Tôi đang bị nghiện loại Doubleshot Expresso của Starbucks. Phê chất đắng, ngọt, và lạnh. Một can rất nhỏ chỉ có 6.5 oz.Mỗi buổi sáng chơi một can trước khi đi làm. Chiều thèm quá thì chơi thêm một can nữa. Những ngày cuối tuần làm bà bốn can là chuyện thường.

Lúc đầu bà xã chỉ order trên Amazon mỗi tháng 1 case (12 can). Nhưng chưa đến một tuần là hết sạch. Tôi bảo vợ tăng cho anh 2 case đi. Thế mà hai tuần cũng hết. Thôi thì mỗi tháng uống bấy nhiêu đủ rồi. Uống hết thì đợi tháng tới.

Sáng hôm qua đang thưởng thức thì thằng Xuân đòi uống. Tôi cũng cho nó thử. Không ngờ nó hớp một ngụm lại đòi uống thêm. Bây giờ mỗi lần nó thấy cầm cái can là nó đòi ké. Nên giờ uống phải giấu nó.

Đạo and Đán got into a scuffle. Đán got angry when I asked him what happened. Here’s our conversation:

Đán: Đạo said he wants to kill me.
Dad: I did not hear he say that and I am sitting right here.
Đán: Yes, he did. He’s a killer.
Dad: Why do you make up such story? And I do not want you to use that word.

I was irritated with Đán’s language and I thought he made up the story. I knew Đạo wouldn’t say such thing so I asked him what happened.

Đạo: I was playing with my train and Đán pushed my [Lego] mini figure off the train.
Dad: Did you say you will kill him?
Đạo: No, I said [to him] what if you were on the train and would you like it if I push you off?
Đán: See, he wants to push me off and kill me.
Dad: OK so you did not make up that story, but you made it way more dramatic.

Should I be worried about this? After reading this article, “Is Your Child Lying to You? That’s Good,” I am a bit relief. Alex Stone writes:

Why do some children start lying at an earlier age than others? What separates them from their more honest peers? The short answer is that they are smarter.

He goes on:

Other research has shown that the children who lie have better “executive functioning skills” (an array of faculties that enable us to control our impulses and remain focused on a task) as well as a heightened ability to see the world through other people’s eyes, a crucial indicator of cognitive development known as “theory of mind.” … Young liars are even more socially adept and well adjusted, according to recent studies of preschoolers.

I sure hope these studies reliable.

David Remnick sums it up in one sentence:

The President of the United States has become a leading security threat to the United States.

Taylor diagnosed with melanoma at sixty. She planned her death with an euthanasia drug she bought online from China and a suicide note before her brain surgery. Taylor’s memoir, however, is not about her dying days. It’s a reflection on her life, childhood, and relationships with her parents and siblings. She writes:

A slow death, like mine, has that one advantage. You have a lot of time to talk, to tell people how you feel, to try to make sense of the whole thing, of the life that is coming to a close, both for yourself and for those who remain.

Instead of focusing on the gruesome details of dying, Taylor chooses to celebrate life. It’s a brief, beautiful read.

All these years for some odd reasons I have not thought of getting my own domain for my name until this past New Year’s Day. I can’t even recall how it came to me, but I was surprised to find out that Donnytruong.com was available. I guess no one wants it, except me. Without much thinking, I snatched it immediately.

In the past two days off from work and one sleepless night, I migrated my portfolio from ON Designs to my new domain. ON Designs is now redirecting to my new domain until it expires in June. ON Designs was one of those ideas that came to mind as the moment, but then it became too gimmicky. Omit Needless Designs plays off omit needless words. It is not that clever after all.

In the migration process, I made some design changes as well. I converted one-column layout to a grid-based design. I reduced the number of projects down to just six pieces that show varieties and my design sensibility. For typography, I set Roslindale Text as text face and Bild as headings. Both of these typefaces designed by David Jonathan Ross. I am trying to put my Font of the Month Club membership to good use.

There are more tweaks to be done, but I just want to put it out there.

