“It took your momma nine months to make it / But it only took an ICE agent thirty seconds to take it.”

I changed the second bar a bit, but if you recognize the lyrics, you know the reference. I can’t remember the exact date, but the first time I heard “Wheelz of Steel” I was hooked on the steel-scratching production. It was one of the wildest, coolest hip-hop beats I heard at the time.

In the late 90s, I was introduced to ATliens by Anh Thanh, my buddy’s older brother. Even though I was friends with Tùng, Anh Thanh and I bonded over music. Anh Thanh was working at the time; therefore, he could afford to buy Vietnamese and hip-hop CDs. He was very generous. He always loaned me his latest acquisitions. When he handed me ATliens, I didn’t even know about OutKast. From the album cover alone, ATliens was out of this world.

Right from the intro of “Two Dope Boyz (In a Cadillac)” is a greeting from an alien. The beat was pumping and the flows were just eccentric. I must admit. I did not understand what Big Boi and André 3000 were saying. Nevertheless, I loved the hook on “Elevators (Me & U)”: “Me and you / Your momma and your cousin, too / Rolling down the strip on Vogues / Coming up, slamming Cadillac doors.”

Many years later when my English improved I realized that both Big Boi and André 3000 were lyricists. For example, I am just going to quote the entire second verse off “Babylon,” in which André 3000 waxes his storytelling:

I’m fascinated by the way your nipples peek at me through your blouse
Freaky me, freaky you, can’t help but be aroused
’Scuse me, Lord, lustful thinkin’, but that was the way we was brought up
Sneakin’ to watch ‘Playboy’ at night
We all must be caught up in worldly ways
Chemistry between boys and girls
Is a lot, like when we went to the woods and laid with the squirrels
During P.E., we’d be–explorin’ each others privates
Hunchin’ with all our clothes on until we felt excited, then… (Ah)
Oh, now it’s on from here on out
Put yo’ hands in the atmosphere, if you know what I’m talkin’ about
Now if too harsh then walk on out and I’ll see you on the next song
They call it horny because it’s devilish, now, see, we dead wrong.

I was blasting “ATliens” on my way to work. It brought back so many memories. I just couldn’t believe the album was released 30 years ago. Time is just fucking flying by. I hope Anh Thanh is doing well!

Last week, I took Xuân and Vương to Liberty after work and school for an evening of skiing and snowboarding. We went straight to the back side. Vương only skied the blues. Xuân and I would take turns accompanying Vương on the blues or riding the double blacks solo. It worked out well. We always regrouped at the back lift (Strata Quad).

Around 6 pm, I skied down the double-black Upper Ultra and regrouped with Xuân and Vương at the top of the blue Lower Ultra. A teenager skied by and fell. One of his skis popped off. I told Xuân to go help him out. He snowboarded down and grabbed the pop-off ski. As Xuân was standing on his snowboard, another teenager jumped in from the side of the terrain and hit Xuân on his back near his hip. I was horrified. I told the kid, “Dude, you gotta watch where you’re going.” He came over and apologized, “I am sorry, I did not see him.” He asked Xuân, “Are you OK?” Xuân nodded his head. I checked with Xuân again to make sure he was OK. I told the kid, “Take it easy, especially at the blind spots.”

I could not read Xuân. I didn’t know if he didn’t get hurt or if he tried to cover up his pain. I took my boys back to the lodge so I could see if he had a bruise. It was just a bit red. I put ice on the impact area. I didn’t want to go back out to the slopes. We went to a crab house for dinner instead.

I felt horrible about the incident. I wanted to teach Xuân about helping out others and I put him in a dangerous spot. Nowadays, whether I was skiing or snowboarding, I had to look back to the mountain to make sure I was not in anyone’s way. This season, I got hit from the back several times by both skiers and snowboarders. Luckily, I had not been in any serious injuries. Nevertheless, the more I am on the slopes the more chances of me getting hit.

This morning, I taught two sisters: an eleven- and twelve-year-old. Their mother informed me that they learned snowboarding two weeks ago and would like to take their skills further. Even though they had a lesson before, I went over the safety of falling (folding their arms against their chest). I reviewed skating on one foot, which they did well. I took them on the chairlift. We unloaded safely without falling.

