Welcome to the second iteration of this blog. Warbler, a new text face David Jonathan Ross has sent out to the Font of the Month Club yesterday for February, has prompted the change.

I have been a member of the club from the beginning and I appreciated all the display fonts, but a text face is rare to come by. Even though Warbler Text is still a work in progress, especially with Vietnamese diacritics, I can’t wait to use it and this blog is a perfect place to experiment. Stephen Nixon once quipped, “I like how @visualgui handles this: he updates the fonts on his blog frequently … like once a month, I think?” Whenever I get new fonts, I tend to update this blog to put them to use.

Although the body text has changed to Warbler, I still keep Forma DJR for display and small texts. I also changed the colors to make it easier on the eyes for reading. In addition, I moved the main column to the middle and the sidebar to the left. Thanks to CSS Grid, swapping columns is so easy.

Since we are celebrating Vietnamese New Year this week, this little update is fitting with the holiday spirit. Wishing those who celebrate Lunar New Year with plenty of love, health, and wealth. Stay strong like tigers.

Hôm nay chợt nhận ra rằng dạo này ít viết tiếng Việt. Thôi thì mấy bài sắp tới sẽ cố gắng viết bù lại bằng tiếng mẹ đẻ của mình. Với những người Việt đến đọc trang blog này, chúc các bạn năm Nhâm Dần mọi sự tốt đẹp với cuộc sống trở lại bình thường.

Đây là xuân thứ hai vắng cha vắng mẹ và xuân tha hương thứ ba mươi mấy rồi. Xuân mỗi năm mỗi xa hơn nhưng không nhạt phai. Mặc dù chỉ còn lại trong ký ức, còn là người Việt Nam thì vẫn còn xuân. Cho dù con tôi sinh ra và lớn lên trên đất Mỹ, nó vẫn gốc Việt nên nó cũng phải biết đến xuân. Chữ xuân thật đẹp nên tôi đã đặt tên cho thằng con trai là Xuân.

Mỗi lần xuân về tôi lại nhớ mẹ. Không tha thiết là nhớ nhung những kỷ niệm xưa mà chỉ nhớ đến mẹ. Không tiếc nuối là phải chi còn có mẹ vì sớm muộn gì cũng phải lìa xa mẹ. Nỗi đau không còn có mẹ trên cõi đời này cũng từ từ xoa dịu đi. Cái chết không ai tránh khỏi nên đành phải chấp nhận. Tuy nhiên tôi vẫn nhớ mãi con người của mẹ, tiếng cười và tiếng nói của mẹ, và tính tình có một không hai của mẹ.

Mấy năm gần đây cuộc sống của tôi có rất nhiều điều thay đổi. Tôi phải làm quen với sự mất mát trong cuộc sống. Tôi mất người thân thương bởi covid hoặc ung thư. Tôi mất đi tình bạn bè và tình thân thiết bởi chính trị. Tôi mất đi lòng người bởi những gì tôi đã viết hoặc đã nói. Những mất mát này không may xảy ra nhưng tôi đã chấp nhận. Thế giới của tôi càng lúc càng thu bé lại. Chỉ còn lại vợ con và những người thân trong gia đình. Càng lớn tôi càng khó tìm được bạn bè cho dù rất muốn. Thôi thì cũng đành phải chấp nhận cuộc sống riêng tư của mình. Dần dà rồi cũng quen thôi.

Last Saturday, I went over to a Scout’s parent house to drink for the first time in more than two years. We touched on the controversial topic that had been shaking and dividing our pack. I was told not to waste my time responding to a parent who just wanted to draw attention to himself. At first, I intended to stay quiet like most parents in our pack, but I could not let that man spread right-wing misinformation to other parents. He was making false claims about masking and vaccinations; therefore, I had to speak up. I enjoyed writing and poking fun anyway; therefore, I didn’t think it was a waste of my time.

