At 23 months, Dao is very picky about his taste. He would try something in small amount first before he decided to like or dislike. The other day, I let him taste Naked juice through a straw. He took a sip, nodded his head lightly and said, “Nice.” Dana and I were very surprised. How did he come up with that? Naked juice tastes “nice?” He finished a 10-oz bottle after that and Naked juice has become one of his favorite drinks. His compliment now stuck with me. Every time I look at a bottle of Naked juice, “nice” is the first word that comes to mind. If Naked juice were to run this commercial, I am sure it would stuck in viewers’ mind as well.

The past couple of days had been quite a drama. It all started on Wednesday around 3:30pm when I received a call from Dao’s daycare telling me to pick him up. His temperature went up to 103F. I immediately took the Metro over to Dana’s workplace to get the car. Unfortunately a sick person boarded the train at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and passed out. The train had to return to Crystal City to unload all the passengers. Half an hour later, we were allowed to board again after the Metro staff took the sick person off the train. I kept trying call Dana, but she didn’t pick up the phone because somebody left her home at home. We came and picked him up around 5 and he was playing around and seemed fine.

On Thursday, I felt a little down so I stayed home with Dao. Around 10, Dao wanted to go to “table train.” So I took him out. I stopped by the ATM to get some cash. While waiting in line, our brand new Toyota Sienna (with 7,000) stalled. That was strange. On the busy traffic highway the mini-van stalled again several times. Instead of driving to the mall for “table train,” I made a detour to the dealership. The car is still being diagnosed because the computer couldn’t detect any problem. The dealer is working with Toyota on it and we can’t get it back until Monday or Tuesday.

I called Dana up to pick us up. After dropped her back to work, we headed home. It was around lunch time and Dao said “lunch.” So I warmed up the porridge Dana made for him. I tried to feed him and he said “Eat your lunch.” I suspect this is something he has learned in school. I gave him milk and put him to bed. His temperature was around 99-100F the whole day until he was napping, which shot up to 103. I called the pediatrician and the nurse suggested to call again if he reached 105F and didn’t act normal. After he woke up, I took him to a bookstore closed to Dana’s work so we could pick her up afterward. Dao refused to play his table train. I bought a raisin oatmeal cookie. I ate all the oatmeal and he ate some of the raisins.

We went over to my sister-in-law’s house for dinner and Dao didn’t act himself. He was not active or interactive. After we went home, he vomited and the temperature went up to 105.F. We immediately took him to ER, which is about two blocks from our house. The doctor gave him Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen to calm down his temperature. He also subscribed Amoxicillin for his ear infection.

Friday I stayed with him a whole day. We hang around the house watching Curious George, playing basketball and bowling. He napped quite a long time in the afternoon. I held him inside my arms and listened to Le Cat Trong Ly while the rain was pouring outside. After he woke up, we went to pick up Dana from work. He told her, “Xe moi bi hu. Phai di xua.” (New car broke down. We need to get it fixed.)

Saturday morning, his temperature was still high around 101F so we paid his pediatrician a visit. She examined him and said that his ears are getting better, but if his temperature won’t come down on Monday we have to bring him back in. We went to a friend’s kid birthday party for about two hours. He ate some food and played at the toy kitchen by himself until he pointed to the door and said “di ra.” We went home and went to bed around 9.

I woke up at 4 when Dao suddenly cried. I couldn’t go back to sleep feelig hungry. So went downstairs and to have s croissant and fried eggs. Now too full to go to sleep so I just write up this long post. Even though it was a very miserable week, the time we spent together were invaluable. I loved every moment of it. It hurts me more seeing him sick and forcing him to take his medication, but it is part of being a parent.

Le Cat Trong Ly and Esperanza Spalding share some similar characteristics: they are young and talented; they play a string instrument; they write and sing their original songs; they have their own musical style; best of all, they both rock out a pretty awesome perm. While Ms. Spalding leads her own path to breakout jazz and soul, Ms. Le carves out her own niche away from the mediocre Vietnamese pop scene.

Ms. Le’s self-titled debut begins with “Giac Mong Lon” that immediately sets her apart from the over-saturated pop singers in and out of Viet Nam. The lyrics are simple but thoughtful. The music is kept to the minimal with just an acoustic guitar from Cao Hong Ha and elegant keyboard from Vu Dang Quoc Viet. The interaction between these two young instrumentalists is quite alluring. Love the way Vu Dang comps behind Ms. Le’s sweet, luscious vocals.

