My friend showed me pictures of his cribs
And all I could show him was pictures of my kids
He said he got a brand new sports car
And all I got was my sons’ brand new report card

Base on Ye’s original lyrics

The following passages are quoted from TypeTogether’s Building Ligatures: The Power of Type.

José Scaglione on type design (p. 18):

That type design is not an island. Type design is connected to languages, culture, history, and also to communication and design. Our history is written with typography.

Veronika Burian on type design (p. 18):

Type design is not about beautiful shapes. It has a reason, it has meaning, it is a part of our culture, our identity. And it will not disappear. It will change like every language changes. There will be new type projects and new fonts, but type design and typography will always be here.

Burian on why we need more types (p. 28):

Many people are unconvinced about the need to create new fonts, but letters are no different, at least from an artistic point of view, from other cultural interactions like poetry or music. Type design is a carrier of our culture and is subject to developments and trends, especially in this world of constant change. The number of individual elements – tones, rhythms, or letters – is quite small but they can be combined in nearly limitless ways.

Trends, technology, media, and even languages evolve. These changes require an appropriate typographic response that becomes an expression of contemporary culture; and each generation has their own expression.

Burian on modern times (p. 28):

One of the main engines pushing type creation forward is technology. Typography is mechanised writing, and as such it must advance together with printing presses, computers, communication devices, and media.

Scaglione and Burian on foreign language (p. 68):

Taking great care when setting text in a foreign language is a sign of professionalism and respect for the audience. Although Europe as a whole has strong cultural ties, its orthographies are still rather unique. Correct diacritics are part of playing nicely together on the international playground.

Việt Thanh Nguyễn gave a short, inspiring commencement speech at F&M college. He touched on failure:

Now, you have just spent four years of your life here, and probably many years before, trying not to be mediocre. I’m here to give you permission to fail. Your parents might not want to hear that. But you should listen to Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried,” he wrote. “Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Also kids, take note: “a B+ is an Asian F.”

As the title suggests, Katt Williams discusses the war on disinformation. He breaks down the lies and the truths. He knows the truths are sometimes ugly and painful; therefore, he uses comedy to tell the truths. He was onto something until he spent half of his Netflix Special analyzing the pussy. Apparently, he is very passionate about the pussy and he isn’t shy away from sharing the types he liked. That’s Katt. He is still disgusting and charismatic as fuck.

Chiều nay nổi hứng nhắn tin bạn cũ:

Lâu rồi không thấy Thu post nữa. Tạm dừng Facebook rồi hả. Vậy cũng tốt. Khỏe không bạn già?

Xuân Thu trả lời:

K còn FB Friend v Danh thôi. Ngoài ra vẫn pose hàng ngày

K ai bắt ai phải cùng tư tưởng v ai nhưng,,,

Có những tư tưởng tuy k cùng chiến tuyến : không đồng hành nhưng vẫn có thể đồng tình. Tư tưởng của Danh về Democrats thật ngộ… vui nhất là vạch lá tìm sâu những cái của Republican để cố đưa cái thối nát của Biden thành cái tốt

Tôi đáp lại:

Oh thì ra là bị nghỉ chơi. Đáng tiếc vì chính trị mà mất đi tình bạn. Đã lâu rồi mình không còn bàn luận về chính trị nữa vì chỉ mất lòng nhau chứ không có bổ ích gì. Thôi thì chúc XT luôn khỏe mạnh để phấn đấu. Mình xin đầu hàng.

Thật ra thì tôi biết nàng đã xù tôi từ lúc Trump bị bại trận. Nàng hát bài “Từ lúc anh đi” để tiễn đưa chàng ra khỏi Nhà Trắng. Khi nghe bài hát nàng đăng lên Facebook, tôi sởn da gà vì quá sến. Không nhớ tôi đã nói gì mà nàng đã loại trừ tôi luôn.

Thú thật thì tôi với nàng cũng chẳng thân thiết gì. Ngày xưa lúc nàng mới bước chân đến Mỹ vào học chung trường và một trong những thằng bạn thân của tôi thời đó cua nàng. Sau này chia tay. Năm sáu năm gần đây tôi kết nối lại với nàng qua Facebook. Không ngờ nàng mê muội Trump đến mù quáng. Không trách nàng vì phần đông người Việt ở Mỹ đều sùng bái hắn đến mất hết lý lẽ.

Tôi đã bỏ chính trị và không viết gì về đề tài này nữa vì chẳng còn hy vọng được bàn luận dựa trên sự thật và lẽ phải. Niềm tin của họ đã quá sâu đậm. Họ xem ông như đấng chúa trời. Nàng đã tôn thờ ông đến thế và đã xem ông quan trọng hơn cả tình bạn của tôi và nàng thì tôi cũng đéo tiếc nuối gì cả. Tình bạn như thế thà không còn hơn có.

Last year I bought a pair of used Head skis for $50 and spent $75 on tuning. I also had to wait for a week for the service. With 6 of us skiing in the upcoming season, the tune-up alone will be expensive. I decided to take the matter into my own hands.

