Five years after introducing her impressive debut, Xin Cho Tôi, Thủy Tiên follows up with yet another Trịnh Công Sơn record titled Ra Đồng Giữa Ngọ. The second album has a few lighter moments like the folksy vibe on the title track and the Latin flavor on “Chiều Một Mình Qua Phố.”

Yet Thủy Tiên sounds best when she expresses Trịnh’s lyrics with her personal interpretation. On “Lời Thiên Thu Gọi,” She sings in slow tempo and phrases each word with ease while backing up by soulful violin and sensational piano. “Phúc Âm Buồn” gets a dramatic orchestration with a duet treatment. Đoàn Minh’s charming tenor is a perfect complement to Thủy Tiên’s sensual alto. “Xin Mặt Trời Ngủ Yên,” “Chiều Trên Quê Hương Tôi” and “Một Ngày Như Mọi Ngày” are well executed.

The album closes out with a new arrangement of “Xin Cho Tôi” to remind her fans where she has left off from the last album. Five-year span is a long time for a release, but the wait is definitely worthwhile. Thủy Tiên is a perfectionist and the Ra Đồng Giữa Ngọ proves it.

Created an email newsletter template for Mason Law. The layout is simple and responsive.

I also reworked my portfolio for Mason’s School of Art & Design graduate program. Markup and CSS has been streamlined. Speaking of school, I’ll start classes in the fall with Graduate Design Seminars and Advanced Typography. I am not sure what the Seminars are about, but am looking forward to Advanced Typography. I actually have never taken any course in typography before. Everything I have learned up to these points are from reading and practicing on the web. I am excited to get formal training in design.

When I checked out the Senior Show to see what the students had done for their final project, I sort of having an idea of what I want to do with mine if I ever make it there. It would have to do with Miles.

Thanks Zeldman for sharing this:

And then, bang. Your kid is laughing ecstatically in a seemingly utopian environment you did not provide for her and you are not part of. The easy adult social interactions that are unfolding belong to your ex’s new life, not yours. You are watching your family move on without you, you are discovering all over again, as if for the first time, that your family has exploded, your wife does not love you, does not need you, the world goes on without you, this is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife.

When I took on the position of web services developer at the Law School, I didn’t even know what a command line is, and yet most of the tasks that I would need to do were through the text-based interface. I sat down with the previous developer for one day and he overwhelmed me with all the commands.

As I started my new job, I had to explore my way around Linux environment. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I picked books and learn on the job. Every time there was a request, I didn’t know what to do. Nothing was written down so I had to contact my predecessor. Fortunately he was very responsive to my questions, but I still felt bad that I had to bug him.

Whenever he explained to me something, I took notes and kept them so that I could refer to them later. Now I would like to keep all of that valuable information somewhere so that I won’t be the only one to know do a certain tasks. If I were to move on, which is very unlikely because I love this job, the new person can have all the information accessible to him.

A blog would be a great place to keep all of these information so I started the Web Services Blog. Since our blog network is powered by WordPress multisite, creating a new blog is just a few simple clicks.

The primary purpose of the blog is to house the documentations, but I wanted to expanded to web-related topics like latest projects at Mason Law, current trends, practices, and emerging technologies in the web industry. I also hope that the information could be useful to the public.

• Consequences
• Defiance: Why it happens and what to do about it
• Promoting Self Control: It Might Not Be What You Think
• With Blocks, Educators Go Back to Basics
• The 2 Key Parenting Skills You Didn’t Know About

Yesterday Dao’s teacher reported that he hit everyone at school for no reason. When he hit a bigger kid, he got his ass beat. I hope he had a taste of reality.

At home he behaved well for the most part. I was changing Dan because he spat milk on me and Dao showed me the brand new Lightning McQueen and asked me to open it for him. I asked him, “Did mommy let you have it?” He replied, “Yes. But I want you to open it for me.” I wanted to see what he would do if he gets the reward first. So I told him that I’ll open for you if you do this and this for me including not hitting friends. He replied, “Yes. I listen to you. Hands are for holding, not for hitting.”

We hit the shower, brushed our teeth and went to bed before 9pm. We read books and jumped around until 10 something. He actually did what he promised to do. When he fell asleep with cars in his hands, I tried to response to my clients’ emails, but then found out that I Love Ngoc Lan was hacked. I spent a couple of hours fixing it and went to bed at one something. The next morning he woke up and excited to go to school. Wow, for the first time my son actually wanted to go to school. I remained him what we talked yesterday and he repeated the “hand for holding” phrase. He went on in Vietnamese, “We take the old car to school. The new car is for going out only.” Usually he just want to ride in the new minivan, but today we took the old car.

We arrived at school around 7:45am, which was still early, and found a parking space closed to the building. As we walked off the parking lot he told me, “I don’t want to hold hands.” I asked him, “Why? What are hands for?” He replied, “Hands are for holding cars.” He was holding two cars in his hands. As I opened his classroom’s door, I ran right to Jackson, his car buddy, and showed Jackson his brand new Lightning McQueen. It hit me that the reason he was anxious to go to school was to show off his new toy. Let’s hope he’ll have a good day today.

Yesterday morning Dana and I met an inclusion specialist at JCC to touch base on Dao’s behavior. It was heartbreaking to hear how unhappy he was in class because he cried every time he couldn’t get what he wanted. We had turned him into a spoiled kid. The specialist gave us some techniques on consequences and warned us that it will be tough discipline him now, but we need to reign him in.

