My oldest son chastised me for making him write 500 words a day during the summer. I believe the more you write, the better you will become. I am not asking him to become a professional writer. I just want him to practice writing as a communication tool. Furthermore, I wanted to get him into a routine and take responsibility.

Besides, he does nothing in the summer. He doesn’t want to do anything around the house. He doesn’t want to get a part-time job. He doesn’t want to volunteer. He doesn’t want to play any sports. Asking to him to help his younger brothers with reading, he gets all grumpy. Asking him to tutor them Spanish, he groaned. What does he want to do all day long? Playing video games with his friends and created some 3D graphics. Basically, he just wants to spend most of his waking hours on screen.

Writing 500 words for him takes less than an hour. He still has about 15 hours a day to play video games and doing 3D modeling and yet he doesn’t have enough. Maybe I should just limit his screen hours, but I wanted him to take the responsibility for himself. I wouldn’t ask him to write if he has something else to do other than being a screen addict.

It breaks my heart to see my kids don’t do anything else other than spending time gluing to their screens. They are wasting their time away. Maybe I don’t know how to be a father, but I don’t want to raise spoiled kids who don’t have any aspirations. At 16, he shows no sign of responsibility and independence.

He has everything provided to him. When he asked for a laptop, we gave him a laptop. When he asked for a better laptop, we gave him a better laptop. When he asked for a phone, we gave him a phone. When he asked for a better phone, we gave him a better phone. It was my fault for placing my trust in him. I thought he would do better when he has what he needs. I thought he would control himself, but he didn’t.

At times, I am so fed up that I should just let him do whatever he wants. Deep down in my heart, I care too damn much to see him ruing his life. I get nothing but hate and disrespect for loving and caring. I don’t think I am being to hard on him. In fact, I think I am fairly flexible. He can do whatever he wants as long as he does something, but spending all day on screens is not acceptable. Then again, maybe I should let him make his own decisions. I should let him live his own life and don’t even say a word. I don’t expect anything from him. I just want him to be able to stand on his own feet. If he doesn’t need my guidance, I am fine with it. If he messes up, that’s on him.

Dear Khandice & Henry,

Congratulations on your big day! From reading your story on your wedding website, we can tell that you two are madly in love with each other. The wedding is just the beginning. The journey ahead will fill with joy, but also challenges—take it from our 17 years of experience. What had helped us weathered the storm was two bars from a Vietnamese timeless ballad written by the great late Lê Uyên Phương:

Rồi mai đây đi trên đường đời
Đừng buông tay âm thầm tìm về cô đơn.

Later, on the journey through life,
Don’t let go of my hand to seek your quiet solitude.

When things get rough, just hold on and don’t let go of your hands.

Love,

Auntie HaiDung & Uncle Donny

In her latest Netflix special, Sarah Silverman turned grief into comedy and she delivered it brilliantly sentence by sentence. Her stories were deeply personal and you can feel in authenticity in her telling. I didn’t know her parents at all, but their humors had stuck with me even after the special was over. Dying is not a joke, joking on dying takes tremendous risk. Fortunately Silverman pulls it of. I was watching it for about 10 minutes during my lunch breaks. I felt interrupted. I am going to have to dedicate the entire hour rewatching it.

Writing an entire book on an album is no easy feat, and yet Emily Mackay pulls it off with Björk’s Homogenic. Mackay delves into the technical details of making the album and Björk’s thought process and her vision. The materials were also drawn from Mackay’s interviews with Björk and the musicians who lent a hand in making this album. As a music appreciator, particularly Björk music, I enjoyed reading this book immensely. I’ll definitely look for more of the 33 ⅓ for more music writing.

