Album gồm chín bài tình ca xưa được cover lại qua chất giọng cao sang của Phạm Thu Hà. Cách xử lý những tác phẩm đã quá quen thuộc trong làng âm nhạc Việt Nam an toàn và vững chắc nhờ vào cảm xúc, trải nghiệm, và range trong giọng hát của Hà như “Mắt lệ cho người” (Từ Công Phụng) và “Cho em quên tuổi ngọc” (Lam Phương). Tuy nhiên, album tỏa sáng là nhờ vào những phần orchestration xuất sắc và khéo léo của nhạc sĩ hòa âm Nguyễn Anh Khoa. Chạm nhất là “Hương xưa” (Cung Tiến) và “Nghìn trùng xa cách” (Phạm Duy). Dàn nhạc giao hưởng đưa giọng mezzo-soprano chín muồi của Hà bay bổng trong không gian semi-classical. Một album đáng được thưởng thức cho những tâm hồn đam mê nhạc thính phòng.

Dear Anh Quý,

Since our family reunion, I had been thinking about our late-night conversations on various topics including marriage, parenting, gun, sex, abortion, and religious. You helped me understand how someone who is as logical as yourself take the rules of God and apply them to your life. I see how his rules can be used in any situation, anytime, and anywhere. I admire your faith in God. Thank you for praying for me and my family, especially my son. I felt your genuine belief and your good heart.

In the past two weeks, I often thought of you when I got irritated toward my kids and the people around me. I felt as if I was losing my compassion. The guilt and the selfishness were eating me alive. I loathed myself for the animosity inside my head and heart. Maybe I do need God in my life to give me guidance and discipline, but I am hesitated to accept Jesus as my savior because I don’t have a strong mind like you. I cannot obey every rule of God. I don’t want to let him down. I am not too sure about my commitment. I had trouble quitting coffee and alcohol, but in these cases I only let myself down and not God. I definitely am not addicted, but I don’t have the strong will to get rid of them completely.

How have I been dealing with my irritability? I confessed to my wife, tried to relax, and let go of things that drove me nuts. I am gaining back my compassion and empathy. Your kindness and openness helped me as well. Thank you for offering to be there for me if I need to reach out.

When I brought up gun control in our conversation, you had a solid argument for using gun as the last resort to protect your family. You explained the different between kill and murder. Killing can be an act of self-protection, but murdering is an act of evil. I completely understand your perspective on gun, but I was still not convinced that we had any solution to solve the issue of mass shootings. For the benefit of a doubt, arming teachers could work, but we have more serious issue than that. The two senseless act of evil last weekend demonstrated that mass shootings no longer just occurred in schools. It could be anywhere. How are we going to solve this? Neither of us is a politician and I do not want to put the burden on you. Gun is a serious national problem. We need every politician across the parties to work together to come up with ways to prevent mass shootings. Condemn white supremacist. Ban all guns. Provide mental health treatments. Do what we have to do solve this problem together. Right now, I am angry, frustrated, and hopeless seeing homicide after homicide and all we can offer are thoughts and prayers.

I apologize for venting. I am at loss. Please say hello to your wife and kids for me.

Love,

Your cousin Donny.

I just relaunched my professional portfolio. Almost twenty years into the game and I still am passionate about the art of web design; therefore, I want to bring back simplicity and beauty to the web.

These days, too many sites are built using pre-made site builders such as Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress. As a result, most small-budget websites looked the same. I believe that even with a limited budget, your online presence does not deserve to be templated.

Take a look at the projects I have created. Each site had been designed with specific goals and visions. If you have a small business or a passion project that needs a unique website, let’s talk. Together we will create an experience that is focused on your audience and tailored to your brand.

Tôi và Tắc chơi với nhau lúc nhỏ. Nhà tôi ở cạnh nhà Tắc. Ngày xưa không có iPad như bây giờ nên chúng tôi thường lê la trong xóm. Hết tán u đến bắn bi. Hết thả diều đến tạt lon. Hết đánh cờ Tướng đến đánh Tiến Lên. Hết thục bida (ai thua trả tiền giờ) đến bấm trò chơi điện tử (Contra). Làm sao quên được những buổi chiều mùa hè cùng nhau lội bộ ra vườn hoa Lạc Hồng học bơi hoặc những buổi tối bới một tô cơm ra trước nhà vừa ăn vừa nghe Dì Ba (mẹ Tắc) kể những câu chuyện ma rùng rợn nhưng đầy hấp dẫn. Những ký ức đẹp của tuổi thơ mỗi khi nhớ đến đều khiến tôi bùi ngùi.

