Allegedly the worst is behind us.
Still, we crouch before the lip of tomorrow,
Halting like a headless hant in our own house,
Waiting to remember exactly
What it is we’re supposed to be doing.

& what exactly are we supposed to be doing?
Penning a letter to the world as a daughter of it.
We are writing with vanishing meaning,
Our words water dragging down a windshield.
The poet’s diagnosis is that what we have lived
Has already warped itself into a fever dream,
The contours of its shape stripped from the murky mind.

To be accountable we must render an account:
Not what was said, but what was meant.
Not the fact, but what was felt.
What was known, even while unnamed.
Our greatest test will be
Our testimony.
This book is a message in a bottle.
This book is a letter.
This book does not let up.
This book is awake.
This book is a wake.
For what is a record but a reckoning?
The capsule captured?
A repository.
An ark articulated?
& the poet, the preserver
Of ghosts & gains,
Our demons & dreams,
Our haunts & hopes.
Here’s to the preservation
Of a light so terrible.

Amanda Gorman

My father was a builder. When I was a kid, he took me on the roads to watch him built houses, temples, and theaters with his crew. In his tribute wordmark, Hồ Hữu Tỷ (his name) fit together like a building block. I love the way squares and circles are built together to make up Megazoid, designed by David Jonathan Ross.

Last night, my wife broke the chain when she tried to turn off the ceiling fan. We bought a new switch at Lowe’s for about $7. The replacement process takes 10 to 15 minutes. We use these fans in our bedrooms a lot because our second floor is always hot. Our AC unit doesn’t work too well. I am not sure how long we can ride it out before we have to spend about $15k. I just don’t want to think about it. Being a homeowner comes with too many responsibilities and I have very little skills to fix them. Oh well!

As I was debating whether I should spent over $50K to buy a new Toyota Sienna or fixing our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE, I chose the latter. This time I chose the Auto Team in Manassas. One of the co-owners is a friend’s uncle. Even though it was my first time, I could trust him. He’s an honest mechanic. He replaced the front struts and sway bar links.

Parts

• Struts: $190 (2x)
• Sway bar links: $48 (2x)

Labors: $400

Total with discounts: $850

The AC is still not working. The sliding doors are still not fixed. Nevertheless, I can still use in in the winter to drive to Whitetail for work.

I still rollerbladed as much as I could. I hadn’t picked up any new skills. I skated for about half an hour at the skatepark and spent another 30 minutes on the basketball court simulate ski carving on my big-wheel rollerblade.

I played volleyball with other scout dads every Wednesday night. Three weeks ago, I hurt my right thumb and it hasn’t fully covered. I need to learn how to avoid finger injuries.

I also picked out a bit of pickleball. It seems like my wife enjoys pickleball as well so we can play together. I want to get the kids to give it a try as well. We’ll see.

Then again, I still can’t wait for the winter to come so I can ski and snowboard. These are still my favorite sports. They are even better when I get to do them for free. I hope the weather will stay cold and pray the snow god as well.

Yesterday, I decided to rework and refine the wordmark for Scalia Law’s Career & Academic Services. It is set in Acumin Variable, designed by Robert Slimbach, to give give a nice and balanced text block. The colors came from Scalia Law’s branding.

I cancelled Netflix. I only subscribed to Netflix so I could watch season two of Squid Game, but I kept it until season three released. I would have kept Netflix if my family were streaming it. Only Xuân watched Cobra Kai. After he finished all of the series, he stopped streaming. I don’t have much time to watch either. Netflix is overwhelming with content, and yet I just don’t know what to watch. I enjoyed stand-up comedy, but it didn’t have that many new specials. I watched a few episodes of Sex and the City and they were enough for me.

In a way, I enjoy reading more than watching. I have been wanting to subscribe to the New Yorker, my favorite magazine, but I am still holding off. I am just not sure if I want to read articles or just focus on reading books. I don’t have time to read everything and if I were to subscribe to the New Yorker, I would want to read everything.

I subscribed to the New Yorker a few years ago and the paper magazines were piling up in my home. I felt guilty for not be able to read them all. Maybe I just subscribe to the digital version. I do want to support the New Yorker.

Took three minutes voted for James Walkinshaw. He’s a Democrat. I can’t vote for any Republicans because they only work for one man instead of this country. So fuck them.

In the construction
of the chest, there is
a heart.

A boat
upon its blood
floats past

and round or down
the stream of life,
the plummeting veins

permit its passage
to admit no gains,
no looking back.

One steps aboard,
one’s off.
The ticket taker

signs the time allotted.
Seated, amorphous persons
see no scenery

but feel
a chill about their knees
and hear a fading cry

as all the many sides of life
whiz by,
a blast at best, a loss

of individual impressions.
Still I sit
with you inside me too—

and us,
the couple thus encoupled,
ride on into the sweetening dark.

Robert Creeley

Last night, the second automatic sliding door from our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE broke. The first one broke about six months ago, but I hadn’t fixed it. One auto shop quoted about $2,000 to replace. That would cost $4,000 for both. Obviously, I am not going to replace them. I have no problem with using the manual sliding doors. My only concern is that the kids my get their fingers jam or their face smashed since the doors would slide very fast with the cables to hold them.

In addition, the back lift gate has no hydraulic. It keeps falling down and hit my head. The interiors are falling apart. The shock front driver side is gone. The steering post makes clicking noise every time I made a turn. The AC is out. The milage is about 210,000 miles. The only thing that still works well is the engine—for now.

Since I will be driving an hour and a half each Saturday and Sunday this winter to work, I will need a reliable car. I am not sure if it is worth it to fix the issues and keep it or buy a brand new Sienna. The price tag for 2025 hybrid Sienna XLE is around $50,000. I don’t want to spend that much money on a car. I want to see how much it will cost to fix the shock and the steering post. If it costs too much then I might need to get a new car.

First world problem, I know. Nevertheless, I still hate owning a car, but I need it.