Visualgui gets a few minor updates. The FancyBox, which was used primary to pop up slideshows, is now gone. Showshows are now just opened in fullscreen window. Without FancyBox, jQuery library is no longer needed. With the exception of Google Analytics, the site is now JavaScript free.

Links in portfolio sections are no longer opening in new windows. In the previous design, I used blank target because of infinite scroll. One of infinite scroll drawbacks was breaking the back button. Even though I am no longer using infinite scroll, I totally forgot to get rid of blank target. Coincidentally, my wife just complained to me that she hates it when web sites open up new windows. Although she was not referring to my site, my motto has always been that if your wife hates something you better change it.

On the visual side, the header and footer are switched from black to white. Somehow the back strip at top and bottom makes the layout look trapped. After changing it to white and I asked my wife for feedback and she said that the white makes the layout less divisive. I totally agreed. The new sticky navigation at the bottom has a very subtle transparency, which is inspired by Apple’s flat direction in the new iOS 7. Even though the flat design in iOS 7 has received tremendous negative criticisms from the design community, I predict it is going to be fantastic. Can’t go wrong with minimalism. Let’s wait and find out.

I have been watching a few documentaries on NetFlix and here are my quick takes on them.

Hungry for Change is quite informative on the type of food that we eat. The film inspires me to to get back into eating healthy. I have started juicing. Not sure if it works, but I am feeling good already. I am trying to stay away from processed food as well as sugar as much as possible. We’ll see how it goes.

Finally had a chance to catch Helvetica. Not sure if this film is interesting to the general audience, but quite fascinating to design geeks. The film presents both opposite views on the typeface. Love it or hate it, Helvetica is here to stay. No typeface is suitable for every situation and Helvetica is no exception even though it is ubiquitous. Use it when appropriate.

Ice-T’s Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap gives viewers a glim into the mind of rap legends like Rakim, Dr. Dre, Nas and Grandmaster Caz. Each MC gets to explain his process (style, technique and delivery), name their influences and drop a few bars. The highlights of the film is, without a doubt, the raw freestyling from rappers including Eminem, Kanye West and Ice-T himself. Not a bad directing debut at all.

Only three days into his daycare life and Dan is already losing his voice. I took him in this morning and he cried as soon as we stepped into his classroom. It was painful once again to hear him cry. Dao took quite a long time to settled in even though he started daycare when he was one. Dan is going to be even harder because he started at 19 months.

When I came to pick him up this evening he could hardly talk. Ms. Ester said he cried every time someone comes in or out the door. He was expecting his parents to pick him up. As soon as he saw me, he stopped crying. As we walked to our car he said hi and smiled at everyone he saw.

Dao was out sick today. His fever shot up to 103 degrees. It looks like he’ll be home for the rest of the week as well. Daycare is such a crazy place.

Cécile McLorin Salvant is an intriguing jazz singer with a style of her own. Her excellent debut, WomanChild, showcases her vocal range, technical chops and a rare gift for reinterpretation.

Her rendition of “You Bring Out the Savage in Me,” a controversial tune from Valaida Snow, is shocking yet humorous. Her phrasing is meticulous, particularly her enunciation in the following couplet: “My blood boils with the tropic heat / And the rhythm of my heart has a tom-tom beat.” Salvant’s take on “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” a Billie Holiday’s joint, is quite something else. She pushes her vocals, plays with her tone and swings like hell with the fantastic rhythm section led by the pianist Aaron Diehl. “John Henry” is another outstanding cover that displays her powerful voice and exquisite taste in singing standards.

In addition to the rare repertoire from jazz history, WomanChild demonstrates Salvant’s own songwriting through the title track, “Le Front Cache Sur Tes Genoux” and the album-closer “Deep Dark Blue.” With her immense talent, Salvant is going to soar. This is just the beginning of a promising career.

In response to my post on “Why I Dislike Physical Examination,” a reader wrote:

Just because you got hard by a male doctor just doesn’t mean you gotta be gay or bi. It was just a physical reaction. Just like when you get an erection when you rub yourself against a Bible, that won’t turn you into a priest LOL

He’s right. I am not gay. I was just throwing a bone his way. I got to know him through this site when I still had the comments turned on. Truth be told, I had my doses of homophobic commentaries in the early days of blogging. For the record, I am not a homophobic. I never was. I was young, cocky and listened way too much rap music. (“I read somewhere, I’m homophobic / Go through the hood, there’s mad niggas on my dick,” rapped 50 Cent.) Fortunately, gay readers liked him straightened me out and taught me a thang or two about being gay. One of the comments he made that still struck a chord with me till this day is that “being gay is not a choice.”