Nếu như còn ở Việt Nam chắc chắn rằng Tắc đã là đứa bạn hàng xóm thân nhất của tôi. Chúng tôi đã có nhiều chuỗi ngày vui vẻ của thời ấu thơ. Nhưng mười tuổi tôi xa quê hương và có cuộc sống mới. Hai thằng bạn cũ cùng xóm ngày nào giờ đã sống trong hai thế giới khác nhau. Tôi không biết cuộc sống của Tắc ra sao. Còn tôi thì vất vả trên xứ lạ quê người. Không bạn bè che chở. Không biết tiếng bản xứ. Không hòa nhập được với cuộc sống mới. Đó là những chuỗi ngày tôi nhớ quê hương vô cùng.

Ngày tháng rồi cũng nhanh chóng trôi qua. Sau mười mấy năm xa cách tôi trở về Việt Nam năm 2001 sau khi tốt nghiệp đại học. Gặp lại Tắc, tôi vui vì Tắc vẫn nhớ đến thằng bạn cũ ngày. Tuy tôi và Tắc hoàn toàn khác biệt nhưng chúng tôi vẫn thân nhau như lúc nhỏ, nhất là mỗi khi ngồi vào bàn nhậu nhắc lại chuyện xưa. Tôi trở về Mỹ kiếm công ăn việc làm và xây dựng mái ấm gia đình. Thời gian lại thấm thoát trôi qua.

Hai năm trước tôi về lại Việt Nam sau mười sáu năm xa cách. Tôi đã có gia đình và có con còn Tắc vẫn độc thân. Cho dù thời gian khá dài nhưng chúng tôi vẫn thế. Tình bạn vẫn không nhạt nhòa. Tắc lấy ngày nghỉ đi uống cà phê, ăn hủ tiếu Mỹ Tho, và đưa tôi đi nhậu cùng bạn bè. Với tôi những giây phút ấy nhẹ nhàng nhưng đậm tình, đơn giản nhưng đáng nhớ. Tuy sống ở Mỹ đã hơn 30 năm nhưng trái tim và tâm hồn tôi vẫn còn Việt Nam. Tôi hy vọng sẽ trở lại quê hương mình một ngày gần đây. Cám ơn Tắc vẫn còn nhớ đến thằng bạn hàng xóm này. Tuy nhà tôi giờ đây đã không còn nữa nhưng đường Nguyễn Huệ vẫn luôn là xóm của tôi mặc dù chỉ trong ký ức.

My portfolio site gets a redesign again. The focus is still on simplicity and typography. The main typeface is Exchange, by Frere-Jones Type. Even though Exchange is an excellent text face, it also looks gorgeous at large size. Headers are set in Bild by DJR. I dig the latest version David sent out last May to the Font of the Month Club members. The new version of Bild comes with variable font.

For the design, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. The homepage is just text leading into my professional projects. The about information now has its own page. I also added a about and book page to highlight my books.

In the past, I wanted to keep my résumé independent of the site, but with the redesign, I brought it into the layout as well. I also got tired of maintain a print and an online version; therefore, my résumé is now designed in HTML and CSS first then exported out as a PDF for print.

I hope this latest redesign will last for a while before I feel the itch to change it again.

In her latest Netflix Special, Cummings presented her take on feminism by using jokes to make us understand what it feels like to women. The shit they put up with men at work and on the street. She also brought out a sex-robot double who is creepy yet erotic. She’s brilliant and entertaining. In the #MeToo moment, female comedians are stepping their games and I am loving them. Keep them coming.

Muốn đọc thử những mảnh vỡ của nhà văn Thái Hậu để lấy cảm hứng viết blog. Tiếc rằng những bài viết lợt lạt không đem lại cho tôi những gì mong muốn. Cách viết của tác giả có chất thơ nhưng lại khó hiểu. Tập truyện khá ngắn nhưng dễ bị ngán. Tuy cố đọc cho hết nhưng tôi sẽ không giới thiệu sách đến bạn đọc.

