Lorde has all the right ingredients to make a modern pop album. She has a sultry, slightly raspy voice. She has Joel Little who knows how to build minimalist beats to complement her vocals. She has all the accurate references to materialisms (iPhone, Grey Goose, Cristal, Mayback and Cadillacs). Yet what sets Lorde apart from the pop crowd is that she is not caught up in that glamorous lifestyle: “That kind of lux just ain’t for us / We crave a different kind of buzz.”

Even though Lorde is only 16, she is well-aware of the pop scene: “I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air/So there/I’m kind of older than I was when I reveled without a care.” Lorde knows that with smart, witty lyrics, she doesn’t need to twerk to get to the top. Pure Heroine is a proof that she can beat the pop game with its own whip.

Dao is now into watching Barbie. How did we get here? He outgrew Curious George and Thomas Train, but I could never imagine he would be into Barbie. Now I really have to pay attention to him even though I think he could differentiate between real and fantasy. For instance, my wife was making fried noodle last weekend and she set the stove on fire because the oil spilled out and started to burn. Dao ran over, looked at the fire and told his mom, “I don’t like to look at fire. I don’t like real fire. I only like pretend fire.” He went on, “Mommy, don’t do that again tomorrow.” I thought that’s pretty smart for a four-year-old.

His little brother is now in that terrible-two phrase and he wears me out everyday. He continues to pick up new words like, “love you,” “be careful” and “please.” Sometimes he combines two words into one, like “bloon” instead of “balloon” and “plice” instead of “police.” Unlike his big brother, Dan is still not into any particular TV shows. His favorite toy so far is a garbage truck. He uses the word “dơ” (dirty) more than anything. Whenever he sees something dirty he would say it. If we were driving on a rainy day, he would say “dơ” the entire time. He still can’t pronounce “truck” correctly. He would say, “dump fuck” instead of “dump truck,” which I find hilarious every time.

There are many funny moments that I haven’t have a chance to write down. I have been insanely busy these days. School has been very stressful. I have been quite cranky lately due to lack of sleep. I can’t wait for this semester to be done so I can get some rests and catch up on sleep. It’s Saturday night I am still doing my homework. Alright, I am going to sleep now before the little guy gets up and scream. Peace out!

For the second project of our graduate design seminar, we are required to conceptualize a visual narrative based on a literary piece. Once I read the assignment, Jay Z’s “Somewhere In America” came to mind. What attracted me to the song are the witty references underneath the lyrics. For example, in the last lines he rhymes, “Feds still lurking / They see I’m still putting work in / Cause somewhere in America / Miley Cyrus is still twerkin’”. He used humor to comment on racism in America. In an interview with Elliot Wilson, Jay explains:

Yes, and that’s the thing, like reviews… think about trying to get that line. You hear that Miley Cyrus, you’re going to come to the wrong conclusion that you really understand the story. People are like, “why’s he saying ‘Miley Cyrus’ in the song?” Don’t you understand? It’s hard to understand the intention behind it. Again, it uses wit and it’s catchy, but the real story is about racism. The whole song is, somewhere in America, you can’t teach racism when your child is connected to the culture. It’s very hard to…

My original plan for the project was to create a poster with a map of America and then fill in all the visual images Jay Z mentioned in the song. The intention was to show the connection between the visual elements without words. Somewhere in America Miley Cyrus is still twerkin’. Somewhere in America Bun B is still rhyming about trill. Somewhere in America Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” is still playing in the Sonos. Somewhere in America, Jay Z is driving his yellow Lamborghini 135 miles per hour on the highway.

As I sketched out my design, I had a hard time deciding where the visual elements should be placed on the map since they don’t have to be in a specific location. The second important issue is that people who aren’t a fan of Jay Z and aren’t into hip-hop culture wouldn’t get the meaning behind the piece. As a result, I switched from a print piece to an interactive piece. The interactive piece solves the first issue because I don’t have to determine where to place the images. Users will get a random arrangement each time they visit the page. They can drag the pieces around and then click on a photo that they find interesting. Once the thumbnail is clicked, they get to see the entire image with the lyrics as well as the references Jay Z made.

I am really happy with the result and quite enjoyed working on this piece. This is one of the things that I love about school. I get to do fun and creative projects. Go ahead and play with “Somewhere in America.” I hope you enjoy it as well.

Hồng Mơ’s new release, Khi Tình 30, kicks off with “Đời Cuốn Xa Dần,” which is a typical pop song. She has a decent voice (strong and slightly scratchy), but the record is just average due to mundane melody and predictable production.

Just as I thought that Khi Tình 30 is going be yet another trendy album that pops up everyday in the Vietnamese music scene, the second track surprises me. Her rendition of Phạm Duy’s “Thà Như Giọt Mưa” is a complete transformation. The tune is arranged in bossa nova backdrop and she maneuvers moderately behind the beat. The result is quite mesmerizing even though I wish her phrasings were a bit slower to give more time and attention to the lyrics. She sounds rushed trying to keep up with the timing. She should have taken clue from Ngọc Lan’s version for this record.