Lệ Quyên tiếp tục chinh phục dòng nhạc bolero với giọng hát chín muồi. Khi cô cất lên, “Tuổi đời chân đơn côi / Gót mòn đại lộ buồn / Đèn đêm bóng mờ nhạt nhòa”, phong cách rất Lệ Quyên hiện ra rõ rệt tuy ca từ của nhạc sĩ Tô Thanh Tùng đã quá quen thuộc. Và đó chính là vũ khí bí ẩn của cô khi hát nhạc trữ tình. Ngoài giọng hát, Lệ Quyên còn chịu đầu tư vào phần hoà âm phối khí. Ca khúc “Thương hoài ngàn năm” của Phạm Mạnh Cương được dàn nhạc orchestra đệm cho tiếng hát của cô. Lệ Quyên không phải là một ca sĩ sáng tạo để đem đến người nghe những gì mới lạ. Cô chỉ muốn làm tim người nghe nhạc Việt rung động và đến Khúc tình xưa 6 cô vẫn thành công.

Letter from the dean:

Dear Donny:

I am pleased to inform you that a 2.35% salary increase has been approved for you. Your new salary will be effective in the June 10^th – June 24^th pay period. You will also be receiving a 1.5% bonus in your June 16^th check.

This letter is a salary notification only; the remaining terms and conditions under which you are employed continue.

Thank you for your valuable service to the Antonin Scalia Law School. The available funds for raises cannot fully reward the great work of our outstanding Faculty and Staff.

At the time when government jobs are being chopped off and university funds are being frozen, I didn’t expect to get a raise and a bonus. It’s a surprise and I definitely appreciate it.

Trong album The Shadow của Hiền Thục có những ca khúc với giai điệu quen thuộc nhưng ca từ thì mới. Chẳng hạn như “Nước hoa có độc” và “Vẫn như ngày mưa cũ” là những ca khúc nhạc Hoa được dịch lời Việt. Hiền Thục hát nhẹ nhàng giản dị cùng với tiếng đàn guitar mộc mạc. Vì những giai điệu này quá quen thuộc nên cho dù lời nhạc mới cũng không có gì ấn tượng cho lắm.

Phương Vy hát nhạc ngoại lời Việt tốt nhưng phần hòa âm có lúc tốt lúc không. Chẳng hạn như bài mở đầu, “Chỉ là giấc mơ qua”, được thổi vào làng sóng jazz với bộ ba (piano, drums, và bass) nhạc nhàng và êm dịu. Ca khúc thứ nhì, “Môi tím”, thì phần hòa âm rời rạc với tiếng sax ru ngủ. Với “If You Go Away,” Phương Vy phát âm tiếng Anh rất chuẩn và tiếng đàn guitar mộc mạc khiến cho tiếng hát của cô rõ ràng hơn. Album khép lại với “Mai” của nhạc sĩ Quốc Dũng với ca từ mỉa mai: “Mai! Anh đã quen em một ngày / Anh đã yêu em một ngày / Một tình yêu quá không may”.

I discovered Björk’s music in 2007, when Volta dropped. I was struck by the vitality of her voice, the clarity of her message, and the ferocity of the production in “Declare Independence.” I enjoyed the eccentric qualities in her avant-garde direction, but I didn’t fully comprehend her artistic vision. She was already way ahead of her time.

In recent weeks, I decided to revisit her studio catalog starting with her 1993 Début and ending with her 2022 Fossora. Björk had meticulously crafted each album to be experienced as a whole. Each album took me on a journey filled with wild imagination, lush orchestration, and pure emotion.

As I immersed myself into her recordings, I wished someone had written a book on Björk’s music and life based on her studio albums. Until then, I would like to put together a website based on reviews of her albums. I read as many essays as I could find and selected the ones that I liked the best.

I made this website for my own reading pleasure, but I also hoped that these essays would open up to anyone who has not discovered the genius of Björk. I wanted the look and feel of the website to be modern; therefore, I set the text in NaN Jaune—a contemporary sans-serif type family, designed by Jérémy Landes. The quirkiness quality in NaN Jaune is a perfect match for Björk’s style. Even though the design is playful, the focus is still on readability.

Enjoy reading!

As Director of Design and Web Services at Antonin Scalia Law School, I led the site redesign and the migration to the new content management system from start to launch and beyond. Read more about my contribution in the school redesign and migration project.