As much as I hate political discussion, I find it entertaining for drinking and bullshitting. I have figured out that as long as I don’t identify myself as a Democrat or a Republican, I can say whatever I want and I can flip flop my positions just to rouse up the people. I want free healthcare as well as free tax. Why not? When I didn’t have any kid, I supported abortion. In addition, girls who aborted liked to have sex. Now that I have kids, I don’t support abortion so that parents can go through the misery of raising kids too. When I was single, I didn’t support prostitution. Now that I am happily married, I supported prostitution just in case my wife pulls the plug on me and I would need somewhere to plug it in. These are my drunken talking points so that I can still have fun without having to defend my positions.

In reality, I had always voted for Democrats because they seemed to care about society whereas the Republicans seemed to care about themselves and their own party. No matter how hippocratic or ridiculous they would come across in public, Republicans always put their own party first. Trump berated Ted Cruz’s father and called his wife ugly. What did Lil’ Ted do? Not a goddamn thing. What a bitch-ass pussy. Democrats, on the other hand, are so divided that they can’t get shit done. I am so frustrated with the Democrats, but I can’t see myself casting my vote for the self-serving Republicans. For now, I just stay independent and view politics as a form of entertainment, nothing more.

On Saturday, I took Đạo, Đán, and Xuân to Liberty Resort. We arrived around 8:30 am, 30 minutes after the lifts began to operate, and the weather was beautiful. We hit a few runs before the crowd was pouring in. Xuân went on blue terrains as well as a black terrain. Đạo, Đán, and I hit two double black terrains. On one of them, I skidded into an icy area. My turn was a bit deep and I started skiing backward. My skis popped off and I slid all the way down. There was no way I could walk back up to retrieve my skis. Fortunately, another skier saw my skis on his way down and picked them up for me. Skiers and snowboarders often helped out when other skiers popped off their skis.

Around noon, the lifts started to pack. We left around one in the afternoon. Around 3:30 pm, I went over to a Scout leader’s house to grab a drink to celebrate Vietnamese New Year. We drank beer and Scotch and ate plenty of food. By 9:30 pm, I was already buzzing and thinking that the combination would give me a hangover and I couldn’t go skiing the next morning.

I woke up at 6:00 am on Sunday and felt fine. I was just a bit tired from drinking. I woke Đạo and Đán up to join me, but only Đạo wanted to go. Just the two of us hit Whitetail. We arrived around 9:30 am, 30 minutes after the opening time, and the parking lot was already filled up. In addition, there were buses arriving. We hit the blue and black slopes then hit the double black twice. We did six runs and went back home. The lines were simply too long and I wanted Đạo to rest before school on Monday.

Whitetail is definitely not a place to ski on the weekends. It is just too damn crowded, especially the lift for the green slopes. The lift for the black and double black slopes was faster, which made sense because not too many people could ski or snowboard on these terrains.

It was a great weekend. I am trying to ski as much as I can before the season is over. I am getting a ton of workout, I think.

I read the entire novel and still hadn’t understood the plot, but then the plot doesn’t matter. This is the kind of book that you just read a bit at a time. If you know the reference, you will enjoy it. If you don’t know then you just have to keep reading. Lockwood is a brilliant writer and any part of this book can be quoted. Here’s one:

The first boy who had ever called her a bitch was now in jail for possession of child pornography, and this felt like a metaphor for the modern discourse. But the modern discourse, too, was his mother moaning after a single glass of red wine, “I know that he’ll have to go to hell, but still he’s my son” and “What did we do? What did we do? What did we do! What did we do!”

My respond to the group discussion:

N, some of your sources are very telling. I would be quite skeptical of anything that comes out of the Daily Mail, which has been widely known to publish false clickbait stories. I wouldn’t trust a tabloid newspaper like the NY Post, which is one of Murdoch’s propaganda machines, to provide me with medical-related information. These are dangerous sources for Covid materials.

