With Haley voted off last night, the American Idol Finale won’t be as exciting. Haley has a much wider range than Scotty and Lauren, but most importantly, she is an interpreter of songs. She made the tunes her own with such a sexy, raspy voice. She has sung jazz, pop, neo-soul, country and even rock on the show. Her rendition of “I Who Have Nothing” was phenomenal thanks to Lady Gaga’s psychotic advice. Her version of “House of the Rising Sun” were just hauntingly beautiful, especially the accapella beginning (a great tip from Sheryl Crow). She did a fine job of covering Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” She also rocked out Led Zeppelin’s “What Is And What Should Never Be.” My personal favorite is her take on LeAnn Rimes’s “Blue.”

With the result last night, I won’t be looking forward much to the finale. Both Scotty and Lauren are from two different spectrum. Scotty dominates the low notes while Lauren commands the high register, but they both come down to country music. So the winner depends on which side you prefer. My pick between the two would still be Scotty, but my prediction is still going to be Lauren.

When we got home in the evening yesterday, Dao noticed an army of ants marching in the house. He showed me the spot and said, “Daddy kien (ants).” I took out the vacuum and sucked them up. As I turned off the vacuum, he spotted more ants and said, “More kien.” Once he didn’t see anymore ants, he said, “diet kien roi (got rid of the ants).” After I was done vacuuming, he told me “cat lai (put it away)” and pointed to the closet where I usually keep the vacuum.

He pooped after dinner so I changed his diaper. I opened the diaper and said, “Oh Lord!” Then he kept on repeating “Oh Lord! Oh Lord! Oh Lord!” Ms. Tam as school told us that Dao is like a recorder. He would repeat anything the teachers say so they have to be careful what they say around of him.

Around 9:30 p.m. we tried to get him to sleep, but I wanted to sneak out to watch American Idol (Go, Haley!). Every time I stepped out of the bedroom door, Dao would ask him mom, “Ba dau roi? (Where’s dad?)” It’s very intriguing to hear him say new words almost everyday.

Yesterday after work we stopped by Korean store to pick up so groceries. As Dao and I were playing the game of naming the fruits, a Korean boy who is a bit bigger and chubbier than Dao ran up to us. He pointed to the Thomas train Dao was holding in his hand. The boy was also holding a Thomas train on his hand. He wanted to play with Dao, but Dao was holding on to me tight with his left hand and holding on to Thomas tight with his right. I said to him, “Choi voi ban di con. Ban muon choi voi con.” (Play with him. He wants to play with you.)

Dao sort of wanted to play, but he was probably still being shy. The Korean boy was quite friendly to Dao. He ran off on his sisters and mom to be with two strangers. So I took him to find his mom before she gets worried. After we found his mom and he waved goodbye to us. Dao waved back and said to me, “Ban di roi.” (Friend has left.) I responded, “Con khong choi voi ban thi ban di thoi.” (You don’t play with him so he went off.)

Last Sunday, we dragged home a Panasonic VIERA 50-Inch Plasma HDTV from Costco just out of the blue. We meant to get a new TV three years ago, but we kept on pushing it off because we don’t really watch much TV. The decision was made simply because I was too tired after two and half hours of driving and a cup of margarita from Chipotle. I hope we made a good choice.

After setting it up and test it with Curious George, Dao said, “George bu quaaaa.” (George’s too big). His reaction was just hilarious. I watched Three Kingdoms last night through Netflix and was very impressed with its high quality streaming. Sorry Redbox. I am now rolling with Netflix.

I was wondering how the teachers, staffs and students at JCCNV could say Dao’s name with correct Vietnamese tone. Almost everyone gets it right whenever they greet him. I finally found out the person who is responsible for it. Yesterday I dropped Dao’s off as usual and he was greeted by quite a few new faces in his class. His new classmates said, “Hi Dow.” Ms. Tam quickly corrected them, “It’s not Dow. It’s Đạo.”

Isn’t it nice to have a Vietnamese teacher around? I think Ms. Tam plays a big role in his Vietnamese speaking. Dao will be moving up to an upper class at the end of June and he won’t have Ms. Tam around anymore. That’s going to be a big disadvantage for us.

Dao is picking up a lot of words now and he uses them in unexpected moments. Last Friday, we stopped by Pho Hoa Binh in Maryland on our trip to Lancaster. As I was feeding him pho, he kept asking for more (“nua”). I gave him a spoonful, but he spat back out and said, “nhieu qua” (too much).

He used to be able to watch his favorite “Curious George” in the minivan without the sound on so I can listen to music while driving. Now if he doesn’t hear the sound, he would say, “hong (no) work” or “hong tieng” (no sound).

Now he no longer wants to ride the old car. As soon as he sees the minivan, he would say, “Dao di xe moi… Xe cu nghi” (Dao wants to ride the new car… Old car is resting.”

Out of the blue this morning, he said to me as I tried to buckle him into his car seat, “May, May, May o nha May” (May stays at her house). I responded to him in Vietnamese, “Of course, May stays at her house. Where else could May be? Do you miss May?” He nodded his head, “Dao nho May” (Dao misses May). Let’s hope that he won’t be too attached or too emotional when he grows up or else the girls going to break his heart into pieces.

On Saturday, Dao and May met up for another play date. Many things have changed since the last time they were together, which were about three months ago. For the first forty-five minutes, May seemed to have forgotten Dao or she was overwhelmed that a bunch of strangers just marched into her house. Dao, on the other hand, called out her name, gave her a hug, a kiss and then helped himself to the toys as if he was at his own house. Then May felt comfortable again and they were back to normal.

Dao held May’s hand when we went outside. They walked and laughed together. We went to Fuddruckers for lunch and the cutest moment when May fed him. Whatever she puts to his mouth, he just took it, even with chip dipped in ketchup. After lunch we headed toward Port Discovery.

