On Sunday, we took the kids to the closest beach from our home. The drive was almost two hours. As we drove closer to our destination, I suggested that we grab some lunch. I also suggested sushi because Đạo and Đán loved sushi, but my wife immediately shot that down. She suggested we grab something quick from McDonald’s. So we did.

We spent three hours playing in the water. The kids had lots of fun. On our way back, my wife suggested that we grab dinner so she wouldn’t have to cook. Great idea. Đán suggested sushi, but my mother-in-law wouldn’t eat raw fish. Xuân and Vương wouldn’t like sushi either. I suggested we get them Vietnamese food or something else at a different restaurant for them. We can ended up going straight home.

While the kids took a bath, I put away all the things from our minivan and my wife threw some egg rolls in the frying pan. We had vermicelli with egg rolls and vegetables. She also made some tofu kimchi soup. Dinner was simple and delicious. I drank some of my cold lychee saké.

When it was time for me to do the dishes, I thanked her for dinner. Then she said something along the line that she always had to cook for all of us. I reminded her that we could have ordered out. I should have stopped there, but I went on. I told her that when I took the kids out, I tried my best not to take them to fast-food places. She flipped out and accused me of being an elitist. She said that only I knew how to feed them good food and she only fed them McDonald’s.

No, that was not what I meant, but I know I needed to shut up. That was not my intention at all. I meant to say that I wouldn’t settle for fast food for the sake of convenience. When we went out together before the pandemic, the most relaxed time for me was sitting at the restaurant, getting a drink, and chatting with the kids, especially with Đạo and Đán, while waiting for the food.

I was not trying to be an ass, but I guess we’re at the point in our relationship where whatever we say would irritate the fuck out of each other. I need to keep my bullshit to myself.

Today, we’re back to normal again. I am learning how to wrap up a fight.

Anne Applebaum writes in the Atlantic:

Even if the Democratic nominee wins, “Can Biden reach into the opposite bubble?” is a question not just for the autumn of 2020 but for the spring of 2021, the winter of 2022, and many years into the future. The need to reach across informational and cultural divides will add an extra layer of complication to the multiple economic, medical, and foreign-policy crises a new Biden administration would immediately face, and will make it difficult to carry out the deep reforms that our bureaucracy, our democracy, and our health-care system need. But unless Biden makes an effort to talk with his opponents, he could end up much like the candidate in the Polish wheat field, with only the facts and 49 percent of the public on his side. Biden’s campaign may represent the last chance to bridge the gaps that divide us. If Trump wins another term, then we can be certain that no one will even try.

President Gregory Washington responds to George Mason’s legacy:

Should we then now continue to recognize George Mason and other founders as brilliant and devoted patriots? Or should we condemn them for ignoring the basic ideals by which they defined this country?

We should do both, because Mason is the very embodiment of the duality of America, which we celebrate for its insistence on liberty and justice for all, even though it enslaved and segregated millions of its own people for most of its history.

We’ll see how this will play out.

Quyển tùy bút viết về kí ức tuổi thơ của tác giả. Những câu chuyện dễ thương như tình cảm của “Gà mẹ, gà mẹ,” kỉ niệm khó quên “Ngày đầu tiên đi học,” trò chơi “Tát ao” bắt cá, hoặc sự ngây thơ ở tuổi mới biết yêu. Trần Nùng viết giản dị và nhẹ nhàng khơi lại trong tôi những ngày tháng còn ở quê nhà. Ngày xưa tôi cũng thích đi tát ao bắt cá ở nhà nội và tự chơi những trò chơi không cần đến tiền mua. Tuổi trẻ giờ đây không giống như ngày xưa nữa. Chỉ thích ôm iPad và điện thoại thông minh trong phòng có máy lạnh chứ không tự tìm những sinh hoạt ngoài trời như ngày xưa. Một thời đã qua.

Chiều nay ăn thịt nướng Hàn Quốc, tôi làm một lọ saké ngâm với chôm chôm tươi. Phê!

Mới đó mà đã hết tuần. Mỗi ngày cũng chỉ quanh quẩn trong nhà, làm việc, ăn, và trông con. Buổi tối đọc sách, viết blog, hoặc làm những dự án cá nhân nên ngủ rất trễ.