Then again her version of Đức Tiến’s “Mây Bay Là Bay Rồi,” is impeccable. The Latin rhythm is a bit slower; therefore, she has enough time and space to devote to the lyrics and she knows how to work her vocals around the hypnotic plucking bass. “Thoáng Thấy Anh” takes a detour to a mid-tempo club beat. Fortunately, “Yêu Nhiều Hơn” returns to the bluesy vibe. “Dối Lừa” (Holy Thắng) digs deeper into the blues and her delivery is quite confident and poignant in conveying the deceived emotion. “Anh Hết Yêu Tôi Từ Lâu,” another tune from Đức Tiến, is my personal favorite and, without a doubt, one of the highlights in the album.

Khi Tình 30 closes out with Nguyễn Văn Khánh’s “Nỗi Lòng.” Hồng Mơ knows damn well that Hồ Ngọc Hà revived this classic with a bluesy makeover; therefore, she (and her producer) made a wise decision to swing it up. The result is quite refreshing. With the exception of “Đời Cuốn Xa Dần” and “Thoáng Thấy Anh,” I am so glad to see Hồng Mơ moves beyond the pop bubbles and explores the jazz territory. As the title is hinted, this album is for 30s and up. She definitely knows her target.

Clipse, the dope duo that brought us the classic Hell Hath No Fury, has dismantled. Big brother Malice dropped the powder and picked up the bible. Good for him. Lil brother Pusha T, on the other hand, is still obsessed with coke-slinging storytelling.

Pusha’s solo debut My Name is My Name is filled with imaginative cocaine lyricism. In “Hold On,” he claims, “I sold more dope than I sold records.” In “Suicide” he boasts, “I’m still a snow mover, blow harder than tuba / Designated shooters, turn weed to woolers.” In “Nostalgia,” he reflects, “Twenty plus years of selling Johnson & Johnson / I started out as a baby face monster / No wonder there’s diaper rash on my conscience.” The metaphor gets more intricate in “40 Acres.”

Without a doubt, Pusha is still one of the dopest lyricists in the game. His punchlines are menace and his attitude is unapologetic: “School of hard knock, I attended / Selling hard rock, fuck who I offended.” Yet the main setback of My Name is the lacking of raw aesthetics Pusha and Malice brought to Hell Hath No Fury. The productions, which are oversight by Kanye West, are surprisingly over-glossed. Out of twelve tracks, only the first two have no guest spot.

Too many guests and too many hooks only get in the way of storytelling. “Sweet Serenade” is a perfect example of how a r&b, bitch-ass whippersnapper could ruin a track. What the fuck is Kanye doing on “Hold On” with Auto-tune shit? It’s a torture and should it have been left out. “Let Me Love You” with Kelly Rowland is an obvious mainstream target. The Mase’s flow is spot on though.

“S.N.I.T.C.H.,” an acronym for “Sorry Nigga I’m Trying to Come Home,” closes out the album with a poignant story. Too bad, Pusha restricts himself too much to the same subject with glossier productions and pop hooks. It’s sort of like he used to be a coke rapper and now he’s still a coke rapper with a cherry on top.

I took a full day Sass Workshop yesterday with Roy Tomeij. He walked us through every SCSS syntax and gave us some new features coming out in Sass 3.3. He shared his modular approach to CSS, which was quite intriguing. He also showed how simple it is to create CSS animation with Sass. I learned quite a bit yesterday and will need some time to digest everything. If you want to learn Sass, definitely check out Roy’s “Screw CSS” workshop.

Kristin Bair O’Keeffe, the author of Thirsty has a new novel titled The Art of Floating. The book is coming out in April 2014 and she asked me to design a landing page for the book. It’s a fairly small project, which is perfect for the time that I have, but I enjoy crafting it. I really love the title she came up with and can’t wait to read it.

Cả tuần nay ngày nào cũng mưa. Sáng nay đi làm cũng mưa não nề nên lúc trưa rủ bà xã và chị vợ đi ăn sushi buffet cho đỡ buồn. Cũng đã lâu rồi không ăn buffet. Lần này đám nhỏ còn ở nhà trẻ nên ba chị em được ngồi ăn thoải mái.

Nào là cua rang mặn, nào là nghêu xào, nào là cánh gà chiên giòn, nào là cá chiên chua ngọt, nào là cá sống và sushi đủ loại rồi thêm vào một chai sake nóng. Ba chị em ngồi từ một giờ trưa cho đến hai giời rưởi. Ăn no nê thì chuồn về nhà luôn chứ đi làm nữa không nỗi. Đến giờ ăn tối thì chỉ có mấy đứa nhỏ ăn còn mấy người lớn chỉ muốn leo lên giường mà thôi không còn ăn tối được nữa.

Trời mưa rủ nhau đi ăn cho đỡ buồn. Sau khi ăn xong thì còn sầu thảm hơn nhiều. Lâu lâu có như vậy cũng tốt lắm.

Ari Rafaeli’s criticism on Book Typography is bold, meticulous and constructive. He took Robert Bringhurst to task on small caps and Richard Hendel on a wrong comma (Galliard comma was used in Garamond font). It’s quite an intriguing, sometimes intimidating, read.

Terry Gross interviews Elizabeth Smart on her abduction. It’s both disturbing and inspiring.

Kevin Whitehead reviews Ahmad Jamal’s latest album Saturday Morning. At 83, Jamal still got mad chops.

Jeffrey Zeldman talks with Debbie Millman about failure, success and happiness. Two people I have deep respect for on the same podcast. Can’t get any better than that.