Đán, Xuân, and their cousin Khôi just wrapped up their five-day Sky High Skating Development Camp at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Based on the program’s description, I signed my boys up to develop their skills based thier levels. For example, I wanted Xuân to work on his backwards and Đán to work on his freestyles. I expected the coaches to test each individual skater and then grouped them together based on their level.

Unfortunately, there was one coach for eight kids in different levels. The coach was a seventeen-year-old girl who could skate, but didn’t have the experience to teach. She showed a few techniques for all the kids regardless of their levels. For example, the waltz jump is for freestyle level; therefore, Đán could do it, but Xuân and Khôi couldn’t. They need to learn the bunny hop first before they could even try to do the waltz jump. They ended up skating just for fun most of the time.

It was not the coach’s fault. She had the tough job of overseeing eight kids for four hour straight each day. In fact, she was very patience and cool with them. The kids had fun, but I was hoping they had developed some solid skills as well. The program was over promised, but under delivered.

I have been blogging for almost 20 years and I haven’t stopped. I find the freedom to write exhilarating. When I immersed myself into reading, I couldn’t stop. I find the pleasure of reading liberating. When I set my ear on jazz, I was hooked. I find the history and the art of improvisation to be hypnotizing.

I must have an issue with addiction or obsession. Once I hooked onto something, I just wanted more or to go all the way. I am not sure if it is good or bad. I don’t take the moderation approach. Go hard or go to hell. Fortunately, I never started smoking or using drugs. I don’t think I can dig myself out of those holes.

I had an issue with alcohol, but my gout, which is a curse and a gift, put my alcoholism under control. If I were with one or two drinking buddies, I could drink until my body couldn’t take anymore, which caused everything to come back out. Fortunately, those friends do not live close by.

I never wanted to go skiing, but my wife wanted me to do it with the kids. On our first skiing trip, I didn’t go because I refused to pay almost two hundred dollars for just one day. On the next trip, I gave it a shot to get my wife off my back. Then I was hooked. Skiing felt like flying even on a bunny slope. I ended up taking my kids on a ski trip every weekend in the winter right before the pandemic hit. I felt guilty because we blew five hundred dollars each day on skiing packages and food just for Đạo, Đán, and me. My wife, however, brushed it off. She encouraged us to go for it.

Then the pandemic hit and we were forced to stay home. We did some biking, but that quickly got boring. My wife suggested rollerblading. I thought she was out of her mind. Falling on concrete and getting hit by the cars on the streets seemed to be too dangerous for rollerblading. Then she bought us rollerblades. We started on the basketball courts when no one was playing. Then we discovered skateparks. I didn’t realize there were skateparks for skateboarding and rollerblading. I got hooked. I fell several times trying to do the drops, but I loved the vibe.

I used to ice skate a few times back in the days. I enjoyed it, but didn’t take it seriously until my kids and I started lessons. Ice skating is all about techniques. The more I learned, the more I wanted to build up my skills. Needless to say, I am also hooked on it. I felt like a little kid discovering a brand new world, except I am not a kid anymore. The learning curve is much steeper for me, but I am not competing against anyone else other than myself. I don’t have a goal, but I refuse to skate recreationally. I wanted to learn as much as I could just to prove to myself that I can do it.

I write because I enjoy expressing myself even if no one else would read it. I read because I enjoy gaining new knowledge and getting into someone else’s head. I listen to jazz because I enjoy the musical expressions the musicians created on the spot. I skate because I enjoy the feeling of being a kid again, something I missed when I was a kid.

Life is too damn short and I will leave this temporary place one day to meet up with my mom and dad. So just live it. YOLO!

I woke up and felt recharged after eight hours of sleep. I had about three hours the night before. I ate a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats, one of my favorite types of cereal. I went straight to work with a WordPress developer at the University to change a domain name for one of our centers. The developer was awesome and we worked together well. I appreciated her talent as well as her honesty. She didn’t shy away from letting me know what she didn’t know and I did the same. Fortunately, we had different skill sets; therefore, we had each other covered. We completed the project right before noon. Everything worked out as expected. Even though we had worked together in the past few years, we had never met. I hope to have a chance to thank her in person one day.

