Cu Dao is wearing us out with his constant energy. He wouldn’t stay still and always wanted us to play or talk with him. He would roll over whenever we put him down on a flat surface. Yesterday he almost rolled off his car seat, which were sat on a chair, before I had a chance to buckle him up.

Whenever Dana feeds him, he would kick and move to all type of positions. As usual, Dana would bring him to bed in the middle of the night so she could feed him and then sleep. Last night Cu Dao didn’t want to sleep. He stayed wide awake and kept on talking while both of us were exhausted. He rolled over, talked and talked. I rubbed his back gently and suddenly I felt the wetness on my cheek. He was licking me. I was so tired and the fresh milk on his lips felt nice so I let him kissed me or drooled all over my face for a bit. I must admit. I enjoyed it.

A Flash trailer for Thirsty is now online. This is a collaborative effort between the author, Kristin Bair O’Keeffe, who wrote the script, Jacqueline Francis who came up with the music and myself who created the motion graphic.

Kristin had done a great job of gathering all the pieces together and planned out what exactly what she wanted to express. Jacqueline produced the score based on Kristin’s storyboard. Since both the music and the script were tightly structured, I knew I couldn’t get the synchronization correctly on the first time. I had to reworked the animation to find the right flow as well as the right timing. Fortunately, I got both down perfectly the second time.

I am satisfied with the final product. I spent a whole night after a five-hour drive on it plus a couple of hours here and there. So go check it out!

Last week Dana and I had determined that we would spend our Saturday working on our retaining wall, a project has been pushed off for way too long. Saturday morning, we went to Hai Ky Mi Gia for a savory breakfast before we work on the project. We did a bit of grocery shopping at Eden and a farmer market near by our house then headed home. It was time to feed Cu Dao. Then we dropped him off at her sister’s house so her mother could babysit him.

Her mother made lunch and invited us to join them before heading to Home Depot. While having lunch, we realized that we didn’t measure the space. We went back to do the measurement so we could get the right amount of bricks. We hopped on YouTube to see how to build the retaining wall.

Now we are ready to head to Home Depot to get the bricks. We would need about 100 pieces so we were thinking of renting a truck. We drove to Home Depot. Instead of making a left turn to Home Depot, we made a right turn into the Korean supermarket. Dana ran in and checked to see if it has what we had been waiting for. A minute later, my phone rang and she said, yes, park the car and come in. Half an hour later we walked out with two big-ass jackfruits about 20 pounds each and the rain started to pour. We looked at each other and knew exactly what each other was thinking. Without a word, we laughed and drove home. We enjoyed the jackfruits. I also made a banging bap xao tom kho for dinner.

A friend has written a post on how his girlfriend flipped out when he mentioned to her someone look like his ex.

While I am not an expert on relationship, I have learned a thing or two from my experience. Don’t ever ever ever mention your ex to your current. To a woman, mentioning your ex means that you’re still thinking about her. You still miss her or have a thing for her. So don’t talk about your ex because it could only hurt your current relationship.

Not only that you don’t mention about your ex, you also don’t mention anything that associated with her. If your ex does nails, don’t talk about nails. If you say nice things about nails, she would be like, If you like nails so much why don’t you go back to her and you can can your nails done everyday. If you talk trash about nails, she would be like, You still mad and jealous because you still love her.

So you can see, you lose either way. Actually I do not want to hear about my wife’s past either. If I don’t know about it, I don’t think about it. I can’t change the past anyway so why putting that in the picture. Just focus on the presence and be happy with what you have.

Luong Gia Huy’s Vua Nhac San should be translated as King of Crap. From the robotic dance beats to the ear-deafening use of Autotune, the album truly is a piece of crap. And of course the lyrics are crappy as hell too: “Khi doi ta ben nhau, I love you / Khi doi ta khong yeu, say goodbye.” Strangely, the only groovy track is the hilarious remix of “Thang Bom.”

Quynh Vi’s solo debut is like a pack of bubblegum with flavors coming from different parts of the world: China, America and Enchilada. The melody on the opening track, “Yeu Khong Hoi Tiec,” is Chinese and the chorus is a mixture of Vietlish: “Vi khi da yeu la khong bao gio noi I am sorry.” And for the rest, it’s a forgettable first listen. A second return is unnecessary.

Cu Dao was having a hard time falling asleep last night. I wrapped him up and played him his favorite CD, but he tried to roll over as soon as I placed him in his crib. I stood beside his bed in the dark observing him trying to free himself. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Duke started to cry. I stood there heartlessly letting him sobbed until he screamed. I picked him up and he squirmed on my arms until his face touched my chest. I placed my lips on his head and just held on to the kiss. He stopped moving and began to close his eyes. I rested my cheek against his forehead and felt the heat coming off him. The moment was so peaceful and precious that I didn’t put him back into his crib even after he was already deep asleep. I stood quietly, watched and listened to every breath he took for almost an hour.

With droopy vocals backing up by drowsy arrangements, Tuan Hung’s Nhac Xua seems primarily to put people to sleep. Play this album on a hot, lazy afternoon and you’ll be snoring before the first track is over. The mixture of the synth and the smooth sax on the jazzy rendition of “Toi Di Giua Hoang Hon,” is soothing enough for a massage parlor. On “Co Ua” and “Niem Khuc Cuoi,” Tuan Hung murmurs his way through the tunes so he could go to bed as well.

Steve Kuhn gigged briefly with John Coltrane, but the leader’s profound influence never left him. On this respectful, tasteful tribute to the jazz legend, Steve Kuhn Trio and Joe Lovano bring their own chops to Coltrane’s compositions. Lovano gives a reserved yet gorgeous solo on “Song of Praise” and the rhythm section gives the tune a cool, relaxed swinging vibe. On “Spiritual,” Lovano plays the tárogató, a Hungarian instrument, for a softer, yet warmer sound than a tenor while the trio swings gently behind him. Covering Coltrane is not an easy task, yet Steve Kuhn and his men had done the justice to Mostly Coltrane.

The first Monday back to work was way too damn hard after spending two and a half weeks with Cu Dao. I miss the father and son daily routines. I miss jogging with him in the beautiful morning weather. I miss feeding him even though it was tough. If he finished the whole bottle, I felt like I have accomplished something. I miss making him laughed out loud. I miss taking him to visit his mom at work so we can get lunch and he could get his milk straight from the source. I miss napping next to him listening to Lullaby: A Collection. This album works every time putting Cu Dao to sleep. All I have to do is wrapped him up and turned on the CD. I wish I could have done more with him, but I am glad we had a bit of quality time together.