Between the sexual allegations and all the luxury spendings, the place is corrupted. Abuses of powers and white privileges are on full display every single day. I no longer care. I just laugh at the incompetence.

Letting go has freed my mind. I am not worrying about the future. I am just taking it day by day. Whatever happens, I will be just fine. I will find another way to survive. From what I had witnessed in the last couple of months, my skills are still relevant. If I can’t apply them here, I will apply them somewhere else.

I am a lot happier now taking advantage of my benefits rather than stressing myself out. I should have done it years ago. Thanks to the incompetent for the hostile takeover. I am ready to put what I had built over the years behind. I am ready for whatever throws my way or not. I will stay out of the way.

In a white-dominated majority, I am just a voiceless minority. DEI is a joke. They don’t give a shit. I am done. I just need to do what I have to do to get by.

Aebra Coe reports for Law360:

The women said those early advances led to years of misconduct, during which Dorsey and Landry felt they had no option but to continue engaging sexually with Wright or else risk serious damage to their careers. Both said they believe there are “many” more women who have been similarly approached by Wright, based on conversations with former schoolmates and colleagues, as well as a conversation between Landry and Wright himself.…

Despite a string of flirtatious comments, Dorsey said, she generally thought Wright was “harmless” at the time and felt reassured by the fact that he was married and had small children. When he asked her to join him on a trip to meet clients in California, she said, she agreed to attend.

They stayed at a nice hotel, and when they arrived she discovered there was only one room with one bed, Dorsey said. There weren’t any client meetings during the trip, she said, and instead they went wine tasting.…

According to Landry, she confronted Wright in 2020 about his alleged sexual misconduct after he sent her an email apologizing for his behavior. They met in person and he told her he’d sought sexual relationships with countless women in professional settings, she said.

“He told me he couldn’t even count the number of people he sent inappropriate messages to,” she said.

Damn!

Adam Gabbatt reports for The Guardian:

With Cannon’s profile higher than ever, her impartiality is being questioned. The judge’s financial disclosure form for 2021, which was reviewed by Accountable.US, a liberal-leaning watchdog group that tracks government corruption, shows that she was reimbursed by George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School for a six day trip to “colloquium seminar” held at a resort and spa in Montana in September.…

The purpose of Cannon’s 2021 trip, according to her financial disclosure form, was to attend the “Sage Lodge Colloquium”, an annual conference held by the law school in the town of Pray, Montana. Newsweek reported that Cannon attended the colloquium again in 2022.

It is not clear why her hotel and travel was paid for. Organizations will commonly reimburse guest speakers or lecturers, but the agenda of that year’s seminar does not show Cannon doing any teaching or speaking.

Damn!

What an unforgettable week. Between my wife’s family and mine, we attended two reunions back to back. I am still high on all of the loving and bonding times together.

After 4 years on hiatus due to Covid and bereavement, my wife’s family reunited in Pocono, Pennsylvania. With 39 members across three generations, we stayed together for a week. Food has always been our priority. Thanks to all the great chefs in the family for constantly feeding us delicious Vietnamese dishes—and a Filipino dish too.

We ate from morning until midnight. Our uncle and aunts sat around the dining table, reminisced about the good old times, and ate homemade meals. Our kids swam in the pool, played with each other, and ate plenty of snacks. Our cousins talked about our lives, sipped on whiskeys, and enjoyed dishes that complimented liquors. Our goal was to drink without getting drunk.

Even though we had plenty of bonding activities at the rental house, which had a huge entertainment basement with large-screen TV, ping pong, pool, and foosball, we also ventured out. The seniors took it easy with shopping at the outlets, checking out the farmers markets, and visiting the wineries. The younger generations took on a bit of a challenge with roller skating, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and hiking. Our kids and I couldn’t hit the skateparks because it was raining everyday.

Because we had so much fun together, a week went by so fast. We planned to stay from Sunday to Sunday, but our little family had to leave on Saturday to attend our reunion reception in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with my side of the family. We couldn’t miss this one because it was the first time that we rathered. So many family members I hadn’t seen in years, especially my aunt who I hadn’t seen since my wedding. She is my mother’s youngest sister and the only one left on earth out of the siblings.