Giờ đây chỉ ngủ một mình. Xuân ngủ với bà ngoại. Đạo và Đán ngủ ké với mẹ và Vương. Thằng 11 tuổi và thằng 8 tuổi vẫn ngủ chung với mẹ. Bắt tụi nó ngủ riêng thì vợ cằn nhằn. Tránh cãi vã, vợ muốn sao cũng được. Tôi không ý kiến. Để xem tụi nó bám với mẹ nó đến bao giờ. Dĩ nhiên tình cảm vợ chồng cũng gặp trở ngại nhưng giờ đây cũng không làm gì được. Chỉ biết cố gắng tránh tranh cãi mà thôi.

Từ lúc bị cách ly đến giờ, tôi đã không gặp bạn bè và người thân trừ khi những lúc về thăm mẹ. Tôi đã tạm đóng Facebook gần một tháng nên không rõ những người thân ở xa ra sao. Hy vọng họ được bình an.

I have deactivated Facebook for almost a month haven’t missed it one bit. It’s such a toxic platform. I still use Twitter to stay update with typography and web design. I still have a presence on LinkedIn and Pinterest, but hardly checked them. I signed into Instagram once using Facebook to see a few photos I was interested in. After that, I never bothered to use it. I am not even on TikTok. What other social media networks have I missed?

These days, it either seems cool to be unsocial online or a sign of getting old. I am 42 now; therefore, it must be the latter. I am fine with that. I don’t need to be connected and I definitely don’t need to be constantly bombarded with misinformation. I don’t think I am missing out too much.

I still use RSS to read blogs I have been following. I should make a list of websites I subscribed to and share on my blog. I always return to this tiny space of mine on the internet. A personal website or blog is still better than a mega platform. I can do anything with it. Yes, I can throw up ads too, but I have total control of them. I wouldn’t put ads that would degrade this site; therefore, my readers don’t have to worry. I have a few promotions in the line-up that I am excited about. You’ll see what I mean.

I enjoyed watching Street Food: Asia with my kids, particular my eight-year-old son who likes to cook. In addition to the mouth-watering dishes, the stories behind the chefs were inspiring. They sold food to survive. They showed up and worked hard everyday. The perfected their craft over the years. Seeing people enjoying their food brought them joy. I definitely biased, but the episode in Sài Gòn, Việt Nam was my personal favorite. I loved snails and enjoyed different dishes of snails.

Tập truyện ngắn với những đề tài đầy bạo lực. Trong “Sau lưng người vô tội,” một cô gái bị tra tấn hành hạ dã man và bị trấn nước cho đến chết. Trong “Gương mặt muổi vằn,” ông nội của người kể chuyện bị “mổ bụng moi gan chặt đầu rồi quăng xác xuống dòng sông xanh ngát giữa tháng Giêng.” Rùng rợn hơn là bài “Tiếng mưa rất gần,” được kể lại là lính Mỹ cho chó hãm hiếp đàn bà. Lũ chó đã được huấn luyện để làm chuyện đó. Đọc những câu chuyện như thế khiến tôi bị ám ảnh cho dù cách viết của tác giả cũng tạm được thôi chứ không xuất sắc lắm.

I purchased a handful of fonts from FutureFonts. Unfortunately, most of them are incomplete; therefore, unusable. Their creators have abandon them. The fonts I invested in have no italic yet and only Name Sans supports Vietnamese. In fact, out of the entire FutureFonts catalog, only three fonts include Vietnamese.

Seeing how Stephen Nixon completed his excellent Recursive family, I have high hope that he will complete Name Sans as well. Other than Name Sans, my hope for the fonts I have bought to be usable beyond display typography in English is diminishing. As a result, I have been refraining myself from making anymore purchases from FutureFonts.

Yesterday, I could not resist the temptation from a beautiful serif text face; therefore, I bought Loretta, by Nova Type Foundry. I did a bit of research into Joana Correia’s work and she had completed Alga. She even added added diacritics to Alga, which is also one of the three fonts that supports Vietnamese in FutureFonts catalog. I hope she will complete Loretta with Vietnamese as well. We’ll see.

Thuy On:

The keening of us
the spaces between
a kerning too distant
your clauses conditional
dashes sprinting away
I didn’t want to be modified
& left dangling
but you trailed into ellipsis
and left me falling through gaps.

Via diaCRITICS.