After work I went pick up cu Dan and went home. Dao was eating dinner and watching TV. Things seemed to be fine until I asked him to go take a bath. Of course, he refused so I brought out Lightning McQueen, which I bought a few weeks ago, just for him to take a peak. I told him, “If you’re good, I’ll give it to you at the end of the week.” He replied, “Yes, I am a good boy. I want to go take a shower.” As I was giving him a bath and washing his hands, he told me, “Hands are for holding, not for hitting.” Wow, I was so proud of my son.

After the shower, things started to get wild. He claimed his prize, “Daddy, I am being a good boy. Can I have Lightning McQueen? I really need it. I want to play with it now.” I said, “Yes, you are being such a good boy and if you keep up this behavior I’ll give it to you at the end of the week.” He started screaming, rolling down the floor, putting his fingers in his mouth trying to gag up. I stayed firm and continued to explain to him that type of behavior is not going to get him the toy and I love him. He tried to hit and scratched me. I held on to his hands and asked, “What are hands for?” His respond was, “For hitting.” I let him go, he picked up books and tissue box and tossed them at me. I just let him went on until he could calm down. When he did he asked for mommy. When Dana came up, he tried to tell her that “Daddy is not nice to me.” Dana stood by me and explained to him why he didn’t get his toy. Not sure what she told him, but he came and apologized to me. He gave me a hug and kiss.

The whole experience was quite something. I didn’t feel bad because I didn’t spank or yell at him. I didn’t led up either. I re-emphasized several times, “I love you, but I don’t like your behavior.” It was eye-opening to see a three year old put on quite a show. He is actually not a hardheaded kid. He just knew that he could get away with it if he pushed harder. When he knew he couldn’t get it he stopped and tried other methods like turning to his mom. He makes a much bigger scene when we’re in a room full of adults. This little fellow is a good actor. Back when he was one or younger, he slided on the floor when he didn’t get what he wanted, but he wouldn’t slide on a hardwood floor. It was hilarious seeing him looking for spot that had the rug to slide down on his stomach.

As someone whose work revolves around the web, I have a tough time separating professional and personal matters. If I don’t keep up with the web I will fall behind, but then I got caught up with everything else as well. Refocusing on my priorities has been on my mind for sometimes, but now I just have to do it.

Blogging needs to be reduced, which I have been doing, but cannot go away completely. I need this platform to write down things that I can’t talk in other forms. Social media, on the other hand, I can do without. I am not going to delete all my accounts, but my activities will be spared. I just use Twitter to follow up on web development. Likewise, I’ll only read books that are necessary for my work. Reading for pleasure will be limited to children books.

Freelance projects are on hold at this time. I am not accepting any new clients. I am just going to finish up my obligations at the moment. If the projects keep dragging on and getting stressful, however, I’ll return the full deposit and move on.

My main priority is my boys. Right now I want to give them 100% of my focus when I am not working. In the future I might not be able to see them as much as I want to. I hope that day will never come.

After work around 4pm, I usually picked up Dao from JCC and headed over Dana’s sister’s house. Dana came in around 7pm then we had dinner before heading home. Since lil Dan stays with grandma during the day, it would give me an hour or two with him before he goes to sleep. I don’t get to spend much time with them on weekdays. The problem was that Dao misbehaved when he knew that he was surrounded by a group of people who loved him.

Yesterday I took him straight home, and as always, he was very well behaved when we were alone. I fed him sweet rice I bought for lunch and he loved it. We played together and watched some TV. Then we headed over to my sister-in-law’s house for dinner. Dana had a headache and Dan was sleeping so they stayed there. I took Dao back home. We showered, brushed our teeth, read two books and went to sleep. It was the most wonderful day I had all week.

The thing is I can’t repeat that pattern with Dao. His mood varies from day to day, but he behaves much better with only the two of us. As much as I am going to miss hanging out with Dan, I am going to have to just be alone with Dao until he gets over this behavior. I really hope that we won’t have to go through this again with Dan. He has been a very calm kid and I am loving his personality. I was even able to to work from home on Friday while keeping an eye on him.

Dao has his good and not-so-good moments. When he’s good he could get me to do anything for him. When he wants something he would say, “Daddy can you get me something special? I am listening to you. I am a good boy.” Last Saturday, four of us went to Wegman’s for breakfast. Somehow I really dig Wegman’s inauthentic version of Pho, which has shrimp dumplings and all type of veggies including carrot and broccoli. The clear broth is a winner for me since I can no longer tolerate the level MSG in Vietnamese Pho. In any rate, Dao spoke the whole time he was there asking us everything he saw in the store. He drove both us really crazy, but we can not ignore him. If I don’t even answer him fast enough, sometimes I have to think about the item that he asked me, he would say, “Daddy, I am talking to you.”

The other day, he and I were driving home from the bookstore and he told me, “Daddy, drive faster.” I responded to him, “I can not drive fast, the police will catch me.” He thought for a minute and said, “Me too… and they take the car away… That’s not nice.” I laughed and thought to myself, “I never told him all that.” Yes, there are plenty of things that I couldn’t recall telling him, yet he already knew. He must have picked them up from JCC.

At times, Dao stresses me the hell out, but he also is a joy to be with at times. I am pretty sure both joy and stress of being a parent will be with us for the rest of our lives.

Type Matters by Jim Williams: A visual intro to typography that takes less to read but more to marvel its gorgeous design. This is a perfect example of a graduate thesis project in graphic design.

Typographic Web Design by Laura Franz: Not too many books devoted to web typography. This one has some useful tips on legibility when choosing types for the web. In-depth HTML & CSS tutorials are helpful for beginner web designers.

Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton: Read the first edition a while back. The second edition is a much needed refresh. Love the type crime examples.

The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst: Rereadinging this book seems to take slower and slower each time just to digest the information.