I used to be terrified when I had to go to job interviews. In the early days of my career, I couldn’t land on many jobs because I screwed up my interviews.

Right off college, my goal was to work at Millersville University as a webmaster. The University was closed to my mom’s house and I had always liked the environment. When the position was posted, I applied immediately and I was so anxious about the interview that I couldn’t sleep the night before. I chugged down two bottles of Heineken to help me too sleep, but I couldn’t.

The next day, I was so nervous that I basically fucked up the entire interview. I couldn’t answer questions like how would you resolve a conflict with a coworker, how would I supervise student workers and what do I see myself in five years. My work and my portfolio were not even mentioned.

I hated myself and I blamed on my poor English for the screw up. Then again, I knew that I was not going to get away with this if I want to land a job. So I made it my priority to practice this skill and there’s nothing better to do it then to go on interviews. Once I pulled together my portfolio, I applied to many jobs that were related to web design as possible so that I could get an interview. Even when I had a job, I would go on to interviews just to practice.

Today I can confidently say that I have 80% chance of landing on a job I applied for with only three rules.
My first rule is to dress to impress. You could never be over-dressed in an interview. I always dressed to an interview like I go to a wedding. Truth be told, I only have one suite; therefore, I wear it to any formal occasion.

My second rule is to take control of the interview. I think of an interview as an opportunity to share my passion for what I do. Most family members and friends do not care what I do; therefore, I rarely get an opportunity to talk about about the things that get me out of bed every morning. I might never see the interviewers again, but I get to tell them that I eat, drink and live this shit everyday. In addition to showing my client works, I try to bring in my personal projects like Sketches of Miles, Simplexpression and even my involvement with Thirsty.

My third rule is to be honest. Not everyone could do everything. When I applied for my current position, I told my supervisor that I didn’t have any Linux or server admin experience, but that I am willing to learn. She trusted me. To not let her down, I picked up Linux books to learn before I even started the job. Now I am so glad that I did and that she gave me the opportunity.

I don’t get to sit on the other side of the table too often, but there was an interview that I could never forget. I still remember the day we interviewed Kevin for the web design position at Vassar college. He made such an impact on me that I couldn’t care for anyone else after him. He talked about design and how it reflected his own life. He used to be depressed and design gave him a way out. His exact words were: “Design makes life more beautiful.” I was sold.

When I finally “graduated” from ESL class in seventh grade, I was very excited. My first day in regular English class, I wanted to participate in the lesson. I can’t recall what the topic was, but I remember the teacher was asking us what would we train a dog to do. My classmates’ answers included: to sit, to catch a ball, to sniff out strangers. I raised my hand and said, “I would train my dog to flirt with a bitch.” The whole class looked shocked. I stuttered, “you know, to flirt with a female dog.” No one was in on the joke and the teacher gave me a look that suggested I should roll my ass back to ESL class.

Several weeks later, the teacher gave us an in-class writing assignment. I can’t recall the exact topic, but it had something to do with love. I sat staring at the blank page for half an hour and nothing came up. I had fifteen minutes left and I had to figure out something quick. Out of desperation, I wrote down the lyrics of “There’s Only You In My Heart,” which came to my head at the moment. When he handed back the paper, his comment was that it was so good, it almost sounded like a love poem. The man obviously didn’t listen to Chinese melody love songs and thankfully the Internet was not around yet.

T.I. is indeed a Trouble Man. He goes in and out of jail for all sort of misdemeanors including drugs and weapons. The good thing is that he always bounces back as he reminds us on “Who Want Some,” in which he boasts, “We’ve been through this how many time? Have you nigger forgot? I got locked up get out on top whether you like it or not.”

Yes, like it or not, T.I. remains one of the top emcees in the game. Straight hard tracks like “Trap Back Jumpin’,” “Go Get It” and “Addresses” are the proof that he’s still a dope lyricist underneath all that swaggers. He could kill it without the help of r & b hooks. Unfortunately, Trouble Man is filled with r & b crossovers from the guest appearances including R. Kelly, Pink, Cee-Lo Green and Akon, which turns the album into a big, soft, commercialized product.

“Ball,” a club joint with Lil’ Wayne, comes across like two misogynistic assholes bashing women. T.I. raps, “The club full of bad bitches and they came to play / OK it must be your hair cause it ain’t your face.” Then Lil’ Wayne adds, “Bitch shake it like a dog, hop like a frog, ride it like a horse / I throw that dick like darts.” Yet worse is when T.I. sings on “Cruisin’.” Auto-Tune makes him sound terrifying. Stick with rapping, hommie.

As I was putting my little Dan to bed, my thoughts were with the family of the victims in today’s shooting. What if the tragic event happened to one of my kids? It sounds crazy, but it could happen if we don’t do anything to stop the violence. Gun-related mass murdering had been on the rise and it occurred in places that we might have never expected. Even elementary school was the target, where else could our children be safe?

As parents, politicians and the entire nation, we need to do something. We need to take the guns away from the lunatics. My condolences go out to the victims’ family and friends. Mr. President, please help us.

So I made it through the first semester of my graduate program in graphic design. I took two classes. One is a graduate seminar, which is a one-credit course. The other is advanced typography, which is a four-credit course. The tuition benefit only allows me six credits max each semester. If I am going at this rate, it will take me at least four and a half years to complete. Man, that’s even worse than going through a four-year college.