I reviewed sliding on their toe and heel edges. They did well. Half way down the bunny slope, I explained the torsional twist and demonstrated the J turns. The twelve-year-old did OK. The eleven-year-old struggled a bit. She fell a couple of times. When the board was moving fast, she leaned back. The board took off. She fell and hit her palm on ice. We were 40 minutes into the lesson and she was hurt. I took her into the clinic. Her sister accompanied her instead of continuing the lesson. We notified their mother.

When their mother arrived, the twelve-year-old wanted to continue her lesson. Her mom tagged along. We took the chairlift up together. I once again reminded her the importance of folding her arms to her chest when she had to fall. Once again, we worked on her J turns. I demonstrated the importance of putting the pressure on the front foot and initiating the turns. She made her toe turn, but she let go of the pressure. The board caught an edge on the flat ground. She fell backward and her body was on her arm. I asked her if she was OK. She said no and started to cry to her mom. Her mom tried to comfort her and tried to take off her glove, but she was in pain. She might have broken her wrist. I called the ski patrol to help take her down to the clinic.

Since we were in the dedicated learning area, which was pretty flat, I did not put them at risk. Nevertheless, they were still my responsibility. I apologized to their mom, but she insisted it was not my fault. I followed them into the clinic to file the reports. My supervisor told me, “Things happened. Don’t beat yourself up.” I told the girls I was sorry and they both said, “No, it was not your fault.” Another family member said to me, “These do not reflect you in any way.”

I had taught countless snowboarding lessons and these were the first double injuries. I felt really bad. I have to rethink safety issues when teaching snowboarding. I will re-emphasize and repeat the importance of folding arms to the chest. When I learned to snowboard, I injured my thumb. When I stepped on the moving belt, I lost my balance and landed my hand into the belt assembly. At that moment, I thought I might have lost some fingers. Luckily, I only jammed my thumb. It took six months for the pain to go away. When I skated on one foot, the board went too fast. I didn’t know how to stop; therefore, I made myself fall to stop. The board slid on and I almost twisted my ankle. Fortunately, my foot was just in a weird position.

Is the risk of injury for learning to snowboard worth it? I thought so prior to these incidents. Now, I am not so sure!

The kids are off school this week because of the snow storm and student holidays. Then we had a few changes in plans. At the last minute, I decided to take my boys to Seven Springs. My wife had work to do.

I booked a hotel room at Seven Springs right by the main lift for a good deal through my work discount—one of the perks as a Vail employee. After I wrapped my work on Wednesday at 4:00 pm, we headed to Seven Springs. As we were about an hour away from our destination, the road was pitch black. The temperature dropped to zero Fahrenheit. Even though the roads were plowed, it was still a pretty scary drive. I need to remind myself not to drive to Seven Springs at night again.

Thursday morning, the temperature was still freezing, but the conditions were great. We divided up. Đạo went solo. Đán went with Xuân. I went with Vương. The big kids went to the north side for the black terrains. Vương and I ventured on the greens and blues. I tested Vương, “Do you want to go to the blacks?” He responded, “No, mommy’s going to yell at you.” He went on and asked, “Do you want to hear a woman yelling at you?” I smiled and replied, “No, I do not.” I liked his honesty.

At 11:00 am, Vương said he was cold and wanted to go in. Đạo was also cold so I let him keep an eye on Vương at the lodge. I went solo on the back side getting my snowboard carving on. At noon, I joined my boys for lunch. They had orange chicken and General Tso’s chicken. I had three boiled eggs my wife prepared and some Alizé.

I took Xuân and Vương to the south side. Xuân went on the black and double-black terrains and I went with Vương on the long green. Then Xuân and I switched. At around 3 pm, the temperature dropped. Vương and Xuân wanted to go back into the hotel room. I gave them some hot coco while I had a few shots of whiskey. Đán went back to the hotel. I told him to look after his younger brothers. I went back to the north side. With the whiskey kicked in, I let my feet do the work. Separating your head from your feet can make you somewhat fearless. At 5:00 pm, I was exhausted. It was time to call it a day.

