Back in the 90s, a tune called “Boulevard” was widely covered by Vietnamese-American singers including Tuấn Ngọc, Don Hồ, and Kenny Thái. It’s a sweet, soft ballad by Dan Byrd, but I actually haven’t listened to the original version.

I have listened to both the English version as well as the Vietnamese translation, but I didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics. I just happened to come across it again on YouTube today and I found the lyrics quite suggestive. For example, “I beg you please I’m on my knees / If that’s what you want me to.” While you’re down there…

Then the chorus really got me: “Come again you would release my pain / And we could be lovers again.” You want your lover to “come” again? That sounds off-putting.

In a medley with Don Hồ on “Paris by Night 98,” Như Loan wisely switched out the English bars:

“Never knew that it would go so far
When you left me on that boulevard
Hãy quay về đừng để hồn em thương đau
Và hãy nói mình vẫn luôn có nhau.”

I thought she was conscious of the lyrics; therefore, she sang in Vietnamese instead. But then she returned and even begged her lover, “Please come again, you would release my pain / And we could be lovers again.” Then she and Don Hồ kept repeating those two bars until their performance was finished. They gave me a weird vibe.

I am only kidding. It’s a lovely song.

Chiều nay vợ dặn đi siêu thị mua cá chiên về ăn tối. Trong lúc đợi chiên cá, tôi đi vòng quanh chợ ngắm nghía. Chợt nhìn thấy những gói mè đen mà lòng tôi xao xuyến vô cùng.

Có một lần tôi và mẹ ăn cơm với muối mè đen trong căn phòng mướn chật hẹp. Không hiểu sao lần đó ăn ngon quá nên tôi vẫn nhớ mãi. Chỉ nghĩ đến một kỷ niệm nhỏ nhoi như thế cũng làm tôi không cầm được nước mắt.

Tôi nhớ mẹ quá. Nhớ từng cử chỉ ân cần của mẹ. Nhớ từng nụ cười xinh xắn của mẹ. Nhớ từng tiếng nói ấm áp của mẹ. Nhớ cách sống chậm rãi của mẹ. Nhớ đến những chuỗi ngày được sống bên mẹ. Vậy mà giờ đây mẹ đã vĩnh viễn xa tôi.

Making the transition from hockey skates to figure skates has been a challenge for me. Now I understand why Đán didn’t want to make the switch. The hockey skates were much more comfortable than the figure skates.

When we first started out, we used rental figure skates for a while. Then I bought myself a pair of Bauer Supreme S29 for $130. The price was low because I could fit into the youth size. It was brand new. My wife bought Đán and Đạo CCM Youth Tacks.

We took lessons and skated for a while until Đán went to Gamma/Delta, in which he needed figure skates to do some of the techniques. I looked up on Facebook and found a pair of Jackson Freestyle for $25. A new pair would cost $265. The boot was still in good condition. I asked Đán to give it a try. He skated two rounds around the rink and gave up. I asked Đạo to try. He didn’t like it at first, but he had an easier time making the transition. He now can skate in both, but the Jackson Freestyle will be his main skates.

My wife found me a used pair of Jackson Ultima Freestyle Fusion on eBay for $100 plus shipping. A brand new pair is $320. The pair still looked new. The seller said that his son only skated one time.

I skated three times already. The first time was horrible. The boot felt super stiff compared to the hockey skates. I didn’t realize that the higher the line, the harder the boot. I couldn’t even shave the ice to stop. I took it to the pro shop to get it sharpened. The second time I skated felt the same. I could only glide, swizzle, and cross over forward. I felt so frustrated, I wanted to give up and just go back to hockey skates. In addition, skating with 80 other people in the rink didn’t help.

This morning, I took Xuâx with me to an earlier public session. The rink was almost empty. Less than 10 skaters in the rink. The patrol didn’t bother to keep an eye on the skaters. He had his eyes on his phone instead.

I was determined to give the figure skates one last time before giving up. I put more effort in and went beyond my fear. I reworked everything I had learned up to this point, which included T-stops, 3-turns, and the Mohawks. Figure skates gave me more balance to do these things than hockey skates. I am still having trouble doing backward crossovers because my back foot kept getting caught with the toe pick. The hockey stop was also much easier to do on the hockey skates than the figure skates. Once I can do both of these, I will complete the transition. I am looking forward to doing more with the figure skates.