“Mua Yeu” is a straightforward but playful piece written when she was 19, at the age she claims that she didn’t know anything about composing music, but loved Mozart and Pham Duy. “Huong Lac” (based on Tram Huong’s poem) is another tune composed in the same time that showcases Ms. Le’s love for northern folk melodies and her guitar-picking skills.

Composed at 22, “Chuyen Xe” shows the maturity in her writing. Right after the closing bars, “Biết em thôi những giấc mơ ngày xưa, ngày nay, ngày mai, ngày sau / Có khi là em chết hơn trăm lần,” Ms. Le glides into her intoxicating blues chords and picks away some soulful guitar lines on the upper register. This girl got some serious chops and let’s hope that she continues to move forward rather than getting sucked into the whirlwind of mainstream pop like Thuy Tien.

John McWade’s How to Design Cool Stuff actually shows you how to design professional-looking print and web materials. The book is a quick read, but filled with useful tips and guides on using types, photographs and colors to enhance your design. The cool thing about this book is that John McWade makes the techniques easy and simple, but the results are stunning. Beginners will find How to Design Cool Stuff to be very beneficial. This is the first Before & After book I have read and I am looking forward to reading more from this series.

Jeffrey Zeldman once said that Jeremy Keith could write about cement and he could still make the subject interesting. As I was reading Jeremy Keith’s DOM Scripting: Web Design with JavaScript and the Document Object Model, I couldn’t agree more. Keith has such an accessible approach in his explanation. Here’s an example of how he breaks down variables (JavaScript syntax):

In our everyday lives there are some things about us that are fixed and some things that are changeable. My name and my birthday are fixed. My mood and my age, on the other hand, will change over time. The things that are subject to change are called variables.

Can’t get any clearer than that. The second edition of DOM Scripting is filled with updated guidelines and best practices for applying unobtrusive JavaScript to enhance, rather than getting in the way of, the user experience.The book also introduces some new HTML features including canvas, video, audio and forms. A recommend read for web designers.

While working on Writerhead, I was thinking of designing a WordPress theme and just sell it. The idea was inspired by Khoi Vinh’s Basic Math and iA³ Template for WordPress and it would be a great way to learn the nuances of WordPress. Then again, I more of crafting a unique experience than creating something general. In addition, WordPress has over 1,300 themes to choose from.

As I was debating whether if it’s worthwhile to invest a tremendous amount of time in creating a general theme and make $30-$50 or only take on projects that let me concentrate on a specific theme that meets the client’s requirement, I had a potential client who asked me take on a project that I have not done before. The client wanted me to take a theme on Theme Forest and turn it into a site. Basically, the client wanted to cut out the design cost. After looking into Theme Forest, I refused to offer the service. As of this writing, Theme Forest has 930 themes for WordPress. Setting up WordPress and activating a theme is an easy part, getting the theme to meet the client’s requirements probably need tremendous editing and forking into the codes. I don’t mind doing the work, but I don’t feel that’s a good investment on the client part. Why paying for something that potentially look the same with other sites?

As stated in the info page: “We work directly with our clients to craft each web experience according to the needs of their users.” I will stick to that and only offer a unique experience. This also leads to my decision not to make a general WordPress theme for sale.

Here is a list of books I have read in my commuting trips and free time:

Stunning CSS3 by Zoe Mickley Gillenwater covers new CSS features, such as gradient, transition, rounded borders, through project-based demonstration. The last two chapters, “Different Screen Size, Different Design” and “Flexing Your Layout Muscles,” are particularly useful for those who would like to learn responsive web design.

HTML5: Up and Running by Mark Pilgrim is a short and concise read that gets you up and running with new markups in no time. Pilgrim’s Dive Into HTML5 is also a great resource.

Pro HTML5 Programming by Peter Lubbers, Brian Albers, Frank Salim takes you beyond the basic HTML5 markups and shows you the power of APIs including WebSockets, Geolocation and Web Storage, to create robust web applications.

Now that GW has announced the move toward Drupal as the University’s CMS, I am starting to read up on the open source system to get a feel for it. I installed Drupal 6 in the past and played around with it, but didn’t get very far because I didn’t have a real project to work with. I actually want to read up on Drupal 7, but haven’t founs a good book yet since the latest version came out not too long ago. Using Drupal by Angela Byron et al. published three years ago, but it is still a good read to see what you can do with Drupal without programming skills. Using existing modules and themes alone could get you up and running complex sites like job posting board, product reviews and Wiki.

