12/30/07

Happy Birthday to me! and the New Blog


Ok, it's not my birthday, but we are approaching this blog's one-year anniversary. So it must be my blog singing that song.


Let's take a quick look back at the past year. The first blog I created got only two posts. That was before I found "blogger" and found out it worked with a google account. Click on the picture for a "sneak peek" of my blog - from last year.


Next came this blog, which has transformed in the last year from somewhat relevant to completely superfluous, but I love it anyway. Take a trip back into the past - take a look at the first post here.


Now, I've done it again. I've started another blog project, but this time my aim is a little different than blowing off steam or trying to be funny. This time I felt a pull to aim at building something of a community, something that reaches a larger audience than just my friends and family (I think this blog's readership may be up to 10 by now). As this idea sprouted in my mind, my wife pointed out an article on the Church's homepage: Apostle Urges Students to Use New Media by Elder M Russell Ballard. The transcript is here. After reading this great address, I realized that I could use a principle of the Gospel to form my idea into a tangible blog. So here it is - a sneak peek at what may become a thriving community of faith or just another failed attempt at innovation in a saturated market.


12/19/07

Make this Christmas Special

Please take some time this Christmas season to remember and cherish the loved ones in your life. Last week, I received an email from a friend that her sister had gone missing. After 6 days of exhaustive investigation and searching, her body was found in a landfill. Please keep the family of Ann Lisa Nguyen in your hearts and prayers this holiday season.

We are so blessed to be surrounded by friends and family - let us not forget that life is fragile.

The Nguyen family dedicated a Christmas tree to Lisa in San Jose's "Christmas in the Park" and plans on sponsoring a tree for several years to come. If you would like to show your support during this difficult time, please visit Lisa's Tree website to donate for the sponsorship of Christmas trees in the future. Lisa loved seeing the trees at Christmas time.

UPDATE: The Nguyen family created a website in memory of Lisa, here's the homepage:
AnnLisaNguyen.com



12/16/07

Chinese Chess - never play after a 3-hour, late-afternoon nap

It was a beautiful day today, but we didn't take advantage of it because my cold from last week somehow made its way to my wife and she was in bed all day. However, after napping for several hours this afternoon, we decided to try a rematch at chinese chess, our new "thing to do" at home. Last time she whipped me two matches to one, but this time I put up a better fight. The only problem is that we got down to a few pieces and we're both too stubborn to surrender, so we just played and played until we were blue in the face. Literally. We both went a little wacko at that point, pushing the pieces extraordinarily long distances and capturing three pieces (including the general) in one swoop. Click here to see what happened next:




12/7/07

November Rain (and Decemeber, too!)


It rained last Friday and it rained again today. I love it.

I believe my blog has now fallen into the "Boringest Blogs in the World" category, if it ever left that category in the first place. No pictures, no thought-provoking thoughts, just me blabbing. And not even very often. Pitiful.

It is election season, which makes it difficult for me to blog at work (don't tell my boss) and homework is adding up (finals are coming soon) so I don't have a lot of time. I've been busier, but I'm getting old so I can't hack it like I used to. And I just got sick, so anytime I move too fast I feel like my head is caving in. Let's see... anymore lame excuses...??? Nope, that's it.

So much has happened in the last few weeks, I can't fit it all in here. I've sworn off drawing (oh yeah, that's another lame excuse for not blogging) because it takes me too long and then I either get discouraged and quit or I think it's a work of art and drool over it when really it looks like crap. I've finally written out the text for my storybook (by the way, I've been trying to write a storybook) and my original intention was to illustrate it myself but that's gone down the drain. By the time I'm talented enough to do that I'll be 50. Plus, I'm trying to pick up an extra income somewhere (and praying for a promotion!) to recharge our monetary reserves, so I don't have time to practice. I'm looking for someone to illustrate and I think I've found an artist whose style I've really taken a liking to, but I don't know how to get in touch with her. So that's that.