In her beautiful, heartrending memoir, Talusan shares her story of growing up as an immigrant from the Philippines, discloses her struggles with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, and reveals her darkest family secret. As an immigrant myself, I can relate to her experience being bullied and singled out. As a father, I sympathize her yearning to be a mother. As a man, I have upmost respect for her resiliency for overcoming a disturbing family betrayal. Talusan’s prose is excellent. A must-read immigrant memoir.

Dear sons,

I am still struggling between freedom and structure. On one hand, I would like you to have the freedom to do whatever you want. On the other hand, I also need some structures, especially with Đạo and Đán. Every time you punch and kick each other, I feel the pain too. Should I step in to stop the fight or should I let you hurt each other until you figure out yourself? As a father, I find it too hard to stand and watch or to look away. My intervention doesn’t seem to get into your head. It rages me to see you repeat again and again as if my words have no meaning.

From the way you threw tantrums in public and the way you ignored your mom’s and my words continue to irritate me. I told you again and again, but nothing stuck. I had been hard on you lately and I am regretting it. So I am going to try the opposite direction. I am going to give you as much freedom as I can. As long as you don’t harm Xuân and Vương, I will trust you to make your own choice.

If you don’t want to read, I won’t make you. If you hate Taekwondo, you can quit. If you don’t want to take swimming lessons, you can stop. If you want iPad all the time, I won’t stop you. If you don’t want to take a bath, that’s fine. If you don’t want to brush your teeth, that’s on you. If you don’t want to eat, stay hungry.

I’ll do all I can to refrain from yelling at you or punishing you. I won’t cautious you when you fall, but I will be there for you when you get hurt. I won’t tell you what to do unless you ask for my advice. I won’t stop you loving you, but I will stop restraining you.

I had been wrong all along about how to love you. I had been over-protective. I worried too much about your behavior. I expected too high from you. I am ready to let go of who I want you to be and let you be who you want to be. By not reigning you in, I hope that you’ll soar instead of fall. Even if you fall, I’ll be there to pick you up.

Everyone makes mistakes. I made countless of mistakes in my life and being a parent is one of them. I hope that you will forgive me. My intention had been to be good to you. I wanted to give you a father-and-son relationship that I didn’t have. I am not blaming my dad for my mistakes. I am on a good term with him now. I don’t hold any grudges from him anymore. I am a grown man now and I am responsible for my own actions. If I fail you, it’s all on me—not your mom, not my dad.

I am struggling with my own conscience. I thought I would be a good parent, but I am not. I hope it is not too late to make the change. I am grateful that I have you. I thank your mother and the man above everyday for giving me four healthy, energetic boys. I know people who would love to have one kid, but they can’t. I know parents who don’t have the time to be with their kids everyday; therefore, I should not take our precious time together for granted. I love you four from the bottom of my heart.

Love,

Daddy.

During our family reunion, we had an intriguing discussion about our profession while enjoying a bottle of Don Julio. My wife’s aunt said that she had worked for her company over 30 years and that she would never take on the lead role. As a minority woman who is in her 50s and isn’t fluent in English, she rather stayed in the technical position than being a leader. My cousins agreed with her perspective. To them, a leader has to have perfect English and the ability to bullshit. As Vietnamese, we were not trained for those leadership roles. She went as far as criticizing the way we raise our kids different than the way white people raise their kids to prepare them to be future leaders.

I completely disagree that leaders have to have perfect English. For example, Ángel Cabrera is the president of George Mason University and he speaks with an accent. I am director of design and web services at Scalia Law School and I don’t speak perfect English either. As leaders, the way you communicate is more important than your accent. Yes, I have seen leaders who bullshitted their way through, but you can smell them miles away. I have no respect for those leaders. For me, leaders don’t have to have in-depth technical skills, but they need to have a vision and enough technical knowledge to understand what is possible and what’s not. Because I have technical background the people who answer to me can’t bullshit me. I understand what’s possible and how to accomplish it. Likewise, the people above me respect not just my leadership skills, but also my technical skills.

As for parenting skills, I did not understand the comparison between my cousin whose wife is Jewish and us (two Vietnamese parents). They have one boy. We have four. Of course, we can’t spend all of our time on one kid. I found her reasoning to be laughable and somewhat offensive. I don’t mind her criticizing our parenting skills, but putting down our son is hurtful.

It is time for us Vietnamese to stop using our language barrier as a clutch. We need to get over it. In fact, we should use it to our advantage. We can speak both languages. We bring a diverse perspective into the team. Let’s take on more leadership roles than simple be led.