As I was hanging with my kids on a beautiful Friday morning, my phone was beeping off the hook. There were over 30 messages about our kids’ scouting activities. I agreed to be part of this group text so that I can receive information from the Scout leaders reminding us about things we need to do for our kids. As I scrolled through the text, Trump Supporter #1 texted:

LoL … ghosts have no voting rights … well, unless you are a dems …

Trump Supporter #2 replied:

One thing is for sure. I cant be at [two places] at once as I have a sub and a regular scout … unless I voted for Biden … which I did nit…

This wasn’t the first time that these guys brought up politics into the Boy Scout activities. Since none of the leaders seemed to concern, I replied back:

Wow, tons of messages to catch up. I appreciate receiving information on our scouting activities, but please spare me from political banters and uninitiated sarcasms. Thank you!

Trump Supporter #1 responded:

🙂 Why should you be spare? Under socialism, everyone shares misery equally..

If America could survive four years under Trump, he can live eight years under Biden. Politics is a bitch and she bites. Don’t hate the players, hate the game.

I didn’t respond because I wanted to spare other parents from these political arguments. I also didn’t want to feed into these sore losers. I had been fed up with these Vietnamese Trump supporters. I had removed myself from the parents’ social exchange during the Scout meetings. I either went to the skatepark or just read a book alone while waiting for my kids. Now I have to deal with them through text messages. If these comments continue, I will request to be removed from the list.

It had been so peaceful since the Orange turd had gone. I really don’t want to hear anymore of his shit nor his supporters’ shit. Leave me out of it.

Out of our four kids, I haven’t hung out much with Vương, our youngest boy. He is not ready to skate yet. I tried to get him to rollerblade, but he refused. I tried to get him to ice skate twice and he didn’t even want to step into the rink. When I took his older brothers to skating, he stayed home with his mom and his grandma. Now that I am on vacation, I want to spend some time with him. My goal is to take him and Xuân to different playgrounds around our area. Here are the playgrounds that we have enjoyed.

Fairlington Park

We recently discovered the playground in Fairlington Park. It is located in Arlington, which is 25 minutes from our house. This park has a high bridge made of ropes and a long slide. Đạo, Đán, and Xuân can climb and slide themselves. Vương still needs my supervision. The smaller areas are better for him. He and Xuân like the sandbox. The park also has a nice trail for walking, biking, or rollerblading as well as an exercise area for adults.

Woodland Wonderland

This is a themed playground located in Walker Mill Regional Park in Maryland, which is about 40 minutes from us. It’s all about discovering nature. The playground is suitable for Vương (2.5 years old) and Xuân (5 years old). They enjoyed the slides. Xuân discovered an awesome skatepark separated from the playground by the basketball and tennis courts. I will definitely try out the skate park when my wife comes along to supervise Vương at the playground.

Clemyjonji Park

This playground is located inMcLean, which is about 25 minutes from our house. It is huge with different areas for different age groups. It also has a nice trail for walking or rollerblading. We visited this park quite often when Đạo and Đán were younger.

Chessie’s Big Backyard

This playground is located in Alexandria, which is about 25 minutes from our house. This playground is not huge, but good enough for Vương and Xuân to spend ours running around. There is also a walking trail in the woods. I haven’t ventured out there yet, but it looks like a fantastic place to be close to nature.

Chestnut Hills Park

This park is located in Arlington, which is about 25 minutes from our house. The playground is not that big, but it has a sizable sandbox and a water faucet for the kids to play with. It’s a nice place with gates to keep the kids from running into the street.

I started using my new figure skate today and it was horrible. I could not do anything other than just gliding forward and doing some crossovers. I couldn’t even do a plow stop. I thought the blades were not sharpened, but the expert from the pro shop said the blades have edges. I am going to need more time to make the transition.

Đạo is doing great with his group lessons. After class tonight, his instructor asked me if I would be interested in signing him up for private lessons. Since he picked up the techniques quickly and easily, his instructor thinks he would go further with private lessons. Of course, I will sign him up.

I signed Đán up for ice hockey. I hope he will enjoy it. He skates fast, but refuses to use figure skates. Now I can see why as I am struggle to make the transition myself. I am not going to give up though.

