Incase you haven’t noticed, my logo has a bit update. The i’s are now dotted. The suggestion came from the type designer himself. David Jonathan Ross pointed out to me that he had created an alternative style for the i. When I implemented the i, the dot was a thin line. After looking at it, David made the dot thicker so that it is the same size as the upper part of the g. I did not see the correlation between the two. I love the new i’s. They are much more legible than the blocks I shamelessly created as part of the grid rather than the actual letter i’s. It is such an honor to have the type designer himself helped make the logo better. I appreciate his input.

Chris Rock is back. He is older, wiser, bitterer, funnier, and blacker. He started off his new Netflix’s special with police brutality, a bit on gun, and briefly on American politics. If Bush gave us Obama, Trump might give us Jesus. His harsher contents are on being a Black parent and getting a divorce. To prepare his kids for White America, everything that is white in his house has to be sharp, heavy, or hot. His advice on relationship is to have sex and to travel places. You need to be coming and going. To make marriage work, you need to keep on fucking. It’s been a long time since Rock did a special and he doesn’t disappoint.

Một mùa xuân lại về và tôi vẫn xa quê nhà. Càng năm, xuân trong tôi càng xa vời. Mỗi khi xuân về tôi chỉ bùi ngùi nhớ lại những kỷ niệm của tuổi thơ. Xuân chỉ còn lạ trong ký ức.

Đã nhiều mùa xuân đã qua nơi xứ người. Lúc xưa tôi cũng say sưa đón xuân về. Càng hăng hái tôi càng thất vọng tràn trề. Càng muốn có những ngày xuân ấm cúng tôi càng cảm thấy lạnh nhạt. Có lẽ những ngày tháng sống cô độc đã khiến tôi lơ là đi với mùa xuân. Mùa xuân đến tôi không mong đợi gì. Mùa xuân đi tôi không hề hối tiếc.

Vợ bảo rằng tôi đã mất gốc. Chẳng lẽ không có cảm giác với mùa xuân là mất gốc hay sao? Thôi thì bà xã nói chắc cũng đúng. Bây giờ đã có con cái thì nên cố gắng cho tụi nó biết mùa xuân của Việt Nam ra sao. Hôm qua nghỉ ở nhà vì thằng Xuân bị sốt. Lúc hai mẹ con nó ngủ tôi tranh thủ dọn dẹp lại nhà cửa cho gọn gàng để đón xuân.

Thôi thì Tết nơi nào cũng là Tết. Tết không cần phải long trọng. Trong lòng mình có Tết là đũ. Thôi thì năm mới xin chúc mọi người sung sướng trong tình yêu, sung túc trong công việc, và sung mãn trong sức khỏe.

Sáng nay nghe album Ai buồn hơn ai của Bảo Yến tôi có cảm giác rằng nó rất thích hợp cho ngày lễ tình nhân hôm nay. Với cách hát chậm rãi, rõ ràng, và tràn đầy cảm xúc, Bảo Yến tặng những tình nhân những nhạc phảm êm đềm như “Khi người yêu tôi khóc”, “Lạy trời con được bình”, “Trả Lại Em Yêu”, “Yêu em vào cõi chết”, “Ai buồn hơn ai”, “Cỏ úa”, “Cuối cùng cho một tình yêu”, và “Thu sầu”. Cũng may là trong tình yêu của tôi không đến nỗi thê thảm. Bị thất tình mà nghe album này trong ngày hôm nay thì chắc chắn tôi đã tự đâm mũi tên vào tim cho rồi.

As we were watching coverage of the Olympic, I asked Đạo, “What is hangry.” His replied was, “It’s the combination of hungry and angry.” I thought he just made that up until I read it in the Washington Post. My eight-year-old is smarter than me.

He read the chyron and said to me, “Her name is [Arielle] Gold, but she won a bronze medal.”

Little Xuân stayed home today because he had a high fever. It turns out he’s teething. He looked out our window and said to me, “Daddy, chim [birds] play tree.” It’s fascinating to hear a two-year-old putting together a sentence and mixing Vietnamese and English. One of his frequent sentences is “Mommy, bú [breastfeed] please.”

@RWD:

Well. @visualgui’s redesign is stately, stunning, and—and!—responsive.

@robinrendle:

Mr. @visualgui’s redesign for his blog is so dang lovely – just look at that L O G O

I have tremendous respect for these guys; therefore, I appreciate their shoutout.

John Herrman:

If my old iPad could talk, it might ask me what has changed. If it could feel indignant, it might suggest that it isn’t the problem, and that everyone and everything else is. While it would be wrong according to the logic of its creation, it wouldn’t be incorrect. It is a piece of consumer technology, so you would expect that everything around it — its own software, Apple’s new products, the internet on which it depends — would have improved in the last five years, and that it would suffer in comparison. What seems unfair is that my old iPad, because it does nothing but provide access to these ever-evolving services, necessarily has to get worse and that it may, before long, have nowhere to go. Above all, my old iPad has revealed itself as a cursed object of a modern sort. It wears out without wearing. It breaks down without breaking. And it will be left for dead before it dies.

