As a father, my constant concerns, worries, and fears on digital addiction, depression, and self-destruction are hitting close to home. They are happening around me to the people I know.

Talking about the danger of digital addiction to my kids isn’t sinking in. They can’t pull themselves away from their screens. Their brains aren’t mature enough to walk away. I can’t help them if they can’t help themselves.

I am so tired of repeating myself. My words don’t mean a thing. I want to just let them do whatever they want with their lives. At work, I present the issues. If they don’t want to fix the issues then they are no longer my problems. My kids are my responsibilities. They stress me out, but I can’t stop worrying. My mind is exhausted by the end of the day.

I am not sure what to do. Continuing to be a pain-in-the-ass parent or preparing for the worst? I really don’t want them to go down the wrong path. Dealing with the issues now rather than facing the consequences later.

A few weeks ago, I replaced 4 brand new tires for our 2011 Toyota Sienna at Costco. They recommended wheel alignment. I was told about the lifetime wheel alignment service at Firestone.

Basically you get free wheel alignment until the end of the vehicle’s lifetime. You just have to pay $200. The deal sounded too good to be true. They must try to sell you other services as well.

I went for it today. I had never done any business at Firestone before. I didn’t make an appointment; therefore, it took about 3 hours. I was fine with that since I could do my work in the waiting area. There was no Wi-Fi, but I could hotspot through my iPhone.

They gave me a list of recommendations, but they did not try to sell me on them. I am cool with that. If this is truly a good deal, I will take my other car for the lifetime wheel alignment as well.

At this time, you can get $20 off for the lifetime wheel alignment. I am not affiliated with Firestone. I just think this is a good deal. So do your research.

What tools do you use to create your résumé nowadays? Many years ago, I created my résumé using Microsoft Words. It was great for catching spelling errors and grammars, but the typesetting was not good. I had to use system fonts like Arial or Verdana to make sure my typography wouldn’t screw up.

Later on, I switched to Adobe Illustrator so I could have control of my typography. The final PDF file could be printed on paper or uploaded to my website. Nevertheless, I wanted to create a true web version of my résumé for accessibility. Having to keep two versions of my résumé was a bit cumbersome. As a result, I designed my résumé with HTML and CSS first then I used CSS printing media query to create the final PDF for printing. Now I only keep the web version of my résumé.

In Professional Web Typography, I walked through the markups for a two-column and three-column layout for creating a web résumé. You can download the source codes for all of the projects in the book to practice your web and typographic skills.

Take a look at my web résumé. It can also be printed out on paper. I added a new position as a type advisor to my résumé. Since the launch of Vietnamese Typography, in 2016, I have been advising type designers around the world with Vietnamese diacritics. I am so glad that I made the book available for free. I am in the process of working with a company that I greatly admired and they required an official title; therefore, I am also a type advisor.

I just realize that Vietnamese Typography went live today eight years ago. Time had flown by quick.

Even though the project was my final thesis for my MA in graphic design, I have never stopped working on it. A website is never finished. I still add recommendations for new typefaces with Vietnamese support. I still create new samples, which no one else cared but me. They have become my favorite design exercise. In addition, coming up for the content for these samples has been my way of learning the Vietnamese language through music and poetry.

I also update the client list. It has been such a great pleasure collaborating and getting to know designers all over the world. Type design is such a global community.

I also would like to thank those who had support this project. I appreciate your generosity.

Lastly, thank you for reading Vietnamese Typography.

I was
You were
He, she, it was

Wait a minute

Why shouldn’t you
also be followed by was?

If I were you
I’d say “was”

But I wasn’t you
I never was
nor will I ever be

In class we chuckled
when we recited “He, she-it is”

and the masculine came first
except when going through a door

Then the word she
went through a door

and into a new world

You wasn’t there

You were “he”
and it kept being “it”

but don’t blame “it”

“It” doesn’t even know it’s there

Ron Padgett

Skiing season is coming soon. It’s time to prepare all the equipment. Tighten up all screws. Grease ski bindings. Install snowboard bindings. Check all boots to make sure they fit and are secured in bindings. Scrape off excessive wax.

I’ll be off work early mid December and return early mid January. We’ll head to Stowe in the third week of December. I can’t wait to get back to skiing and snowboarding. I hope I will be able to get some of the snowboarding techniques down. I have been watching them all year long.

It’s going to be a great winter.

I love Padgett’s poems in which connected the dots. For instance, he gets annoyed that the letter u in four is dropped in forty. He also points out the eccentricity in subject-verb agreement. It’s a fun, witty read.

The spelling of 40. We have four and fourteen, and then, for no reason I know of, the u is dropped and we’re left with forty, not to mention the schizophrenic forty-four. Most annoying, as Sei Shōnagon would say.

Ron Padgett

I purchased a license of Lang Gothic to accommodate AT Lang, designed by Stephen Nixon. I know Stephen will support Vietnamese and will turn it into a large family. I was hoping that Stephen would expand AT Lang to include reading text, but it looks like that will be on Lang Gothic. It is only $35. Definitely worth spending.

A concise book providing tips for landing a job. It’s a good beginner guide. It’s a quick flip-through book, which is what the author intended. I wish Foss delves deeper into specific situations. Maybe I am just too old to deal with office politics and co-worker conflicts.