With over 25 years of experience, I have designed and developed all kinds of websites. In the past 10 years, however, what I enjoyed crafting the most were web-based books.

With the adoption of responsive web design and web fonts, web-based books can be accessed anywhere and read on any device. Furthermore, web books can be preserved. All of the books I have coded using HTML and CSS; therefore, I still have all the files if my books go offline.

As I was reading about Writebook, a tool from 37signals for writing and publishing online books, I realized that I had created a handful of web-based books on my own. I wanted to collect them here for your reading pleasure.

Pro Web Type was published as an independent study for one of my graduate courses in graphic design. This book combines theory and practicality on the emerging support of web fonts. My goal is to prove that typesetting is fun and rewarding—not intimidating. Web typography remains a craft that is honed, nurtured, and acquired over time, with patience and practice. Join me in a journey to explore this craft.

Thơ Mưa is a poetry collection written by Cao Nguyên. To celebrate the book’s twenty-fifth anniversary, the author wanted to release a digital edition to share with his friends, family, and readers around the world. To reach as many readers as possible, making a responsive website for the book was the ideal solution. Anyone with an internet connection can access the book.

Vietnamese Typography was published as my final thesis for my MA in graphic design from George Mason University School of Art. This book had quickly become an essential guide for designing Vietnamese diacritics. For the second edition, I turned the online book into a rich visual experience. Completely redesigned, the new website offers prominent illustrations, in-depth references, and new typefaces.

The Familý Stories was written by my mother’s youngest sister, Lý Minh Anh. She wrote about her parents and siblings as if she was sitting next to me and telling me our family stories. I loved her writing so much that I asked her to allow me to put it together in a web book so our family around the world could learn about our family stories. Since the stories are personal, I had to password protect the book.

Cây cối quê hương is a children book of poetry on homeland trees. These beautiful, innocent, and poetic words will light up the young readers’ souls, bring them closer to nature, and help with their language development in Vietnamese and English.

Truyện Kiều, by Nguyễn Du, is recognized as the masterpiece of Vietnamese national literature. Structured in lục-bát (six-eight) couplets, Truyện Kiều, which consists of 3,254 lines, is not only a literary Bible but also a national epic that has inspired political debate, social critique, and revolutionary spirit. The book has been translated into English by Vương Thanh.

Cổ Tích Nhi Đồng is a collection of Vietnamese children folk tales with English translations.

Pete the Cat’s Groovy Guide to Life, by Kimberly and James Dean, collected inspiring quotes to live by. I translated the quotes into Vietnamese and created web book for fun.

Làm Đĩ is a novel about prostitution written by Vũ Trọng Phụng. Although it was published in 1936, the book is still a refreshing read. Vũ Trọng Phụng was such a great writer who was ahead of his time. Even though I only read it in recent months, I loved the book so much that I decided to create a one-page web book to preserve it.

badòngthơ, by physician-poet Cao Nguyên, is a collection of three-line poems. The form is similar to the Japanese haiku, but Cao Nguyên also plays with three, five, and seven syllables. When he asked me to bring badòngthơ to the web, I jumped at the opportunity. As of this time, only 15 poems are online, but the printed book can be purchased on Amazon.

Truyện tiểu thuyết nói lên sự gian nan, đau khổ, thiệt thòi, và chịu đựng của những cô gái bán thân cho đàn ông mua vui. Còn đàn ông thì toàn những kể khốn nạn, dâm đãng, và vũ phu. Chỉ biết dụ gái, chơi gái, lấy tiền gái, và đánh gái. Tôi đọc mà còn hận đàn ông huống chi mấy cô làm điếm. Sung sướng gì trên nỗi nhục nhã và đau đớn của người khác. Đọc để giải trí cho đỡ căng thẳng trong cuộc sống. Văn của Nguyễn Văn Học dễ hiểu và cảm động.

I am sending in the documents and receipt to Toyota Brand Engagement Center. I also wrote the following note:

Dear N,

Thank you for responding to my 2018 Toyota Sienna’s airbag issue back in March, 2024. Unfortunately, the airbag light went on again in June (Memorial Weekend), which was just two months after it was fixed.

I took our Sienna back to Ourisman Fairfax Toyota again. As you can see in the documents and receipt, the new cost to fix the issue the second time was $3,483.06.

I am providing you with all the paperworks to show that I have met your “offer of $750.00 towards future service(s), using genuine Toyota parts at an authorized Toyota dealership.”

I am looking forward to hearing back from you.

Current owner of two Toyota Siennas
Donny Truong

Let’s hope Toyota will keep its words.