After wrapping up the project, I went to the public library to pick up Đán. He had a private tutor session with his recent teacher to help him with language arts. The wasp removal specialist called to come by to take away a wasp nest that was as huge as a basketball. Then I helped my son Đạo set up his Zoom meeting for his writing workshop. That was only noon time.

I took Đán, Xuân, and their cousin Khôi to the ice-skating development camp at Ballston Quarter. After checking them in, I headed straight down to Copa to have lunch and to watch England versus Germany. I ordered a glass of Sangria, opened up my laptop to do some work, and relaxed for a bit. Around 3:30 pm, I took a break and decided to head to the Powhatan Springs Skatepark to do some drops and to skate around. This park is for serious skateboarding. It had three bowls. A young kid, probably around twelve years old, just dropped into the deepest bowl like nothing. He had no helmet and no guards. He was skating on his board like surfing.

I tried dropping in the shallow end of the lower bowl first and then the shallow end of the higher bowl. Then I peeped into the deep end of the higher bowl. It was not that deep, but the curve was a little deep. I went for it and busted my butt. My whole vision collapsed as the 95-degree Fahrenheit kicked in. I managed to get myself out of the bowl and found a cool grass spot under the shade to crash. I texted my wife to say, “I love you,” and then closed my eyes. I closed my eyes for 15 minutes to pull myself together. When I woke up, my butt was in tremendous pain and I could barely pull myself up. I didn’t receive a reply from my wife.

I managed to pick up the boys from skate camp with tremendous pain in my butt. I feel like an old fool. No wait, I am an old fool. I didn’t let my kids rollerblade because it looked dangerous skating on the streets. Then I got into it myself and now I am the one that takes the risks. It is true what they said, “No pain, no gain” and “Getting injured is part of the game.” As I dragged myself out to my car, I heard the kids say to each other, “Go hard or go home.” In my case, go hard and go to the hospital.

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I went back to the ice skating rink yesterday to practice after being sick for 24 hours. I spent three hours working on backward outside edges on both feet. The techniques look simple, but difficult to follow. I can’t imagine pulling off the arabesques, half-flip jumps, and waltz jumps.

When I first took ice-skating lessons, I didn’t even think about going into Freestyles. The techniques are way above my physical ability. What amazes me about ice skating is the building block from one fundamental technique to the next. The lessons have been carefully planned out like building LEGO bricks. It is important to master the foundations before moving on.

I also learned another important aspect of ice skating. Although ice skating is working with my feet, my hands play an essential role as well. The best skaters are the ones with hands and feet coordinations. Coach Julia (via YouTube) always took her time to explain the hand movements. I had always been confused about how to use my hands until now. As I was working on my backward edges, I realized that my hands must copy my feet. They helped me reach the destination I am skating to.

You must be bored out of your mind reading my rants on skatings. That’s the reason I am writing it down here rather than talking to anyone else about it. Imagine having a beer with a buddy and wanting to talk about ice skating instead of football. No wonder I have no drinking buddy.

I don’t even talk about ice skating with my wife. She is already fed up with my obsessions. I observed her the other day when we were resting on our chairs at our family picnic, all I saw was disappointment and disengagement in her eyes. I apologize.

Hôm qua thứ Sáu lấy ngày nghỉ đi chèo thuyền cùng gia đình. Trưa ăn picnic ở công viên. Tối đi ice skating luyện tập. Về đến nhà rất khỏe. Uống ly trà xanh mật ong, ăn chiếc bánh pía nho nhỏ, tắm rồi đi ngủ. Giữa đêm khuya bỗng nhiên nghe lòng ngực như đang bị cháy. Ho đau tận cả phổi phải tìm nước chữa cháy.

Cố gắng ngủ tiếp nhưng cảm giác rất khó chịu. Sáng dậy không bước ra khỏi giường nỗi nên ngủ tiếp. Cũng may hôm nay là ngày thứ Bảy không cần phải làm việc gì. Vợ cũng để yên cho tôi ngủ. Tôi ngủ như bị thiếu ngủ trầm trọng nhưng những cơn ho đánh thức tôi dậy. Vợ nấu cho tô súp tàu hũ Hàn Quốc ăn giải cảm. Ăn xong, tôi lại trèo lên giường ngủ tiếp.

