In her latest Netflix special, Wanda Sykes jokes about her French wife, their twins, racism, politics, covid, and, surprisingly, a whole lot of dicks. Sykes is indeed an entertainer and she is doing an excellent job at it. She landed a punchline on Florida and its governor: “If you want to protect the kids, ban assault weapons. That’s what killing the kids, not the books.” If you want a good laugh, stream it on Netflix.
Don’t look at me anymore, my love
The youthful flower had faded
The virginal fragrance’s already gone.
Don’t look at me, don’t look at me anymore, my love
The eyelids had closed, the lips’s forgotten its smile
You must’ve already forgotten me
The autumn moon broke into two halves
The birds flying in a distant, misty world…
Should I see you, should I see you or not?
If someone would just send words for me,
“That the once vibrant flower’s now forlorn
Sleepless nights on cold pillow.”
If there’s some lifetime for us to love each other
Then please seek for me in a future life
When the youthful flower hasn’t yet bloomed
When youthful love does not yet know fear
If we have ever loved each other
Then please wipe away all your distress
Where are you now, my love?
Where are you now, my love?
Don’t look at me anymore, my love
We already parted our own separate ways
We’d already forgotten one another
Still looking, still looking at me for what, my love
The tears’d poured for a singing voice that passed away
Don’t look at me anymore, my love!
Translated by Vương Thanh
Đừng nhìn em nữa anh ơi
Hoa xanh đã phai rồi
Hương trinh đã tan rồi
Đừng nhìn em, đừng nhìn em nữa anh ơi
Đôi mi đã buông xuôi, môi răng đã quên cười.
Hẳn người thôi đã quên ta
Trăng Thu gẫy đôi bờ
Chim bay xứ xa mờ.
Gặp người chăng, gặp người chăng, nhắn cho ta
Hoa xanh đã bơ vơ đêm sâu gối ơ thờ.
Kiếp nào có yêu nhau
Thì xin tìm đến mai sau
Hoa xanh khi chưa nở
Tình xanh khi chưa lo sợ
Bao giờ có yêu nhau
Thì xin gạt hết thương đau
Anh đâu anh đâu rồi?
Anh đâu anh đâu rồi?
Đừng nhìn nhau nữa anh ơi
Xa nhau đã xa rồi, quên nhau đã quên rồi
Còn nhìn chi, còn nhìn chi nữa anh ơi
Nước mắt đã buông rơi theo tiếng hát qua đời
Đừng nhìn nhau nữa… anh ơi!
Minh Đức Hoài Trinh
Let’s keep it real. There is no diversity in an environment runs by white men, white privileges, and conservation agenda. Any promotion of diversity is just for marketing purpose. Death of diversity.
I updated all my photo galleries with the browser’s built-in loading="lazy" attribute:
<img src="image.png" loading="lazy" alt="">Learn more at web.dev. I didn’t realize lazy loading has been widely supported in the browsers; therefore, I am a bit late. I love it when browsers implement elements like this so we don’t have to rely on JavaScript to do the job.
I spent my beautiful morning commute with the Jazz Legend Sonny Rollins. The clarity and dexterity from his tenor backed up by the crisp drumming from Shelly Manne and the bass thumbing from Ray Brown brightened my day on the opening “I’m an Old Cowhand.” The following track, his emotional reinterpretation of “Solitude” almost made me weep. The vibe continued throughout the box-set collection.
Seth Godin is a voracious blogger. He keeps his prose short and to the point. The Practice reads more like a collection of his blog posts randomly slapped together. I am 60 pages in and calling it quit. I just can’t retain any information from the book; therefore, I just can’t finish it. I am not sure why I had it on my Amazon wishlist when it just came out in 2020. Three years later, I picked up a copy in the library to give it a try. I removed it from my wishlist.
My house by the bridge over the water
You come visit me one day
Many forest birds flock together,
All over the spring harbor.
Pairs of wings fluttering white,
Singing in quiet delight:
U ú ù u ú
The cherry branch glistens with sunshine
The birds singing song of love and affection
Their voices resonating in the far distance
U ú ù u ú
Feeling ecstatic with the season’s spirit and its fragrance.
Helping each other onto the hill’s steep path
We see the birds envying our words of love
On reaching here, we both hesitantly stop
Your eyes like the shape of a boat reflecting in the water
Your dress swaying in the caressing breeze of the spring harbor.
A vast mist covers the hills and mountains
O The brown sails on the sea waves in the far horizon…
The orioles singing,
The swallows entering the clouds,
Those away from their hometowns,
Their hearts filled with nostalgia…
My house feels empty and I, disoriented
When you’re away from me one evening
The water harbor’s deserted,
But your lovely face and figure
Still reflected in the water.
Pairs of birds in the sunshine
quietly sing a lullaby
U ú ù u ú
Like the teardrops of the season, the leaves are falling
The birds twitter sounds of longing,
Their voices resonating in the far distance.
U ú ù u ú
Where’s the season’s spirit returning to?
He departed years ago on a rainy and windy day
Today, with wandering feet, he returns to this place
Here, the horizon’s filled with hills and mountains and clouds
The willow trees and their swaying leaves over the river,
the golden sunshine and the clear water,
welcome, and wash the dust-covered shirt
of the spring harbor’s visitor.