I took a shower and took the kids to get some pizza. At around 7:00 pm, Đạo decided to go back out. Xuân also wanted to tag along, but Đạo didn’t want to take him. Well, if Đạo was not going to take Xuân then I would. Xuân switched to snowboarding and I switched to skiing. It was freezing and amazing at the same time skiing and riding at night. Like father like son, Xuân is now versatile on both skiing and snowboarding. We went back in around 8:40 pm.

I am so glad that I made this trip to bond with my boys. Getting Đán away from home and his PC was worthwhile. We’ll check out of the hotel tomorrow, but we’ll ski and snowboard until noon. I need to get some rest before heading back to Whitetail for my weekend job.

Mỗi năm đến ngày khám sức khỏe định kỳ lòng man mác rầu. Vô gặp bà bác sĩ hỏi câu xã giao, “Anh khoẻ không”? Tôi trả lời, “Dạ chưa biết. Đợi bác sĩ cho biết”. Bác sĩ cười và hỏi tiếp, “Anh còn uống rượu bia không”? Tôi trả lời, “Dạ vẫn uống chút chút”. Bác sĩ nói tiếp, “Bây giờ thống kê cho biết uống rượu chút cũng không tốt. Anh nên bỏ đi”. Tôi trả lời, “Dạ tôi mà bỏ rượu, tôi bị căng thẳng càng chết sớm”. Bác sĩ nói, “Một tuần anh uống một hoặc hai lần thôi”. Tôi đáp, “Dạ, mỗi tuần tôi chỉ nhậu với bạn bè một lần. Thỉnh thoảng hai hoặc ba tuần mới nhậu một lần. Mỗi lần nhậu mấy chai whiskey”. Bác sĩ lắc đầu.

Bác sĩ đổi đề tài, “Anh còn dạy trượt ván không”? Tôi đáp, “Dạ vẫn còn. Mỗi tuần tôi trượt ít nhất là hai ngày. Có lúc đi cả tuần”. Bác sĩ tiếp, “Ngày xưa tôi cũng dạy cho con gái tôi trượt tuyết (ski).” Tôi mỉm cười, “Bác sĩ biết ski rồi thì tập trượt ván đi. Tôi dại miễn phí cho bác sĩ”. Bác sĩ cười trả lời, “Cám ơn anh, nhưng tôi không muốn mạo hiểm”.

Bà hỏi tiếp, “Vậy hết mùa đông, anh tập thể thao thế nào”? Tôi trả lời, “Thì tôi trượt patin và đánh bóng chuyền. Gần đây tôi cũng bắt đầu chơi pickleball”. Bác sĩ nói, “Môn pickleball tranh đua giữ lắm”. Tôi hỏi lại bác sĩ, “Bác sĩ cũng chơi pickleball hả”? Bác sĩ đáp, “Không vì không đủ cường độ. Hơn nữa không đáng để tôi mạo hiểm trẹo chân”. Tôi hỏi tiếp, “Vậy bác sĩ tập thể dục ra sao”? Bác sĩ trả lời, “Tôi tập luyện cường độ cao”. Tôi cười đùa, “Bác sĩ tập tạ hèn chi tướng tá vẫn ngon lành”. Bác sĩ khuyên, “Anh thử tập tạ đi rất tốt cho sức khỏe nhất là khi mình có tuổi”. Tôi đùa, “Bác sĩ chịu tập cho tôi thì tôi tập ngay”.

Tới phần kết quả thử máu và nước tiểu. Bác sĩ cho biết “Uric acid của anh ở 5 điểm.” Nhờ thuốc Allopurinol. Bác sĩ nói tiếp, “Nhưng LDL của anh đến 140. Anh cần phải xuống dưới 100”. Tôi không mấy ngạc nhiên vì tôi có thói xấu ăn uống mà vẫn chưa kiềm chế được. Cứ tưởng vận động nhiều nên không kiêng ăn đồ chiên đồ mỡ. Bây giờ bác sĩ bắt uống Rosuvastatin.

