Money vs. Democracy

Trumps slaps tariffs on China. China slaps him back and he’s crying like a little bitch. Trump can bully his own country, but he can’t bully China. As much as I hate to see the economy collapsing and trillion of dollars evaporating, I hope our country can see how incompetent the current president is. He thinks he’s the only one with the taffif power. China has proven him wrong. I hope China will fight him to the end. I rather see that we are losing money than democracy. Many of you voted for him because you were duped into believing that Trump could do business. Now you know. He’s a fucking loser.

Vietnamese Typography Showcases 100 Typefaces

For book design, the rule for setting a typical book is one to three typefaces. I broke this rule with Vietnamese Typography. Then again, Vietnamese Typography is not a typical book. Unlike a traditional book, my web book continues to be updated with new materials and expanded with new typefaces. Until the past weekend, I haven’t thought of keeping track of how many typefaces are used in the book.

Since all of the fonts on Vietnamese Typography are hosted on the server, I can easily audit the number of the font files. The site uses both static and variable fonts, however, it would be a daunting task to count the number of fonts. On the other hand, the number of typefaces are easier to figure out.

As of today, April 7, 2025, Vietnamese Typography uses 100 typefaces. Since the second edition of this book, the main text is set in Fern, designed by David Jonathan Ross. Headers and captions are set in Adapter, designed by William Montrose and Sláva Jevčinová. Those are the two typefaces that remain constant. Everything else changes.

For the title on the cover, I expand the random pool when I come across a nice display typeface. For type recommendations, I add a new text face when I can license it. For typographic samples, I use both commercial and open source typefaces. Here’s the list of typefaces being used on Vietnamese Typography:

  1. Adapter
  2. Adelle Sans
  3. Albula Pro
  4. Alright
  5. Amica Pro
  6. Aneto
  7. Anton
  8. Atlante
  9. Bahianita
  10. Ballinger
  11. Be Vietnam Pro
  12. Bild
  13. Bona Nova
  14. Bradley DJR
  15. Bree
  16. Bricolage Grotesque
  17. Bungee
  18. Cabin
  19. Calistoga
  20. Canicule
  21. Captura Now
  22. Case
  23. Change
  24. Clavichord
  25. Club Lithographer
  26. Cormorant
  27. Cosima
  28. Crayonette DJR
  29. Dattilo DJR
  30. Loes
  31. Ebony
  32. Euchre
  33. Every
  34. Exchange
  35. Extraordinaire
  36. Fern
  37. Fit
  38. Fjalla One
  39. Forma DJR
  40. Fragen
  41. Frequenz
  42. Fruktur
  43. Gimlet Sans
  44. Glyptic DJR
  45. Halyard
  46. Harriet
  47. Horizona
  48. Herbik
  49. Imbue
  50. Job Clarendon
  51. Kaius
  52. Klooster
  53. Kukka
  54. Kyrios
  55. Lang
  56. Lautsprecher DJR
  57. Lavishe
  58. League Gothic
  59. Lentiform
  60. Loretta
  61. Macan
  62. Map Roman
  63. Mea Culpa
  64. Megabase
  65. Megascope
  66. Megavolt
  67. Megazoid
  68. Montagu Slab
  69. Name Sans
  70. Neue DIN
  71. Nickel Gothic
  72. Oi
  73. Ottavio
  74. Output Sans
  75. Pangea
  76. Phudu
  77. Platypi
  78. Playpen Sans
  79. Playwrite VN
  80. Pliego
  81. Polliwog
  82. Poltawski Nowy
  83. Portada
  84. Queens
  85. Rhody
  86. Roslindale
  87. Rumpus
  88. Schotis
  89. Sequenz
  90. Shantell Sans
  91. Skolar
  92. Skolar Sans
  93. Soprano
  94. Texturina
  95. Thow
  96. Tortellini
  97. Truculenta
  98. Warbler
  99. Water Brush
  100. Xunga

It’s just a coincidence that Vietnamese Typography is using 100 typefaces. It’s definitely worth celebrating, but the site will continue to expand. Keep an eye out.

