Last Saturday, I took Dao to Barnes & Noble so he could play at the train table. While watching him, I picked up some graphic design books and flipped through them. It’s been a while since I get a chance to do that.

Back when I was working at Vassar, I often turned toward the graphic design section in the bookstore to find my inspiration. After meeting with the client to get his vision for the web site, I would sneak out to the book store to see if I could get some concepts and ideas for the layout. One of the nice things about Vassar was that we were encouraged to hone our skills in whatever way we desired. So sneaking out to the bookstore to do work was perfectly fine.

When I searched for inspiration, all I needed was a notepad and a pencil to do my sketches. I don’t want to design with the design book next to me. I might end up making something close to the original design unconsciously. Looking back at some of the sites I had done, I could still remember how I came up with these designs: German Studies, Jewish Studies and Dean of Freshmen.

In Ordering Disorder, former design director for NYTimes.com Khôi Vinh deconstructs his grid-based design in details. The book begins with the concept to help readers understand the basics of the grid and the mathematical formulae. Then Vinh walks us through the process (research and requirements, wireframe, preparatory design, comps and production) as well as explains the terminology (unit, columns, regions, etc.). The heart and soul of the book is in the execution, in which Vinh illustrates his approach to a real-world project from sketches on paper to the final layouts. The real magic is flipping through the pages and witnessing the contents fall perfectly into the grid. With his own art direction, the book itself was designed on a grid. The texts on one side match up with the illustrations on the other side of the same page is not a coincident.

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Playing the Piano has been my go-to album for the holiday season. Right off the opening “Amore” the vibe fits just right for the winter spirit. Sakamoto’s solo piano is relaxing and the way his fingers fall softly on the high keys is irresistible. The intimate setting continues on “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence,” “The Sheltering Sky” and throughout the disc. I would love to listen to Playing the Piano on a snowy day accompanied by a book and save the second disc, Out of Noise, in which Sakamoto experiments with sound, for another time. The ambiance vibe is a complete different animal.

What makes Tung Duong so damn hypnotizing is that he puts his soul into every song he sings. He doesn’t cover too many old songs, but when he does, he does an amazing job. His rendition of “Ngam Ngui” is tender, romantic and expressive. My mother-in-law once told me that my father-in-law won her heart with this song. I am guessing through this line: “Em ơi hãy ngủ anh hầu quạt đây.” I did similar thing when I tried to win my wife’s heart. The different was that I didn’t “serve her a fan.” I just cranked up the air conditioner in my Acura.

Some new additions to Simplexpression Winter. Added snowfalls to jazz up the winter theme. Added social media share tool and back button to individual pages. I spent a couple hours last night checking out both Google and Amazon check out tools, but PayPal is still the best solution for Simplexpression. I also revert back to PayPay’s default “Add to Cart” button for better security. So have a happy and safe shopping.

Dan Cederholm’s CSS3 For Web Designers is a strip down version of his excellent Handcrafted CSS. While both books covered transitions, hovering effects, 2D transforms, multiple backgrounds and form enhancement, Handcrafted CSS delved further into useful topics such as CSS reset, framework, float management, ampersand and Ethan Marcotte’s invaluable contribution on the fluid grid. So if you already own a copy of Handcrafted CSS, you don’t need CSS3 For Web Designers. Between the two, I still strongly recommend Handcrafted CSS.

Not only you know what you want, but also you know who can help you to get what you want and you do it in the way that is hard to refuse: by holding the person’s hand. Whenever you want milk, you would hold my hand, walk to the refrigerator and say “sua.” Whenever you want to read, you take me to the bookshelf. When you want to go to sleep, you grab mommy’s hand and say “ngu” (sleep). When we go to Bac Tram’s house, you would pull out fish’s food, grab Bac Ky’s hand, point to the fish tank and say, “fish an.” When you want to play with the train under the Christmas tree, you grab Bac Tram’s hand, point to the controller and say “chocho train.” The first thing you wake up in the morning when you’re at grandparent’s house is running over grandparent’s room. You grab grandma’s hand and point to your favorite ginger candy. At your other grandma’s house, you grab her hand and point her to the pomegranate. When it comes to pomegranate, you do not need any personal assistant. You just pick out each piece one by one. When you want juice, you would say “juice” with your lips stick out longer than Angelina Jolie’s.

At this stage, you already know what you want. You prefer your milk cold. Last night, mommy warmed up your milk. You took a sip, returned the bottle and said “nong.” Whenever we give you Raisin Bran, you would pick out the raisin from the cereal. With sneakers, you prefer to pick your own even though you only have two choices. In reading time, you come to the bookshelf and pick out the book you want me to read to you. I usually read in English and then quickly translate the text to you in Vietnamese as well. Right now you use both languages simultaneously and I hope that you will maintain your bilingual skills. You sure are a good communicator. You mean “no” when you say it out loud and clear. The best thing you do now is putting away your toys when you’re done. The teachers at the daycare train you well. The thing you still need to improve is brushing your teeth.

We were out car shopping today and ended up liking the Toyota Sienna 2011 for its slick spaciousness, not its wack-ass swagger wagon video. We’re aiming for the SE Preferred Package. If anyone knows a good deal, let us know.

Jasmine, a beautiful, intimate collaboration between pianist Keith Jarrett and bassist Charlie Haden, is perfect for the holiday season. Haden’s deep, meditative approach provides Jarrett the spacious, relaxing template to stretch out his ballad playing. From the sentimental “For All We Know” to the soulful “Where Can I Go Without You” to the sensational “Body and Soul” to the serenading “Don’t Ever Leave Me,” Jasmine is, in Jarrett’s own words, “a night-blooming flower with a beautiful fragrance.” I actually started listening to this album a couple months ago and now the holiday spirit brings me even closer to it. Can’t wait to play it on Christmas Eve with my love ones and with a glass of Merlot.