Sáng nay trời lạnh thấu xương không muốn dậy nhưng phải lôi tụi nhỏ đi học. Tôi còn được nghỉ hôm nay và ngày mai nên cố gắng dành cho mình những giây phút yên tỉnh nghe nhạc, đọc sách, và xem standup comedy trên Netflix. Tôi rất mê môn văn nghệ này. Nhất là được nghe những câu chuyện có chiều sâu.

Năm mới đã bắt đầu nhưng năm nay tôi chẵng có nghị quyết gì cả. Không cần kiêng ăn. Muốn ăn gì cứ ăn. Chừng nào hết ăn được tính sau. Tôi cũng chẵng có mục tiêu gì. Được sống vui vẻ nhẹ nhàng là đủ. Không cần phải đi du lịch xa. Được thời gian đọc sách và chơi với con là đủ.

Nếu có cải tiến, tôi muốn viết tiếng Việt nhiều hơn và ít sai chính tả hơn. Tôi muốn dùng những trang xã hội ít hơn và chỉ tập trung vào trang web cá nhân này. Twitter tôi đã bớt dùng rất nhiều. Facebook thì cần giảm đi nhiều hơn. Tôi muốn ít đọc tin tức chính trị hơn và chỉ đọc sách.

Chỉ vậy thôi là đủ rồi.

Tôi thường tránh đọc những bài viết về chiến tranh Việt Nam dù cách nhìn trong hoặc ngoài nước. Nhưng khi đã lỡ đọc tập truyện ngắn của Trần Kỳ Trung thì đọc cho hết. Mặt dù tác giả viết về thời kháng chiến chống Mỹ sau năm 1975, những câu chuyện của ông nói lên những tình mẫu tử, anh em, và trai gái. Khi thoát khỏi được cái chính trị trong những bài viết, tôi thích cách viết mộc mạc và cái nhìn đời và đạo đức làm người của tác giả.

Dave Chappelle is too good at this shit. He knows it and proved it. Holding down the crowd in Washington D.C., Chappelle started with a pregnant Chinese woman, moved to transgender, transitioned to dusty white people, and then finished with the motherfucker that we all hate together. Yes, he is talking about the motherfucking president. His storytelling is so convincing that it gives me hope. History repeats itself, and he points out: “This motherfucker might be the lie that saves us all.” This is an optimism for 2018. Needless to say, every second of this special is worth watching.

Chappelle addresses sexual allegations straight on. He can tell how Robert Weinstein is a rapist based on Weinstein’s ugliness. In contrast, he defends Louis C.K. He also drops some fascinating knowledge on Black history and explains the dirty tricks that a pimp used to get the extra mileage out of his “bottom bitch.” There’s a line about the Asian’s eyes, but I am not offended. His recklessness yet fearlessness makes his comic compelling and engaging.

This year had been mostly calm for us despite the country underwent tough challenges. I am still holding on to a decent job. I still am looking forward to coming to work everyday. Most of the people I worked with inspired me.

Highlight of this year had to be my trip back to Vietnam after 16 years. I had a chance to spend some quality time with my dad, brother, sisters, and extended family. They still have tremendous love for me. It was an emotional trip for me. I hope to return in a year or two as my dad is getting older. Although he is still in good health for his age, I must not take it for granted. In contrast, my mom is getting weaker and weaker. I hope that she will do better next year.

This year’s memorable moments had to be my wife’s family reunion. The passing of one of her uncles during the gathering was hard, but it demonstrated the bonding of a strong-tie family. He will be remembered every year at the reunion.

For our little family, the boys are growing way too fast. Đạo already hit third grade. His is doing well in school. Đán started kindergarten without knowing the alphabet. With a little support, however, he had mastered it. Now he started to learn to read. Xuân is not even two, yet he is catching up super fast to his brothers. He started to talk quite early and had developed his skills in communication. He knows exactly what he wants.

For my wife and I, we had our ups and downs, our gains (mostly weights for me) and losses, and our blessings and misfortunes. The good thing is that we had the formers more than the latters.

2017 began with a terrible few months for our country. I still can’t get over the fact that he is the president. The later quarter of the year, things seemed to get a bit better. I am hopeful for 2018.