Just 24 hours after a historic presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris raised $47 million from 600,000 donors. No wonder she wanted to debate him again, but Trump got scared to step back into the ring one more time. She would knock him the fuck out and end his bid for president. He underestimated her. Trump’s toxic masculinity was no match for Harris’s strong intellectuality. Who won the debate? Just follow the money. All America, this narcissistic, racist, insecure, angry, whiny white boy has to go.

I must confess. I was laughing my ass off watching the debate. Donald Trump had the temperament of a six years old boy. Kamala Harris could read him like an open book. Instead of talking about his destructiveness, she led him into destructing himself and it worked every single time.

Throughout the debate, Trump proved himself to be a self-centered bully. Harris schooled him a lesson on bullying. Hearing him spill wild conspiracy theories and baseless claims, I could never take this bully seriously.

When the moderators asked him about January 6, he said flat out, “I didn’t know anything about it. It was not me. I did nothing wrong. I just showed up and gave a speech.” He denied any responsibility and yet they still support him. I just don’t get it.

The other day, I watched my nephew playing around with my boys. He was walking backward and hit the pole that held an umbrella. He started to cry and scolded the pole, “Why was that thing even there?” He started kicking the pole. It was the pole’s fault that made him fell. He blamed the pole for standing in his way. It was nonsense, but understandable. He’s a little kid.

After the debate, instead of blaming himself for screwing up, Trump blamed the moderators who refused to let him spilling his lies. Trump never takes any responsibility. He cares about no one else, but himself. He didn’t care that millions of Americans were dying during the pandemic under his watch. He doesn’t even care about his own supporters.

Again I just can’t vote for a whiny little brat to be our president. His incompetent and childish behavior is too dangerous for the job of the president. He’s a danger to our country. He’s a grave danger to our democracy.

I was laughing at his debate performance, but I am deeply concerned about him taking over our country for four more years. We were lucky before, but let’s not put our country at danger again.

Hôm thứ bảy vừa rồi tôi được nghe một người anh lớn cho biết lý do tạo sao vợ chồng anh quyết định không có con cái. Từng là trưởng Hướng đạo trong cộng đồng Việt, anh và vợ cho rằng khi có con mình sẽ trở nên ích kỷ hơn. Mình sẽ bận bịu với con mình và không còn thời gian cho những đứa trẻ khác.

Vì chỉ mới quen anh lần đầu nên tôi không khẳng định hay nhận xét gì về sự quyết định của gia đình anh nhưng tôi cảm thấy lý lẽ của anh cũng có lý. Tôi không phủ nhận khi đã làm cha tôi trở nên ích kỷ hơn. Bổn phận làm cha, tôi tập trung sức lực và đầu óc vào con cái của mình.

Tuy nhiên, tôi vẫn nhận thức được sự công bằng giữa con mình và con người khác. Dĩ nhiên tôi không muốn con người khác ăn hiếp con mình. Tôi càng không muốn con mình ăn hiếp con người khác. Quang trọng là xử lý làm sao cho đẹp tất cả. Tôi chấp nhận ích kỷ nhưng vẫn còn lý lẽ.

Có những phụ huynh khi chưa có con họ rất là rộng lượng nhưng khi có con rồi, họ chỉ biết về con mình. Con của họ lúc nào cũng trên hết. Tôi hiểu được tình cảm của họ dành cho con mình nhưng khi vì quá thương con mình mà bị mù quáng và mất đi lý lẽ thì khó mà hòa đồng.

Những người như anh trưởng nói trên thì hiếm hoi. Chỉ có những ai trung thành và cống hiến cho Hướng đạo mới rộng lượng đến thế và tôi kính trọng anh.

The other day, we wandered into a pet store somewhere in New Jersey. There was a cute puppy inside a cage. Xuân and Vương came up and petted the puppy.

Of course, they begged me to buy the puppy. And of course, my answer would be no even if we got the puppy for free, but I glanced at the price tag, which was $999.99, and replied, “Sorry sons, the puppy cost a thousand dollars. I can’t afford it.” My five-year-old Vương replied, “But dad, you always spent money on alcohol.” His older brother Xuân chimed in, “I saw the receipt. You spent $850 on liquor.”

I thought to myself, “Oh shit! They got me good.”

Vice President Harris came prepared and delivered. She connected with the American people while took down Donald Trump.

She got under his skin so bad he started talking about people eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. WTF? Trump had no plan and no policy. He kept circling back to same tired rhetoric and scare tactics on immigrants. He claimed that millions of people from mental institutions and insane asylums came into our country and took over our jobs. So we hired sick and insane people to do the work for us. That makes absolutely no sense.

Tonight Vice President Harris has proved to the American people that she is the right choice. She is smart, tough, and compassionate. She came; she conquered; she closed the chapter on the Donald. I am ready to close this chapter on the Donald as well. As soon as early voting begins, I will cast my vote for Harris.

Are you with her?

Khi nghe ca khúc “Vết thù trên lưng ngựa hoang” của cố nhạc sĩ Phạm Duy, tôi luôn thắc mắc câu “Ngựa hoang muốn về tắm sông nhẫn nhục”. Sau khi đọc quyển tiểu thuyết giang hồ của tác giả Duyên Anh tôi mới hiểu được nguồn gốc của sông Nhẫn Nhục. Nhân vật chính Hoàng Guitar muốn kiếm sống bằng nghề đánh đàn chứ không đánh đá. Anh cố lội sông Nhẫn Nhục để đến được bến bờ bình yên, nhưng đời vẫn trôi anh về bến bờ du đãng. Tuy Vết thù hằn trên lưng con ngựa hoang đã gần 60 năm mà giờ đây tôi mới đọc lần đầu. Tuy nhiên vẫn bị lôi cuốn bởi cây bút đầy hấp dẫn của nhà văn Duyên Anh.

