Xuân and I started our first ice skating class last Tuesday. I enrolled Xuân in the second level for toddlers. He did really well even though he didn’t take the first level. He followed his coach’s instructions and he was able to do forward and backward swizzles. He enjoyed his first lesson with three other kids around his age. They looked so adorable and made ice skating look easy.

I began the Gamma level with the same instructor from the previous class. Two fellow classmates returned, but one lady didn’t. We had two new ladies join our group. On the first day, our instructor threw a lot at us. We had to skate on our edges (left and right, inside and outside, forward and backward). Then she launched into the 3-turn technique on one foot. I could barely turn 180-degree on two feet.

On Wednesday, I took Đạo and Đán to practice and spent an hour and fifteen minutes on just trying to do a left-180 turn with both feet. I didn’t get too far. I kept on tripping. I went home, searched up on YouTube, and found a video from coach Mary Dung Nguyễn. Her instructions were easy to follow and she demonstrated the 3-turn with effortlessness.

After a long day of work on Thursday, I went to the rink myself since the kids went over to their cousin’s house to play. I practiced turning 180-degree with just my right foot. After about half an hour, I found my groove and it just worked. What I have found fascinating about ice skating is that your body just goes with the flow once you get it. I also discovered that my left foot is even better than my right foot even though I always started out with my right foot. Once I have the right foot down, I can easily transfer over to my left.

I hardly walk or jog anymore. I am not the type that workout in the gym; therefore, skating is my form of exercise for the moment. I still have a lot to learn and I like the challenge. I am the oldest student in the group and probably even older than my coach. Like Art Blakey said, “I’m gonna stay with the youngsters. When these get too old I’ll get some younger ones. Keeps the mind active.”

Đán is doing better in virtual school. He participated more in class discussions. He just needed to be reminded to stay focused, but he has become more independent. He did well on a math test yesterday with his teacher’s help reading the questions to him. For language art, he wrote two poems yesterday. The first one was in an acrostic form. He wrote about sushi:

Sashimi
Uncooked
Salmon
Hot and spicy and
I love it.

He also wrote a Haiku about nature:

Trees come from nature
They are good for human beings
Please don’t chop them down.

Đạo is stepping up his poetic game as well. He wrote one yesterday about dragons:

Dragons are big, dragons are strong
Green, red, bronze, and grey
They always come to ruin the day
When you’re just having fun
They come and scorch
Until your home is gone
Then they make a home
With gold to show
Then frost sets in,
You turn your head
Blue, white, sapphire, silver
Ice and fire flies
They fight for silver
They fight for gold
One by one
The beasts fall
You hear static
Then you look
Amethyst, black, copper, and deep blue
Here comes the rarest of them all
Lightning lights up the night
Making the cool night, hot as day
Then they say, “Hey let’s stop”
“So we can catch some zs”.

I am impressed. Well done, boys!

While reading Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s The Mountain Sings, I highlighted all the tục ngữ (Vietnamese proverbs) she had incorporated throughout the novel. I loved her straightforward translations of these proverbs. For example, she translated “Có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim” as “Perseverance grinds iron into needles.” These are simple proverbs, but a translator has to know both languages well to make the translation accurate and relatable.

I have wanted to put together a project for these Vietnamese proverbs with English translations for while, but couldn’t find the time or the right typeface. Last week when Anita Jürgeleit released Every, I found a perfect match. For this project, I wanted to connect a talented Vietnamese author who had written a beautiful, poignant novel with a skillful German type designer who had created an elegant typeface.

Every typeface feels just right for typesetting everyday’s Vietnamese proverbs. I wanted to show the contrast between macro and micro sizes of Every. I also pulled the colors from the book cover for the background. Take a look. I hope you’ll find something inspirational.

Sunday evening I drove the kids home after spending two hours at the skatepark. The kids (Đạo, Đán, and Khôi) were talking about going back to school in person. As we passed the cemetery where my father-in-law’s buried, Đán said, “I missed my friends from school because of the pandemic. I also lost bà nội (grandma) from the pandemic.” I wept a little.