Translated by Vương Thanh
Nhà tôi bên chiếc cầu soi nước
em đến tôi một lần
bao lũ chim rừng họp đàn
trên khắp bến xuân
từng đôi rung cánh trắng
khe khẽ ca
U ú ù u ú
Cành đào rung nắng chan hòa
chim ca thương mến
chim ngân xa
U ú ù u ú
Hồn mùa ngây ngất trầm vương
Dìu nhau theo dốc mới
nơi ven đồi
còn thấy chim ghen lời âu yếm
đến đây chân bước cùng ngập ngừng
mắt em như dáng thuyền soi nước
tà áo em rung trong gió nhẹ thẹn thùng ngoài bến xuân
Sương mênh mông che lấp kín non xanh
ôi cánh buồm nâu
còn trên lớp sóng xuân
ai tha hương nghe
ríu rít oanh ca
cánh nhạn vào mây thiết tha
lưu luyến tình vừa qua
Nhà tôi sao vẫn còn ngơ ngác
em vắng tôi một chiều
bến nước tiêu điều còn hằn in nét đáng yêu
từng đôi chim trong nắng
khe khẽ ru
U ú ù u ú
Lệ mùa rơi lá chan hòa
chim reo thương nhớ
chim ngân xa
U ú ù u ú
Hồn mùa ngây ngất về đâu
Người đi theo mưa gió xa muôn trùng
lần bước phiêu du về chốn cũ
tới đây mây núi đồi chập chùng
liễu dương tơ tóc vàng
trong nắng
gội áo phong sương
du khách còn ngại
ngùng nhìn bến xuân
Bèo dạt mây trôi
Văn Cao & Phạm Duy
Born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1945, Duong earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Law from the University of Saigon in 1966. She started her career working for the Ministry of Social Welfare before joining IBM in 1968, where she worked until she escaped from the communist government in 1975. She came to the United States with just $30 in her pocket.
Congratulations, Ms. Dương
Hôm nay kỷ niệm 20 năm ngày thành lập trang iLoveNgocLan. Thời gian trôi qua nhanh quá. Cũng không ngờ rằng, tôi đã chăm sóc ngôi nhà này suốt một chặng đường dài đến bây giờ.
Để tưởng nhớ một dấu mốc, tôi cũng không biết làm gì ngoài việc đổi nét chữ mới với một chút chữ viết tay và chữ dễ đọc. Giờ đây trang nhà không còn tiếng qua lại như xưa nữa. Năm ngoái tôi cố gắng viết thường xuyên hơn nhưng vẫn không thấy động tĩnh gì cả. Những người vẫn hâm mộ Ngọc Lan đã chuyển sang Facebook và những trang mạng khác.
Năm ngoái tôi ngồi đọc lại một số bài cũ và những lời bình luận. Thì ra đã có xảy ra những lời bàn cãi mà lúc đó tôi đã không có thời gian giải quyết. Kết quả là chắc các bạn hâm mộ tiếng hát Ngọc Lan cũng đã không quay trở lại. Đành phải chịu thôi. Biết làm sao bao giờ. Cuối cùng iLoveNgocLan vẫn chỉ là một trang nhà tưởng nhớ tiếng hát vẫn luôn tồn tại trong tim những người yêu Ngọc Lan.
Tuy giờ đây trang nhà không còn sinh hoạt gì nữa, tôi vẫn giữ gìn cho đến lúc tôi không còn điều kiện gì nữa.
Last Friday evening, I took Đán, Xuân, and Vương to Camp Wilson to start our camping weekend for the Cub Scouts. The campsite prohibited vehicles from entering; therefore, we had to carry our gears from the parking lot to the site. Fortunately, the three boys were huge helpers. Even Vương carried pillows and sleeping bags. Đán had to set up the tent and take it down all by himself to prove to the leaders that he could. He passed the test.
Once other Cubs and their parents poured in, we started dinner. My wife came to take Vương home. He didn’t want to sleep in the woods without his mom. Around 9:30 pm, Đán and Xuân went to bed. I stayed up chatting with leaders and other parents until one in the morning.
On Saturday, the kids had advancement activities all day. After sending the boys off in the morning, I went back to the tent to catch some sleep. I got back out around 10 am. We had lunch and I joined the kids for the afternoon activities, which included playing games and hiking for two miles.
Right after we had delicious phở for dinner, the rain poured down hard. Đán, Xuân and I ran into our tent. We kicked back, relaxed, and listened to the rain crashing against the plastic tarp. The sounds reminded me of my childhood in Việt Nam. I felt like a kid again and I wanted to freeze time. It was such a special moment with my kids. I don’t know if they will remember it or not, but I definitely will never forget the moment. Then I realized that it would be the last scout camping trip with Đán as a Cub. He will be joining the Troop next year. I don’t have any doubt that he will survive on his own.
I am still going to be part of the Cubs for a while with Xuân and Vương. Through Liên Đoàn Hùng Vương, I was able to connect with other parents and make friends. We have many things in common including family, culture, and language. When not scouting together, we like to hang out, enjoy food and drinks, and make jokes.