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I hate to admit it, but the quality of my own blog has been slipping. Blogging is no longer exciting like it used to be and being a father makes blogging no longer a priority. As Cong Dao is growing, so is his demand. He sucks up so much energy for such as little fellow. Try to spend an evening with him at the playground or the mall and you’ll see what I mean. By the time he goes to bed, I am also burnt. Trying to blog half beat and half sleepy doesn’t seem to cut it. I used to be able to blog during my commute to work, but now I spend that little amount of time catching up some sleep. Thanks to Starbucks’s fifty-cent refill, I go through my day with two venti cups of French Vanilla ice coffee. One in the morning and one at 2:30pm.
I am not complaining at all because there is nothing I rather want to do more then spending time with Cong Dao. I have so much fun just seeing him discovering new things everyday. I want to blog about our experience, but if I do’t do it right away, it will slip away. Each day goes by and he had learned so many new things that I simply lose track and don’t want write about it at all.
Beside Cong Dao, writing about music, Vietnamese in particular, has been my passion for this blog. I got into music critique because the music excited me and I wanted to share my thoughts. Back then many singers such as Tuan Ngoc, Thanh Lam, Hong Nhung, Thu Phuong, Nguyen Khang, Tung Duong, Ngoc Khue, Duc Tuan rocked my world. With each new release, there was something new to look forward to. For the past two years, it seems like the music scene either stands still or just so much mediocre. I don’t feel good writing negative reviews most of the time. It just makes me feel like an asshole making fun of the singers’ work.
The music has become absolutely uninspiring. Dam Vinh Hung won some golden album is a perfect example. I was going to blog about this over the weekend before they announced the winner, but I had other things to do. Not that I really care about some worthless award, but it came no surprise to me that Dam Vinh Hung’s horrendous Nhung Bai Ca Khong Quen beats Le Quyen’s classy Khuc Tinh Xua. In fact, I already predicted the outcome when I first read about it in the news. Musically speaking, Le Quyen blows out Dam Vinh Hung like Ly Tong blew pepper spray in his face. It’s a no brainer at all. Even though I only listened to Dam Vinh Hung’s Nhung Bai Ca Khong Quen, he included enough “red” tunes in the double album to guarantee himself an award. It’s not about music. It’s all about politics.
Anyway, my focus for this site will be changed. The blog is no longer a priority. I will be concentrating on web design and development. HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery are the things that get me exciting. I would like to revamp this site completely when I am done with my client work. For now I just need to take a break and hang out with my little guy. Nothing gets me more exciting than going up and down the escalator with Cong Dao. This little fellow has no fear at all when it comes to step on and off the escalator. In fact, he is intrigued with it.
Our first gig for Simplexpression did well at the 40th Annual Festival of the Leaves.
Since it was our first time, we didn’t really expect much. We would be happy even if we were to sell five items. Fortunately, we sold way beyond our expectation even though some of our competitors only sell items that were a fraction of our price. In addition, we only had a very limited collection. In fact, our display was so simple and spare that one of the customers asked, “Is this all you have?”
We only showcased a handful of selected pieces, but they stood out. The compliments were mostly “simple,” “beautiful” and “elegant.” We also sold quite a bit of our classic designs from our original web site. Big props to my sister-in-law for helping us out. She was great at creating the displays and greeting the customers. Thanks to Duke too for being such a good boy. He enjoyed the parade and running around our booth saying hi to our customers. I spent most of my time looking after him.
Of course, the show wouldn’t succeed without the creative designer who handcrafted these beautiful pieces late at nights. I am very proud of her and her work. I had fun and I am looking forward to future festivals.
In the introduction of Miles On Miles, a book that complies Miles Davis’s interviews, Paul Maher Jr. and Michael K. Dorr point out Miles’s favorite word:
“He plays like a motherfucker,” “my band is a bunch of motherfuckers,” “those guys are dirty motherfuckers,” “my legs hurt like a motherfucker during that tour,” “she’s a fine motherfucker.”
In an interview with John Palcewski, Miles offered his solution to end the Vietnam War:
“What we gotta do is draft all the bitches under twenty-five and send them over there. All kind of tough-lookin’ white bitches, with all that clean, white skin and blonde hair and big tits. When these cats read in the paper that a hundred of them get killed by the Viet Cong, the whole thing will be over in a day.”
Miles sure was something else.
Today Eric, my little nephew, turns seven. We spent some time together over the weekend and I am very pleased with the new changes I have noticed. I was worried about him a lot up to this point. Eric didn’t talk much and he threw tantrum around like a mad kid. Because he couldn’t communicate, he easily got frustrated. He listened to no one and he was always in his own world. He would zone you out as if you don’t even exist when you tried to talk to him. He got really mad when things didn’t go his way. Eric was a bright kid, but he only did things he liked.
Until recently I started to see the changes in him. He is opening himself up and he interacting more with other people. I asked him to read something to me and he did. I am not sure when he started to learn how to read, but I begged him before and couldn’t get a word out of his mouth. I remember my sister used to chased him down with a stick in order to get him to brush his teeth. Now he just does it on his own. He even showed Duke how to do it. I used him as a model and Duke let me brushed him without fussing. Being a big cousin, Eric shows his responsibility. I gave him a test by telling him to look after Duke. I pretended to read so I could observed him with Duke. He actually played with Duke and showed Duke things that he likes to do like cooking and cars. Duke did everything Eric did. When we were at the Borders, Eric picked up a ball and so was Duke. Whenever Duke held on to something, he would scream if we just snatch it from him. He was holding on to a pen and non of us (Dana, Samantha and me) could get him to give us the pen. Eric pulled out his hand and asked for it and Duke gave it to him. It was a joy watching the two of them playing together.
It looks like Duke already have a great cousin to play with and to learn from. Thanks for being such a great kid, Eric. Happy birthday!
My current emotion could be summed in Elton John’s lyrics: “It’s a sad, sad situation / And it’s getting more and more absurd / It’s sad, so sad / Why can’t we talk it over?” The situation looks pathetic as if we’re getting the pleasure out of destructing each other. How the fuck did we get to this point? It feels like I am witnessing my own blood dripping away and there is not a damn thing I could do to stop it. Now all I can do is hoping that time would heal the wound. Until then, I am emotionally wrecked.
Lea Michele as Rachel brought back Britney’s mega “Baby One More Time” and the different was that Lea’s vocals were much more powerful. The star of the Britney episode, however, goes to Heather Morris as Brittany. Her lines were spot on:
“I don’t brush my teeth. I rinse my mouth out with soda after I eat. I was pretty sure Dr. Pepper was a dentist.”
“This room looks like the one on that spaceship where I got probed.”
“Please don’t pull all my teeth. When I smile I’ll look like an adult baby but with boobs.”
If you missed last night’s show, watch it on Hulu.
Simplexpression will be participating in the Warren Heritiage Society’s 40th Annual Festival of Leaves: “The Festival takes place in historic downtown Front Royal, Virginia on Chester and Main Streets. Come enjoy Front Royal at its best. Arts and crafts abound in the heart of our historic district. Bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, big band, and choir music represent some of the musical entertainment. Other entertainment includes reenactments and short plays.”
When
Saturday, October 9, 2010
9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Where
Warren Heritage Society
101 Chester Street
Front Royal, VA 22630
Admission is free. For schedule of events, visit Annual Festival of the Leaves web site. Come enjoy the Festival and drop by our booth to say hi.
Le Quyen gives a live performance of her pop hit, “Neu Nhu Ngay Do,” at a radio station. Quite awesome!