I try to remember my mother from all the wonderful memories we had together. From the sound of her voice to the beauty of her smile, I can still feel her close to me. Unfortunately, my mind automatically returns to the horrid images of her battling for her life. Her ballooned face and crooked mouth trapped on the ventilator have burnt into my brain.

The guilts, the regrets, the rages, the pains, and the sorrows are inescapable. They creep up on me any time of the day. This morning, I woke up and just missed her terribly. I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t read. I just wanted to pull out my phone and write about her.

With work and the kids, I try to stay busy, but I still can’t move on. I gave up on the words from Buddha. I was hoping they would help me, but I just couldn’t overcome the miseries inside of me. She had passed, but I still am struggling to accept the reality that COVID-19 killed her. Given the number of people all around the world who have died from COVID-19, it’s a selfish thought, but why my mother? Of course I know the reason. I just still can’t get over it.

There was nothing I could have done for her. It’s all over now. Why do I keep agonizing over it? I am just making myself suffer and depress. I fucking know that, but I can’t help it. The more I try to put the past behind me, the more it haunts me. I miss her too damn much.

After some contemplation, I have decided to continue my ice skating lessons. The main reason is that I was able to recruit Xuân to join us as well. It is convenient that all four of us will have lessons on the same day. Đạo and Xuân will start at 6:50 pm. Đán and I will start at 7:40 pm.

Xuân will begin the Tot ¾ level. He will learn to push and glide strokes, prepare for snow plow stop, dip, skate forward and backward swizzle, push right and left T-position, stop with one-foot or two-foot snow plow, and skate backward wiggle. He will have fun at this level.

I will begin the Gamma​ level with the same instructor. I will learn to do the three-turn right and left forward outsides, the Mohawk combination right-foot and left-foot insides, and the hockey stop. I know how to do a bit of the hockey stop, but I have no idea about the three-turns and the Mohawks. I am looking forward to the lessons.

Between the group lessons for four us and countless public sessions for us to play and practice, we are making quite a bit of an investment into the Fairfax Ice Arena. I am now taking on freelance web design and development projects to cover it. I am wrapping up a fun, useful site for the Mural Arts Philadelphia. If you need a small website for your business or passion, hit me up.

In Đán’s interim progress report for the third quarter, his teachers write: “Thank you for your support with Dan. He has shown great improvement with his class participation and completing his assignments on time.”

In the past few weeks, I worked with him closely. At first, I was so frustrated because he seemed clueless. He didn’t know what went on during class. Tuesday last week for instance, I had to take care of an issue at work that required me to be focused. I asked him to pay attention to his teacher. When I saw him idling, I asked him what he was supposed to do and he didn’t have a clue. I yelled at him then I felt awful afterward. I needed to be more patience.

The next day I kept reminding him to sit up and to pay attention. I also made him raise his hand to participate in class discussion. He didn’t want to speak up because he was afraid to give the wrong answer. He wanted to check with me first before he would raise his hand. He felt more confidence when he had the right answer. He is now participating a bit more and his teachers have recognized his efforts.

He wrote another poem yesterday in language art. He even shared with his classmates. He read out loud:

I love to make sushi
For me and my family
We enjoy eating them together
The memory will last forever

His teacher danced in her chair. She was so happy with the progress he is making. Today, she taught them alliterations. For class assignment, he needed to come up with a phrase that had alliteration based on his name. He wrote, “Dan digs Dunkin’ Donuts.” His teacher had a good laugh at that one.

From what I had observed, he was not clueless. He was just bored and was not paying attention. To get him engaged, I advised him to make his assignments about the things he enjoyed. Since he is passionate about cooking, he incorporated food into his assignments.

Staying focused is definitely a challenge for him. He didn’t do well on his tests or assessments because he tried to answer without reading the questions. I often had to remind him to slow down and read the question carefully before selecting an answer.

