I have always wanted an iPad, but my wife wouldn’t let me have it. Her reason is that I don’t need it. She’s right, between the MacBook Pro and the iPhone (both courtesy of George Mason Law), I don’t have a need for an iPad. It’s a luxury that I could do without even though I have used my sister-in-law’s first iPad and really like it. My main use of the iPhone, beside work, is mostly reading online and catching up with social media. I am not much of a gamer. The only app I purchased is Instapaper.

Since my wife is not too crazy about the iPad, even though she also uses it when we spend time over her sister’s house, I wanted to give her the Kindle Fire so she could do her reading. The Fire arrived two weeks prior to Christmas and she couldn’t help using it. What really annoys us is the user interface.

I tried to look past the fact that I can not compare the Fire to the iPad, but the user experience really breaks the Fire. It wouldn’t do what we wanted to do like typing. It keeps recognizing the wrong keys. When I tapped on the web pages that aren’t designed with responsive layout, it doesn’t zoomed in the contents where I want to do my reading.

I have subscription to The New Yorker and Time, but in order to read on the Kindle I have to download the entire magazine, which is about 80mb a piece. The downloading time took forever and the Fire sometimes froze in the process, which forced me to quit.

Even though we’re disappointed, my wife was planning on keeping it just for reading and browsing the web, but now there’s a black line that runs down the screen. Just already three weeks and the screen already has a problem. We’re just going to have to send it back to Amazon.

Came back to work for the first time this week and my supervisor told me to go home at noon. I am off work until January 3, 2012. My two-week holiday break will be filled with sleepless nights with Cu Dan and sleepy days with Cu Dao. Still I am very grateful that our little family is doing well. Hope you all enjoy your time off with your love ones.

My wife was suppose to be discharged today, but her fever shot up. The doctors decided to keep her in the hospital overnight to make sure she is safe. She was disappointed because she wanted to go home to her boys. She misses them. I miss them too even though I get to see them at night. For the benefit of her health, however, staying another night will give us a peace of mind knowing that she’ll be ok to go home. Poor grandma looking up after Cu Dan. He woke up every two hours because he misses his mom’s breastfeed. I heard him cry last night, but I couldn’t get up because I didn’t get much sleep the night before.

I spent most of my free time with Dao these days. I took him to one of his classmates birthday party on Saturday morning. Unfortunately he didn’t like to participate in any of the activities. He just wanted to stand and watch other kids playing. I took him to the U.S. Botanic Garden to see model trains. It was not all that spectacular, but he loved it. I went to his Chanukah party today in his class and he wouldn’t let me leave. I ended up spending almost two hours with him at the playground before I could sneaked out.

Dao is a bright kid, but he is very shy and stubborn. The combination makes him very hard to deal with. The past few weeks I didn’t want to put up with him after long days from work. I was being impatience and a bit tough on him. Unfortunately, toughness doesn’t seem to work on him. I am changing my approach by being more patience, but still maintain a bit of tough or else I can not get him to do anything I asked him to. It seems to work out well.

With the kids taking up most of our time, my wife and I hardly get the time alone to talk to each other. These past few days, we had a chance to catch up on our boys. We both feel worried about Dao. He makes us laugh with the unexpected things that he says, but his not being social or not fitting in is a bit worrisome. As much as I love to spend time with him, I also want him to play with his friends. I am his father and I’ll be there for him no matter what, but I am not his friend.

Only a few more days until the holidays and I might not return to work until next year. Between the new born and Dana’s surgery, I used up both of my five sick days and five vacation days, which were generously given to me as a new employee. I am very fortunate to have such an understanding and supportive supervisor. In return, I promise to relaunch the new site for Mason Law in January 2012.

My poor wife was diagnosed with appendicitis earlier today. We were in urgent care around 10pm yesterday after putting the kids to sleep. She was then transferred to emergency room and then surgery center. She had laparoscopic at noon today. The operation went well and she’s recovering. We hope that she’ll be able to come home tomorrow.