Although I am no longer having the comment section, I am still corresponding with him on various topics. He is a much better writer than me. His views on politics, music, religions (as you can read the comment above) and even gay sex are witty yet thoughtful. I used to love reading his blog until it was shut down. Fuck Multiply.

In a discussion of “Nhac Sen,” which came out of this YouTube video he sent me, we had the following exchange. I wrote:

For me, “sen” comes more from the singers than the music itself. I actually love the music when it is done without those over-sentimental delivery. For instance, I love how Anh Tuyet and Le Quyen made them sounded “sang” without losing the core melody. Hien Thuc’s latest release is also placed in that direction.

Maybe you’re an exception, but most gay men I have known or interacted with are really into “Sen” music, especial Quang Le and Dan Nguyen 🙂

He wrote back:

I don’t know who Dan Nguyen is, but as for Quang Le, certain gay guys like him probably not for his singing but for something else. Now that he is chubby, it might be fun to dress him up in Japanese traditional loin cloth and pretend you are screwing a sumo wrestler LOL Just kidding, I can’t stand men who sing like pussies, unless they come with sweet and sour sauce LOL

I laughed my ass off, especially the Kayne reference. For a few years, I had a chance to hang out with a couple of gay guys and it was one of the highlights moments of my life. We sipped Cosmo, gambled and cursed all fucking nights. Halloween parties were just crazy fun. Drinks and drags were everywhere. Gay clubs, particularly in New York City, were quite an eye-opening experience. I am a grown-ass man with wife and kids now so I don’t do that anymore, but I would never forget those days.

In my college years, I had a close friend. In fact she was only my close friend then. We went to dinner every night simply because I hated going to the diner all by myself. We hanged out together, watched movies, went bowling and played pool. We headed to Chinatown for Vietnamese and Chinese food. We hit the club on Wednesday nights simply because the cover charge was low and a drink cost a penny. I didn’t know she was a lesbian until I invited her to my wedding. Not sure why she kept that away from me all those years. Nevertheless, I am glad that she was there with me during my college years. She’s now speaking openly on being a gay Asian-American.

In a powerful TED Talk, Andrew Solomon demonstrated how gay have progressed in just 40 years. It had turned from an illness to an identity. President Obama recognized gay marriage last year. Solomon also taught me a thing or two about parenting. As I often discussed my wife that I want to be fully supportive of our children if one or all of our kids will turn out to be gay. I want to embrace whoever they’ll become and I also want to make sure that they can live happily with whoever they are. I want them to turn to us for love and support. In return, I want to be included into their lives.

Although Dan seemed to be having fun playing ball with his teacher when I picked him up yesterday, Ms. Ester told me that he was having a rough first day. He was happy to see me, but didn’t stop what he was playing to greet me like Dao. He was still carrying on with his game. When he spoke to me, I noticed the scratchiness in his voice. He must had cried a lot. Then he felt warm.

After we went home, I checked his temperature and it was up to 103 degrees. The good thing was that he was still very active. We gave him some Tylenol and he slept well, but the fever was still high this morning so we let him stayed home with grandma. I was teasing his cousin Khoi who started daycare last week that he got sick just after three days in daycare. Now Dan got sick for just one day. He broke all the records.

Dao, on the other hand, is probably already getting used to the environment. He enjoys playing with water and other activities in daycare.

Dan’s first day seems to be good. He didn’t cry at all when we dropped him off. It was a busy morning and the teacher just took his hand walked to the playground. Dan is in Ms. Ester’s class. She was Dao’s previous and favorite teacher. I am sure he is having a blast.

Dao is also back with Ms. Chantel who is also his previous and favorite teacher. He was a bit whiny when we brought him in, but then completely content when he sat on her lap. I came over to see how he was doing and he said, “I want to see my baby.” Ms. Chantel promised that he would get to see his baby brother later on.

Can’t wait to pick them up in the evening and treat them to Baskin-Robbins.

Sau khi nốc hết một ly cối Mojito tối qua, tôi không ngủ được vì men rum làm nóng cả người. Muốn đọc sánh nhưng lại bị ngà ngà nên mở NetFlix lên xem. Quẹt qua quẹt lại trên iPhone thì thấy có một phim có tựa đề thú vị nên cũng tò mò bấm vào.