An enjoyable read.

Ms. Joy Garcia Tien, one of my early mentors, wrote on her Facebook:

Reliving the years I worked at Millersville University’s Upward Bound TRIO Program after a surprise meeting with a number of my former students during a Vietnamese Tet Festival last night and conversing with a few others through messenger. I am filled with gratitude for the experience with the MU-UB students in the 1990s and those with whom I trained and worked through the years. We were all a work in progress then and still are, but the memories made are permanent and forever in my heart.

Still in awe how I survived (lol) living in the dorm and going on various trips with 60-75 middle and high schoolers then, supported by a wonderful staff of tutor-counselors, for a 6-week summer residential program. Designing/coordinating their monthly Saturday skill development sessions and job-shadowing program during the school year were a big undertaking, but have helped refine my counseling/teaching strategies and skills. God is good. I had a blast and count myself blessed for the privilege of working with a diverse group of staff and students, similar to what I have now at HACC. Look forward to reminiscing and to possible collaboration with some as we give back to the community.

Note: Proud of the Upward Bound students as they all are a success story, having reached adulthood and defying the statistics for those who come from low-income, first-generation families, or both. I look at success not merely by the degrees/rank/position they attain nor the amount of money they make in comparison to others, but by having overcome their unique barriers and challenges, and achieving contentment and a sense of purpose through raising a family and/or engaging in a career for which they are passionate about; consequently, enabling them to give back and become a legacy. I pray they are living the life God has designed for them. I hope that their story is just like mine—defined by my faith; not by the fears, limitations, and brokenness of the past. To God be the glory!

I was fortunate to have Ms. Tien as one of my mentors at the most critical time in my life. Ms. Tien, Ms. Cross, and other advisors and counselors had worked tirelessly to give kids from low-income family like myself an opportunity to pursue a college education.

I had many fond memories of Ms. Tien—she invited us to her beautiful wedding—but one particular incident I could never forget. In my last year in the program, we caused a bit of trouble. Although we were giving a college experience by living in the dorms, we had curfews because we were still middle and high school kids. When lights were out around 9 or 10 pm, we were supposed to be in bed. After things seemed to be quiet, counselors let us get out of our rooms for pillow fights. The boys would run upstairs to the girl’s dorm to smack each other with pillows. The fun got out of hand and the noise increased. We got caught. Some of the counselors were even terminated.

The next day we went to Ms. Tien’s class, she looked disappointed. Within 10 minutes, she broke down. Tears rolled down her eyes. At that point, I realized how much she cared about us and our future. I felt horrible. After that, I did not participate in any activity after thr curfew. I followed the rules and did what I was there to do.

In retrospect, it was a valuable lesson. I can’t thank her enough for what she had done for us. In contrast, I am so sorry for what we did to upset her.

A collection of graphic designs that use typography to tell stories. The examples range from wild to expressive. They are unapologetically illegible and they are not meant to be read. The role of typography in these cases is intended to provoke emotions. The types become the artworks. With its large format (13.5″ by 9.5″) and complementary writing, this book is an inspiring source for experimental typographic design.

Bruce Feiler:

The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.

Feiler also points out the important of telling kids positive stories:

Decades of research have shown that most happy families communicate effectively. But talking doesn’t mean simply “talking through problems,” as important as that is. Talking also means telling a positive story about yourselves. When faced with a challenge, happy families, like happy people, just add a new chapter to their life story that shows them overcoming the hardship. This skill is particularly important for children, whose identity tends to get locked in during adolescence.

The bottom line: if you want a happier family, create, refine and retell the story of your family’s positive moments and your ability to bounce back from the difficult ones. That act alone may increase the odds that your family will thrive for many generations to come.

When our mom’s oldest sister was still alive and well, she told us many great stories about her parents, particularly their business success. Our grandparents were entrepreneurs and they worked hard everyday. Even though they were took advantage of and cheated on, they remained kind and compassionate towards others. Our aunt learned all of those skills from our grandparents and became successful herself.

When she left Vietnam, she also left behind her houses, businesses, and fortunes. In America, she rebuilt everything from her empty hands. She started out with growing mung bean sprouts. From there, she owned a small Asian grocery store. Then she opened a Chinese restaurant with a full bar. She also owned a beer-to-go joint. She had a couple of apartment complexes for rent. When her brother and sister started a restaurant but could not handle the work, she took over the business and saved their behinds.

Their stories were inspiring. Even though I don’t possess any of the skills they had, I always appreciated the family history. I am so glad that she told them to us. I will pass them along to our children.