I have started playing the piano again. I try to get a little bit in each day so that I might be able to play the hymns when our regular organist is not at church. My fingers are starting to remember how to jump from key to key without me prodding them too much. It will take awhile but I hope in a year I'll have several songs down. My wife enjoys the background music much more than the click click click of my laptop or the scratch scratch scratch of my pencils on paper so I think I'll stick to this hobby. Mutually beneficial. That's what marriage is all about.

I was talking with my friend on Sunday about "the fire." You know, that massive force deep within your soul that moves you to action, the feeling that something inside you is bursting with light and you can almost see it coming out of your fingertips, the burning desire to be perfect and pure. The feeling that is followed by focused, poignant faith and vision that opens all doors and clears all obstacles in your path. The power that radiates from your eyes, that demands attention and belief from bystanders, that crushes opposition and invites success. The sense that whatever goal you're aiming at has already been accomplished and you just have to go claim it, the result so tangible that you can almost feel it before you even see it. That's the fire. At times, it's all-encompassing and exhausting and absolutely perfect. At other times, it's gone. Like, all gone. That's when depression sets in. We came up with some good stuff on how to get it back, how to rekindle the fire, but you had to be at our joint FHE last week to get it. :) The most important thing is to keep on going and never give in, to not stop dancing just because the music is gone, and to remember that before and after any great moment the opposition will mount almost to the point of collapse (please read this great address from which we find the oft-quoted line "...beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now.").

Thôi, viết tới đây đã dài quá rồi đấy, ngừng nhe. I'm stopping here, this is way too long.


11/18/07

Note on the bathroom mirror



If you're not happy today, what will make you happy tomorrow?

If you're not satisfied with today, how will you be satisfied with tomorrow?

If you're not content with today, will you be content tomorrow?



More so than my surroundings, my environment, my friends or my family, my trials or my blessings, it is my choice to be happy today that will make me happy today. If I'm doing something - or not doing something - today that prevents me from feeling joy or contentment today, or if I'm waiting for that "thing" that will make me happy in the future, what guarantee do I have that tomorrow I won't still be doing that something or waiting for that thing? The only sure way we can feel happiness is to choose it... today. I once had a missionary companion who would ask this question when faced with a difficult choice that was easier to put off until tomorrow than dealing with today:

If not today, then when?

11/7/07

My Glory Days are Over


How fitting. My wife and I watched The Incredibles Sunday night as we folded clothes and I was struck at how fixed "Mr Incredible" was on his former, glorious identity. Now it's my turn.

I was riding my bike home today when this other biker came speeding past me as I tried to maneuver myself safely onto the sidewalk. Now I have this thing when I'm riding my bike or running - when my adrenaline is already pumping - where if someone passes me, I automatically speed up to catch them. I can't help it. Even if I'm on a ten-speed and they're on a beach cruiser, I still try to overtake them and I feel pretty accomplished when I do so. I guess that's a vestige from my glory days, back during high school when I was at the top of my game and passing people like crazy. But that was ten years ago. Since then I've done a little training, but mostly sitting and sleeping. Anyway, today when I saw Mr Whiz fly past me I felt my legs kick into "go get 'em!" mode and I found myself flying towards him. I caught up and even passed the man without even the slightest glance back. I felt pretty good about myself as I watched him grow smaller in my rearview mirror (yes I'm a nerd with a mirror on my bike), until I felt my legs turn to mush. Luckily he turned instead of going straight, therefore missing me slouch over my handbars, gasping for breath.

I can't believe it. 400 yards of exertion and my legs gave up. Whatever happened to crashing through the wall and pushing my VO2Max and letting the monster out and "Head for the barn, babycakes!" Whatever happened to all those times I pushed myself beyond human strength, all those sprint hills and Roger's Road and the Lake and the Peak... all that and I die at after .25 miles? Sickening. I guess my glory days are over.

