I learned about Jelly Roll Morton in a jazz history class that I audited at Vassar College. I knew that he had excellent piano skills, particular his striking rendition off “Maple Leaf Rag.” I didn’t know, however, he was a blues singer with raunchy lyrics. In Jelly Roll Blues, Elijah Wald discovered Morton’s censored songs through recordings of interviews with John A. Lomax. These records are available in the Library of Congress. “The Dirty Dozen” is an example Morton had performed:

Oh, you dirty motherfucker,
You old cocksucker,
You dirty son of a bitch.
You’re a bastard, you’re everything,
And your mammy don’t wear no drawers.…

Said, look out bitch, you make me mad,
I’ll tell you ’bout the puppies that your sister had,
Oh, it was a fad.
She fucked a hog, she fucked a dog,
I know the dirty bitch would fuck a frog,
’Cause your mammy don’t wear no drawers.

Maybe I was not too familiar with the people at that time; therefore, I could not follow everything Wald had written. His writing was a bit hard to comprehend for me. Nevertheless, I learned that Morton was as hard as a gangster rapper almost a century before rap was founded.

I used to read many books on jazz and many of them were about Miles Davis. I picked up James Kaplan’s 3 Shades of Blue just before the winter break and had been savoring it. I read quite a bit about Miles Davis and John Coltrane, but not much about Bill Evans, and Kaplan has done an excellent job of weaving them together. The majority of the book is still about Davis, but Coltrane and Evans added a significant perspective to the book. It takes a skillful writer to piece the history, the music, and the personality together. Kaplan has done his research and his writing is just excellent. He has done all the hard work. I just enjoyed the fruits of his labor. I wonder what is size of audience for this book. Is it still large or just a small number of jazz lovers like myself? If you are into jazz, this is one of the books to read.

I read 62 books this year, which is 30 less than last year.

In 2023, I read mostly poetry books. This year, I went back to fiction, nonfiction, and a few design and technical. I should be reading more web design and development books. I also read Vietnamese fiction. I have over 30 Vietnamese books on my iPhone; therefore, I can alternate between English and Vietnamese.

I read some books on buddhism, which I liked. I want to read more on life, death, compassion, kindness, and all the buddha teachings. I also want to read music books again, especially on jazz and hip-hop. I am in the middle of reading a book on Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans.

With the skiing and snowboarding activities, reading has not been my top priority. I definitely pick up reading again after the holidays and ski season.

Check out my reading record.

I have heard of the name Emily Dickinson countless of times, but I have not read any of her work before her letters. Ms. Dickinson sure wrote lots of letters. This collection, edited by Cristanne Miller and Domhnall Mitchell, has 1,304 letters Ms. Dickinson wrote. Many of them she wrote in poems. One of my favorites was the one she wrote to Lucretia Gunn Bullard, about late spring 1864: “The lovely flowers embarrass me, / They make me regret I am not a Bee.”

Another piece that touched my heart was to to Thomas Wentworth Higginson, mid-March 1872:

Dear friend –
I am sorry your Brother is dead –
I fear he was dear to you.
I should be glad to know you were painlessly grieved –

Of Heaven above the firmest proof
We fundamental know –
Except for it’s marauding Hand
It had been Heaven below –

Dickinson

This book is over 900 pages, but it is worth reading Ms. Dickinson’s personal writings.

Quân là một cậu bé mới lớn ở miền quê. Vì nhà nghèo nên cậu bỏ học lên Sài Gòn kiếm sống phụ giúp gia đình. Không may, cậu bị lừa gạt và gài bẫy trở thành một Callboy. Thú thật lúc nhìn bìa sách, tôi không rõ từ Callboy cho đến khi đã đọc mấy chương đầu. Callboy nghĩa là Trai Gọi cho sang còn thấp hèn thì gọi là Đĩ Đực. Quyển tiểu thuyết về đồng giới khá nhạy cảm. Nguyễn Ngọc Thạch không một chút ngại ngùng gì khi mô tả những cảnh làm tình giữa đàn ông với đàn ông. Đời Callboy đầy bi đát và cái kết đầy bi thảm. Dĩ nhiên văn của Nguyễn Ngọc Thạch thì rất là lôi cuốn nhưng đây là một đề tài khá nặng ký. Bạn đã được cảnh báo.

I picked up this book at a public library book sale. I didn’t care about a listicle book, but the author is Pamela Paul. I used to listen to her podcast, read a few of her books, and enjoyed her writing. This book, in particular, didn’t do it for me. I liked some of the things she wrote including “Boredom,” “The Period,” and “Looking Out The Window.” For many, I just needed to read titles such as “The Phone in the Kitchen,” “The Rolodex,” and obviously “Old Tech.” With 100 things, they either hit or miss. I love the typesetting though. Scala, designed by Martin Majoor, is such a readable typeface.

I had to read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies for an English class in eighth grade. I didn’t understand a darn thing.

At the time, I got pulled out of the regular English class to join a diverse group made of a Caucasian boy, a Spanish girl, and me, a Vietnamese kid. Our teacher was from Ireland. We took turns reading the book and I loved our teacher’s accent.

In the past few weeks, Đạo had to read it for his English class and he recommended it to me. I read it again more than 30 years later. This time I understood the book much better. When there were no rules and orders even kids became savages. It is such a dark fiction for young adults.

I enjoyed Golding’s writing. While I was reading it to escape the current events, I couldn’t help wondering about the future of our country. The majority of America had made the decision to take us back. It is just a matter of how far back we will go.

In the last few weeks, I turned to books on buddhism keep myself from checking the news and going insane. K. Sri Dhammananda’s How to Live Without Fear & Worry is filled with insightful advice. As I was reading, I started to put sticky notes on the passages that I found useful.

Last Monday, the day before the election, I went back to Lancaster to visit my aunt and I brought the book with me. When I left her house, I also left the book behind. I only realized it was missing when I was already half way home. I didn’t want to leave the book half read, but I didn’t want to drive back to get it either.

Since this book was not for sale, I could probably find a digital copy of it and I did. Even though I didn’t like reading on my phone, I made the exception. To save the passages I liked, I decided to do a little experience. Instead of pasting the text to my Google Doc, I flooded my Facebook timeline. I would go back to my posts and collect them later, but I also wanted to share positive vibes to family and friends. I hope they would find the quotes useful.

I definitely recommend reading the entire book, but if you don’t have the time, you can read my notes.

My wife picked up this gem at the exit door of Great Wall Supermarket. It’s a tiny little book filled with words of wisdom. I keep it beside my bed so I can read a few lines each morning. I could quote the entire book, but here are a few samples I highlighted:

“Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love.”

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

“Life is an illusion, a dream, a bubble, a shadow. Nothing is permanent. Nothing is worthy of anger. Nothing is worthy of dispute. Nothing.”

“Find your faults, feel deep regret, and correct your mistakes, reform sincerely, practice kindness, concentrate the mind, sever selfishness, awaken.”

“Lovingkindness is giving others happiness. Compassion is removing others’ bitterness. Joy is freeing others from suffering.”

“When things are going well, be mindful of adversity. When prosperous, be mindful of poverty. When loved, be mindful of thoughtfulness. When respected, be mindful of humility.”

Những bài văn ngắn. về con cái từ lúc mới chào đời đến lúc lớn khôn. Nguyên Hương chia sẻ những câu chuyện nhẹ nhàng không bi đát. Những bài học nên theo cho những ai mới bắt đầu làm cha mẹ. Với riêng cá nhân tôi đã có bốn con nên đọc không còn hứng thú vì mấy. Phần hai viết về tình yêu và phần ba viết về mẹ. Đọc cũng tạm tạm.