Lunar New Year to many Vietnamese abroad is simply just another day. Many of us can’t be around our family to celebrate. To many of us, Vietnamese New Year only exists in our memory. The good old spirit that could never be forgotten. We can’t expect to get the same vibe we had in our childhood anymore. In fact, I don’t expect much anymore. As long as I could be around the love ones and could think about those from afar, I am satisfied. Although I really don’t know all of you who come to Visualgui.com, as long as you’re here, you are visiting my house. So I wish you all a happy, prosperous Vietnamese New Year.

Albert Lee, my college buddy, hosted a clip highlighting the hot spots in Philly’s Chinatown.

Check out the history of Chinatown and shopping in Chinatown (Long Life is my mom’s favorite herbal store).

After finishing up the newsletter, I went out for a jog. The weather was so beautiful that I didn’t need my heavy jacket. I tuned into Hong Nhung’s Doan Khuc Thu Ha Noi for an accompaniment. Not sure why I have been returning to this album again and again like reaching for a bottle of water. Her version of “Ha Noi Mua Vang Nhung Con Mua” gives me nostalgia even though I had only been to Ha Hoi once. It has to be that effortless flow.

The roof is fixed and seal. Most of the minor fixes inside the house are done. The major replacement is going to be the heating and cooling system. From several estimates, we will have to drop at least five grants to replace both units inside and outside the house.

We have three levels (including the basement) added up to about 2500 square feet. Sears quoted us a 3-ton Kenmore heat pump and air handler with 14 SEER for $8,446 and a Carrier model with 15 SEER for $9,480. Evercool, a local company, quoted us a 2.5-ton American Standard at 13 SEER for $4,650.

We have one more estimate coming in, but we know that we would want a 3-ton system with either 14 or 15 SEER. Does anyone have some experiences in field? We would love to hear your advices and cautions. If you have any recommendations, please feel free to do so.

Thanks to those who have offered us your suggestions in the previous posts. Your comments helped us tremendously.

Tim did it again. Nice Web Type, “one place for web typography, using our collective knowledge for the betterment of typographic style and practice,” gets a bold, new gray look. Check out his latest work for Vassar too. This guy is unstoppable.

Stopdesign gets a new design for the new year. The layout has some similar features of SimpleBits.

For the past three weeks Dana and I had worked tirelessly well past midnight to launch our collaborative online jewelry store: Simplexpression.com. While she handcrafted and took photographed each piece, I touched up the images and put the web site together.

With Simplexpression, our goal is to create simple, elegant jewelries that are not only visually attractive, but also comfortable to wear on a daily basis. To reflect on our products, we wanted a clean, classy site with ease of use. The layout lets the products speak for themselves. We also integrated PayPal to handle our transactions for a smooth, secured experience.

Dana is obviously the creative mind behind the works. I am not sure how she comes up with the design, but she always strikes the perfect balance between shapes, colors, tones and textures while still manages to keep the piece simple. The labor goes into each piece is intensive, yet the final product is just stunning.

One of the fun tasks of the project is to come up with the name for each piece. We listen mostly to jazz in our design process. So we figure why not name them after the jazz ladies. All we have to do is matching up each piece with a female jazz artist based on her style and personality. For example, we honored this necklace after Billie Holiday because it shows Billie’s dramatic lifestyle. She was like the brilliant, orange centerpiece that still lid up inside the ring of darkness. We named this piece after Anita O’Day because its rhythm and its flow correspond to her dazzled sense of time and improvising virtuosity.

What makes this project so special to us is that we get to put our skills together as a couple even though we have different career paths. Because this project is a result of love and passion, we make our products affordable so that we could share them with you and hope that you would take pleasure in wearing them as much as we do in crafting them. So head over to Simplexpression.com and check out our small but expanding collection.

My buddy Tim redesigns his web site. The set of photos added a personal touch of to the layout. Nice job, Tim.

Collection of striking photos from yesterday’s historic event.

Jay-Z’s “My President is Black“:

My president is black, in fact he’s half white
So even in a racist mind he’s half bright
If you have a racist mind you’re alright
My president is black but his house is all white
Rosa Park sat so Martin Luther could walk
Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run
Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly
So I’ll spread my wings you can meet me in the sky.

Check out Jay-Z’s “History” too.

President Barack Obama’s inaugural address:

We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.