Maya C. Popa inspired me to read poetry and to started to post my favorite poems on this blog. I just read through her latest collection in Wound Is the Origin of Wonder. I don’t understand everything she has written, but my favorites are: “Dear Life,” “They Are Building a Hospital,” and “Not the Wound, But What the Wound Implies.” I’ll definitely reread this collection a few more times to see if I can figure out the meaning behind her lyrical poems.
This week, the boys have Thursday and Friday off for student holiday. I took Đạo, Đán, and Xuân to Liberty today. Since today is weekday, the resort was not crowded. All four of us hit the blue terrains without having to wait in line for the lifts.
I worked on short turns with the 156-cm Capita Indoor Survival. The board is a bit taller than me. Turning was a bit harder at first, but quite effective once I could initiate the turns. I am starting to appreciate its sturdiness and stability. I made some great runs today on the blue and black terrains with my sons.
I got my snowboard boots back from Đán. He took over my boots and gave me his crappy rental boots since we both wear the same size. His rental boots hurt my feet so much that I made him exchanged it for another pair. The latest pair seems to work well for him. As for my boots, they helped tremendously with easing the burns. My feet were still uncomfortable in the first few runs, but they were fine afterward. I am still looking into buying a new pair of traditional bindings. That might be more comfortable than the step-in bindings.
After some googling, I learned that the Capita Indoor Survival was released in 2006. Even though it is 17 years old, the board is still in great condition. In retrospect, the board and I meant to be for each other. When the previous owner listed it on Facebook’s Marketplace, I thought it was a 110-cm board for kids. I contacted him to buy for my son, but he said it was definitely not for kids. Since he only asked for $35, I went to check it out. When we met up, the board still looked new. When I rubbed my finger on the bindings, microfibers came off like dusts. In addition, the board was way too tall for me. I declined the sale and walked back to my car. Then I changed my mind and wanted to just get it. At the same time, he drove up to me and said he would sale it for $20 because he just wanted to get rid of it. I smiled at him and handed him a $20 bill and he told me to pick up the board off his truck. Now thinking about it, I should have paid him $35 or $50. It was definitely a steal. I am going to maintain and use this boards for many years to come.
I woke up early this morning to get ready to go snowboarding at Liberty. I went down the basement to pick up my gears. My paranoia told me to check on the brand new water heater tank we just installed a week ago. To my dismay, I spotted water all over the drain pan. I soaked up all the water from the pan and ran floor drying fan. I checked the pipes and pressure relief valve and they were dried. When I pointed the fan at the bottom of the tank water gushed out. I knew we were in deep shit. I had to cancel my snowboarding adventure. I came right back home after dropping my eldest son to school.
My only option was to replace a new tank. I couldn’t call Tilo (the previous installer) because it was not his fault that the tank leaked. I determined to do it myself. After two defected tanks, I was done with A.O. Smith. I went to Home Depot to pick up a Rheem tank. I also bought a hand truck to move the tank myself. With my wife’s help, we transported the new tank to the basement. When we cut the box open, the tank had big dent at the top. The screws were twisted. My wife told me to get another tank and I couldn’t agree more. When we bought the second A.O. Smith tank, it also had a dent at the bottom. In retrospect, we should have exchanged it for another tank.
I asked my wife to come with me to Home Depot to exchange it. When I told the customer service rep about the defect, I asked her if I could open up the box to make sure the tank was in good shape and she agreed. We brought the new tank back home as the old tank drained out all of the water. Obviously I turned off the power before draining the water; therefore, I just had to screw the pipes back on. The hot line went in fine, but the cold line with the shut-off valve wouldn’t connect to the new tank. No matter how many turns I made I couldn’t get it in. I went back to Home Depot to get another flexible pipe to connect the pipe with the valve to the new pipe. Since the new pipe is longer, I decided to remove two SharkBite connectors Tilo had put in. I wanted to simplify the connections. Trying to disconnect the SharkBite was a bitch. I tried tapping, pulling, and it still didn’t come out. I decided to just cut the pipe off.
After connected all the pipes, I turned the water back on to make sure nothing was leaking. After the tank was filled with cold water, I connected the electric wires. I flipped the breaker back on and I could hear the tank started to heat up. I am keeping my eyes on the drain pan and keeping my fingers crossed. I hope this is it after the fourth tank.
When I took out the O.A. Smith tank, there was indeed a crack at the bottom. I had to take it back to Lowe’s to return it. My whole day was wasted on installing the tank. Then again, I am now becoming proficient at installing water heater tank.
I have been learning to snowboard on the 2008 Burton White Collection (143cm). Other than being uncomfortable on my feet, I am doing fine with it. As I am doing more research, however, I am learning that the board is not appropriate for my weight. I am weighing 156 bls.