I just pray that I don't live my spiritual life like this. I hope I don't meander down life's paths and hope I'm blown the right way, then suddenly kick into gear when a challenge - or what I consider a challenge - comes my way. I heard a great speaker expound on this a few years ago:

I have titled my talk “The Dedication of a Lifetime.” I borrowed this title from something said by Governor Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, who was the Democratic Party candidate for president of the United States in 1952 and 1956. He was a fine man and would have been president if he had not been running against a very popular opponent, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In speaking to an American Legion Convention, Stevenson gave a wise statement about patriotism. He said that what we need “is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime” (speech given Aug. 27, 1952, quoted in John Bartlett, comp., Familiar Quotations, 13th ed. [1955], 986). I like that—“not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” I will use this description of patriotism as a formula for how we should live the gospel.

Read the talk here or download the pdf.


Tranquil and steady. That sounds like "mundane" to me. It's in the everyday that we shape our character. Mr Incredible learned it, now it's Mr Not-so-Incredible's turn.


11/3/07

Inkscape and me

Well, here's my first real attempt at vector graphics. I've been using AI at work for fliers and such, so my taste for vector graphics has improved as I learn more about it. I'm using Inkscape at home, a free vector graphics-based program which has proven to be very cool. I will become a master at this, some day. For now, I must be satisfied with mediocrity.


10/30/07

VDict - and other Online Vietnamese Dictionary Resources


Well, I should be asleep right now but I've run into a very cool internet dictionary tool. I've been a faithful follower of Hồ Ngọc Đức for the last several years and still use his dictionary on a daily basis because of its ease of use. He gives me the option to search different dictionaries at the same time, which saves me a lot of time when I'm translating and proofing at work. Thanks Mr Đức!
I occasionally cruise through the list of online Vietnamese to English dictionaries, and have come across some interesting ones (to see a list I compiled last year of my top dictionary resources plus other interesting sites relating to Vietnam, please see my wedding website) but nothing to compare to Mr Đức's work. I do remember coming across VDict a while back, which claimed to be the best dictionary online and had hopes of becoming a whole community based on internet dictionary lookup for Vietnamese. It sounded nice, but the site looked far from it. Until now.
VDict has become a high-functioning Vietnamese-English (and French and Chinesedictionary tool that has several nice "tiện nghi" that come in handy. Though it does not implement multiple dictionary lookup, it does support searching for the term in the definition, which I have yearned for with my current online dictionary. It also allows exact, broad or fuzzy lookup, as well as providing IE and Firefox toolbar and search plugins. It claims to have the "one and only free translating service" which works well for titles and occupations but has problems with phrases (just try "reading log"). But my favorite part is the forums.
The community they have built is great fun. It consists of just over 2000 members who are constantly volleying different Vietnamese and English phrases to see who can come up with the best translation. I've posted a few things and it's great to converse with people who are as interested in the mundane aspects of language as I am (but not too technical because I get lost in linguistics). Unfortunately, as I've seen with other Vietnamese language forums, there are several posts where non-Vietnamese-speaking men are requesting a translation of the text message or email they received from a Vietnamese woman. Or they want to translate their message into Vietnamese. I don't like that, but I try to keep my mouth shut. Or at least my hands off the keyboard.
Lastly, the great folks over at VDict have opened their script up for webmasters to integrate the dictionary into a webpage. Like right now, did you know that if you double-click any of the words on this page (besides the links) that a definition will popup? How about if you select a multiple-word phrase and press Ctrl+Shift+A (try tiện nghi)? They have done a great job at debugging this tool and I think it's so great that I've added it to my website. So from now on, xanghe.blogspot.com will have a built-in dictionary (both Viet-En and En-Viet), including an actual dictionary input box where you can type in your word like a regular dictionary (on the right-hand side). This probably won't turn out to be incredibly useful, but it was way too cool to pass up.
Good nite all

UPDATE:
I posted a question about east and west in the VDict forum and I had a good discussion about how to translate it, but it ended with such a funny post that I had to share it here. I was basically told that I'm a bit confused with all my examples so here's a diagram, drawn by one of the
discussion members, to "làm sáng tỏ mọi thứ."
It ended with "Happy Halloween!"