Bác sĩ nhắc nhở tôi đi nội soi đại tràng mấy năm nay rồi tôi vẫn chưa chịu lấy hẹn. Năm nay bác sĩ nhắc tiếp. Bác sĩ hỏi tôi còn dùng CPAP không, tôi trả lời đã ngưng lâu rồi. Bác sĩ nói thôi dùng qua APAP đi. Bảo hiểm chịu trả thì tôi chịu thử.

Càng ngày càng sống với thuốc men và lệ thuộc vào máy móc. Giờ đây mỗi buổi sáng phải có một viên vitamin, một viên trị gout, và một viên giảm chất béo.Buổi tối đi ngủ cũng phải dùng máy để thở. Chưa đến 50 mà đã sắp rụng rơi rồi.

Việt Thanh Nguyễn has been condemned as ill-educated for his anti-ICE protest sign: “Đụ Má. Đụ Đá.” I am not going to defend his use of Vietnamese, but his writing in English is insightful and powerful. Being stuck in the snowstorm, I hunkered down to finish reading To Save and to Destroy. In six essays for the Norton Lectures, Việt Thanh Nguyễn delves into his own self-exploitation and self-exploration, in which he claims, “Both are crucial to the act of writing, which I think always involves a confrontation with one’s self, even if one writes about others.”

In his essays, he explores the nuances of the term “Asian American” in a profound way that I hadn’t thought of before. I thought about the following passage quite a bit as he rightly points out:

Here as elsewhere, we foreground our success stories, which are inextricable from our sob stories. We are valedictorians, salutatorians, celebrities, influencers, actors, chefs, politicians, writers. We are your doctors, radiologists, internists, optometrists, dentists, pharmacists, nurses. We take your blood pressure, give you injections, empty your bedpans. We look into each and every part of you. We tutor you in math and play your classical music. We kneel at your feet to do your pedicures. We dry-clean your clothes. We introduced you to acupuncture and yoga and martial arts, but we have been so successful in these endeavors that we probably no longer teach you yoga or martial arts, since you like to teach them yourselves. We gave you an incredible array of spices, flavors, and dishes without which your lives, diets, and palates would be much blander. We design your microchips and program your code. We become the objects of your fantasies and desires. We smile and reassure you. We serve as your excuses to end affirmative action. We are your friendly competition. Until we are too much competition.

Now that is quite an assessment of Asian Americans and I am glad that he’s writing as the voices of others: “Among my kind is the Vietnamese, the Asian, the minoritized, the racialized, the colonized, the hybrid, the hyphenated, the refugee, the displaced, the artist, the writer, the smart ass, the bastard, the sympathizer, and the committed.”

In addition to being a writer, Việt Thanh Nguyễn is a prolific reader. He reveals:

…I set out to educate myself in my adolescence by reading Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, Dumas, Twain, Hardy, the Brontës, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Steinbeck, among many others who needed no first names. Reading everything from the minor to the major entertained and enlightened me, not just illuminating my mind but rendering me weightless, making me easy to transport, as if fired by a rocket, into distant worlds.

Those who called Việt Thanh Nguyễn “mất dạy” should read this book. I am glad that he speaks his mind for himself or others since he has the platform as a writer in the world of literature.

I just gave my professional site a typographic update for 2026.

For a while, I had been wanting to use the NaN Holo family, designed by Luke Prowse, Jean-Baptiste Morizot, and Fátima Lázaro, but I couldn’t find the right fit. I particularly love NaN Holo Mono, but it is a challenge to set as body text. As I was making some minor updates on my own site, donnytruong.com, I decided to just go for it.

Monospaced typefaces were designed for coding, but I wanted to try them for body copy and my site was the perfect place to experiment. After messing around with NaN Holo Mono, I started to like the way it reads as paragraph text.

For large headings, however, the black mono weight took up way too much space; therefore, I went with the compressed black weight and it swells.

The NaN Holo family doesn’t come with italics. I use small caps for emphasis instead. In addition, I had always wanted to style my links with underlined small caps so I went ahead and implemented it.

On the homepage, I removed my photo. It is definitely personable to have a photo on a professional site, but I don’t have any good ones of myself.

I hope you enjoy the new change. Check out donnytruong.com.

