Đán has been struggling with math and I wanted to help him, but I am not sure what methods they taught him in school. I taught him the methods of long multiplication and long division, which I learned when I was a kid in Vietnam. Although he didn’t pay much attention at the beginning, he seemed to catch on. He just needed some hints.

I also incorporated word problems into his math so he can practice his reading comprehension. I tried to come up with scenarios that would align with interests. Here’s an example:

Đán would like to buy a brand new PC, which costs $1,950. If he gets paid $50 each week to clean up the house, how many weeks does he need to work and to save up in order for him to buy his PC?

Then I went a bit complicated:

Our family went to Red Lobster to celebrate Đán’s birthday. Grandma ordered a dish of fish that cost $24. Mom and dad ordered steaks and shrimps, which cost $49, to share. Đạo, Đán, and Xuân ordered mac-and-cheese bowls, which cost $12 each. Đán, the birthday boy, ordered a whole lobster, which weighed in at 4.9 pounds. The lobster cost $15 a pound. Find the total cost for the food then add 20% gratitude for the service. What is the total of the final bill?

He didn’t seem to enjoy the math problem as much as the food, but at least he learned something.

My cousin, Duy, who was a snowboarding instructor, insisted that I should give snowboarding another shot. Yesterday, we went back to Roundtop to take some snowboarding lessons from him.

Đán had already mastered his snowboarding skills and he could do the black slope at Roundtop. Đạo, Xuân, and I were still new. Duy taught us to keep our knees bent and our body constant in a strong position. We just needed to turn our shoulders from left to right to turn. Unfortunately, it was more difficult and it sounded. I kept falling. Đạo and I didn’t make it too far before switching back to skiing. Xuân stuck to snowboarding and did quite well. He liked taking one-on-one lessons with Duy; therefore, I left them on the bunny slope and went on the black slope with Đán.

I loved the thrill of skiing down the black slopes. My parallel turns and hockey stops allowed me to navigate around the steep slopes and moguls. My next goal is to learn carvings. The kids will have a four-day weekend this week. I can’t wait to get back to skiing, which is my focus for now. I might get back to snowboarding one day, but not this season.

Yesterday, we went back to the Liberty resort for the second time. The first time we skied at Liberty was two years ago and we didn’t have Epic passes. We bought packages that included lift tickets, rentals, and group lessons. Đạo and Đán didn’t want to take their lessons; therefore, I used them. I took three lessons on the same day. The instructors knew me. One of them took me on the green terrain and I was scared. Now it feels so easy.

Today I spent half a day skiing with Vương. Using a harness, I took him on the ski lift. The harness also allowed me to help him turn. He enjoyed the “magic seat” as well as skiing with me. It took us almost two hour to stand in line for the lift. It was super crowded.

After Vương didn’t want to ski anymore, I went alone on the blue terrain. The single line moved much faster. I went down three times and it was time to go home. I tried carving and fell on the green slope. I guess I was leaning too far to the side. I need more practice.

Hơn 100 bài thơ qua hơn 100 tác giả viết về quê hương Việt Nam, viết về những địa danh từ Bắc, Trung và Nam, và viết về nỗi nhớ cùng nỗi đau của những tâm hồn tha hương. Tất cả những bài thơ được ông Nguyễn Hữu Lý phiên dịch sang tiếng Anh. Tôi có ý định sau khi đọc xong sẽ tuyển ra một số bài để làm một dự án mẫu đưa vào Vietnamese Typography nhưng tôi không mấy hài lòng về phần tiếng Anh từ cách viết đến ngữ pháp.

Last November, I received a misprinted copy of this little book. Although Oh No had provided me the PDF version, I didn’t read it until I received the corrected print copy. It’s a short book with lots of illustrations and funny explanations to give readers some insights into the world of type design. For type design students, the details and nuances of each letter will serve as an invaluable reference. For typographers, the structure of the letterforms will help them make better type selections. James Edmondson should continue with numbers, punctuations, and diacritics. Just make sure the copies printed correctly before sending them out.