I am glad that he has shown some improvements, but he will need help with his ADHD. I am here for him now, but I can’t do this in the long term. Once he goes back to the classroom environment or I go back to work in my office, I won’t be able to be with him. Now that we know the issues he is facing, we can get him the help he needs.

Vài năm trước Mẹ thường hay xem mấy cái video Võ Hoàng Yên chữa những người bị tật nguyền. Mẹ khen ông ta là thần y nên tôi cũng xem thử. Tôi không phải là bác sĩ và không trong ngành y, nhưng khi nhìn thấy cách chữa trị của ông ta là biết ngay là đóng kịch và lừa đảo.

Bệnh nhân bị liệt chân bẩm sinh mà ông chỉ cần bấm nguyệt kéo ra kéo vô là đi được ngay. Có người bị điếc ông chỉ cần bấm và đập vào lỗ tai vài lần là nghe được. Còn người câm cũng nói được sau khi được ông bỏ tờ giấy tissue vào miệng và bấm vài cái. Nhìn vào là biết là dối trá rồi mà mẹ còn muốn tìm đến ông ta để chữa trị cho ba. Tôi giải thích cho mẹ và khuyên mẹ đừng nên dễ dàng tin những gì xem trên Youtube hoặc trên mạng xã hội.

Sau này không thấy mẹ xem video của ông ta nữa và cũng đã lâu rồi không thấy những video của ông ta được chia sẻ trên Facebook nữa nên tôi nghĩ chắc ông ta đã bị vạch mặt rồi. Không ngờ hôm nay thấy thiên hạ lại chia sẻ ông bà nào đó bị lừa gạt tiền cả tỷ nên đã lên án tố cáo ông ta.

Ông Võ Hoàng Yên là một trong những ví dụ nghiêm trọng về tin giả (disinformation) và thuyết âm mưu (conspiracy theory) trong cộng đồng Việt trong và ngoài nước. Từ lúc ông Trump làm tổng thống, những tin tức bậy bạ càng lan truyền nhanh chóng và mạnh mẽ trong cộng đồng người Việt. Tuy giờ đây ông không còn tiếng nói trong chính trị nữa nhưng cái ngu của ông ta vẫn còn tồn tại trong rất nhiều tâm hồn những người vẫn cuồng ông. Có người cho rằng cái ngu không thể nào sửa chữa được và tôi đồng ý nên đã hoàn toàn rút lui ra khỏi thế giới chính trị. Tôi đã không viết blog và không còn hứng thú về những đề tài này nữa. Ông ta đã bị bại nặng nề đó là sự thật không thể chối cãi không cần phải bàn tán. Ai tin hay không tin là sự tự do cá nhân của họ nó không liên quan đến sự thật. Như chuyện chữa bệnh của ông Võ Hoàng Yên, nhìn như thế mà vẫn bị lừa đảo quá dễ dàng.

This evening I wrapped up my seven-week ice skating lessons. Beta was a challenging level for me because it focused on backward skating. I struggled to keep up. Every week I took half an hour of lesson time, but I spent at least five hours practicing in public sessions. I was a bit stressed out because we had to take a test at the end of each level. We had to pass the test in order to move to the next level.

Before taking the test tonight, I took a practice session to make sure I would pass. The test went well. I scored 49/50. I got perfect points for stroking, left T-stop, right T-stop, and left-over-right crossover. I got a 9 for my right-over-left crossover because when I crossed my right foot over, I also slid my left foot to the opposite side. It was a natural instinct.

Overall, the hard work paid off, but I am still debating whether I should take the next level, which is Gamma. I want to learn ice skating just for fun and having to take the test puts more pressure on the whole learning experience. Maybe I am just taking it more seriously than I should.

My coach always wore a beanie all the way to her eyebrows and a huge black mask that covered her entire face. Revealing only her eyes made her both mysterious and a bit intimidating. She appeared to be tougher than she was. She was an excellent teacher and I learned quite a bit from her coaching.

I am an old-ass father who loves to skate with his kids. Whether on ice or on the street, I always wear my helmet and my protective gears. Although I don’t do anything crazy, I don’t want to put myself at risk even for minor injuries.