Vũ Thành An is a talented Vietnamese songwriter whose music is well-known for his series of nameless love songs. In 1997, he published his first book, Chuyện tình không tên (Nameless Love Stories), in which he shared stories behind his nameless songs through personal letters.

Even when I was a kid, I always marveled at the beauty of cursive handwriting, especially through letters. In the Vietnamese culture, honing cursive handwriting has been an essential, life-long skill. I have been wanting to create a sample page to showcase a quality handwriting typeface that supports Vietnamese and Vũ Thành An’s letters fit the bill. I chose “Tình thư thứ ba” (Love Letter #3), in which he included the original version and the updated version of “Bài không tên cuối cùng” (The Last Love Letter).

After playing around with a handful of cursive typefaces, I settled on Playwrite Việt Nam, designed by Veronika Burian and José Scaglione. Playwrite Việt Nam is based on the Mẫu chữ thảo tiếng Việt (Vietnamese official cursive script) provided by the Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo (Ministry of Education and Training). Take a look.

I can’t stand the excessive heat. I am done with the summer. I can’t wait to get back to skiing and snowboarding. I don’t care much about the beach and the water.

I haven’t been to the skatepark for a month due to the gout attack. It is finally going away. I can returning practicing snowboarding in the basement. I am focusing mainly on my body position for carving. I hope it will help once I get to the slopes in the winter.

I still have so many projects to do for the house. Getting rid of things we don’t need is one of them. I don’t want things to pile up to the point where we just give up.

That winter, December of 2006, I fell head over heels in love with a wonderful lady. She and I took a trip to Niagara Falls. We drove around the Niagara River Parkway at night in the rain, viewed the holiday lights, and listened to Madeleine Peyroux’s Half the Perfect World.

Last Thursday, she, who is now my lovely wife, and I revisited the Falls 18 years later, with our entire family. As we were driving from Toronto to the Falls, Ms. Peyroux’s latest album popped up in my Spotify. Her voice is still beautiful, but her style has changed. Let’s Walk is filled with gospel music including “Find True Love,” “Blues for Heaven,” and “Please Come On Inside.”

Then again, Ms. Peyroux is no angel when it comes to “Me and the Mosquito.” Over the reggae groove, she confesses, “My heart is tenderly respectful of every living incarnation / But when this minute sucker bites, I won’t be reading its last rites.” The lyrics are hilarious, but she sings with her heart out.

The album closes out with the environmental-conscious “Take Care.” She rhymes over Jamaican-inspired beat: “Food is good if it’s organically grown / Without pesticides, plastic wrap, or Styrofoam / Growth hormones or horrific conditions for hard working humans or the cows or the chickens.”

I definitely enjoyed Ms. Peyroux’s sense of humor. Furthermore, her music has a special connection to us.

Every trip must come to an end. A week had gone by so fast. It’s time to head home. It was so nice seeing familiar faces again. Furthermore, It was a pleasure meeting new friends and my wife’s family members for the first time.

Canada isn’t much different from the U.S., and yet, it is still a bit foreign. I didn’t care much about seeing the scenes. I care more about seeing the people. Thank you for welcoming us with open arms. We appreciate all the love you gave us. It was such a meaningful trip.

In addition to seeing our loved ones, we spent time together as a family. My mother-in-law is 82 now and it is such a blessing that she can still travel with us. Not too many seniors her age can travel hours in the car and walk to places.

Traveling with four boys was chaotic, but we managed to have fun. I am glad my wife decided to make a family trip out of it. I got to spend two days with my friends and the rest with our family. The schedule turned out great. I would love to turn it into our annual summer trip.

Mỗi lần gặp gỡ anh Trần Viết Tân là mỗi niềm vui. Lần này anh em hội ngộ ở Canada để xem hai buổi nhạc anh và mấy người bạn tổ chức tại Ottawa và Montréal.

Trưa thứ bảy vừa rồi tôi lái xe từ Montréal qua Ottawa và anh hẹn gặp tôi ở quán ăn Nhật. Khi tôi bước vào thì mọi người đang nướng BBQ trên bàn ăn. Trừ anh Tân thì tôi chỉ quen hai người trong số chín người. Thấy còn một chỗ trống kế một cô gái trẻ và xinh xắn, tôi ngồi xuống.

Cô gấp cho tôi vài miếng thịt nướng. Tôi cảm ơn và hỏi, “Em là bạn anh Tân hả”? Cô chưa kịp trả lời thì một người anh tôi quen đáp, “Đây là ca sĩ”. Tôi đùa, “Hèn chi thấy em xinh xinh”. Tôi mở phone lên để xem lại cái poster anh Tân gửi tôi mấy tháng trước. Tên cô có hai chữ đầu giống mẹ tôi: Ngọc Anh Vi.