Từ mùa đông năm trước đến nay, tôi đã dạy tư trượt ván trên tuyết khoảng cả chục thằng từ 4 đến 8 tuổi. Chưa dạy đứa cháu gái nào cả. Hơn nữa, chỉ dạy tư cho con Mỹ trắng, mà không có Á châu hoặc da màu. Theo tôi nghĩ thì chỉ có Mỹ trắng mới chịu bỏ ra gần $500 để cho mỗi đứa con của họ học riêng. Tuy họ cũng biết trượt nhưng họ chịu đầu tư cho huấn luyện viên dạy. Tôi cũng dạy cho vài đứa trẻ Việt con của bạn bè và người thân. Tôi chứng kiến được tư cách giữa hai bên khác nhau nên viết lại những gì tôi thấy để rút kinh nghiệm.

Với con Mỹ trắng, tụi nhỏ rất tự lập và kiên trì. Có lần tôi dạy thằng nhóc 4 tuổi. Nó tự vác chiếc ván và tự mình xỏ giày vào bindings. Chỉ có lúc găng tay bị tuyết không xỏ vào được và đôi tay lạnh cúm nó mới nhờ tôi giúp dùm. Tôi nói gì nó nghe nhưng làm theo thì hên xui. Nó trượt té. Khỏi cần tôi hỏi nó tự nói, “Tôi không sao cả”. Tôi cười nói, “Không sao là tốt rồi. Đứng lên trượt tiếp đi cậu”. Thế là nó tự đứng lên trượt tiếp. Cha mẹ nó đứng đằng xa theo dõi. Không biết có xót ruột hay không nhưng cuối giờ học ông ba nhét cho tôi tờ $50 và khen tôi dạy tuyệt vời. Tôi cảm ơn ông và nói, “Không, ông mới là người dạy con tuyệt vời. Nó mới 4 tuổi mà chịu khó và kiên trì hơn 2 tiếng đồng hồ”. Ông khiêm tốn trả lời, “Nó có hai thằng anh lớn nên nó rất cứng rắn”.

Có lần tôi dạy thằng bé 7 tuổi cũng Mỹ trắng. Trượt té lên té xuống nên nó dường nhưng muốn bỏ cuộc. Tôi nói với nó, “Cậu trượt rất khá nhưng môn thể thao này không dễ. Ba mẹ của cậu đã bỏ ra rất nhiều tiền để tôi dạy cậu. Cậu phải cố gắng lên”. Nó cũng lắng nghe. Tôi nói với nó, “Cũng tới giờ giải lao, chúng ta vào trong, ăn snacks, uống miếng nước, rồi trượt tiếp”. Sau khi ăn uống xong, tôi định đi bỏ rác sẵn bỏ luôn cho nó nhưng tôi dừng lại chờ xem nó sẽ làm gì. Nó ăn uống xong, tự động đi đổ rác, đi nhà vệ sinh, rửa tay, rồi nói với tôi, “Tôi đã sẵn sàng trượt tiếp”.

Khi dạy con Việt Nam, ván nó nhờ tôi vác và giày nhờ tôi xỏ. Dĩ nhiên là tôi chỉ hướng dẫn bọn nó thôi và bảo nó phải tự làm lấy. Lỡ có chuyện gì xảy ra thì tụi nó tự tháo giày ra được. Theo như tôi đã từng chứng kiến, con Việt ở nhà mọi chuyện là do cha mẹ làm hết từ A đến Z. Ăn cũng có ba mẹ dọn sẵn lên bàn. Ăn xong cũng có ba mẹ dọn dẹp. Thậm chí có đứa được ba mẹ đút từng muỗng. Còn có đứa không chịu ăn hết, mẹ đẩy đồ thừa cho ba ăn. Đi trượt tuyết cũng có ba mẹ bận đồ mang giày cho. Được ba mẹ chăm bẵm từng li từng tí nên bọn nhỏ thiếu sự tự lập và thiếu luôn sự tự tin. Chưa trượt đã nói, “Tôi không thể làm được”. Tôi nói, “Cậu chưa thử đã nói không làm được”. Khi trượt té thì muốn bỏ cuộc không có kiên nhẫn để tiếp tục.

