This book obviously follows the format of Universal Principles of Design, but it is no match to the classics. It focuses on UX, which is great for digital design, but the principles are falling short, especially towards the end. I would say 60 principles are solid and 40 are fillers. The author also pimps many of her own work, which makes it less universal. The book is still worth a quick read through.

John D. Berry writes about Adobe Kis:

Some writers about type have described the choice of typeface like the choice of clothing. What would you like to dress your words in? Kis is like feeling the weave on a Harris tweed sportcoat, warm and reliable with a distinctive texture and a feeling of tradition and solid craftsmanship. It’s not like the linen jacket of Garamond, the taupe trousers of Times New Roman, the black cargo pants of Helvetica, the evening wear of Bodoni, or the madras shorts of Comic Sans. When your words are dressed in Kis, people will read them.

I am so glad to see Đán getting back to the skatepark for a bit. Here’s his latest drop in. I still love the clip in which he dropped into a gigantic pipe.

I have been in the game for over 20 years making websites and my philosophy hasn’t changed. My first priority has always been our users. From accessibility to usability to security to privacy, I fight for our users every step of the way.

When I was in charge of the site, I made sure the pages are fast, secured, easy to navigate, and optimized across devices and screen readers. The pages had to work with JavaScript turned off. I am not against using JavaScript. In fact, I encourage using JavaScript through progressive enhancement. My concern has always been the abuse of JavaScript, particularly in the privacy territory.

When I had to work directly with third-party vendors on digital marketing, I needed to know exactly what information they collect from our users and what they do with the data. Furthermore, I would limit their tracking to relevant pages, and not the entire website. I also made sure that they would be responsible for any privacy issues they created. If I didn’t hold them accountable, they would have the ability to use cross-site scripting to hijack our site to do whatever they wanted with our users’ data. I wouldn’t allow that to happen under my watch.

I created a WordPress blog for my third son. I named it Lil Xuân Shine. I will work with him on his writing. Đạo and Đán will resume writing over the summer as well. I missed reading their blogs.

Setting up a WordPress blog is super easy. Setting up the design is not so much. Selecting a theme, changing the design, dragging and dropping the blocks are cumbersome. Gutenberg is still very clumsy to use. I don’t find it intuitive at all. For example, I couldn’t figure out how to change the background color on the title of the individual post.

I am sticking with the classic editor for my blog for as long as it is being supported.

I am getting pretty damn comfortable in the director chair. When I first stepped into the role, I worried that I didn’t have the skills to lead. I had always been a hands-on designer and developer. As I started to connect with other directors and higher ups, I learned that their main job was talking shit. I had seen so many directors pulling shit out of their ass without an ounce of embarrassment. I realized that I could do that shit too. I just needed to grow thick skin.

Even though I no longer need to be hands-on, I am responsible for leading the design and development processes. I need to make sure our codes are up to standard, our technologies are up to date and secured, and our products meet accessibility and usability. I often speak out in meetings, provide design feedback, and propose technological solutions. Essentially, I talk a lot of shit, but I know my shit and I can back it up. When designers and developers told me that certain things can’t be done, I proved to them that things can be done. I have the advantage that I don’t just talk the talk, but I can also walk the walk.

I still keep up my design and technical skills. I still run, update, and upgrade cloud servers for my own websites. I still design and code all of my projects. When I die, I hope one of my sons will take over all of my digital intellectual properties. Đán will most likely be the one.

I am a fan of Gay’s writing, particularly in Hunger. She has such an easygoing, approachable style. Over the years, I would read any opinion pieces she had written. Whether writing on politics, race, civil responsibilities, culture, or man problems, she brings fresh, smart, and honest opinions to the table. Her latest book is a collection of essays she had written in the past decade. It’s a good read.

I was go through my old boxes and came across a letter my former supervisor at George Washington University School of Business. On November, 4, 2008, Molly Brauer wrote:

To Whom It May Concern:

I have known Donny Truong for about a year, and during that time he has impressed me as a very thoughtful, hardworking, problem-solving, diplomatic person.

When I called one of Donny’s references during the hiring process, the gentleman I spoke to said, “Donny will quietly win the respect of everyone around him.” And that endorsement has rung true every day I’ve worked with him. Donny has a sterling work ethic, and the ability to organize and prioritize tasks efficiently and effectively.

He has been working for the Office of Communications in the GW School of Business for about nine months, and everyone he’s worked with has been very pleased with his work—both his cooperative spirit and his finished products.

Donny works with a wide variety of people in senior positions and much lower positions and treats everyone with the same respect. He is an excellent team builder and a good listener. Beyond his work ethic, Donny is a creative problem solver who finds elegant solutions to complex problems, taking into account the diverse needs of sometimes incongruent groups masterfully.

Donny works hard and learns quickly. He came to this country when he was 12 years old, learned a new language, and managed to attend college and find work in his chosen field – no small task. His only weakness is some minor difficulty with written and spoken English; his comprehension is excellent and he reads broadly.

I recommend Donny highly because I believe he will succeed at anything he puts his mind too; his life is testament to that.

Yours sincerely,

Molly Brauer

Xuân’s short clip is getting over 10k view. I must admit that I was a bit nervous when he went down that ramp.

As skiing and snowboarding have wrapped up, I am slowly transitioning over to rollerblading. My passion for rollerblading is winding down. I haven’t had the motivation to learn new skills. I just keep doing what I have already known.

I haven’t been to the skateparks as much as I used to. I need to spend more time doing housework. For two days this week, I chose to tidy up the house rather than hit the skatepark.

Đạo and Đán have little interest left in rollerblading. Soon they will lose all of their skills, if they stop skating, which is a shame. I can’t do anything about it. They are old enough now to make their own decisions and sitting in front of their screens for hours is their choice.

Xuân still enjoys scootering and joins me whenever he can since his schedule is almost full. He has swim meets, tutor sessions, piano lessons, and Scout activities. He stays busiest out of all of us.

Vương joins Xuân at the skateparks every now and then. He rides his balance bike, but not really into it. I am just glad whenever he decides to come with us.

I haven’t set my foot in the ice skating rink in a while. I wish I could go back, but not at this time. Soon I will give up rollerblading as well.

I hate doing the housework. It is such a waste of time. No matter what I had done, the mess would resume a week later. It is just an endless cycle. The longer I ignore it, the more it will creep up on me. The more stress I acquired. I just can’t let all the shit pile up. I don’t want to live in that environment. I haven’t invited anyone from outside of our family to our house after the first year we moved in.