Vợ đi Pháp chơi một tuần ăn mừng trước khi bước vào hằng năm. Cơ hội hiếm hoi để tôi dọn dẹp nhà cửa và cho bớt đi những gì không dùng.

Nhìn thấy đồ đạc ngổn ngang, tôi cũng ngán ngẩm. Không biết nên giữ lại gì, nên cho đi món gì, hoặc nên quăng đi món gì. Cuối cùng thì cũng không bỏ gì nhiều mà chỉ dọn dẹp lại cho gọn gàng.

Tuy chưa được theo ý muốn nhưng cũng được nhẹ nhõm và bớt căng thẳng hơn một chút. Sẳng trời mát không cần dùng máy lạnh, tôi mở cái unit trong nhà ra chùi máy móc lại một tí.

Đến chiều đưa tụi nhỏ ra công viên hứng gió và trượt rollerblade một tí. Một ngày như thế là đủ rồi

Từ lúc con còn nhỏ cho đến lớn rồi lúc ba ra đi, cha con mình cũng luôn xa nhau. Mỗi người sống một biên giới khác nhau. Giờ đây cũng vậy, mọi người một thế giới khác biệt

Ngày xưa con hay trách móc cha không ở bên con. Giờ làm cha, con mới cảm nhận được cái khó khăn của cha mẹ. Con luôn lo lắng cho mấy đứa con đến nỗi đầu óc phát điên.

Con luôn bị rơi vào những giây phút phiền muộn vì con cái vì quá lo lắng cho tụi nó. Từ miếng ăn đến miếng học, từ tính tình tốt đẹp đến tính nết xấu, từ những trò lành mạnh đến những trò điện tử nghiện ngập, lúc nào cũng nhắc nhở chừng mực. Nhưng mà những điều đó khiến cho tụi nó càng ghét mình hơn.

Ngày xưa ít khi có ba bên cạnh, con cũng trải qua sóng gió trong cuộc sống. Con cũng muốn noi gương theo ba để tụi nó được tự do. Tụi nó muốn làm gì thì làm. Có lo lắng hoặc sợ sệt cũng không làm được gì, chỉ tự chút hết phiền muộn vào đầu óc mà thôi.

Dù được ba tin tưởng hay vì lý ba phải bỏ bê, con cũng đã trưởng thành. Hy vọng đám con của con cũng thế nếu như nó không cần sự quan tâm của người cha này.

Hôm nay ngày giỗ, con tưởng nhớ đến ba. Cõi tạm này có quá nhiều phiền phức. Đến lúc con hết nợ đời hy vọng mình sẽ đoàn tụ ở nơi khác. Con cũng hy vọng cha mẹ đã được gặp lại nhau.

David Remnick writes in the New Yorker:

Every editor who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that endorsements are of modest influence at best. The editors of this magazine, when it recently published a lengthy essay describing (for the thousandth time) the authoritarian prospects of a second Trump Presidency, and endorsing Kamala Harris, had no illusions. Editors may be as prone to sanctimony as they are to the common cold, but there was never any thought that such an endorsement would suddenly tip the balance in the battleground states, much less win majorities in the Deep South or the Great Plains. The point was that we, like other publications, attempted to make a cogent case, and had the editorial freedom to do so.

I love reading newspaper and magazine endorsements. Even if they don’t move the needle, these are some of the best political essays I had read and often quoted them on this site. I am glad publications like the New Yorker still have the spine to stand up to Trump.

My friend Tim Brown is giving away Flexible Typesetting. Head over to the beautiful book website and subscribe to his mailing list to get yourself a copy. Right now, Tim only offers the PDF version. I hope he will turn it into a web book in the near future. No pressure, Tim.

In over 25 years of using computers, I had done countless copy and paste texts. Yet, I got annoyed with formatting every time I performed these two tasks.

Recently, I was helping Đán with his homework and I watched him copied and pasted text in to his assignments without the formatting.

He showed me how:

Win: Ctrl + Shift + V
Mac: Cmd + Shift + V

How in the world have I not known this all these years? Then again, better late than never. Thanks kiddo!

Steven Reisner writes for Slate:

This election is not about politics; it’s much more basic—it’s about how the American determines what is real. Will the future of the country be based on evidence and law, or will government be twisted to reflect whatever Donald Trump tells us is true?

As my wife and I headed toward the exit doors at a Great Wall supermarket, we spotted a table with free books. Most of them were about Buddhism. What caught my wife’s attention was a tiny book that could fit into her palm titled Heart of a Buddha.