Trong tâm trạng mê mang mệt mỏi, tôi nhớ đến mẹ. Nhớ những lúc ốm đau lúc còn bé, mẹ đã lo lắng cho tôi từng viên thuốc, từng muỗng cháo, từng lời khuyên nhỏ nhẹ. Mẹ đã không rời xa tôi nửa bước. Thế mà giờ đây mẹ đã rời xa tôi vĩnh viễn.

Sáng Chủ nhật thức dậy thấy tinh thần nhẹ nhàng hơn. Cơn bệnh chắc đã qua. Nhìn qua cửa sổ nắng đã lên rất đẹp nhưng vẫn còn buồn ngủ.

An uplifting film about bringing skateboarding to a small village in India. Skating gives kids, especially young girls, an opportunity to do something out of the ordinary, like getting an arranged marriage. As someone who has a passion for skating, I find the film a bit too dramatic, but still inspiring. I am not going to start skateboarding anytime soon, but I appreciate the art of the sport. I am glad the film endorses helmet and guards for skaters.

Last night I decided to enroll in Freestyle 1 ice skating lessons with Coach Kate whose classes I had taken before. I skipped Delta because I had learned the techniques with Coach Julia via YouTube. I could keep learning this way, but I missed having group lessons. In the new class, I am the only guy. The girls, most of them are quite young, are very good. I will need lots of practice to catch up.

After our first day of ice skating lesson, I went to the skatepark. I wanted to regain my confidence after my epic fall. I dropped down the ramps carefully, working my way from lower to higher ramps. I am giving up rollerblading. I just need to take my time with it.

Last night, I checked with my wife to see how we’re doing financially. We’re spending quite a bit on summer activities. Đán and Xuân are taking private tutoring for their academics. They both also enrolled in ice skating camp next week. These camps weren’t necessary, but I made a mistake of enrolling Đán in the wrong hockey program. They didn’t give us our refund; therefore, I might as well enroll them into figure skating camps using the credits. Đạo will also start his virtual writing workshop next week. I also want him to pick up private ice skating lessons again. Then I started taking group lessons again. I wanted to take private lessons, but opted in for group lessons because they are cheaper.

My wife didn’t say anything; therefore, I assumed we’re doing OK. I hope these activities will keep them active during the summer. I am really happy that Đạo and Đán started to blog. At least I know they are using their screen time not just for gaming and watching ridiculous YouTube videos.

The summer is here and the kids need some activities to do. Next week, Đạo will start taking a virtual writing workshop run by my dear blogger friend Ms. Nguyễn. I am impressed with the course description and the email she sent out to the kids. I am sure the kids will learn so much from this workshop. My hope is that they will find writing fun and fulfilling so that they will continue to write.

In the spirit of writing, my wife asked me to create a blog for each kid to write. In the past few days, I created two new blogs using WordPress.com for my sons. Playing off Visualgui, I named Đạo’s blog Tinigui and Đán’s blog Lilgui.

My goal is to encourage them to write. Đạo can use his blog to post his writing assignments from the workshop and write anything he wants. Same goes for Đán. They can write a few sentences or a few paragraphs. They don’t have to worry about grammar and structure. They just have to write on a daily basis.

They have the complete freedom to write what is on their minds just like what I am doing on my own blog. I hope they will use this space to hone their writing skills. I have been blogging for almost 20 years and I still love getting my words out of my head everyday. I hope they’ll find writing as liberating as I had.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and didn’t feel too well. I had a hoarse throat, which I thought was from eating spicy hot pot the day before. I went to the skatepark anyway to drop some ramps. I wanted to do the half pipe, but one side of it was still wet. I decided to try out a high ramp, which looked like the other high ramp I had done. When I looked down, this ramp seemed to have a steeper curve than the other one, but I was overconfident. I went for it.

I didn’t know what happened next. I blacked out for a few minutes. I fell on my butt and my head hit the ground. Fortunately, I had a helmet on to protect my head. When I slowly regained my consciousness, I thought I was dreaming. When I called my wife, it was around 9:30 am. I left my house around 8:30 am. I was not sure how long I was out, but I had a headache when I drove back home.

Other than having some pain on my butt and neck, I am doing fine. Though I think I am coming down with a cold from my kids, which began during our vacation. I definitely need to be more careful. I am also taking a break from skating to recover.