Riêng cá nhân tôi cũng không chiều chuộng con cái. Không phải tôi không thương con hoặc tôi lười biếng không muốn làm mọi thứ cho con. Tôi muốn bọn nó tự giác một tí không phải mỗi chuyện lớn nhỏ mình phải làm cho nó. Chính bản thân tôi ngày xưa cũng được mẹ quá nuông chiều. Ăn uống có mẹ lo chu đáo không cần phải biết làm gì. Khi mới nhận được việc làm xa phải mướn chỗ ở riêng, tôi không biết nấu nồi cơm điện và không biết chiên trứng ra sao. Tôi không muốn bọn nhỏ thiếu những kỹ năng căn bản trong cuộc sống như tôi khi bọn nó tự sống riêng.

Giờ đây không cần phải đợi sau này ra đời rồi tụi nó mới biết khổ khi không có cha mẹ làm cho. Chỉ cần cho bọn nó học trượt ván trên tuyết là biết ngay.

Thật vui và cảm động khi đọc bài viết của cháu Nguyễn Nhựt Trường với tựa đề, “Chú Donny có một trang web xịn!”

Lúc tung ra phiên bản thứ hai của luận án Vietnamese Typography, tôi mới thêm vào phần mẫu (samples) để những nhà thiết kế chữ có thể thấy chữ Việt được sắp xếp ra sao.

Lúc đầu tôi chỉ thiết kế chừng vài mẫu thôi nhưng càng lúc tôi càng cảm hứng làm thêm nhiều trang khác nhau. Như lời cháu viết, tôi không chỉ muốn “tôn vinh” chữ Việt mà còn muốn tôn vinh văn hóa và văn học Việt.

Tôi không nghĩ nhiều người xem nên chỉ âm thầm thiết kế để thỏa mãn chính mình. Khi nhận được tin nhắn động viên của Nhựt Trường, tôi cảm nhận được rằng cháu hiểu được mục đích của tôi từ bấy lâu nay. Tôi cảm ơn cháu.

I am a skiaholic. Damn right, I just coined a new word and I am not ashamed to admit that I am a skiaholic. This season, I already spent 27 days skiing, snowboarding, and teaching. I think about that white powder all the time. I don’t want to hit it. I just want to shred it.

As a skiaholic, I always try to get my fix. Waiting for the weekends to come is getting way too long. I need to get on the slopes more often. Liberty resort is closest to my house and its hours of operation are the longest. On Monday to Wednesday, Liberty opens until 8:00 pm. On Thursday, it opens until 9:00 pm. I have been tempted to hit the slopes after work even just for a few hours, but I also have responsibilities and obligations at home.

I didn’t mind skiing or snowboarding alone, but I would feel guilty without my family. Unfortunately, my wife isn’t into skiing. Fortunately, three out of my four boys still enjoy skiing and snowboarding. Spending time with them on the slopes had been my most-treasured moments.

Being a skiaholic is a good thing. It is definitely better than being an alcoholic. In fact, I have been giving up drinking to prevent getting gout. If I got a flare up, I would be out of commission for two to three weeks. I couldn’t take that risk.

Being a skiaholic is good for my physical health. I am out in the cold moving for hours. My body is getting used to the cold. I don’t get sick. I feel stronger. Being a skiaholic is also great for my mental health. Because I am so focused on skiing and snowboarding, I don’t pay attention to all the negativities around me.

Before ski season began, I was miserable. I was carrying loads of personal issues. I couldn’t control my own emotions. My wife sat me down and told me that I needed therapy. I agreed. I was a mess and I would seek out a therapist. On second thought, why would I pay a stranger to hear me vent about my personal issues? I could do that on my blog for free. I also knew that once ski season started, I would be just fine.

Taking on the seasonal job as a Ski & Ride instructor allows me to be more social. I talk to many guests. I interact with a group of passionate ski and snowboard instructors. Even when I was not working, I was skiing, snowboarding, and talking to strangers on the chairlift. All I had to ask was, “How is your day?” Then we would kick off a 5-minute conversation or not. Some people don’t like to talk and I respect that.

Being a skiaholic definitely improves my quality of life. And the best part of being a skiaholic is almost free. There’s nothing to whine or complain about being a skiaholic. I am going to say it proud and loud: “I am a fucking skiaholic.”