Fresh out of college, I worked with talented graphic designers who graduated from Kutztown University Communication Design. Hung Nguyen, an alum from Kutztown, was one of my early mentors when I worked briefly at Triple Strength.

When I picked Mastering Type: The Essential Guide to Typography for Print and Web Design off the shelf, I was excited that the author, Denise Bosler, is the professor of communication design at Kutztown. This book is a pleasure read. It starts out with a brief history of type, then progresses to letter, word, sentence, paragraph, page and screen. From kerning, tracking, leading, word spacing, aligning to legibility and readability, the book provides insightful guides and the best parts are the good-vs.-bad illustrations. Well done!

As I am doing my work from home, a meat truck pulled up and the doorbell rang. The guy tried to sell me some meat. I told him that, “We are vegetarian and we don’t eat meat.” His replied was, “Do you cheat some time.” I told him, “No way. Thou shalt not cheat.”

For this site and Mason Law, I dropped the dependency of respond.js for IE8, 7 and 6. Since supporting these legacy browsers isn’t necessary, I used conditional comment to server a style sheet specifically for IE8 and below. The IE-specific CSS is the same as the blocks of media queries from the main CSS, but without the media queries.

The solution is not perfect because IE8 and below would have to download two CSS files, but it is still better than depending on respond.js. A more ideal approach would be to hide @media blocks from legacy browsers within the main stylesheet. I have been searching all over, but haven’t been able to find a hack for that. Does anyone know how to hide blocks of media queries in IE8, 7 & 6?

The past few weeks had been a hell of a ride. The roller coaster has subsided, but the journey only begins. There’s tremendous hope for the strong body and soul. It’s up to the mind to decide.

I am going through all of George Carlin’s standup specials available on Netflix. Was Carlin really like that in real life or that was just his stage persona? I can’t tell because he sounded so real. His takes on religions, politic and subtle things in mundane life were so damn spot on. I usually can separate the art from from the persona like when listening to hip-hop, but Carlin’s routines are kind of blurry. In any rate, I could careless. Carlin is still one of my favorite comedians of all time.

Can one really get past envy and jealousy? I have try my hardest to not get those two things get to me, but it is so damn hard. It’s probably already in my gene. Sometimes I don’t like somebody simply because I don’t like him. The more I try to like him; the more I dislike him. It’s a horrible trait, but I simply can’t stop. I recognize it, but I can’t control it.

John Kane’s A Type Primer (2nd Edition) is an excellent read for beginners who are interested in typography. The book is clear, concise and filled with beautiful, practical illustrations. The author has over 20 years of experience in teaching typography and the book proved his credential. The last chapter on grid systems is pure gold.

One of the teachers told me that Dao defends himself when his friends tried to take something from him. Six months ago, he was not able to do that. Her comment made me realize something. Maybe hitting was a way for him to defend himself.

When he was around one, I observed that he wouldn’t do anything when other kids took the trains away from him. He simply picked up another train to play with. Around sixteen months, he held on tight to his trains so that other kids can’t yank them away from him. One time he placed the trains in the tunnel and covered both sides with his hands so other kids can’t touch his trains.

Now he would fight back. A couple weeks ago, one of the girls in his class told me that Dao scratched her face. I asked his teacher and she told me that they were fighting over a car and he accidentally scratched her. So could it be that hitting started as a way to defend himself?

I have been extremely calm and patience when dealing with him. He seems to get a bit better, but still very unpredictable when he would strike. I am a keloid former and my skin gets really irritated when he scratches me. At times, I really want to give him a hard beat down, but I refrain myself and just walk away or tell his mom to deal with him.

We closed out the deal yesterday at 3% for 15 years on our mortgage. I am now the sole borrower, but the property is under my wife and I. She cajoled me into it. I guess that’s how it is when you married someone who is smarter than you. Then again, she shopped for the loan and was able to get us a good deal. I just had to sign the paperwork and owe a big-ass debt.

After picking Dao up from daycare yesterday, he asked me his usual question, “Daddy, do you have something special for me?” I responded, “Con noi cai gi (What do you say)?” He switched to Vietnamese, “Dao muon keo (Dao wants candy).” I responded back to him “Daddy khong co keo (I don’t have candy).” He went on, “We go to the store and buy candy.” I said, “But I don’t have many money.” He said, “Yes you do have money in your pocket.”