We’re lucky to have Dana’s parent around to look after Dao and Dan. Poor Dao kept on asking for his mommy and daddy. Poor Dan ran out of fresh breast milk. He has to take formula for a couple of days because Dana is taking pain medication. She still has to pump and throw away her milk for forty-eight hours.

I am dead tired, but can’t sleep thanks to all the coffee I had been consuming in the last 24 hours.

Our lovely Dan makes our lives a bit easy by being such a good sport. He doesn’t cry as long as he’s fed and clean. The other day, I put the bottle of pumped milk into his mouth and he refused to suck on it. I tried it several times and he just wouldn’t react to it. After I changed his diaper, he finished two ounces of milk in less than a minute and dozed off to sleep.

When he woke up he didn’t cry at all. He was just chilling out and made some noises to let us know that’s he up. I sat by his crib last night and was marveled at how good this kid was. Dao was not like that all. Even today he has to have me or his mom slept with him. If he woke up and couldn’t find anyone around, he would cry and get up out of bed.

Maybe it is still a bit too early to say, but I am very happy that Dan is not as demanding as his older brother. I really do hope that he’ll continue to be that way.

1. Trang Nhung – Son. Trang Nhung crafted a superb contemporary folks record with great song choices, vocals and arrangements.
2. Lê Cát Trọng Lý. Ms. Le’s self-titled debut showcases her songwriting skills, guitar chops and singing talent.
3. Công Lâm – Chàng Trai Việt. Backup by strong orchestration, Công Lâm shows what it takes to be a Vietnamese man through his charming, authoritative tenor.
4. Ngọc Quy – Hồn Có Mơ Xa. With Ngọc Quy’s fine baritone, classiness and warm intimacy, this album is perfect for late-night relaxation.
5. Hiền Thục – Thiên Sứ. With effortless flow, classy arrangements and the ability to dig deeper into the lyrics, Hiền Thục has found her own voice in Trịnh Công Sơn music.
6. Ánh Tuyết Hát Trịnh Công Sơn. Ánh Tuyết interprets Trịnh Công Sơn music with her lower alto rather than her soprano. The result is mesmerizing.
7. Quang Tuấn – Chiều Vàng. Even though the album is on the safe side, Quang Tuấn delivers the songs as perfect as the way they were written.
8. Quốc Khanh & Đan Nguyên – Nhớ Mẹ. Two sons of the veteran who shared the same asperation brings some freshness to Vietnam war tunes.
9. Nguyễn Hồng Nhung – Dường Như. Nguyễn Hồng Nhung delivers classic ballads with soulfulness and tastefulness, but lacked the uniqueness. The strength of the album, however, is from new tunes like “Duong Nhu” and “Nghiet Nga.”
10. Đàm Vĩnh Hưng – Anh Còn Nợ Em. Đàm Vĩnh Hưng returns to his syrupy signature that once made him popular.

Nhớ Mẹ sounds like a project Quốc Khanh and Đan Nguyên, the two buddies who shared the same inspiration, got together and just made the recordings. Their straightforward approach to classic tunes is surprisingly fresh.

On the title track, the two sing in unison and they sound so in tuned that it is almost impossible to tell them apart. Trúc Hồ made the clever decision of keeping the accompaniment to just strumming guitars to allow the boys to pour out their hearts.

In contrast, “Một Mai Giã Từ Vũ Khí” (Trịnh Lâm Ngân) showcases each individual voice. Đan Nguyên has a slight advantage because the tune fits his signature style, but Quốc Khanh is quite convincing as well with his candid delivery. They both sound marvelous together on the chorus. While Giang Tử’s rendition of the same song is told through a man who had experienced the wartime, Quốc Khanh’s and Đan Nguyên’s version is narrated through the sons of the veteran.

The aspiration is further displayed on Quốc Khanh’s cover of “Anh Không Chết Đâu Em” (Trần Thiện Thanh). Unfortunately Quốc Khanh used an old production from Trúc Hồ instead of coming up with his own. For art sake, he could have remixed it a bit even just slowing down or speeding up the tempo. That’s just pure laziness since he proves that he could make a decent beat for “Trên Đầu Súng” (Anh Việt Thu).