10/27/07

Weather cools but we won't forget



As with all big news, the tantalizing reporting starts to wain within a week or so. The newspaper articles have gone from terrifying stories of generations-old ranches burning to the ground to mundane stories of school kids missing homecoming because of the fires. At the same time, the harsh, surreal heat of the Santa Ana winds has died down to nothing, and even as I type I hear raindrops pattering on our porch. Here in my kitchen things seem pretty cozy, and the memory of a raging wildfire seems like yesterday's news.

But it's not. Even though the predictions are aiming at Tuesday for full containment of the fire, the lives of those involved have been burned to the ground as well. I've heard a lot of hush hush talk about those rich people shouldn't be living on the hillside in a place like this and other types of complaints. I don't feel that's the emphasis at this point, maybe we should focus on the people who started the fire and why.

As an asthmatic, I'm feeling the repercussions of the fire. Every morning still smells like smoke and my lungs have been constricted for the last few days. It's a small price compared to what others are going through, but it just reminds me that this is not over yet and there is a very human aspect in this disaster that lies deeper than the reports can show.

images courtesy of:
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=223&Itemid=2
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/nasas-latest-fi.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ocfires27oct27,1,7868980.story?track=rss


travel log
  • 02.13.08 - to the temple with Luan and his mom, good to be back
  • 02.14.08 - Mẫu's alive! and staying for the weekend
  • 02.15.08 - floor hockey and Thái food makes for some strange dreams
  • 02.17.08 - frisbee and swamp monster at the park: fun but I'm pooped!
  • 02.19.08 - just read Triết's response to my last post - game on!
  • 02.20.08 - raining and expected to continue through Sunday - thank goodness!
  • 02.21.08 - 3-hour nap is a bad idea right before bed
  • 02.23.08 - to the beach to watch kites, a baptism @ 5pm, and homemade bulgogi - what a day!
  • 02.25.08 - just gave myself a haircut - woo, cold head!
  • 02.26.08 - 75° and spring cleaning - couldn't feel better
  • 02.27.08 - fed the elders bún đậu tonight - think it's their first time
  • 03.01.08 - working on new background...
  • 03.02.08 - finalized javascript to change background without muffing up my other scripts
  • 03.03.08 - fhe: "In his strength I can do all things" (Alma 26:12)
  • 03.07.08 - some decisions are harder than others, but some are downright excruciating
  • 03.08.08 - there is life after work... i almost forgot
  • 03.11.08 - the distance between good and bad is much shorter than between better and best
  • 03.12.08 - conversion is sometimes a gradual process, so much so that we don't even notice
  • 03.14.08 - for some reason everything was a little harder today, looking forward for bed!
  • 03.15.08 - last night after blog reading, I missed OnlyBlue, today I find she's back
  • 03.16.08 - best day of my life!
  • 03.19.08 - "Pray for the answer that they've been looking for"
release notes v1.0 - FINALLY DONE!
  • 12.07 - first thought of starting a new blog
  • 01.08 - busy with election stuff but blog design still on back burner
  • 01.13.08 - first idea to imitate jk rowling with the "desk" theme
  • 01.28.08 - start sketching current design, breaking down development into phases
  • 02.02.08 - election only days away but still drafting final plans
  • 02.04.08 - v0.6 LAUNCH
    • main components (blog body, sidebar, header, etc) designed and implemented
    • styling for font, links, drop caps, etc. finished
  • 02.07.08 - v0.8 LAUNCH
    • image style to imitate polariod
    • moveability - post-it notes and static clings can be repositioned by drag and drop
    • release notes styled and written
  • 02.16.08 - travel log (beta) added in hopes of catching the mundane
  • 02.22.08 - lightbox 2.03 reinstalled and working fine (hopefully - let me know otherwise)
  • 02.26.08 - v0.9 LAUNCH
    • travel log seems to be working, so I'll keep it
    • lightbox also seems to have passed the test, so it's a keeper
    • some credits/info added to bottom (will expand)
    • keeping old Viet terms in archive for future viewing
  • 03.18.08 - v1.0 LAUNCH
    • installation and testing of time-sensitive background completed (for now)