For now, the mask mandate is settled. FCPS continues to require universal masking. It also challenges the executive order. Then again, as the leaders pointed out, LDHV has its own policies and regulations. I hope that LDHV stays its course and continues its mask mandate to protect everyone, particularly for those who are immunocompromised. LDHV also needs to figure out how to accommodate those with medical exemptions while still keeping everyone else safe. Please let us know what to expect before tonight’s party.

N has been vocal about bullying and that needs to be addressed. While I disagree with him on masking and politicking, I don’t want him to be silenced, blocked, or singled out. We should have open dialogues. If this is not the right platform to discuss politics, let the members know. We should also respect the leaders for their time. They have very limited resources and I am sure they rather focus their energy on running Scout activities and teaching our kids leadership and practical skills than dealing with bureaucracies.

As Đạo and I headed out the door this morning, he asked if he could take a banana to school for snack. Of course he could if the bananas have been ripened. He told me, “Dad, did you know that bananas release their hormones, but they don’t know when to stop.” Still in my clouded mood, I mused with him, “Are you saying they are always horny?” He looked at me with a puzzle on his face. He didn’t know what “horny” meant. I thought he would have learned that in school by now. My bad!

While we’re on the sex education subject, Đán came home one day and told me that he learned about his private parts in school. He explained to me how a penis can get hard and big. He even used the term erection. He also said that he knew about the girl private parts as well, but he didn’t want to talk about them. I challenged him to tell me something that he knew. He explained to me that every month a girl would bleed when she’s on her period. I asked him, “Where does she bleed?” He said with confidence, “From her nipples.” I almost fell off my chair. I said to him, “Son, you need to get some information straight. Go talk to your mom.”

I worked on my ice skating’s salchow jump for weeks, but I couldn’t get it down. My balance was off and I couldn’t land to check out. I got frustrated and put it on hold to focus on skiing.

Today I went back, after taking a week off the rink, to work on the salchow jump again. I fell twice; therefore, I tried hopping instead of jumping. I focused on my hands-and-feet coordinations and made sure my technicality was correct. Then it started to click. I was able to land and check out without tipping over or falling.

Now that I got the basic concept down, I need to practice to do the actual jump. I am not quite there yet, but I am making progress. I can’t wait to do some more.

Learning on my own seems to be much slower than with an instructor, but I am not in any rush. I just need to do it at my own pace.

A half-hour special in which Ansari returned to the Comedy Cellar to drop a few jokes about vaccinations, politics, and digital diets. He showed empathy for the anti-vaxxer who received misinformation, talked a bit about Trump and his content, and returned to using a flip phone. Though the special was enjoyable, I wish it was longer.

As the mask debate continued at our Scout pack, one of the parents who is a dentist chimed in:

Lastly I’ll add, that I also am not a big fan of the political show of non effective masks mandates. As a man of science (I got a bachelor of science in biology, and went on to become a doctor taking plenty more science classes like virology, immunology, pathology, and tons of microbiology) I think it’s a joke that half the time people wear masks like a chin diaper, I’ve yet to meet a kid or adult, who has correctly don and doff his/her mask, it’s funny to me that putting on a cloth mask makes people feel safe against covid (especially omincron) when what really needs to be worn for protection is a fitted and sealed 95 level mask…

My response:

Thanks for the scientific information. I must confess. I got a kick out of the “chin diaper” analogy. If nothing else, we should continue to wear masks for that reason. It is not a bad idea for some of us, myself included, to cover up our shit. LOL! Sorry, I couldn’t help it.

On a serious note, we are indeed living in deeply divided times. As I dropped off my kids this morning, I was checking around to see if I should let them into the building or drive them back home. I was worried for their safety not from Covid but from some mom who threatened to “bring every single gun loaded” to school.

I know we’re not to delve into this topic anymore, but I appreciate the open discussion N has put forward. Even if we don’t see eye to eye on these issues, I hope that we can agree to disagree.

OK I will shut up now. Have a great Tuesday!