Thú thật tôi chưa từng nghe qua cô vì đã khá lâu tôi không theo dõi sinh hoạt của Trung tâm Asia. Sau giờ ăn trưa, tôi cùng anh Tân về nhà anh chuẩn bị đến nhà hàng để setup ban nhạc cũng như bàn ghế khán giả. Tôi chỉ giúp đỡ những công việc lặt vặt như sắp xếp số bàn và đi mua bia rượu.

Lúc tôi trở lại nhà hàng thì chương trình đã bắt đầu. Cô Đào Nguyên đang hát ca khúc “It’s Now or Never”. Tuy chưa gặp cô bao giờ, tôi đã có dịp xem cô hát trong Facebook mỗi khi anh Tân live stream. Cô có chất giọng khàn giữa Lệ Quyên và Hồ Ngọc Hà. Cô hát live khỏe và tốt những ca khúc như “Tình lỡ” (Thanh Bình) và “Dancing All Night”. Tôi ước được nghe cô hát nhạc thính phòng theo phong cách acoustic.

Sau khi hát xong, anh Báo Quý chào tôi và cho tôi biết anh thường theo dõi Visualgui.com. Thật là một niềm vui được gặp một đọc giả. Sau đó chúng tôi cùng thưởng thức giọng hát trẻ trung và sống động của Ngọc Anh Vi. Cô hát liên khúc twist và cùng lắc lư với khán giả. Cô hát một hai ca khúc remix cùng với DJ Zyn-Q để chuyển sang nhạc club. DJ Zyn-Q chơi nhạc dance cho đến 12 giờ khuya. Mọi người vui vẻ và phấn khởi chào nhau ra về. Một đêm nhạc đã thành công trong việc đem lại những giây phút thoải mái cho mọi người tham dự.

Một giờ sáng tôi và anh Tân kéo đến nhà người bạn ăn lẩu đến gần hai giờ rưỡi sáng tôi mới đi ngủ. Gần trưa hôm sau anh Tân đưa tôi và Vi đi tham quan vùng Ottawa. Chúng tôi đến Tavern on the Falls uống cocktail và chuyện trò. Ba anh em rất hợp gu. Cả ba đều thích nhạc và nhậu. Vi dễ thương, bình dân, và dễ hòa đồng. Chúng tôi xem Vi như người bạn và người em. Trò chuyện mới biết Vi cũng rất đam mê snowboarding.

Buổi trưa chúng tôi kéo nhau qua Montréal để làm show thứ hai. Sàn chơi là một tiệm phở nhỏ chứa được khoảng 100 người. Đêm đó nhạc và ca sĩ cũng sống động không kém gì hơn ngày hôm qua. Khác là chương trình kéo dài đến 2 giờ sáng. Một lần nữa, DJ Zyn-Q đốt cháy sàn nhảy cho đến phút cuối.

Hai ngày ở Canada không thiếu gì ngoài thiếu ngủ. Tôi hân hạnh được biết thêm một số bạn bè và người thân của anh Tân. Mọi người ai cũng quý mến anh nên đã đón tiếp tôi ân cần. Tôi cảm kích ân tình của mọi người. Riêng anh Tân thì mười mấy năm qua vẫn vậy. Tuy hai anh em ở hai đất nước khác nhau nhưng mỗi lần gặp gỡ vẫn gần gũi, thân thiện, và thoải mái. Vui là chính.

The Japanese jazz trio, which made up of Masayuki Hiizumi (leader, pianist), Nirehara Masahiro (bass), and Kou (drum), kicks off the title track with so much energy as if they were playing jazz on steroids. I can’t even read this Japanese title “ゾウ,” but I love the Cuban flavor the trio cooked up. At “9 P.M.,” the group laid back for some funk jazz. Dynamics lives up to its title from start to finish. I will need this album on long road trips to keep me pump up.

We will be driving over 10 hours tomorrow to Montreal Quebec, Canada tomorrow; therefore, I decided to replace all four tires. The previous tires, Michelin Primacy Tour A/S, were replaced only two years ago at Costco and yet they were already badly worn out. I only used Michelin’s tires in the past, but I was disappointed with the previous tires.

I decided to try something new: Firestone Destination LE3 BL 235/50R19 99H 70,000 Mile. Since we have the lifetime alignment with Firestone Auto Care, it saved us to go with them. Our minivan is about 73,000 miles now so we’ll see how they’ll perform.

I also bought insurance just in case. The total was $1,100. Damn!