Đan Nguyên steps up his game on “Mất Nhau Rồi” (Ngân Trang), “Thành Phố Sau Lưng” (Hàn Châu) and “Liên Khúc Thành Phố Buồn” (Lam Phương). His phrasing has improved tremendously over the years. He brings a new vibe of youthfulness on the timeless tunes and he knows not to over-sentimentalize the lyrics.

While Nhớ Mẹ is not groundbreaking, it serves as a moment of introspection to remind us the part of Vietnamese history that we could never forget. Quốc Khanh and Đan Nguyên are among many of the Asia family to carry on the tradition.

If music were his spouse, Quang Tuấn is a faithful man. He doesn’t cheat because he makes no attempt on experimenting with new styles. As a result, his work is very predictable. Even without listening to his new release Chiều Vàng, anyone who has heard of Quang Tuấn previous works would get a sense of how he would sing the songs.

On the positive side, Quang Tuấn’s dedication on nurturing the relationship with music and honing his skills paid off. He delivers “Tình Rơi” (Hồ Đăng Long) with a flawless effort. He rides the semi-classical arrangment with poise and elegant. His rendition of “Đường Xa Vạn Dặm” (Trịnh Công Sơn) is damn near perfection as a homage than a reinterpretation. Staying with the written melody worked out well in those cases, but Quang Tuấn could learn a thing or two from his mentor Tuấn Ngọc on the subtlety of flying off notes on “Xin Trả Nợ Người.”

While some of the jazzy arrangements add a bit of new flavors to the classic tunes, Quang Tuấn’s dead-on interpretations, like “Chiều Nay Không Có Em” (Ngô Thụy Miên) and the title track, are a tad tiring. “Đoá Hoa Vô Thường (Trịnh Công Sơn), which clocks in nine and a half minutes, gets worn out even with some uptempo switch-up.

For an independent production, Chiều Vàng is a commendable effort. At the same time, Quang Tuấn has complete creative freedom to do whatever he wants and to break himself out of the box.

Love it when a musician goes the extra miles crafting an experience rather than just cutting an album. Son is an outstanding contemporary folks record to be listened from start to finish thanks to Trang Nhung’s superb music taste and thought-out theme.

From the opening “Son” (Đức Nghĩa) to the closing “Lời Ru Âu Lạc” (Nguyễn Minh Sơn), each composition is selected with care to suit her beautiful voice. Furthermore, she approaches each tune with soul, simplicity, clarity and an appreciation and comprehension of Vietnamese various folks styles.

While her rendition of “Không Thể Và Có Thể” (Phó Đức Phương) is emphatic without over-dramatic, her own “Áo Dài Việt Nam,” which based on her husband’s poetry, is graceful to showcase the elegant beauty of Vietnamese long dress: “Dịu dàng và dịu dàng / chiếc áo thật thứ tha / Nghiêng nghiêng hồn sông núi / Nghiêng nghiêng bóng tre xanh.” I can visualize the mountains part, but not the bamboo part on “áo dài.”

What makes Son so damn enjoyable is that each song stands out on its own and yet goes well together as a whole package thanks to the breathtaking arrangments courtesy of Minh Mẫn and Yên Lam. The incorporation of traditional Vietnamese musical instruments with Western rhythm section and horns not only add new vibes to the album, but also bring out fresh flavors to favorites such as “Giấc Mơ Trưa” (Giáng Son), “Ôi Quê Tôi” (Lê Minh Sơn) and “Chênh Vênh” (Lê Cát Trọng Lý). Haven’t heard a Vietnamese album this good in quite a while.

With two boys occupying both of my waking and sleeping hours, I need to adjust my priorities. I no longer have the luxury of blogging. I’ll still do when I get a chance, but it will be sporadic. For now, my time will split between work and home. My goal is to find a balance between job and life without having the two mixed up.

As I was laying down with the two boys on each of my arms, I felt blessed and fortunate. They are my blood and life. They’ll make my blood pump and take my life to a whole new level. I need to be prepared. I need to refocus my energy wisely before I drain myself out.