These days the kids go to bed early so I got a chance to catch some stand up comedies on NetFlix. Here are the ones I digged:
Jim Gaffigan’s Mr. Universe: He has me stop going to Subway.
Lewis Black’s In God We Rust: He’s a veteran in the game. He’s masterful despite showing is age with the iPhone’s frustration.
Steve Byrne’s The Byrne Identity: Being half Koran half Irish, Byrne lead off hilarious racial jokes. Very impressive.
In choosing a CMS for a client project, I was debating between WordPress and MODX. These two systems could do what I need for the site; therefore, my selection was based on flexibility (for me to develop) and usability (for the client to maintain).
WordPress would have been an easier choice since I have worked with the system for quite a while. WordPress would have taken less time to implement because I could use a starter theme and run with it. WordPress’s admin interface is very easy to use. It would take me less time train the client to use the system. The most impressive part about WordPress yet is the ability to upgrade the system with just one click. Client won’t need me to do anything in the future.
MODX Revolution, on the other hand, would be a bit of a challenge for me. I have not implemented a site from scratch with MODX; therefore, it would take me much more time to develop. In addition, MODX has no existing template to get me running. Everything has to be built from scratch and the biggest advantage of this is that I can create the site exactly the way I wanted. There’s no shortcut to get me started, but the end result would be quite satisfying for someone who likes clean codes and semantic markups. One can argue that you can start WordPress from scratch as well, but getting all the functionalities back in takes much more time. As a CMS, MODX’s template variable allows me to create any piece of content anywhere on the site. Now that’s truly flexible. In contrast to WordPress, MODX’s manager is not as easy for client to use. Training will be required. Upgrading the system would require my involvement.
After careful consideration and discussion with my client, we decided to go with MODX. It is a perfect opportunity for me to learn the system. With the reference of Bob Ray’s MODX: The Official Guide and online documentations, I am quite impressed with MODX Revolution. Its power allows me to create a dynamic, CMS-driven web site just the way I wanted no more no less.
I’ll share the site once we launch it. Stay tuned!
There I said it. I am suck at parenting. Unfortunately you would never know until you become a parent. I love my two kids more than life itself, but that doesn’t make me a good parent. Then again I am learning and improving, because I have no choice. For the past year, I literally didn’t know what to do with Dao. I tried various methods and nothing worked. It goes in his one ear and out the other. I wasn’t sure he was not comprehensible or he simply doesn’t want to. Fortunately, I think he’s getting it.
Dao could be such a lovely kid if he wants to or be such a pain in the ass if he chooses to. The past week his behavior had changed a bit. I still have to make him to do his daily tasks, but his resistance level had dropped. As I assured him that if we could take the shower and brush his teeth quicker, we would have a much better time. Once he listened, we were able to enjoy reading and playing before bedtime. I am confidence that we can still reigning him in.
As for Dan, what a lovely boy. He makes me feel like parenting isn’t so bad after all, at least for now. He’s a happy little baby despite all the eczema bothering him. Love it when he smiles and showing his rabbit teeth. Definitely not looking forward to the terrible two and terrifying three stages. Who knows he’ll give us less grief. We’ll see.
It’s inevitable that George Mason plays a major part of my life. I work for the Law School. I live right by the main campus. I’ll take classes this coming fall in the School of Art. All I have to say is I am loving George Mason.
The job is fantastic. I couldn’t ask for a better supervisor. Working home on Fridays has been very rewarding for me. On lunch break, I get to drop by the campus’s Starbucks for coffee and browse the main campus library. What I really love about this library is that it always has latest books on tech and types. Like today I checked out six brand new books on typography. As a member of Administrative/Professional Faculty, I get to check out books for a whole semesters. My books aren’t due until September. Of course I return them as soon as I am done with them.
So far George Mason has been a fantastic place for me to live and grow. Now that we have a new president, I hope that Mason will prosperous even further.
Our little family getaway to Atlantic city is over. Three days of relaxing, eating and some gambling went by quick. In the morning, Dan woke up the earliest (around 5am) so I strolled him around the boardwalk. At noon we jumped into the big-ass bath tube in our room. Dao and Dan loved it. We didn’t even have to go to the beach. Dao is still in fear of the waves. We hit the swimming pool once. Lil Dan loved the water. As soon I put him in, he kicked his feet and splashing his arms froggy style. Then we took a long-ass nap and headed to dinner. After dinner we headed out to the carnival.
Once the kids got to bed around midnight, I went downstairs for Pai Gow. The first night I won $30. The second night I won $50. The third night I lost $100. Pai Gow is the only table that I like to play. I only bet the minimum and only the Resorts has the lowest minimum at $15. I am not a big gambler and I hate to lose money, but I like to play for fun. On the second night, an Italian guy pulled out $5,000 and lost it all in just an hour. He seemed tired as hell, but kept on playing until he lost it all.