The seminar class was manageable. I am glad that we ditched the textbook and worked on a real project. The killer one for me was advanced typography. The professor’s style of teaching was very tough. In each class we put up our work on the board for critique. He pushed so hard that some of my classmates were in tears. I spent hours working on a design and he spent 30 seconds ripping it apart. Although I understood his intention all along, it was very hard to deal with. Then again, if I could make it through his class, I could make through any other classes.

In retrospect, I picked the worse time to start school. In addition to holding a full-time job, I have two small children. Little Dan was not even one yet when I started. Then my father-in-law’s situation. About more than half way through the semester I was about to throw in the towel. Many nights I barely slept and the pressure drove me into depression. I am glad that my wife didn’t let me give up. She encouraged me to get through. At the end, I met some great design friends and I am also happy to be in school again.

The Economist Group points out why “magazines make the move to responsive websites:”

Many of the publishers pointed out that responsive design doesn’t just make a better reading experience for consumers, it also streamlines editorial workflow on the back end. Instead of an editor having to push out content on multiple platforms, often requiring different types of coding and content management systems, editors can “publish once, update everywhere”. With diminishing resources at most magazines, this back-end efficiency is particularly appealing.

I recognized the move back in May 2011 when I realigned GWbusiness to be responsive.

Mỗi lần nhìn thấy mặt con nổi đỏ trầy trụa ba đau xót vô cùng. Thảm thương hơn là thấy con vẫn cười. Có ngứa và đau lắm không con? Đêm đến thấy con đưa tay lên gãi ba cố nắm lấy tay con để con khỏi phải gãi chóc da nhưng con không thích lắm.

Dạo này con cũng hay thức giấc rồi khóc to. Những lúc ba chỉ vuốt nhẹ lên lưng con để con ngủ trở lại. Có lúc ba để con khóc một hồi rồi ngủ trở lại. Đêm qua con không mãi không thôi. Ba la một tiếng “nín” thì con lại nín. Một lúc sao con lại khóc tiếp ba lại la thêm tiếng nữa thì con cũng nín. Bây giờ mỗi khi ru con ba cũng để tự con ngũ. Con nhào qua lộn lại cho đến khi lắng xuống rồi thiếp đi. Ba chỉ đỡ khi nào con xắp đập đầu vào tường.

Bây giờ con chập chuẩn đi. Trông tướng con rất dể thương. Giờ đây con cũng đã bớt bỏ đồ vào miệng. Con đã biết tự chơi một mình. Con biết cách đẩy xe chạy tự nhặt lên những gì con thích. Thấy con phát chuyển tốt và khoẻ ba vui mừng lắm. Mỗi ngày ba tự cười thằm và vui vẻ về hai thằng con trai của ba.

Cái cảm giác làm cha thật khó tả. Mỗi một suy nghỉ của ba điều liên quan đến hai con. Có những lúc ba thật mệt mỏi và muốn được yên tỉnh một mình. Nhưng rồi những thứ ba làm ba điều đắng đo rằng nếu ba làm những việc ấy mà phải không có thời gian với hai con, ba có nên làm không? Dỉ nhiên là không. Tiền thì chẳng bao giờ kiếm cho đủ còn tụi con thì mỗi ngày mổi lớn. Thời gian không bao giờ dừng lại. Mới ngày nào Đạo còn nhỏ xíu mà bây giờ đã có cá tính riêng. Mới ngày nào ôm Đán trọn trong tay mà bây giờ đeo con một chút là bị đao lưng đao cổ.

Anyways, I love you guys.

Even though Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors is a Big Boi’s solo album, “Apple of My Eye” is the only solo track. The rest are collaborative efforts from guest appearances includes T.I., Ludacris, Kelly Rowland and a handful of lesser-known artists. While the production is tight, the format is way too lose. Even his rhymes appear to be free form and aiming for punchlines, “I rub my stick on your chick like a violin,” rather than thought-out lyrics. With the exception of T.I., the guests aren’t up to his swag. Nevertheless Big Boi seems to make an experimental project rather than a solid work.

I cringe every time I see an article with a headline like this: “WordPress or MODX? The Winner Is…” Obviously fans of both camp would show up in the comment section and start a war. Let’s just stop it. Since both are open source, why not embrace both? It doesn’t cost you a dime.

Both WordPress and MODX are my favorite platforms at the moment. I use both for my full-time job as well as my freelance gigs. Rather than picking one over the other, why not use the one that is appropriate for your project?

I love the speed of WordPress. I could have a WordPress site up and running in ten minutes and I could also quickly create a custom design based off a starter theme. That’s the strength of WordPress.

On the other hand, MODX gives me complete control of my markup. I can create a site exactly the way I had imagined without the need of a starter theme. Obviously the process takes much longer, but the result is worth every minute of my time.

As someone who offers full web service (from design to front-end development to back-end development), I can give my clients the options. MODX would be more expensive because it takes more work. Then again, it also depends on the scope of the project. So for me, the winner is both.

Whenever Dao plays with his model trains, he has to have five cars as a set. I didn’t really get it until the other day when he asked me to set up my train to play with him. I just put together a bunch of trains, but he said, “No daddy, you have to the main engine first [Thomas, Percy, James etc.], then tender second, then freight car, then two cabooses.” My son is now officially a connoisseur of train. Here is their early Christmas present.