Album #Trầm3 của Ngô Lan Hương tiếp tục với phong cách acoustic. “Mùa thu cho em” (Ngô Thụy Miên) mở đầu Ngô Lan Hương được bè bởi nhóm acapella êm dịu và mộng mơ. Phần thứ hai, cô được tiếng đàn guitar đệm cùng. “Yêu em dài lâu” (Đức Huy) bắt đầu với tiếng đàn dương cầm nhẹ nhàng. Phần saxophone solo điệp khúc chuyển phần hoà âm sang giai điệu jazz mong manh. “Yêu nhau lắm cắn nhau đau” của chính Ngô Lan Hương viết là trình bày được phối theo giai điệu swing thật dễ thương. Chỉ hơi đáng tiếc là album hơi ngắn chỉ có sáu ca khúc.

When I agreed to design and develop the web book for The American Robin, I did not expect any payment. I wanted to help out my mentor who is a close friend of the author. Furthermore, I wanted to spread the idea of leaving a legacy that anyone around the world could access.

The web book version of The American Robin is a wonderful gift from the author because the website has no ad, no paywall, no popup, no gimmick, and no tracking. Because the web book was intended to be free, I did not want to charge for my contribution. Nevertheless, I took the project as if I was paid in full. I stayed up late on weekdays and spent my weekends working on the book.

When choosing Warbler, designed by David Jonathan Ross, to typeset the book, I used my own license from the Font of the Month Club. Even though DJR’s standard licensing agreement has no restrictions on how many websites can be used, clients should have their own font licensing. After I decided to use Warbler for the book, I contacted David about the font licensing and he was totally cool that I used my own licensing for the web book.

After the web book went live, I spread the word on my blog, portfolio, and social media. I even emailed my friends and family members who liked reading. My job was done and I thanked my mentor for the opportunity to work on the book. She informed me that the author loved the website and thy had been discussing about offering me an honorarium.

I must confess. This was the first time I heard of the term honorarium. I had to look it up in the dictionary. It was an honor to work on the website even without a payment, but I was more than glad to accept an honorarium. I was delighted that my mentor was still looking out for me.

As soon as I received the check for the honorarium, I purchased a license of Warbler. The web book now has its own font licensing. Since I got paid, the type designer should get paid as well. It just felt great doing the fair share.

Why am I revealing this information? It’s a proof how bad I am at doing business. I rather designed for free then getting paid. When not getting paid, I made no compromises in the design and development of the project. If I was getting paid, I had to get approval from the client. My best projects have always been not what my clients want, but what their audiences get out of the project. The ideal projects are when the client, the audience, and the designer are satisfied. This web book is an epitome of that ideal project.

Cuối tuần vừa rồi, tôi đưa gia đình đi xa. Phải lái xe bốn tiếng đồng hồ nên tôi cần một chút nhạc êm dịu. Tình cờ khám phá ra album Relaxing Music (Vol. 1) của nhạc sĩ dương cầm Khanh Nhi. Tuy chưa nghe qua tên anh lần nào nhưng cách chơi piano solo của anh lôi cuốn tôi ngay trong bài đầu “Khoảnh khắc” (Trương Quý Hải). Anh đánh nhẹ nhàng êm dịu lại có một chút chất jazz. Rồi “Riêng một góc trời” (Ngô Thụy Miên), “Tình thôi xót” (Bảo Chấn), “Nắng thủy tinh” (Trịnh Công Sơn), mỗi ca khúc đêm lại cho tôi những giây phút thư giãn nhưng không hề nhàm chán.

Tiếng đàn guitar của Phương Phạm thì tôi đã được nghe qua những bài acoustic anh đệm cho ca sĩ. Trong Relaxing Music (Vol. 2), Phương Phạm chơi cùng Khang Nhi qua các ca khúc quen thuộc như “Biển cạn” (Kim Tuấn), “Em ơi Hà Nội phố” (Phú Quang), “Hà Nội mùa này vắng những cơn mưa” (Trương Quý Hải), và đặc sắc là “Biển nhớ” (Trịnh Công Sơn) — tiếng guitar của Phương Phạm đệm cho tiếng piano của Khang Nhi hát.

Bây giờ trời đã trở lành lạnh, tôi chỉ muốn cuộn mình trong chăn như con sâu làm tổ và lắng nghe Relaxing Music.

We now have a ping pong table in our basement. It took me a minute to clear up the space. I simply moved everything to another room. My wife’s sister gave us a MD Sports Table Tennis Conversion Top. I used a 6-ft and two 4-ft folding tables from Costco to hold up the table. The full-size ping pong table turned out great.

Đán started to get into ping pong and asked for a table. He is getting pretty good at it. I hope he will stick with it for a long time, or at least until he can beat me. Xuân is also into it. He is already showing some improvements. I hope Đạo and Vương will join us as well.

Playing ping pong brings back my childhood memories at the refugee camp in the Philippines. There was a ping pong table at an open space near where we stayed for six months before we could come to America. The table had no net; therefore, a couple of kids my age and I stacked two bricks and placed a stick on top. We made paddles out of hardboards. All we needed was a ping pong ball. That all it was needed for us to pass the time and to hone our skills.

Now that I cleared one room for the ping pong table and another room for my ski-tuning station, we need to go through all the stuff we accumulated over the years. My wife wouldn’t let me sort them out because I would donate or trash whatever we don’t need. I am getting impatient waiting for her. It drives me crazy that our space isn’t as optimal as it could be. I had seen worse, but our space could have been tidier. I feel guilty that I couldn’t provide a clutter-free space for our kids. It stuck on my mind all the time. I wish I could just ignore it, but I couldn’t.