For front-end developers and designers, Front End Drupal by Emma Hogbin Konstantin Kafer is very informative in learning how to customize the look and feel of Drupal. The thing to note about Drupal is that upgrading from version 6 to 7 is not as easy as clicking a button like WordPress, one of the features I live about WordPress. Themes are specific for each version.

Create Stunning HTML Email That Just Works by Mathew Patterson is what I needed when I had to create some HTML email templates for the School of Business. I have to admit that designing an HTML email was quite a challenge. In fact, I was struggling with it. I had to forget everything I have learned about HTML and CSS for the past ten years in order to make the design looked correct in mail applications. Patterson sounds convincing about the opportunities for web designers as he points out, “email is a low-cost, high-return medium that appeals to businesses.” I had clients who requested HTML newsletter design and I hesitated to take on. It’s really a pain, but I am changing my mind after reading this book.

In 2009, Hien Thuc released Portrait 17, a Trinh Cong Son’s songbook. With fancy electric beats and slick r & b flavors, the album showed that Hien Thuc lacked the experience to take Trinh’s music to its fullest. Her new Trinh’s release, Thien Su, however, marks a sea change.

What a tremendous improvement in just two years. Hien Thuc has learned the essence of simplicity and the art of phrasing Trinh’s lyrics. On “Vuon Xua,” she sings with just an acoustic strumming guitar courtesy of Tran Thanh Phuong. The spared, intimate accompaniment allows her to articulate Trinh’s words. “Ru Doi Da Mat” is another excellent track with minimal orchestration. The superb arrangement provides her the space to pour out her heart without hitting the high register.

“Goi Ten Bon Mua” is one of Trinh’s most covered tunes, but the new-age mix makes Hien Thuc’s version stands out. The blending of sixteen-stringed zither (dan tranh) melodic lines and subtle electric rhythm is so damn irresistible. The producer also weaved some traditional folk chords into the break. Arranger Huyen Trung has quite an ear for exotic sounds and lush strings. “De Gio Cuon Di” has an elegant, tasteful classical orchestration and the track would have been even better if she had performed the song solo rather than with Duc Tuan.

With effortless flow, classy arrangements and the ability to dig deeper into the lyrics, Hien Thuc has found her own voice in Trinh’s music rather than a duplication of Khanh Ly, Trinh Vinh Trinh or Hong Nhung. She definitely is bringing a fresh new air to the Trinh’s timeless tunes. If there is one thing Hien Thuc can to improve, it has to be her breath control.

We visited a very closed friend of our family who lived next to us in Vietnam. She’s my sister age. She and her husband speak Vietnamese, Chinese and English. They have four kids and they all speak English and Chinese, but no Vietnamese.

One of my cousins married a Chinese woman. He speaks Vietnamese, Chinese and English. They have two kids and they both speak English and Chinese, but no Vietnamese.

You probably get my point already. I know many many Vietnamese couples who English aren’t so good, yet their kids speak only English. What is going on here? Are we not teaching our kids Vietnamese?

We try our best to speak only Vietnamese to Dao, but he spends most of his day at daycare speaking English. For now he uses both languages. If we teach him something first, he would remember it. For instance, he would say “ech” whenever he sees the picture of a frog rather than “frog.” On the other hand, no matter how many times I said “con voi” to him, he would only say “elephant” first when he sees image of an elephant.

Fortunately, one of the teachers at the daycare is Vietnamese and so they both talk in Vietnamese. His assigned teachers would say to us that whenever Dao and Ms. Tam talk they have no idea. At times, he mixed both languages and confused the heck out of his teachers, but they are very encouraging about him speaking Vietnamese.

My goal is to teach him Vietnamese. So if you have successfully teach your kids Vietnamese, please share your tips. We have to teach our kids to learn their native language.

I love the way kids communicate. They get straight to point. Let me give a few examples. We visited my mom this weekend. Early Saturday morning, Eric, my little six-year-old nephew, came into the room I was sleeping in and lay down next to me. I turned toward him and he started to cough. So here’s our little conversation:

Me: “You have a cold?”
Eric: “No, it’s your breath.”
Me: “My breath makes you cough?”
Eric: “Yes, your breath smells bad.”
Me: “Thanks, Eric!” (laughed)
Eric: “You’re welcome.”

A few minutes later he looked at me. Our conversation went on.

Eric: “Your nose-holes are big.”
Me: “How big?”
Eric: “As big as a cow.”

I guess I need to start saving up money to get a nose job. Anybody needs a web site?

My little boy who is almost two years old is even a tougher critic than his dad. Whenever I started to sing, he would wave his hand and protest, “No nhac” (no music). There goes my dream of becoming a singer.