Đán wears his helmet, but he refuses to wear his protective gears when we go ice skating. He banged his knee against the wall real hard. He was in pain for a week. If he had his knee pads on, he could have protected his knees.

One time, we witnessed a woman break her wrist and an ambulance was called to take her to the hospital. She wore a helmet, but if she had her wrist guards on, she might have prevented the injury.

I had seen several adults fall and hit their head on ice, and yet not too many people wore helmets. At the skateparks, I rarely saw any skateboarders wearing helmets. From what I have read, wearing a helmet makes a skateboarder appear weak. I am at the age where that type of pressure doesn’t get to me. I explained to my kids that I rather look weak than the possibility of getting a head injury.

In retrospect, I put my life in danger on several occasions when I was a teenager myself. I hadn’t seen a coffin; therefore, I hadn’t shed a tear.

In high school, I rode with my best friend at the time who was into car racing. Once in a while, I sat next to him in his little red Acura Integra as he was doing 100 to 120 miles per hour on the highway racing against other friends with cars. Neither of us had our seatbelt on. What the fuck was I thinking? My life was in his hands.

A gun incident at a friend’s house still gives me a chill every time I think about it. The friend’s stepfather was a gun enthusiast. He had guns around his house. Another friend picked up a shotgun on the sofa and aimed at my head. They both knew the gun was not loaded. I suspect the gun was not loaded, but I told him it didn’t matter. I looked in his eyes and said that I didn’t want him to pull the trigger. He did anyway. I felt the chill air passing by my head. He thought it was just a joke, but I was dead serious. I didn’t need a friend who put my life in danger so fuck him. I never went back to the friend’s house again.

A boating accident still leaves me devastated even though it happened decades ago. A handful of us rented two canoes at a state park. None of us wore life jackets. Being dumb teenagers, we stood up on the canoe, which caused it to capsize. I could barely swim. Luckily, I was able to grab onto the boat. We flipped it over and climbed back on. We thought everyone was safe until we realized one of us was missing. He was a good friend of mine. We couldn’t find him. He was gone. If we had our life jackets on, he would still be here today.

In the time of the global pandemic, wearing masks could stop the spread of the virus. If wearing a mask could protect each other and save lives, it is not about freedom, but about responsibility. It is an individual freedom to not wear a mask, but it is not a freedom if the individual could affect others. If we had done our part, the death toll could have been less than 500,000 and my mother could have been alive today.

Maybe I am getting old; therefore, I am getting much more cautious. I take precautions over preventable risks any time. I have the responsibilities not just for my family, but also for my community and for my country.

I was elated to see one of my posts was quoted in one of my favorite websites. I have been following Robin Rendle’s blog and newsletter for a while. I admire his writing, both style and subjects. We shared some common interests including typography and web design. I am glad that he found “Inheritance” resonated with him and that we both have thought about the life of our blogs. He expands on it:

At some point or another this website, this URL, won’t resolve though. Maybe the Internet Archive will stick around for a while, but then everything is locked within this vast archive.

But if my URL is dead, my website dies with it.

My work shouldn’t be presented in the Smithsonian behind glass or anything, I’m just pointing at this enormous flaw in the architecture of the web itself: you’re renting servers and renting URLs. Nothing is permanent because on the web we don’t really own any space, we’re just borrowing land temporarily.

I dashed off that post when my son said, “When you die, I will read your Visualgui.” I have thought about this topic when Kevin Davis, a former colleague at Vassar College, passed away in 2010. Kevin was a fantastic designer and developer. His website (alazanto.org) was beautiful and distinctively personal. It was created in Flash, but he fed in his poems through XML. After he died, I still visited his site and read the poems he had written. Then one day, the site stopped working because Flash was no longer supported and was uninstalled on my browsers. I guess he didn’t have a chance to update his site to HTML and CSS. Then one day it was completely gone. I guess his payment had ran out and he didn’t leave his keys to anyone else.