Yesterday, I decided to rework and refine the wordmark for Scalia Law’s Career & Academic Services. It is set in Acumin Variable, designed by Robert Slimbach, to give give a nice and balanced text block. The colors came from Scalia Law’s branding.

I cancelled Netflix. I only subscribed to Netflix so I could watch season two of Squid Game, but I kept it until season three released. I would have kept Netflix if my family were streaming it. Only Xuân watched Cobra Kai. After he finished all of the series, he stopped streaming. I don’t have much time to watch either. Netflix is overwhelming with content, and yet I just don’t know what to watch. I enjoyed stand-up comedy, but it didn’t have that many new specials. I watched a few episodes of Sex and the City and they were enough for me.

In a way, I enjoy reading more than watching. I have been wanting to subscribe to the New Yorker, my favorite magazine, but I am still holding off. I am just not sure if I want to read articles or just focus on reading books. I don’t have time to read everything and if I were to subscribe to the New Yorker, I would want to read everything.

I subscribed to the New Yorker a few years ago and the paper magazines were piling up in my home. I felt guilty for not be able to read them all. Maybe I just subscribe to the digital version. I do want to support the New Yorker.

Took three minutes voted for James Walkinshaw. He’s a Democrat. I can’t vote for any Republicans because they only work for one man instead of this country. So fuck them.

In the construction
of the chest, there is
a heart.

A boat
upon its blood
floats past

and round or down
the stream of life,
the plummeting veins

permit its passage
to admit no gains,
no looking back.

One steps aboard,
one’s off.
The ticket taker

signs the time allotted.
Seated, amorphous persons
see no scenery

but feel
a chill about their knees
and hear a fading cry

as all the many sides of life
whiz by,
a blast at best, a loss

of individual impressions.
Still I sit
with you inside me too—

and us,
the couple thus encoupled,
ride on into the sweetening dark.

Robert Creeley

Last night, the second automatic sliding door from our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE broke. The first one broke about six months ago, but I hadn’t fixed it. One auto shop quoted about $2,000 to replace. That would cost $4,000 for both. Obviously, I am not going to replace them. I have no problem with using the manual sliding doors. My only concern is that the kids my get their fingers jam or their face smashed since the doors would slide very fast with the cables to hold them.

In addition, the back lift gate has no hydraulic. It keeps falling down and hit my head. The interiors are falling apart. The shock front driver side is gone. The steering post makes clicking noise every time I made a turn. The AC is out. The milage is about 210,000 miles. The only thing that still works well is the engine—for now.

Since I will be driving an hour and a half each Saturday and Sunday this winter to work, I will need a reliable car. I am not sure if it is worth it to fix the issues and keep it or buy a brand new Sienna. The price tag for 2025 hybrid Sienna XLE is around $50,000. I don’t want to spend that much money on a car. I want to see how much it will cost to fix the shock and the steering post. If it costs too much then I might need to get a new car.

First world problem, I know. Nevertheless, I still hate owning a car, but I need it.

From Vail Resorts:

Hello Donny Truong,

Congratulations! You have completed all Pre-Boarding steps for your role at Vail Resorts. You still have a few more actions to complete… Look for this message within two weeks of your start date, which we tentatively have scheduled for 2025-11-01.

Thank you,
Vail Resorts Human Resources

I am excited!

Stephanie Saul, writing for the New York Times:

The Trump administration has made attacking universities central to its agenda. Higher education leaders argue that their institutions are the pillars of fact-based scientific inquiry and freedom of expression. President Trump and his supporters have argued they are elitist and focused on indoctrinating new generations into liberal ideologies.

But George Mason stands in stark contrast to the exclusive institutions Mr. Trump has targeted. It offers admission to 90 percent of its applicants. Many are middle-class students from Northern Virginia.

It is also among the most diverse campuses in the country.

I wish I can tell Dr. Washington in person to stand strong and not to back down. We have his back.

Vail Resorts:

Hello Donny Truong,

Welcome back! We are excited to have you return to the Vail Resorts team as a Ski School (Non-Cert) at Whitetail. Before you can begin your Experience of a Lifetime, we have some preboarding activities to get started.

I just can’t wait.