This time I took Samantha and Eric along. Not sure about Samantha, but Eric enjoyed the place. I was glad that we also get to hang out with these two who I love like my own kids. I have many memories with Samantha because I was around when she was born. I shared with her what I could remember when she was a little girl. It seems like yesterday that I was holding her in my arms. Now she’s all grown up. Twelve years have gone by.

Eric is seven now and still in his kid zone; therefore, he still likes to hang out with us. Every time I come to visit my mom, I try to take him out and spend time with him. Dao also loves Eric. He now does everything Eric does. Yesterday, I was sitting on the coach, Eric came, gave me a hug and said, “I love you.” He melted my heart. I really I wish I could spend more time with him and Samantha.

Back to Dao and May, the two that are opposite of each other, but get along so well together. I was looking forward to many play dates in the future, but May, Linh and Son will be moving to the West coast at the end of June. We’re very happy for them, but a little bit sad that we won’t have the convenience of meeting up anymore.

Thanks to Dao and May, Dana and I have found a wonderful couple that we could hang out with because we all happy to see our kids enjoy each other’s company. In a way, Linh and Son are our first friends together. Not that we’re unsociable, but we’re just not a very exciting couple who enjoys each other’s boring company. Unlike us, Linh and Son isn’t a boring couple. They just happen to share the “twin” with us.

In Letters of Credit: A View of Type Design, Walter Tracy explains the different between legibility and readability:

Legibility, then, refers to perception, and the measure of it is the speed at which a character can be recognised; if the reader hesitates at it the character is badly designed. Readability refers to comprehension, and the measure of that is the length of time that a reader can give to a stretch of text without strain.

Printed in 1941, Bernard Lewis’ Behind the Type: The Life Story of Frederic W. Goudy is a short biographical sketch of America’s most eminent type designer. Lewis writes:

Goudy has found in type design as others have discovered in the writing of prose, poetry, or music, or in the painting of a piclure, that there is a coordination of parts, a pull toward the finale. Just as in music where the whole completes itself in temporal expectation so in letter design does the whole complete itself in spatial expectation. In music one tone pulls toward its successor; in type design, one stroke or movement leads to the next. Goudy has found that in order to design an integrated alphabet in which each letter has a mutual affinity for its companions, he must get in on the beginning of a swing or a visual or kinesthetic “set.”

Behind the Type also includes a transcript of an address Goudy delivered at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, February 12, 1938. Goudy spoke about type design:

The inexperienced designer says to himself, “I will design a new type.” He does not as yet realise that whoever imagines a tree must also imagine a sky or a background against which to see it standing. He cannot imagine a type unless he imagines also its destination. He must have visions whose power is his power. He must deal with what is logical as if it were a miracle; yet, as a matter of fact, what he is attempting to produce is something which should long have been in his mind, perhaps without his being conscious of the fact, and from what he has studied and arranged he has now only to read and project what already is there.

Goudy spoke on legibility:

Type, to be fine, must be legible, not merely readable, but pleasantly and easily legible; decorative in form, but not ornate; beautiful in itself and in company of its kinsmen in the font; austere and formal, but with no stale or uninteresting regularity in its dissimilar characters; simple in design, but not the bastard simplicity that arises from mere crudity of outline; elegant, that is, gracious in line; fluid in form, but not archaic; and, most important, it must possess unmistakably that quality called “art,” which is the spirit the designer puts into the body of his work, the product of his study and taste. How many of the types demanded by advertisers or the typographic advisers would be able to stand analysis of this sort?

Dao (Asian), Brit (Black) and Aiden (White) are the three musketeers in daycare. They play and bond together at school. They even share food and toys with each other. Isn’t it just lovely that kids don’t differentiate their color skins? It would be interesting to see how their relationship grow over the years assuming that they’ll be in class together. Dao is oldest among the three. Aiden is about a month younger and Brit is about two or three months younger. Their teacher told me both Dao and Aiden should move to the next class together since they are like BFFs.

On a different note, Dao received a booklet from school for his birthday. The cover features balloons and Thomas Train. Inside of the booklet is a collection of Dao’s photos and paintings. Dao flipped to one of the artworks and complimented himself, “Dao ve dep” (Dao draws beautifully). I am liking his confidence already. Once in a while, he would say to Dana, “Mommy dep.” No wonder he’s her favorite boy.

So far American is doing a good job of voting for the top four. I rooted for Scotty from the very beginning for his bass vocals, but I have been voting for Haley for the past three weeks. She has that burning fire in her raspy voice and she took more chances than the rest even though Jennifer and Randy kept shooting her down. James hasn’t been my favorite all along and Lauren is just too sweet for my taste. My hope is that Haley will come in first and Scott second, but my prediction is that Lauren is going to be the winner. I am hoping that my prediction will be wrong.

In The Designer’s Guide to Text Type, Jean Callan King and Tony Esposito define: “Copyfitting determines the amount of space that typewritten copy will occupy when it is typeset.”

Procedure

1. Determine the total number of characters in your copy. To do this multiply the number of characters per line in your typewritten copy by the total number of lines. This will give you the total number of characters. Note that each letter, punctuation mark, and space between words must be counted as a character.
2. Select a typeface.
3. Determine the width in picas to which the copy will be set.
4. Determine the number of typeset characters per pica by placing a pica (12-point) gauge on the first line showing of the chosen typeface and size. Begin measuring at the first word on the left, noting the last character where your pica width ends on the right.
5. Divide your total character count (from step 1) by the number of typeset characters per line (step 4). This will give you the total number of typeset lines.
6. Determine the depth you want your typeset copy to be. You may need to decrease or increase point size or amount of planned leading at this point to make your copy fit a predetermined layout.