From two-bit word to long-short combo to three-part paragraph, Stephen Wilbers offers clear, insightful techniques for improving your writing skills. As someone who is still struggling to learn English, I find his advice to be helpful. I read through the entire book, but skipped the exercises and further thoughts. As recommended by the author, I’ll definitely reread it again slowly and go through everything in the book.

The second edition of Peter Gasston’s The Book of CSS3 is worth a reread. Because CSS has been evolving in the last four years, he revised and updated many new features. If you want to catch up on the latest CSS properties, this book is for you. I intended to use it for my Advanced Web Design class.

A week before vacation, Đán slipped and landed face down on the slippery floor at a Pho joint. His lips bled and swollen.

At the airport last Wednesday, he ran into the window like a bird crashing into glass. He looked like he had half a lime in his forehead.

At the resort, I kept warning him and brother not to jump on the bed, and course they didn’t listen. On day four, he landed on the concrete floor with his forehead again. The impact also made his nose bled.

On a way home, we stopped by a Pho place (a different one), he decided to open a closet door and got his finger jammed in between. The result was that he slept in the car and all night long.

Five days of vacation just flew by. We had a great time at the Memories Splash, a kid-friendly, all-inclusive resort. Our daily activities were pretty much the same.

I woke up around 5:30 in the morning, went to the balcony, breathed the morning wind, and worked on one of my independent studies. Đán got up around 7:30 and we rode the shuttle around the property. We enjoyed seeing the animals including ducks, chickens, goose, and peacocks. Đán wanted to be a peacock and referred to himself as: “I am with the blue feather on my butt.”

Around 9AM everyone went to breakfast. My favorite dishes were fried eggs and omelet (ham, bacon, mushroom, jalapeño, green pepper, onion, corn, and tomatoes). I always loved passion fruit and tropical juices. I even bought along chia seeds to mix with the juices for detox.

After breakfast, we headed to the beach. The kids had fun playing with the waves while I had my fun at the bar. At noon, we grabbed quick bites like hamburger, panini, fries, and ice cream before heading to the water park. The kids enjoyed the water park the most. Around 3PM, the kids took a nap and then we moved to the kid’s pool closed by our room.

Around 7PM, we headed to dinner. At 10PM the kids went to bed. I retreated back to the balcony to do my own work until midnight.

The funniest moments were when Đán crashed at dinner table two nights in a row. Because he didn’t take a nap and he spent all day in the water, he fell asleep as we were just started to have dinner. Đạo loved every activities at the resort. As for us parents, we enjoyed seeing the kids having fun. I had my fun too. My wife was just fantastic. Thanks mommy, for the great memories.

In two more days, I’ll be on the beach sipping mojito. We will be in Punta Cana for a few days to get away from the snowy, icy weather. My plan will be drinking, eating, and playing with the kids all day long. At night, I’ll go to the bar to work on my projects for independent studies. And yes, my projects are approved.

Since the class I was supposed to teach this semester got dropped, I am now taking on two independent studies. The first one is an independent project research (one credit) for my final thesis in the fall. I know what I wanted to do and I hope that it will be approved tomorrow.

The second one is a challenge, but it is something I wanted to do for some time. It’s a four-credit study. I am thrilled about it. I just hope that I can complete it on time.

My time for the next three months will be devoted to these projects when I am not working, not with my family, or not sleeping. It looks like things are turned out well after all. I knew I should have been more relaxed and stayed calm.

One-line review of recent movies I have watched.

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, which took over twelve years to complete, gives viewers the true evolvement of the characters.

In Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, both Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman gave their outstanding performance.

In Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, Bruce Dern gave an unforgettable performance of an aging man who refused to give up what he believes.

Mark Raso’s Copenhagen is just a beautiful romance.

Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street marks a fruitful collaboration between Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Dear Client,

In the beginning of this year, I have decided to close out my web design service to move to something else. I contacted all my clients (past and current) about my decision and helped them with the transition.

Your project has been stalled more than a year for unforeseeable situations. As a result, I would like to refund you your full deposit. I’ll send out the check as soon as possible.

Thank you!
Donny

I have been pondering on this decision for a while. I just had to take the lost and move on. Both party ended the contract on a good term. I can’t ask for more.

I have been stressed out over a minor issue in the past few days. I keep telling myself it is not a big deal and yet it keeps irritating me. The feeling of being screwed is hard to get past. This is reality. When they need you, they would do anything for you. When they don’t need you, they would get rid of you just like that.

It’s a lesson I should have learned no matter who I am dealing with. The more I think about it, the more appalled I get. It’s getting to the point that I get sick to my stomach. As I am trying to focus on spending time with the family, the thought of it gets in my way.

I’ll be alright. I’ll get over it in the next couple of days. I now know how to protect myself in the future, but more importantly, I really need to learn not to take everything too serious. Life ahead will be more treacherous; therefore, I need to learn to control my mind and emotion.

My cousin always said, “Leave everything to Jesus. He will take care of everything.” With just that believe she lives such an easy life. Maybe it’s should be time for me to do the same. I just need to free up my mind and soul and let things work themselves out. I am still lucky to have my wife to lean on. She is so understandable.

Being able to write all this down is making me feel better already. Again stop sweating the small stuff.

Martin Luther King Jr.:

The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy.