I have been listening to this album on and off since December of last year. I couldn’t get through it in one listen. Lamar packs so much information into these tracks. His lyricism is so dense that I couldn’t unpack everything he revealed. After many listens, I just have to read his lyrics. Like poetry, reading his rhymes line-by-line gives me a better understanding of the issues he’s dealing with, including racism, transgender, fatherhood, relationship, violence, and sex addictions. In addition to his exceptional lyrical content, his infectious flow and superb choices of productions make this an influential album.

I had to read this collection three times to understand some of the poems. The first time I completely missed that his parents were divorced. The reason for the divorce was that his dad came out gay. In addition, Lam has many theories including God and smoking, but I can relate to him about drinking in “Anchor.” It’s a good collection from a Vietnamese-American fellow.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Elizabeth Bishop

Thank you for being my lifelong partner
Thank you for being my strong anchor
Thank you for all your love and support
Thank you for picking me up when I fall short
Thank you for all your sacrifices
Thank you for all your sound advices
Thank you for everything you do for our family
Thank you for your bottomless generosity
Thank you for always keeping it real with me

Donny Trương

Unprepossessing girl in the café recognized me as the author of two books

before this and asked for my advice, I said

each line has been an accident, staring at the texture

of the plaster on the wall behind her, rivulets cords tendons the lines may stand

if I remove myself, my will ruins it I might not have said that and

recalling exactly what I said would help, I wait for it though waiting

can be a mistake that generates willfulness, I struggled to put this into words

as strong as my conviction, so what advice could I give you I said

Jana Prikryl

I just found the tutorials I have been looking for to snowboard down the steep slopes. Snowboard Dojo Wiz has done an excellent job of explaining and demonstrating the techniques. I am going to work on these in my basement and hopefully I will be able to execute them when I hit the slopes next time.

In his second collection, Best Barbarian, Roger Reeves delves into serious topics including violence, death, racism, police brutality, and fatherhood. His lyricism can be transpired from musicians including Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane, and Outkast. A stunning read even if I didn’t understand everything. More revisits are needed.

How kind of you
to turn it down
to crickets, the possible is here
in every judgment I try on
against myself, if you enjoy
a more original surmise
then too I grow
acquainted with regret

Jana Prikryl

Đạo participated in rock climbing yesterday; therefore, he couldn’t ski with us. Today he wanted to go to Whitetail. Xuân joined us once again. Unlike yesterday, however, the double black diamond terrain was filled with high moguls. I struggled snowboarding around the moguls because I haven’t nailed down my quick turns. I tried and fell. After two runs, I was exhausted. My legs were burning. We went back down for lunch and took another blue run. Đạo was also tired from rock climbing the day before. After three days snowboarding straight, I couldn’t keep up anything. At 1 pm, we called the day. Despite the warm weather and not ideal condition, we managed to ski and snowboard.

Highlight of today was watching a snowboard patrol maneuvering around the moguls. Her quick turns were so effortless as if she was just hopping around the humps. I wanted to learn her techniques. I am going to start searching for YouTube video to teach me how to ride moguls. I was thinking of taking a private lesson, but I didn’t want to spend $200 for an hour of private lesson. Maybe I’ll try to book group lesson in advance next time or just continue to learn from watching YouTube video.

When I got home today, I gave my snowboard a tune up and a wax. I won’t be back to the mountain at least next Saturday. I need to take some rest.

If the sky is such a cliché
Why is it falling?

If the tree is such a cliché,
Why is it dying

If soul is such a cliché
Where is it hiding

If love is such a cliché
Why isn’t there enough to go around.

For my part
I can’t get enough of the sky.

For my part, I can’t wait
For those leaves to come back.

For my party
I am inviting the clown Love

For my birthday I want a cake
Revealing the color of my soul.

Ana Božičević