Then I tried to distract him with some music while we were in the car. Nicki Minaj was playing on my iPhone. The beat was pumping so I let him listened. Not for long, I had to turn it off because she started cussing. Then he requested, “Daddy, I want to hear ‘Beez In The Trap.'” I was a bit surprise because that song was not even playing at the time and if I remember correctly, I did let him listen to the album just for a bit about a month or so ago, but somehow he could remember, “Beez In the Trap” is in the same album. So I let him hear it and the songs starts like this, “Bitches ain’t shit and they ain’t say nothing / A hundred motherfuckers can’t tell me nothing / I beez in the trap, bee beez in the trap / I beez in the trap, bee beez in the trap.” He sang along the latter two bars. I wondered if he already picked up the first two bars too, but didn’t understand what the words are. I was cracking up listening to him singing along with Nicki Minaj.

Child’s name: Dao Truong

Three words to describe student:

• Great with peers
• Chatty
• Strong willed

Child strengths are:

• Cleaning up: Dao is usually very good with cleaning up toys, with a bit of reminders from teachers.
• Initiative: He has strong preferences in many things-books, specifically train etc. Such strong preferences lead him to take initiative to ask or go for certain objects or activities that we wants to do.

Areas that we are working on:

• Hitting peers/teachers: When Dao doesn’t get what he wants, he gets very upset and hits his friends or teachers when told no. Compared to a few weeks ago, the behavior did curtail a bit, but still something we need to work on consistently.
• Opening up to new activities: Dao did show tremendous change dealing with art projects: art class, drawing with crayons or markers don’t bother him that much. New activities — music class, yoga class or anything that he is not used to, he would not participate.
• Following directions: Many times when asked to sit in a circle for circle time, Dao stays where he was and continues playing with the toys he’s been using. It was noticed, however, that when “persuaded,” he would enjoy whatever activity is going on in the group.

Notes from Daddy

Yes, we definitely need to work on his hitting issue. I am still searching for the right solution. Not punishing him is not working.

Over the weekend, my wife’s cousin came to visit us. She has two boys age four and six. They behaved quite well. When it was time for lunch or dinner, the TV was off and they sat at the table to eat their food. I asked her husband the secret and the said the whip. He reminded me that if you don’t do something about it now, he’ll “sit on your head.” He said that you have to whip them hard enough so that they’ll remember. It hurts, but you have to step up. My issue is that I am not as tough as him and I don’t have the patience to put up with Cu Dao.

As far as I can see, the kids are doing well. They were respectful. They listened when their dad told them to do something. My words mean nothing to Dao these days except when I give him “something special.” He “yeses” to everything I say whenever I am about to give him “something special.” After that, everything else goes right out of his ear.

At a quick glance, Lênh Đênh Nhớ Phố is yet another Trinh Cong Son’s record from an unknown singer (at least to this reviewer). Once listened, however, the album holds it own. Although Giang Trang’s sultry, raspy voice is the main attraction, the key success of the album is the tight integration between the vocalist, violinist Anh Tú and guitarist Anh Hoàng. In each track, the three come together as a unit.

“Ru Đời Đi Nhé” is a perfect example. The violin sings the opening bars backing up by the strumming guitar. Giang Trang enters the next two bars, but then the violin joins in again to create a marvelous word and wordless interaction. Because “Ru Đời Đi Nhé” is so well-known that the words could be left off without losing the listeners who try to follow the lyrics. While Giang Trang sings with ease like she’s narrating her personal story, the violin soars on the high register to create a deep emotional impact.

“Như Tiếng Thở Dài,” “Vườn Xưa” and “Lời Thiên Thu Gọi” are excellent interpretation. The relaxed tempo in the intimate setting makes the listeners feel the music with their heart rather than just their ears. While “Đời Cho Ta Thế” gets an intoxicating bluesy lick, “Góp Lá Mùa Xuân” kicks up a notch with a groovy ostinato and “Mưa Hồng” is treated with a savory bossa-nova flavor.

To put it simply: Lênh Đênh Nhớ Phố is not a Trinh’s record to ignore. Must-listen.