Last Saturday, I switched to the 2006 Capita Indoor Survival (156cm). The board is as tall as me. I had trouble with my toe turns. I need more time to readjust to the longer board. Uncomfortability remains an issue for me. Maybe the Flow step-in bindings aren’t good for me. I might need the traditional strap-on bindings.
I didn’t realize that the board is already 17 years old even though it is still in good condition. It is time for me to invest in a new board and bindings since I am digging snowboarding.
My next goal is to learn how to make short turns. Malcolm Moore’s video looks promising. I hope I can pull this one off.
The introduction is an intriguing read. Cường Phạm shares his journey in making his pure, premium fish sauce. The recipes look a-okay. The design and the photography are decent. The sans-serif textface is a missed opportunity. It would be fine for listing the ingredients, but serif typeface for reading text would have been much better.
I first read this book in 2017. I picked up a used copy recently and decided to reread it. Klinkenborg’s prose is so damn good. Here’s his advice on writing:
Learn to write anywhere, at any time, in any conditions,
With anything, starting from nowhere.
All you really need is your head, the one indispensable requirement.
Here’s his advice on editing:
It’s true that the simplest revision is deletion.
But there’s often a fine sentence lurking within a bad sentence,
A better sentence hiding under a good sentence.
Work word by word until you discover it.
Don’t try to fix an existing sentence with minimal effort,
Without reimagining it.
You can almost fix never a sentence—
Or find the better sentence within it—
By using only the words it already contains.
If they were the right words already, the sentence probably wouldn’t need fixing.
And yet writers sit staring at a flawed sentence as if it were a Rubik’s Cube,
Trying to shift the same words round and round until they find the solution.
Take note of this point: it will save you a lot of frustration.
This applies to paragraphs too.
You may not be able to fix the paragraph using only the sentences it already contains.
It’s definitely a book to keep around to improve my writing.
When my situation ain’t improvin’
I’m tryin’ to murder everything movin’
And I do anything necessary for her
So don’t let the necessary occur.
JAY-Z (excerpts from “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” and “Bonnie & Clyde”)
Bước sang năm Quý Mão hy vọng mọi chuyện sẽ suôn sẻ và những nỗi phiền muộn sẽ tan biến. Đây là thời điểm và cơ hội cho tôi làm lại từ đầu. Tôi sẽ cố gắng không để những cảm xúc của mình làm tổn thương đến người khác.
Trong công việc tôi sẽ thận trọng hơn khi phải đối xử với những người làm chung. Làm việc cũng chỉ để kiếm sống. Không có gì phải tiếc nuối hay lo lắng. Đến đâu hay đến đó. Đi đến đường cùng thì tìm lối thoát.
Trong gia đình tôi sẽ dễ dãi hơn với con cái, nhất là với Đạo và Đán. Chúng nó đã lớn rồi, tôi không muốn rầy la bọn nó nữa. Nói thì dễ nhưng thực hiện thì không dễ chút nào.
Khó khăn nhất vẫn là tình cảm vợ chồng. Tôi sẽ cố gắng để sống hòa nhã với nhau. Tôi luôn yêu vợ và luôn biết ơn vợ với tất cả cả những gì vợ làm cho chồng con. Đôi khi tôi có cảm giác như vợ không hiểu được tôi cho dù đã cùng sống với nhau mười mấy năm qua. Và đôi lúc mặt cảm khiến tôi không thể tự kiềm chế được cảm xúc của chính mình.
Với người thân và bạn bè, tôi cũng sẽ kiểm soát lại cảm xúc của mình để tránh những xung đột không cần thiết. Tôi sẽ không để tình cảm hay tình bạn vượt quá xa. Vì mỗi khi tôi có cảm tình với ai, bạn thân hay người thân, tôi sẽ không dấu được những biểu lộ của mình. Và như thế tôi sẽ tự đem phiền phức cho chính mình và cho những người xung quanh. Tốt hơn hết là nên giữ một khoảng cách với mọi người.
Chloe Kim carried a stranded snowboarder on her back. Isn’t she just fucking awesome? This is another reason to love snowboarding. The community is fantastic.
Near the end of last year, I went to Bryce to learn snowboarding for the first time. I kept falling down even I was trying to stand on the snowboard. I got frustrated, but a young couple came and encouraged me. The guy told me that I was doing great and the only way to get better was to keep trying. I took his words and kept on trying.
Today I still have so much to learn, but I got past that frustrating stage. I can’t wait to hit the trails again tomorrow.
Li’s writing is clear and comprehensible. The pace is a bit slow though. After reading more than 100 pages, I started to lose interest in a 400-page novel. Maybe my interest isn’t in the sexual misconduct behind the film industry. It might be more suitable for relaxing beach reading. I might pick it up again over the summer.