She handed the book over to me because she knew I liked to read. As I flipped through the pages, I found many words of wisdom such as “Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love,” “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection,” and “Overcome …greed with generosity, …anger with lovingkindness, …ignorance with understanding.”

After reading a few quotes I posted online, friends and family members would like to read the book as well. That sparked my interest to turn it into a web book. According to the book copyright, reprinting is allowed for non-profit use.

As much as I loved the content from the book, I was not too crazy about the type choice. The entire book was set in Papyrus. For the web version, I set the body in Rosarivo, designed by Pablo Ugerman. For the title, I selected Arizonia, designed by Robert Leuschke.

What took the most time was not only copying, pasting, and writing the HTML, but also styling the text to match the pages in the book. Each piece of text in the book was set to create a dynamic rhythm and I would like to retain that for the web version with CSS styling.

I invite you to give it a read. A Heart of Buddha is not a religious book and I guarantee you will find happiness, wisdom, and serenity. Spread the love.

For more enlightening reading, check out a collection of web books I designed.

Our family went out to dinner on Sunday night. The phở and bún bò Huế weren’t too good. Nevertheless, we paid $140 (including tips). Everytime we went out to eat, we paid over $100. They add up.

I need to stop myself from taking the kids out to eat. I don’t even enjoy eating out anymore. It is just convenience to do so. It has become such a bad habit. I console myself that I am still working; therefore, I can still enjoy myself. Just eating out alone is one of the obstacles that tie me to a job. I would like to have less financial burden.

My wife will be out in Paris for a week starting tomorrow. I will challenge myself to not eating out anymore. We’ll just make something at home.

Dear Đạo,

Thank you for expressing your frustrations. I appreciate your honest criticism of my parenting approach. As a father, I know my children’s strengths and weaknesses; therefore, I treat each of you differently. No matter how many times I explained to you the difference between struggling and being irresponsible. Let me clear them up for the last time.

Your brother is struggling in school. His teachers raised concerns. Your mother and I could see that too; therefore, we are helping him to catch up. We asked him to help him, especially with Spanish, but every time you did, you sounded as if you were being forced to do it. I had to stop you because you weren’t being helpful. I had to take him to the library for someone else your age to help him. He’s struggling, but he is willing to get help and I can see that he has made tremendous improvements, especially in reading.

You are not struggling. You did well on your tests. Even if you didn’t, you had another chance to retake. What you aren’t doing are your projects and assignments. You received low grades not because you were struggling, you just were doing your work. Even though your mother and I constantly reminded you to do your assignments, you still let them slip by. I constantly offered to help, but you always said you already took care of your work. Then the progress reports showed missing assignments.

Since seventh grade, you have not shown that you can hold up your responsibilities as a student. Again, not because you are struggling. If I am wrong, however, please let me know. I will get you all the help you need just like your brothers.

I apologize for overlooking your 3D arts. I fall short on your creative outlet. I didn’t brush it off intentionally. I hope you will continue to do only what you enjoy. As you can see, I make mistakes too. I am not perfect. In fact, I am far from being a good father based on your assessment.

When I was a kid, my father was never around. When I became a father, my goal was to be around you for as much as I could. I worried too much and it clearly backfired. I cared about your well-being. I cared about your grades. I cared about your path in life, especially if you chose the wrong one. Whether you turn out good or bad, it will not impact me, but it will impact you.

After 15 years, I have said enough. If I continue to say what I need to say in 30 more years, it wouldn’t help if you don’t want to listen. From our conversation last night, I realized that I haven’t been helpful in reminding you to keep up your grades, to cut down your digital usage, and to be a role model for your younger brothers. No more bans for flunking school. No more restrictions for spending time on your digital devices. No more requests for helping out with your siblings.

If you need me, of course, I am always here for you.

Love,
Dad

My wife picked up this gem at the exit door of Great Wall Supermarket. It’s a tiny little book filled with words of wisdom. I keep it beside my bed so I can read a few lines each morning. I could quote the entire book, but here are a few samples I highlighted:

“Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love.”

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

“Life is an illusion, a dream, a bubble, a shadow. Nothing is permanent. Nothing is worthy of anger. Nothing is worthy of dispute. Nothing.”

“Find your faults, feel deep regret, and correct your mistakes, reform sincerely, practice kindness, concentrate the mind, sever selfishness, awaken.”

“Lovingkindness is giving others happiness. Compassion is removing others’ bitterness. Joy is freeing others from suffering.”

“When things are going well, be mindful of adversity. When prosperous, be mindful of poverty. When loved, be mindful of thoughtfulness. When respected, be mindful of humility.”