A family member had been accepted to the biotechnology graduate program at Georgetown and Northeastern. He asked for my opinion for what school should he attend and here’s my response

N, congratulations!

It looks like you have two tough choices to make, but they both are good. I am sure you’ll do well at either institution; therefore, it is coming down to what you want to do with your degree.

If you want to be in the clinical or industrial environment, Northeastern might be a better choice. If you want to be in government, however, Georgetown is obviously better. You will be at the center of all the federal agencies including NIST, NIH, FDA/, and USDA.

Personally I would recommend Georgetown. We need young and smart thinkers like yourself to make stronger, better policies in biotechnology for the U.S.

Also think about the tuition. You can complete your program in one year at Georgetown whereas you’ll need two to three at Northeastern.

Keep us updated with your decision.

Congrats once again and wishing you all the best.

Ali Wong is back and pregnant again. She delves into juicy details of being a new mother. From C-section to breastfeed, she pushes further toward the in-your-face territory. On sex, she isn’t shy away from pussy-eating, butthole-licking, and period-fucking jokes. She is also an advocate for maternity leave. Hard Knock Wife is a special Mother’s Day gift from Netflix.

Rand’s essays on design are dense and abstract. His writing is a bit difficult to follow. The most fascinating part of this book is where he shows his design process for iconic logos including Next, IBM, and Morningstar. It’s a short, informative read for design students and novices. I will revisit the essays to get better understanding of his thoughts on design.

Sau khi hết bị gout, tôi sẽ dành thời gian tập thể dục trở lại. Mỗi buổi sáng thức sớm thay vì đọc sách, tôi sẽ chạy bộ.

Về ăn uống thì kiêng bớt lại. Sẽ không ăn tiệm hoặc ăn buffet nữa. Ăn rau cải nhiều hơn. Gần đây ăn không cử. Đụng gì cũng ăn. Ăn thì ngon nhưng sao đó lại hối hận.

Tôi là người dễ bị nghiện và dễ bị cám dỗ. Cũng may là chưa đụng tới thuốc lá, xì ke ma túy. Rượu thì cũng bỏ được rồi. Còn ăn và một thứ khác nữa chưa buông được.

Bước vào bốn mươi, tôi cảm nhận được sự đi xuống đã bắt đầu. Tôi không còn trẻ nữa nên phải chấp nhận sự thật. Viết xuống đây để ghi nhớ.

In an interview with A Book Apart, Jeremy Keith responds:

I find it hard to imagine life without my website. Even though it’s a not tangible, physical thing, I think it might be my most prized possession (well, either my website or my bouzouki). I use it every day. Sometimes I just post little notes, sometimes I link to something interesting, sometimes I write something a bit longer. But every little piece I put on my site feels like another little pebble added to an ever-growing structure.

I share this sentiment with Jeremy. I have poured my heart and soul into this intangible place of mine. It has become part of my life. I can’t imagine not having it.

A baiting headline for a useless research. Gretchen Reynolds writes:

Of course, this study involved mice and not men and cannot tell us whether the same processes occur in people.

I haven’t exercised and my kids turn out alright—so far.

Two nights ago, I had a terrible dream. I set my foot in a nail salon for the first time. The guy who worked on my feet turned out to be an ex’s baby father. He cut into my toenail like some kind of revenge. I literally pulled my leg away and woke up. I felt the excruciating pain in my toe when I touched it. The swollen made me realize the gout is back.

I had been a bit reckless lately with food, which is one of my addictions. I had beef more than I should. My kids love phở and tacos; therefore, my wife kept making them. When we went out for hotpot, I had beef and lamb too. I should have continued taking apple cider vinegar mixed with honey, but I stopped. Now I am drinking it with just water to flush out the uric acid.

I need to stop uric acid before it forms in my other foot as well. Walking with gout is so uncomfortable. Gout, gout, go away and don’t come again another day.

Comey’s memoir is surprisingly engaging, particularly in the first half of the book. One of the unforgettable stories was the death of his newborn son who was contracted with Group B streptococcus. To prevent this tragic to other mothers, Patrice, Comey’s wife, spoke out about their son and helped get universal testing for Group B strep. The least exciting part of this book is about Trump because we have heard so much of it already. One small detail, however, stood out when Comey recounted the hand-written dinner menu:

“They write these things out one at a time, by hand,” [Trump] marveled, referring to the White House staff.
“A calligrapher,” I replied, nodding.
He looked quizzical. “They write them by hand,” he repeated.

It is not a surprise that Trump doesn’t know what a calligrapher does. I was not planning on reading this book, but I changed my mind after skimming through the author’s note. I like his concise, friendly writing.

Jia Tolentino:

Cigarette smoking is still the No. 1 cause of preventable death in this country, killing nearly five hundred thousand people each year. (According to some studies, more than half of longtime smokers will die from smoking-related complications.) It’s incredibly hard to stop smoking; people spend lifetimes trying. Around seventy per cent of American smokers say that they want to quit, and for many of them e-cigarettes have been a godsend. But, according to a 2017 study by the C.D.C., about fifty per cent more high schoolers and middle schoolers vape than smoke. Young people have taken a technology that was supposed to help grownups stop smoking and invented a new kind of bad habit, one that they have molded in their own image. The potential public-health benefit of the e-cigarette is being eclipsed by the unsettling prospect of a generation of children who may really love to vape.

Read the entire informative article at The New Yorker.

Tôi không muốn nghĩ đến tiền. Ngày xưa chứng kiến mẹ làm lụng vất vả kiếm từng đồng từng cắc nên càng nghĩ đến tiền càng thêm xót xa. Nhưng rồi lâu lâu cũng nghĩ đến nó.

Hôm nọ bỗng nghĩ đến tiền đóng cho cộng đồng người Do thái, nơi giữ trẻ, tôi giật mình. Thằng Đạo giờ đã chín tuổi. Thế là chúng tôi đã đóng tiền tám năm liên tục. Có thời gian phải đóng cho cả hai Đạo và Đán cùng lúc. (Mai mốt phải đóng cho thằng Xuân và em nó.) Để được vào chương trình giữ trẻ ở cộng đồng Do thái, họ bắt buộc phải đóng tiền membership cho cả gia đình.

Tính sơ sơ tám năm qua (vừa tiền giữ trẻ mỗi tháng và tiền membership mỗi năm), chúng tôi đã cống hiến cho cộng đồng Do thái trên hai trăm ngàn đô. Nếu không có con cái, chúng tôi đã đủ trả hết nợ căn nhà. Nếu không có con cái, chúng tôi đâu cần mệt nhọc và căng thẳng như bây giờ. Nếu không có con cái, chúng tôi đâu bị mất ngủ và ăn uống như ăn giựt. Nếu không có con cái, chúng tôi đâu cần lo lắng từng li từng tí, la rầy, tức giận, và xấu hổ trước đám đông. Tại sao lại trút cả khổ vào thân?

Nếu được quay lại thời gian, tôi vẫn chọn có con cái. Tuy cực nhọc và tốn kém, tôi vẫn chọn lấy con cái. Chỉ cần nghe tụi nó gọi tiếng “daddy” là tôi tràng đầy hạnh phúc. Hao tốn bao nhiêu cũng không sao. Còn làm ra tiền thì còn xài. Chừng nào không làm ra tiền được nữa tính sao. Hơi sức đâu mà tính toán cho mệt. Tôi không muốn xem nặng tiền bạc.