Played Volleyball for 3.5 Hours

My arms are sore now after playing volleyball Cub scout dads for 3.5 hours. As soon as I dropped Xuân off for his scout meeting, I joined the dads. It was a great way to spend my Friday evening unwinding. I am not that good at volleyball, but I am not so bad either. These days, any physical activity is good for me. I am still hoping that we will head to Stowe next week for spring break. I want to do some more skiing and snowboarding.

The Judiciary Defends Our Democracy

The Trump Regime lost 36 out of 56 cases in the federal court. Six emergency cases being challenged before the Supreme Court. The Trump Regime has openly attacked the lower court judges and disrespected the rule of law. Even if they lose in court, they have done irreversible damages to the government. Let’s hope that the judiciary will hold Trump and his regime accountable for their lawless and reckless behavior. We need to restore America democracy.

Our Kids are Screwed

In the latest episode of the Ezra Klein Show, the host talks to Jonathan Haidt on how “Our Kids are the Least Flourishing Generation We Know of.” I highly recommend it for parents. With the rise of digital addictions and AI, our kids are fucked. They don’t have the mechanism to deal with these endless stimulations. I am deeply concerned about our children.

New Vietnamese Sample Page: Idioms (Thành ngữ)

This sample features a collection of English idioms translated into Vietnamese. I selected these idioms from Tiếng Anh Tèo and Người Việt Mình Nói. The page is typeset in Cosima and Kukka, designed by Anita Jürgeleit. Check out Idioms: Thành ngữ.

Digital Addiction

My kids log on their devices as soon as they wake up on weekends and come home from school on weekdays. They don’t do much else. They don’t read. They don’t do homework. They don’t study. They don’t help around the house. Their grades are dropping and they don’t care.

I am frustrated, disappointed, and hopeless. My wife and I keep fighting over this and we don’t see eye to eye on the issue. We are moving further apart on parenting. I can’t stand it when kids disrespect their parents and here we are.

My dad slapped me or hit me with a log. I thought he was so cruel, but now I understand. I probably deserved it. At times, I want to slap the taste out of my kids’ mouth for being disrespectful, but then I don’t want to hurt them. I am so conflicted.

I love them too much to let them ruin their lives. They spend so much time on their devices and yet they never get enough. One of my kids told me straight out that he doesn’t want to spend time with me anymore. He just wants to spend time with his PC all day, everyday.

With my older kids, I told them countless times about the importance of education. They don’t care. Their grades are slipping. I told them about managing their screen time. They don’t care. They continue to spend hours and hours on their devices. I want to take them out, but one of the older ones wants to stay home. I am getting tired of making him go. The older kids aren’t doing any sports or physical activities.

My hopes and dreams for my kids had died. The bar is so low now. I have no expectations for them. I don’t know how they will survive without us if all they do is wasting their time on their devices and not picking up any other skills. I won’t be here forever. My health is not great and I don’t expect to live long.

Furthermore, I don’t want to put my relationship with my wife at risk. This is the biggest reason that the kids are getting away with their digital usage. Until she collaborates with me, I can’t do much for them.

Let’s Save Our Democracy

We need to act now because our democracy is on the line. We have everything to gain if we do and everything to lose if we don’t.

  1. Turn fear into knowledge. We need to understand what we are facing and who we are fighting against.
  2. Rise and organize. We need to come together to fight this battle for our country and democracy.
  3. Make strategic responses. We need to make informed decisions to resist.

March for Democracy

On Saturday, April 5th, the people are taking to the streets around the nation to fight back Trump and Musk. Join Hands Off! and other organizations to defend our democracy.

Wisconsin Defends Democracy

Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel for a State Supreme Court seat. Even though Trump endorsed Schimel and Musk spent $21 millions trying to buy the election, Judge Crawford won by a significant margin. Wisconsinites fight back the Trump and his authoritarian regime. Other states must do the same to defend our democracy.

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