I am putting together a ski-tuning station in our basement since my wife bought the Demon Complete Basic Tune Kit. I had the table setup and bought a pair of WSD Tuning Vise. Of course, I learn tuning from watching YouTube videos. The guy from Adventure School gives enough details in his three-part series: sharping the edges, repairing the base, and waxing.

I am working on four pairs at a time. I am in the middle of fixing the base, but I ran out of Ptex candle. I ordered some more to continue the job. Scraping off the Ptex with a razor blade worked really well in addition to the stainless scraper, which should be used first than the razor blade.

I can’t wait to get to the waxing part. We are still looking into buying a pair of skis for Xuân and a snowboard for Đán.

Parts:

• Demon Complete Basic Tune Kit ($80)
• WSD Tuning Vise ($40)
• Ski & Snowboard P-TEX Base Repair Kit ($15)

Sáng nay đưa thằng Đạo đi học như thường lệ. Sau khi cho nó xuống, tôi lái xe ra thì có một cô Á Đông mặc chiếc áo giao thông màu xanh lá cây chặn xe tôi lại. Cô vẫy tay chào và ra dấu hiệu cho tôi quay kính xuống.

Cô hỏi, “Anh có biết đây là bãi đậu xe của nhân viên không”? Tôi trả lời, “Biết chứ nhưng tôi đâu có đậu xe. Tôi chỉ dừng lại cho thằng con tôi đi bộ vào trường”. Cô lắc đầu nói, “Lần sau anh thả con xuống ở trước cổng trường”. Tôi gật đầu đồng ý cho xong.

Thú thật thì cái hàng đến trước cổng trường rất là dài. Lúc đến đó sẽ trễ giờ học cho nó và trễ giờ làm cho tôi. Giờ bị bắt quả tang rồi thì phải làm theo thôi.

I am transitioning the lawn-mowing responsibility over to Đạo now that he is 13. Two weeks ago, he did a decent job for the first time. Today he hit the curb and bent one of the blades. I tried to straighten it back, but it was impossible. I even took off the blades, but I couldn’t hammer it back either. I had to get two new blades.

While I had the blades removed, I might as well give the lawn mower a tune up. Other than changing the oil every year or two, I haven’t done anything to the lawn mower ever since I bought it about ten years ago. The Honda engine is unbelievably reliable. I bought it used from my brother-in-law after my brand new Troy-Built broke down after three or four years. My brother is allergic to grass; therefore, he couldn’t use it.

Ever since I took over, today is the first time that I gave it a tune up. I replaced the blades, the spark plug, the air filter, as well as the oil. The tune up was not that difficult at all. I just had to buy the socket to remove the spark plug. I also cleaned up all the dirt and debris. Now the machine works so darn good. I should have done these tune ups regularly.

I haven’t done anything to the mower because I was expecting it to die any day now, but the Honda engine is just so darn good. I looked at a brand new one for $600. It’s expensive, but it is definitely worth the investment if you are looking into buying one.

Parts for tune up:

• Honda HRR Blade Set ($40)
• Honda 2 Pack Genuine Spark Plug ($8)
• Honda Air Filter ($7)
• Honda 08213-10W30 Oil – 12 oz (2 Pack) ($17)

Christina P. is married to Tom Segura whose comic is dark. She has a wicked sense of humor herself. In her latest Netflix special, Mom Genes, she joked about her family, which included her father, husband, and sons, without a dull moment. She revealed that her 75-year-old father remarried for the fifth time to a 34-year-old Vietnamese lady who he met online. Their marriage was based on a mutual exchange: she wanted a green card and he wanted free mani-pedi. Being married to a regular guy, she knows how to make him happy. He just needs three things: sandwich, sports, and sex. The first two were easy, but the last one she just felt like giving up. She talked about the last item with a gag, “After spending a day with my three- and six-year-old boys, I am dryer than Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s pussy. She is dead and that is a dusty puss.” She knew how a marriage worked so she just had to do her part. Christina P. is a brilliant comic. She not only uses her words, but also her facial features to let us know that she was only making jokes. That was how she got away with mocking Vietnamese accent and the word “detard.”

A decade and a half ago, Veronika Burian and José Scaglione founded TypeTogether to connect type lovers from all over the world. In their new book, Building Ligatures, the TypeTogether founders and contributors share their knowledge, experience, best practices, and friendships.

The love, respect, and accolades speak volume not only to their creative talent, but also to their kinship in the type community. The key success behind TypeTogether is built on friendship rather than rivalry. Since its founding day, TypeTogether has collaborated with type designers, graphic designers, and language experts worldwide. It is my pleasure to have contributed a small part in Vietnamese diacritics. In my experience working with Veronika and José, I had tremendous respect for the level of care and detail they invested into designing diacritic marks for native readers. (Thanks for including my name on the book jacket.)

In addition to the inspiring behind-the-scenes stories of the foundry, the book included informative how-to essays from “How to Choose the Right Typeface” to “Typographic Matchmaking” to “Web and Digital Typesetting Myths” to “The Path to Brand Design.” It is an essential and enjoyable read for anyone who touches types. I wish TypeTogether tremendous success in 15 and 30 more years to come.