenomenon, the approximation of an art that has luckily been lost to us. Much of the sacred music and opera roles sung today by Jaroussky or by mezzo-sopranos like Cecilia Bartoli were originally composed for Farinelli and his peers — male singers who were castrated before they reached puberty in order to preserve their high, pure voices. This act of oversophisticated barbarism, supposedly a response to St. Paul’s edict in the Corinthians (mulier taceat in ecclesia, “women should be silent in church”), kept the papal choirs and ducal courts of Europe supplied with sopranos for their Vivaldi oratorios. By the 17th-century, when public decency laws forbade women to appear onstage in the papal states, castrati were moving into the recently invented art of opera, playing male and occasionally female roles, much as boys did on the Elizabethan stage. By the 18th century, a large percentage of male opera singers were castrati.

Yesterday we checked out scenes from the Dr. Seuss’s classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas! carved out of ice at the Gaylord National. After an hour standing in line, Dao was bored and tired. By the time we could get in, he was already not in a good mood. He didn’t want to put on the big blue thick jacket the hotel provided and the place was freezing. He cried so much that Dana just took him out. I took a few photos and left as well. The walk through was actually pretty short. We paid $24 a person and $12 parking for an experience that was less than five minutes. I could understand why they charged so much to keep the gigantic freezer running, but I didn’t think it was worth while.

I am loving the new janitor. I have seen him around for a couple of months and the bathrooms have been spotless clean. Not only that he helps make the school look good, but he also helps employees like me enjoy the working environment.

Plenty of time I see him coming into the elevator and I just wanted to say how much I appreciate his work, but I am not sure how to bring it up. I don’t want to offend him or he might take it the wrong way. Would it be ok if I just say, “Thanks for keeping the restrooms clean?”

I don’t know. I think I just buy him a cup of coffee or something.

In an unedited interview, Jay-Z talks about his new book, Decoded, and longevity of hip hop with Jon Stewart.

Vietnamese romantic comedy Passport to Love (Chuyen tinh xa xu) could be watched in its entirety on Hulu. I’ll view it tonight.

That’s it. I am announcing the severing off all ties with my mother. I am sick and tired of her. Just because she takes care of me all my life doesn’t mean that I have to take her in. I don’t want her to ruined my life. I have a family to look after. My wife and kid are my priority. I don’t have time for her. As a mother, her responsibility was to raise me so I don’t owe her anything. I just want her out of my life.

Shocking isn’t it? I was shocked too and thought it was a satire. The last time I talked to my mom was twelve hours ago and we had a good conversation. I had to call her again this morning to make sure we’re still cool. I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry at these ridiculous accusations. They disturbed me in the past, but I don’t let them get to me anymore. As long as she knows where her place is in my heart, I don’t give a damn about any else’s opinion, even the close ones.

I don’t need to prove to anyone that I love my mom, but let it be crystal clear. The day I abandon my own mother, that will be the day I am no longer a human being. The day I want her out of my life, that will be the day I am no longer existed in this world.

Jay-Z shares his rapping techniques without writing down rhymes:

As I got further and further away from home and my notebook, I had to memorize these rhymes — longer and longer and longer. … By the time I got to record my first album, I was 26, I didn’t need pen or paper — my memory had been trained just to listen to a song, think of the words, and lay them to tape.

Thanks to Vistaprint for placing a text ad on Visualgui for a year. I have used Vistaprint to design my business card and recommended its service for simple, economical online printing.