The reception took place at Bareville Fire Hall, which has a beautiful countryside view, in Leola, Pennsylvania. We took plenty of pictures. We ate so much food. We played some balloon games. We sang karaoke and danced. The highlight of the program was sharing great memories of our mothers and fathers.

Big thanks to my cousin Karen Huỳnh for organizing such a meaningful evening. She rented the place and bought all the equipment just for the events. Thanks to all my cousins who cooked the delicious dishes for the event. We need to turn this into an annual event.

Five hours were just too short for the special occasion. After we cleaned up the hall, we went over to my nephew’s house for more conversations and karaoke. The party didn’t stop until two in the morning.

As I am writing this, I am tearing up with joy. I am grateful for both of these reunions.

Wynton Marsalis not only mastered Pops’ New Orleans style, but he also brought his own sensibilities to the live recordings. Marsalis can play like Pops, but he can’t sing like Pops. No one can sing, improvise, and scat like Pops. I am enjoying this album immensely.

This novel took me three weeks to finish. I was lost in two-third of the book. I couldn’t tell when the story took place in the past or the present and in reality or in a dream. The last 100 pages started to make some sense, but I was still uncleared. Although the storyline is blurry to me, Ms. Trần’s use of diacritical marks for Vietnamese was clear for me. I liked her food writing. The steamed duck with gingered fish sauce made my mouth watery. Mad props for including web design as part of the story.

To comply with New York Times style, Vietnamese diacritical marks were removed in Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s “Read Your Way Through Hà Nội.” Ms. Nguyễn noted:

Note: The Vietnamese words in the original version of this essay used diacritical marks. To comply with New York Times style, the marks were removed before publication.

Unfortunately, this practice alters the meaning of the words. In the case of Hỏa Lò Prison, for example, “hỏa” means “fire,” and “lò” means “furnace”: the Burning Furnace Prison. Without the marks, “hoa” means “flowers,” and “lo” means “worry,” rendering the term “Hoa Lo” meaningless. I look forward to the day when The Times and other Western publications celebrate the richness and complexity of Vietnamese, and of all other languages, by showcasing them in their original formats.

To make the text more accessible to Vietnamese readers, I put together a sample article of Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s essay with diacritical marks included. The sampled article is typeset in Kaius, designed by Lisa Fischbach, and Job Clarendon, designed by David Jonathan Ross and Bethany Heck. I also enhanced Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s Hà Nội reading list with beautiful book covers.

We had the 50-inch Hisense for 10 days and my wife was not happy with the quality. We went back to Costco today and I asked her to come to pick out what she wanted. We ended up with a Samsung 58-in Class for $380. I didn’t mind Hisense’s screen quality, but Samsung has a much better quality. I hope we’ll stick with this one. Nowadays, the TV is mostly used for the kids and their grandmother to watch YouTube. It’s hard to believe that YouTube has replaced TV cables.

Tôi gặp anh Tân lần đầu vào mùa hè năm 2013. Qua nhậu và nhạc, chúng tôi nhanh chóng trở thành bạn tuy anh ở Canada và tôi ở Mỹ. Mỗi lần anh đến Virginia thăm gia đình, anh đều nhắn tin cho tôi. Qua anh, tôi quen được anh Khôi và chị Hảo. Hai vợ chồng dễ thương và chịu chơi.

Tháng Giêng năm 2020, chúng tôi gặp nhau và cùng nhau ngồi nhậu ở Làng Văn trong khu Eden. Chúng tôi hát karaoke, uống bia, và nói đùa về covid. Không ngờ sau đó cả thế giới đều thay đổi. Cuộc sống của tôi và anh cũng đổi thay.

Thứ Tư và thứ Năm vừa qua, chúng tôi gặp lại. Cũng nhậu nhẹt cũng hát ca. Tôi thì uống và phá mồi nhiều hơn là ca. Anh chia sẻ một số đổi thay lớn trong cuộc của anh mấy năm gần đây.