I had been sick since Monday and had to take off work pretty much the whole week. First it started with a sore throat, then a migraine, then a lot of coughing, like a dog. With all the medications I was taking hoping for a quick recovery, I felt miserable. I was lying in bed, listening to music, and reading. I finished writing a personal piece that I needed to get off my chest for a long time. I felt much lighter afterward.

As I become older, I don’t mind reducing unnecessary dramas in my life. I used to give a fuck. Now I give a fuckless. I don’t need all the needless stress. When I was young, I was too emotional. I worried too much about what others think of me. I was having a conversation with one of my sons as he’s going through this stage as well. I feel him, but it is also frustrating that he refuses to take my advice. I have been there and done that. The quicker he gets over what others think of him, the better his life will be.

There is no point trying to hide his flaws or avoid uncomfortable circumstances. He needs to learn to be comfortable with himself, to recognize his talents, and to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. No one’s perfect. I even gave him an example of myself. I am full of flaws. I don’t hide my bald head. I am not ashamed of my yellow teeth. I am not running away from my erratic emotions. I speak my mind and write what is in my head. If people can’t accept me for who I am, then fuck them.

Until he can embrace himself and appreciate his uniqueness, he will continue to be miserable. He just can’t sit around and feel bad for his sorry-ass. He needs to take care of himself first. He can do anything when he puts his mind to it. He has the talents, but he needs to put in the work. Unlike him, I don’t have the talents, but I have a relentless drive to accomplish my goal. Whatever I set out to do something that I am passionate about, whether designing, skiing, snowboarding, skating, writing, I will keep doing it until I accomplish something. I am in my mid fucking forty and I am still thriving. He has plenty of opportunities and he just needs to take advantage of them.

Thú thật tôi không thích tiếng hát Phạm Hoài Nam lắm nên không rõ sao nhạc sĩ Quốc Bảo luôn lăng xê anh ta. Cho đến những ngày vừa qua tôi bị cảm chỉ nghỉ ngơi trên giường. Ngoài đọc tiểu thuyết, tôi nghe album mới phát hành, Tinh khôi yêu lại, của Phạm Hoài Nam hát Quốc Bảo. Không biết nghe riết rồi quen hay cách hát của anh truyền cảm hơn qua album đôi này, mà càng nghe càng thấm.

Đĩa một toàn những ca khúc quen thuộc của nhạc sĩ Quốc Bảo. Tôi biết đến ca khúc “Vừa biết dấu yêu” qua tiếng hát Nguyên Hà, nhưng phần hòa âm điện (electric) làm cho ca khúc mới hơn và hợp với giọng trầm của Phạm Hoài Nam. Với “Tóc nâu môi trầm” thì không thể nào thoát khỏi tiếng hát Mỹ Tâm, nhưng phần hòa âm với giai điệu Spanish lả lướt, nhất là tiếng đàn guitar và violin, khiến cho ca khúc được tươi trẻ nhưng trưởng thành. Dĩ nhiên “Em về tinh khôi” thì không nào không có hình bóng Trần Thu Hà, nhưng acoustic version của Phạm Hoài Nam nghe nhẹ nhàng và hồn nhiên, khác biệt với kỹ thuật của Trần Thu Hà.

Đĩa hai thì toàn những ca khúc mới đối với tôi, vì tôi không biết nhiều ca khúc của nhạc sĩ Quốc Bảo. Lời ca của anh thì quá sâu sắc rồi. Chẳng hạn như “Dắt nhau đi” với ca từ như, “Người cám ơn người vì đã yêu thật lâu / Người hát câu yêu như trong máu”. Phạm Hoài Nam bộc lộ cảm xúc qua giai điệu blues rất tinh khiết. Bài hòa âm được những phần solo tuy ngắn nhưng rất phê. Ca khúc “Bỏ quên” được hòa âm theo giai điệu country-rock nghe lạ và phần ragtime solo thì thật thú vị. Rất hiếm trong nhạc Việt có phần kết hợp như thế.

Phải công nhận nhạc sĩ Quốc Bảo với tài năng khám phá những nét hay trong giọng hát. Anh đã thành công với tiếng hát Phạm Hoài Nam không chỉ qua ca khúc của chính mình mà còn cả phần producer.