I was going through my old boxes and came across a plastic comb-bound book titled Some English Words For Some Vietnamese Popular Songs by Patrick Gallagher. Mr. Gallagher gifted this book in December 2002. We exchanged music thoughts on this site when I had the comment section.

It had been a while so I wondered what he has been up to. I googled him and learned that he had passed away in 2019. I felt a bit sad.

I flipped through his book to read his translation of Vietnamese songs from Dương Thụ to Trịnh Công Sơn to Phú Quang. I am wondering what I should do with the book. Should I make a web book to preserve his work? I am not sure yet.

It is a bit too late now, but rest in peace, Mr. Gallagher.

As documented, I replaced a headlight bulb for our 2011 Toyota Sienna on December 3, 2022. I didn’t write down if it was the driver side or the passenger side. Last night, I noticed the driver side bulb was dead. I ordered the replacement on Amazon instead of Toyota Dealer. Now I have an extra bulb.

Winnie Lim shares her favorite things in Hà Nội including sữa chua, kem bơ, and pizza. Damn, now I want to take a trip to North Việt Nam.

Yesterday Đán and I accompanied Đạo to attend the National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony. My wife couldn’t come because she had to take Xuân and Vương swimming. It was Xuân’s last session for swimming lesson; therefore, he had to a test.

Throughout this school year, Đạo has attended meetings, maintained a high GPA, and completed service projects and tasks. In honor of his dedication and effort, we were invited to celebrate his accomplishments. The ceremony was short and sweet. Students and counselor gave short speeches. Students and parents dressed up. Đạo and Đán wore buttoned shirts and khaki pants for the first time.

After we picked up Đạo’s certificate and took a few photos, we headed to 99°c Hot Pot to celebrate. The three of us had lunch here a few months ago after our scouting camping trip. It has become our favorite spot. We ate so much. It was a great night. My wife and I are proud of his accomplishments.

A visual, concise, and accessible guide, Chris Campe & Ulrike Rausch walk through the entire process of Making Fonts from sketch to publish. If you want to get into type design, this book is definitely helpful. Even for someone like me who uses type, I find the technical details to be invaluable for typesetting.

I can still see you
in a crowd of strangers
since you reveal in your eyes
a passionate love for life.
I can still see you
in a crowd of strangers
since in those eyes,
there’s friendship and homeland.

You have come to our homeland
some millenniums ago,
appearing as you are now.
I can still see you
in a crowd of strangers
since you’re like a white bird,
coming out from an ancient copper drum’s engraving.
I can still see you
in a crowd of strangers
since you’re like flowers,
blooming in Serene Nature.

Translated by Vương Thanh

Em đến từ nghìn xưa

Tôi vẫn nhìn thấy em
Giữa đám đông xa lạ
Vì em mang trong mắt
Nỗi yêu đời thiết tha
Tôi vẫn nhìn thấy em
Giữa đám đông xa lạ
Vì trong đôi mắt đó
Có quê hương bạn bè

Em đã đến giữa quê hương
Có những nghìn năm xưa
Hoá thân em bây giờ
Nên tôi vẫn nhìn thấy em
Giữa đám đông xa lạ
Vì em như chim trắng
Giữa trống đồng bước ra
Tôi vẫn nhìn thấy em
Giữa đám đông xa lạ
Vì em như hoa lá
Giữa thiên nhiên hiền hòa

Trịnh Công Sơn

This email from Alfons Grabher made my day:

Hi Donny,

I just wanted to write a quick “lưu ý” to tell you that you absolutely kill me. Your website, Vietnamese Typography, is stunningly beautiful. I visited often in the past few days as I started to learn Vietnamese language. The visual appeal, the great deal of sense and care you put into your online book is really helpful for me, in an emotional as well as practical sense.

Thank you so much,
Best greetings,

Alfons

Thank you so much!

Despite cozying with conservative Supreme Court justices, Scalia Law School drops to #32, tying with O’Connor Law, in U.S. News & World Report. Even with the top law schools dropped out of the ranking, Scalia Law couldn’t rise in rankings.

Last Friday, I tripped and tilted my left foot trying to start the lawnmower. I thought I sprained my ankle and couldn’t rollerblade for a while. The uncomfortness went away. I continued to rollerblade. Suddenly I couldn’t walk without limping yesterday evening. I didn’t feel pain—just uncomfortable. I went to bed and felt fine this morning.

I went to the skatepark at noon today and my back started to feel uncomfortable. Am I getting old? Is my body failing me? After work, I took the kids out to the skatepark and my back continued to feel uncomfortable. I jumped off a small ramp on my rollerblading and fell. I skinned my knee.

Then I remembered I was working in the garden on Sunday. I was lifting bags of small rocks bending over instead of sitting down. Dammit, I am not doing yard work anymore. Let’s hope it will go away in the next few days.

Ms. Heather Armstrong was a successful blogger when blogging exploded. At her prime, she pulled in $40,000 a month from banner ads on her blog. I read a few of her posts and I can still recall the washing machine debacle. She was a great writer. Even though I didn’t know much about Ms. Heather, I was shocked to learned that she had committed suicide. She passed away at the age of 47. No more pain. No more depression. No more darkness. Rest easy Ms. Armstrong.