Mới đó mà tôi và anh đã quen nhau được 10 năm. Tuy gặp gỡ nhau chưa được 10 lần nhưng tôi tôn trọng tình bạn tuy xa mà gần. Mọi chuyện thay đổi nhưng tình bạn vẫn nguyên vẹn. Chúc anh vui vẻ và hạnh phúc trong cuộc sống. Hẹn gặp lại anh một ngày gần đây.

Hôm qua vừa nhậu vừa tranh luận với một người anh khá lớn tuổi hơn tôi. Lúc đầu anh nói về chính trị, tôi không bàn tới. Rồi thì anh chuyển sang hạnh phúc và tự do. Anh cho rằng vì hạnh phúc nên anh bị ràng buộc không được tự do lăng nhăng bên ngoài.

Tôi không đồng ý với anh là hạnh phúc đi với ràng buộc. Nếu như anh tự ràng buộc chính mình thì đó không phải là hạnh phúc thật sự. Hạnh phúc đi với sự cam kết (commitment). Tự bản thân anh phải có sự cam kết mới đem lại hạnh phúc.

Nếu như anh muốn được tự do vừa có hạnh phúc với vợ và vừa có thể lăng nhăng bên ngoài thì anh phải mở rộng mối quan hệ vợ chồng của mình. Anh đi lăng nhăng được. Vợ anh đi lăng nhăng cũng được. Về nhà vợ chồng vẫn hạnh phúc.

Anh hỏi tôi. Ngoài thương yêu vợ, tôi còn thương yêu người khác không? Dĩ nhiên là không. Anh hỏi tiếp nếu ra đường gặp cô nào đẹp và dễ thương tôi có thích không? Dĩ nhiên thằng nào không thích bằng cặp mắt nhưng để đi đến lăng nhăng thì không thể nào. Tôi vẫn phải giữ sự cam kết và niềm tin tưởng trong mối quan hệ vợ chồng. Trừ khi nào mối tình của vợ chồng tôi chấm dứt, tôi mới tiến với một người khác.

Cho dù tôi bày tỏ rất rõ ràng vị trí của mình về hạnh phúc và sự cam kết nhưng anh vẫn cho rằng tôi chưa đủ trình độ để hiểu. Thôi thì cho là vậy. Với tôi rượu vào lời ra bàn cho vui thôi. Đèn nhà ai nấy sáng.

Tôi có một cô bạn Mỹ trắng lúc trước làm việc cho tôi. Cô tiếc lộ sau khi sáu năm trong cuộc hôn nhân, cô và chồng quyết định mở rộng mối quan hệ. Một tuần cô ở với chồng. Một tuần cô ở với bạn trai. Bạn trai của cô cũng có bạn gái. Chồng cô cũng có bạn gái. Tuy rườm rà như không phải lăng nhăng. Giữa những mối quan hệ của họ không có con cái nên cũng dễ sắp xếp hơn.

Tôi thử đặt mình vào hoàn cảnh đó nhưng không thể nào tưởng tượng được. Tôi rất ích kỷ chỉ một vợ của riêng mình thôi chứ không muốn chia sẻ với người khác dù nam hay nữ. Cho nên tôi cũng không thể nào lăng nhăng bên ngoài được.

Vợ chồng sống chung với nhau hơn 15 năm. Có lúc lên voi có lúc xuống chó nhưng chúng tôi vẫn giữ mãi sự cam kết và sự tin tưởng cho nhau nên sóng gió nào cũng có thể vượt qua. Hạnh phúc của tôi là được vợ hiểu và tin tưởng. Tình cảm của tôi dành cho vợ không nhạt nhòa theo ngày tháng mà còn mặn nồng hơn.

Ngược lại với tôi, vợ không bộc lộ tình cảm của mình bằng lời nói mà bằng hành động. Tôi không những cảm nhận được mà còn chứng kiến được sự yêu thương vợ dành cho tôi trong mối quan hệ vợ chồng.