After Porn Ends là phim tài liệu khảo sát về cuộc đời và nghề nghiệp của những ngôi sao đóng phim XXX. Điểm chính được nhấn mạnh là những khó khăn họ phải vượt qua sau khi rời bỏ phim ảnh. Vì một khi đã dẫm chân vào nghề nầy rồi thì không dễ dàng có lại được một cuộc sống bình thường.

Phần nội dung của phim thì cũng tạm được. Còn phần diễn viên thì quen quen. Thú thật thì tôi cũng chẳng để ý nhiều về những minh tinh này. Vì trong lúc xem, đầu óc đâu còn minh mẫn nữa mà chú ý. Tuy nhiên có một cô đã cho tôi được ấn tượng từ lâu. Cô tên là Raylene và cô cũng có xuật hiện trong phim tài liệu này.

Lúc còn ở trung học tôi có một thằng bạn khá thân đã cho tôi một băng video thu lại. Trong đó chỉ toàn Raylene đảm nhiệm vai chính. Chắc là thằng này nó cũng mê cô ta. Tôi đã cất giấu cuốn băng đó đến lúc lấy vợ.

Raylene làm tôi chú ý nhất là lối diễn kịch rất ngộ nghĩnh của cô trước khi giao cấu, nhất là những màng dụ dỗ trai tơ. Cô có thân hình đẩy đà quyến rủ. Tiếc rằng những vết xăm trên người giảm bớt đi phần lôi cuốn. (Đó cũng chỉ là thẩm mỹ cá nhân tôi.) Nhưng điểm đẹp của cô là nhan sắc trên gương mặt và nhất là chiếc mủi cao rất tao nhã.

Xem phim này mới biết thêm chút về cô. Raylene đã rời bỏ thế giới nghệ thuật XXX và trở thành người mua bán nhà cửa chuyên nghiệp. Còn về đời tư thì cô đã trở thành người vợ và người mẹ. Thôi thì cũng chúc mừng cho Raylene vậy.

I envy those parents who stay home with their kids. I know a handful of moms are doing that already, but I also found out the other day that a friend who is a web developer quitted his job to be home with his first daughter. I whined to my wife every once in a while that I wanted to be a stay-at-home dad as well. I told her my plan would be to spend time with the boys during the day and work on freelance projects during the night. The problem is that I am really suck at doing business. I only take on side jobs that I like and I only take on projects that come to me. I despise going out of my way to pick up clients; therefore, I won’t be able to pay the bills if I do my own business.

As much as I love my kids, I realize that I am not the type of guy that could handle constant craziness. Dao and Dan are at the age that they could go on all day long without getting tired. They both are super active. Dan alone is a handful. He climbs, runs, yells and he loves to do anything except sitting still. He has yet to listen to what I say. In fact, whatever I tell him not to do, he would do it. For example, whenever I say, “don’t put that in your mouth,” and he would put it in his mouth. He’s starting to pick up Vietnamese words like dirty, car, hand, mouth and so forth. For now, he learns mostly Vietnamese.

With Dao, he could watch TV all day long if I let him; therefore, I have to play with him as well to keep him occupied. Dao is such a witty kid, especially the things that he said. For example, a couple of days ago, he told me, “Daddy, my ‘cu’ (penis) gets bigger when I eat a lot.” I replied, “You are absolutely right, son.” I must admit. I don’t give him much attention as I should. For instance, if I take both of them to the playground, I constantly have to look after Dan. This little fellow has no fear. He climbs and does things as if he doesn’t think he would hurt himself. On the other hand, Dao is a very cautious kid and he knows his limitation; therefore, I let him do anything he likes without much of my supervision. This is one of the reasons, I always want my wife to join us so that each of us could give each kid our attention. I can only focus on one kid at a time.

In any rate, stay-at-home dad is not going to cut it for me. I can’t be looking after two kids at the same time. Spending just a full day with them is already exhausting. I can’t do it day after day. As much as I would like to be home with my kids, I simply can’t. I am not cut out for it.

Coincidentally, I listened to two podcasts this morning that talked about the digital strategy that helped Obama got reelected in 2012. Daniel Ryan shared his experience on the Non-Breaking Space, one of my favorite podcasts on web design, when he was the director of front-end development for President Obama’s 2012 election campaign. Likewise on Fresh Air, journalist Jonathan Alter explained how the Obama campaign revolutionized more than just politics by focusing on the numbers game. Both podcasts are worth listening.