For 2010, I don't have any resolutions, but just goals that I'm continuing to work on. One of them that I have started in 2009 was to have Monday as my creative/learning day. As a designer, you have to keep on learning and staying on the creative edge to further develop your skills. For the longest time I felt stagnant. I was only doing some creative things at work, however I wasn't expanding my skills or creativity at all.
So I try to take every Monday as my learning or creative day. I have to either learn something new on Lynda.com, try out a new tutorial, or work on something creative. This goal ties into another goal seamlessly, which is to create a family documentary.
I find my family amazing. I just believe they are incredibly strong for being where they are today. Coming from a war-torn country, escaping Vietnam, knowing no english, facing cultural barriers, and somehow making it all work here in the United States. When I face tough times, it gives me strength just thinking about what my family had to go through.
I always found the stories of their childhood and their escape from Vietnam so fascinating that I wanted to document it. So I finally decided to work on a family documentary. I'm not sure where the project is going to go, if it will become big, or if I even want it to become big. I just want it for our personal records so that future generations will understand how our family got here in the US.
Over Christmas break, I was able to do some interviews with my parents and grandma, but still need to work on it more. When I first tried to interview my grandma, she actually freaked out a bit. She thought I was about to interrogate her haha. I actually had to hide the camera so she wouldn't see it. I feel confident that she'll be better about it next time though.
Anyways, here's a short clip that I found humorous from my dad. I wish that everyone could understand Vietnamese, because the emotions and thoughts can often be lost in translation. And if you guys know my dad, he tends to be hilarious! This is about his first American meal, Salanga!
"Salagna" My dad's first american meal from Thomas Nguyen on Vimeo.
My brother asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year (I guess I should say last year?) and all I asked for was a bible. It's another one of my goals to say that I actually have read it fully. I read parts of it of course during Sunday school growing up. However, I don't think as a kid, I could completely comprehend everything. I have no clue when I'll finish, but it's on my goal list for this year along with trying to attend church more regularly. Wish me luck!