I spent three sessions learning the salchow jump and I still haven’t nailed it. Although the salchow has not clicked, something else has. I went back to the power pulls and I was able to move on one foot for each leg. I have been working on and off on the power pulls for almost a year and they only started to make sense last night. I was so happy about that. I will continued to pull more to gain more power. I will take my time on the backward pulls.

I might switch to the toe loop jump before returning to the salchow. The toe loop jump looks a bit easier, but I am not so sure. Learning on my own is harder than I thought, but I am working at my own pace rather than having to keep up with my classmates. That was stressful about taking group lesson. I don’t want to be the only incompetent skater.

I can’t wait to get back to skiing this weekend. I discovered the carving technique and had been watching several videos on it. Instead of paralleling on my flat skis, I will use my edges by bending my knees and leaning from side to side. Carving will give me more control on steeper slopes. I can’t wait to try it out.

Byer is indeed a Big Beautiful Weirdo and she is damn proud of it. Nn her latest Netflix Special, she didn’t shy from revealing her sexual appetite, her perspective on Black Lives Matter, and her jokes on white women. She also shared her own drinking, eating, shitting, crying, and singing in an airport’s bathroom. She makes you wish that you have the same shameless confidence that she has.

Gaffigan’s Comedy Monster is a light-weight material filled with self-mockery such as ugly and fat jokes. I didn’t get to see his acting on stage because I was listening to his special while driving to work. These days, I just downloaded Netflix Comedy Special on my phone to listen during my commute. It helps getting to work faster and more pleasant. This one is not so bad.

Tập thơ gồm những tác phẩm từ những tác giả tên tuổi như Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, James Joyce, và William Shakespeare được dịch giả Tâm Minh chuyển sang ngữ Việt. Khi đọc tập thơ này tôi chỉ chăm chú vào tiếng Việt để xem ông Tâm Minh chuyển ngữ ra sao. Và ông đã dựa vào ý thơ để viết lại những câu thơ bằng tiếng Việt chứ ông không dịch xác nghĩa. Chẳng hạn như đoạn cuối của bài “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost viết như sau:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Tâm Minh chuyển sang tiếng Việt như sau:

Mai này ta kể chuyện đời
Nơi miền đất lạ thở dài luyến thương:
Rừng kia chia cách đôi đường
Ta theo một ngả ít vương dấu giày
Đời ta từ đó đổi thay
Lá vàng theo gió cuốn bay cuối trời.

Không hiểu tại sao ông lại thêm câu cuối: “Lá vàng theo gió cuốn bay cuối trời”. Quyển sách này đã xuất bản vào năm vào năm 2001 tại tiểu bang Virginia, nơi tôi và dịch giả hiện cư ngụ. Nếu có dịp gặp mặt ông, tôi sẽ hỏi thử. Vì những bài chuyển ngữ của ông có chất thơ chứ không chỉ thông dịch nên đọc rất thú vị.

Now that the kids are back to school and I am back to work, I am picking ice skating again. Instead of taking group lesson for Freestyle 3, I am learning on my own with Coach Julia’s YouTube channel.

I can complete one revolution for backward outside pivot. I just need an additional half revolution. Backward inside pivot is a bit tricky, but I also could do one revolution. I can do back arabesques on both feet. I just need more refinements. I am starting to learn the salchow jump. It’s a bit harder than I had imagined, but I am getting there. I haven’t explore the toe loop jump or the toe walley jump. I’ll work on those after the salchow.

The only moves I will be missing are change foot spin and dance step sequence for Freestyle 3. I can’t find any instruction for the dance step sequence on YouTube. I am going to skip the change foot spin altogether since I am not a spinner.

Today at lunch, I went to the Pentagon Row outside ice rink to practice. Unfortunately the ice was hard and clear due to the cold temperature. The surface was also bumpy; therefore, I only skated for 15 minutes and left. I didn’t want to take any risk to practice my salchow jump. I needed an indoor rink to practice. I’ll return to either Fairfax Ice Arena or MedStar Capitals Iceplex.