My wife also wants to sign Xuân up for private lessons. I am also thinking of taking private lessons myself now that my group lessons had canceled, but I need to get used to my figure skates first.

I am going to need to take on extra freelance projects to pay for these extracurriculars. If you need a professional website for your doctor office, nail salon, restaurant, or any business, hit me up. If you know someone who needs a website, let me know. My price is very reasonable.

The good news is that my Jackson Ultima Freestyle Fusion figure skates had arrived earlier today. My wife got a great deal on it from eBay. The skates look like new and they fit me perfectly. The bad news is that my group lessons for Delta were cancelled. I was the only student signed up. At least five students were needed to hold the class.

Then again, this is a good time for me to take a break from lessons and to give me time to break into my new figure skates. If nothing comes up in the next few weeks, I might consider taking private lessons. I am not sure what my goal is for taking lessons. Maybe I just wanted to find out how far my body can handle the techniques. Yesterday, I saw a man in his early 50s doing turns and spins. He started figure skating when he was 45. I was encouraged.

I still have so much to learn, but I am taking my time and taking each step at a time. Skating is my only form of exercise at the moment. Both ice skating and rollerblading make me sweat. They both keep me stay active.

With a curious mind, a sense of wonder, and a passion for narrative and storytelling, Jeff Bezos has become a true innovator. By connecting humanities, technology, and business, he has transformed the way we shop online.

Through his shareholder letters, which he wrote from 1997 to 2019, we get to see how Amazon had grown and dominated the online retails. He set out to build “the world’s most customer-centric company” on day one; therefore, the technologies (AWS) that they had developed, the Marketplace they had launched, and the Prime membership they had created were based on that core mission.

Instead of giving PowerPoint presentations, Bezos prefers narrative writing. This book collects his own words on his personal life as well as his professional work. With a wonderful introduction from Walter Isaacson, this book gives readers a glimpse into Bezos’ mind, passion, and curiosity. I enjoyed it.

I worked on a freelance project until 3 am in the morning because I was in the zone and didn’t want to stop. As a result, I only had a few hours of sleep. I woke up to take Đạo and Đán to their Boy Scout meeting at the park. I dropped by Dunkin’ Donuts to pick up breakfast for the kids and iced coffee for me.

While the kids attended their Scout activities, I went to the skatepark to rollerblade. I got bored going down the straight ramps. I felt like I was not going anywhere with rollerblading. I was too nervous to take on the curved ramps like a half pipe. With my mind going berserk due to lack of sleep and the caffeine kicking in, I decided to just do it. I nervously put my left foot on the coping and dropped in with my right foot. I didn’t fall at all. I felt rejuvenated and kept on doing it for an hour. I even tried out a higher half pipe. After I showed Đán, he did it as well.

Later in the evening, I took Đạo and Xuân ice skating. Đán didn’t want to go. The arena was empty. I only picked the least busy time so I practiced. Xuân could do both the T-stop and the hockey stop simply from watching us. His form for the hockey stop looked so good. He is a natural skater. As we were having a great time, a teenage boy fell. He twisted his foot and cut his hand with the blade. His blood spilled all over the ice. With injuries occurring more frequently, I am getting a bit nervous.

I signed up for Delta, but no one else had signed up. It looks like the group lessons will have to be cancelled. I am attempting to sign up for private lessons, but I am still waiting for my figure skates to arrive. My wife bought me a used pair of Jackson Freestyle on eBay. The seller shipped over a week ago, but it is still somewhere in California. USPS sucks.

My 2011 Toyota Sienna’s windshield had a long crack along the wipers. I was not sure how or when it started to crack. I just noticed it a couple of days ago. I googled for an auto glass repair shop around my area. Windshield City caught my attention because of the positive reviews. I was still skeptical; therefore, I called Ourisman Toyota Collision Center for recommendation. The manager said they often contracted out to Windshield City.

I called Windshield City for an estimate and made an appointment for 3 pm today. I came into the shop, dropped off the car, rollerbladed around the blocks for a bit, came back, and got a brand new glass an hour later. I only interacted with Lindsay Rose, the office manager, and that was it.

The entire job cost $300, which included labor and after-market glass. I am very happy with the service and highly recommend it.