I also chatted with some Vietnamese dealers for a bit. On all three nights, an old Chinese guy who spoke no English was there sitting next to me. One of the dealers told me that he and a group at another table took the bus there every night until 4am. Imagine that, playing the same damn thing every day.
In any rate, vacationing with two small children isn’t quite relaxing, but it was definitely worth the bonding time. The two boys are growing amazingly fast. I am not sure how a single parent could handle it all. I certainly can’t do it without Dana.
Back in 2000, I spent a summer month interning at Trump Maria, which now turned into Golden Nugget. What was nice was I had a hotel room and three meals a day for employees. What was suck was I didn’t have anything to work on. I didn’t learn anything except clipping path in Photoshop, which is quite a useful skill to have. My internship was supposed to last three months, but I resigned after a month a half, which was long enough to satisfy the college’s credits.
One of the things that I loved was whenever a co-worker took me out to a bakery that baked fresh, delightful baguette. I am not sure if the place is still around, but I couldn’t remember exactly where it is. I remember faithless that it is a few blocks from the Taj Mahal toward AC express way. My mission in the next couple of days, a last-minute getaway, is to find out if the place is still around. I used to love the smell of that fantastic French bread.
Anyway, I am going to be on the road today; therefore, I’ll missed the Euro 2012 final. With the way Spain play, I doubt that it’s going to be excited game so I’ll just catch up with the scores afterward. Peace out!
With the support from Stephan Crump’s strong, anchored bass and Marcus Gilmore’s crisp, propulsive drums, renowned pianist Vijay Iyer explores with shifting polyrhythms on Accelerando. Whether reinterpreting Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” Heatwave’s “The Star of a Story” or Duke Ellington’s “The Village of the Virgins,” the trio makes each experimentation highly artful yet accessible. One way to approach Accelerando is just to sit back and feel the grooves.
Met up with MODX’s founder Ryan Thrash and a small crowd at LeapFrog Solutions, which located about five-minute drive to my house, last night. Ryan gave a quick demo of MODX Cloud and it looked impressive. I would love to move Mason Law up there one day. Ryan is a real down-to-earth fellow. I am also glad to have met Lee Brinckley who is a MODX developer at LeapFrog. Thanks Lee for bringing Ryan in town.
Dao came home from his first day at summer camp yesterday and was thrilled when May opened the door for him. Since the weather was so beautiful (sunny and breezy), Linh and I took the kids to the playground. The horrendous memory of last year incident has completely gone. Dao and May are now bigger and they much more skillful at climbing and sliding. Fifteen minutes went by and lil Dan got hungry so Linh brought him back home while I stayed at the playground to look after the twin. We had the whole playground to ourselves. Watching the two kids played together made me want to freeze the time and let this precious moment last forever. I was also getting a bit of nostalgia.
We didn’t head back home until 8 something. Then we set up an indoor picnic table for the kids and served them hu tieu My Tho, one of my favorite noodle soups, Linh had prepared. Yes, I had two bowls. Speaking of food, Linh made us canh kho qua (bitter gourd soup) and mam chung (Vietnamese meatloaf) in addition to the noodle soup. We will be all set for the rest of the week.
We were ecstatic to have Linh and May spending a few days with us. The two kids who shared nothing in common except their birthday could hang out together. Despite the drastic changes in personality, Dao and May can still play together for most of the time. One thing hasn’t changed is that Dao is still very attracted to May and May is still giving him a cold treatment. For instance, Dao tried to rest his head on May’s shoulder, but she pushed him away. Dao has yet to learn about rejection. Whenever he got frustrated, he took it out on me.
Linh and May arrived last Thursday and rested for the entire day because they took a red-eye flight. On Friday the weather reached above 90 degrees. They went out to DC and we went to Dao’s summer camp open house. Then we headed straight home afterward to stay cool. So the kids stayed at the house for the rest of the evening. On Saturday, May went to get her haircut and we went to VietFest at George Mason. Again, the heat was so hot that we got tired after just an hour or two outside. Again the kids on played together for a bit in the evening. On Sunday, we all went to an indoor swimming pool and they had a blast. Even lil Dan loved the water. He kicked his feet and slapped his hands in the water non-stop.
Five days went by so quick even though we didn’t get to do much. Still I am glad that the two family could spend some time together. Yes, Dao will come home from school today to find May gone. I could already see the sadness in his face and the disappoint in his voice asking, “May dau roi?”
We’re very grateful that Linh and May had made an effort to come to us all the way from the west coast. That alone makes our friendship invaluable. Thank you for the wonderful time and memories. Let’s do it again next year.