I was late to the party, but I was filled with joy when I found out last night that The King Radio account on YouTube got shut down. Ngụy Vũ, the self-proclaimed the King Radio, is more like the Vietnamese Alex Jones who spread misinformation including wearing a mask can kill you.

Ngụy Vũ’s studio is located right inside Eden Center. It used to be a Kobe Phở restaurant. I knew then that this guy was a scam because his phở was plain. He just beefed up the Kobe steak. There were not many customers and the rent in Eden Center was not cheap. He shut down the restaurant and converted it into a radio station. His YouTube account was pulling in over 90K subscribers.

I tried to listen to one of his episodes, but I could not get past 10 minutes. He was rambling on and on about right-wing conspiracy theories. I did not understand how YouTube allowed his misinformation to spread freely and dangerously on its platform. It took John Oliver who pointed Ngụy Vũ out in his Last Week Tonight episode on digital misinformation for YouTube to take action.

When I found out last night through one of the Cub Scout parents, I checked YouTube immediately. Ngụy Vũ already set up a new account with less than 5K subscribers. Although John Oliver brought the attention to YouTube, users who reported his account got him banned. We need to stop him from poisoning our Vietnamese-American community. I reported his new account as well.

After I picked up Đạo, Đán, and Xuân from school yesterday, we headed straight to the skate park. We skated for 45 minutes and headed home. My wife made udon. Đạo, Xuân, and I ate quickly and headed to ice skating lessons. Xuân took his test. He didn’t do too well because he didn’t practice much. Except for one girl, all of his classmates struggled with backward crossovers and T-stops. I am not sure if I should sign him up for Gamma since he isn’t into it.

My wife took Đạo and Xuân home instead of waiting for me to take my lessons. When I came home, Xuân didn’t look too well. I took his temperature and it was around 102.2F. He fell asleep and I carried him to my bed. I checked his temperature again and it was still high. I was a bit worried even though he had his mask on the whole time he was taking his ice skating test.

I tried to go to sleep as well, but woke up after he made some noise. He opened his eyes and spoke a few words in Spanish. I didn’t know what he was saying, but I asked if he was feeling OK. He nodded and went back to sleep. Around midnight, he woke up again and said, “udon.” He must be hungry and wanted udon. I was getting a bit hungry as well because we didn’t have much udon for dinner. I took his temperature again and it hadn’t decreased. At this point I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Around 2 am, he sweated profusely. His hair and the pillow were all wet. His temperature went down to 101.6F. His immune system must have fought hard. I was a bit relieved but couldn’t go back to sleep until 3 something in the morning. I woke up around 6:30 am and checked his temperature again and it was down to 99.1F. I am happy about it, but I will be miserable all day due to lack of sleep. We’ll let him stay home today to keep an eye on him.

Having a fever is not uncommon, but I am a bit panicked because of Covid. I tend to worry too much because my mother-in-law is living with us. I do not want anything to happen to her even though she got her third booster shot.

Learning ice skating is like building LEGO. Each step is a LEGO brick that is designed to let you create a work of art. While practicing yesterday, I combined the jump and dance steps into a long sequence. I am sure the professional skaters already knew, but it was a revelation to me. Here are the steps I did:

1. Begin with a backward crossover with your left foot over right.
2. Repeat another crossover with your left foot over right.
3. Transfer your weight to your right foot and glide with your left foot.
4. Do a waltz jump with your right foot.
5. Tap your left toe pick and do a tap-toe jump with your right foot.
6. Continue with a 3-turn on your left foot.
7. Tap your right toe pick then finish with a one-half flip jump.
8. Instead of checking out, continue on with your left glide.
9. Glide right.
10. Glide left.
11. Glide right one more time.
12. Do a left mohawk then stand on your right foot as you skate backward.
13. Cross your left behind your right foot and transfer your weight to your left foot.
14. Place your right foot back to the parallel position and transfer the weight back to your right foot.
15. Cross your left foot in front of your right foot.
16. Check out with your right foot.

I like jumping more than spinning. I supposed to learn how to do a one-foot spin, but I kept tripped up the left-edge entrance. As a result, I just focused on the jump and dance sequence.

The no-name aggressive inline skates I bought for Đạo and Đán on eBay were no good. My wife broke the strap buckle on one pair and I broke the other as we let the kids try them on. Fortunately, we can return them.

I am searching for better quality skates for them since aggressive skating can be dangerous. I want them to be safe. I am not sure if I can find anything under $150 a pair. I spent way too much time online shopping already. I was looking forward to hit the skate parks with them.

At lunchtime yesterday, I drove to Shaw Skate Park in DC. The weather was beautiful and there were a handful of skateboarders. They seemed to be friendly. A black guy encouraged me to drop in. I asked if he’s from around here (DC) and he asked me where I was originated (I think). I forget the term he used. There were two girls whose skills were impressive on roller skates.

The park seemed to be newly renovated. I would come back if it was not too far from my work. It took me 20 minutes each way; therefore, I could only skate for half an hour. I was skating in my khakis pants and buttoned-up shirt. I just strapped on my guards and wore my helmet. I came back to work a bit sweaty. It was my workout for the day.

I had been skating consistently at lunchtime on the days that I worked in my office since Powhatan Springs Skatepark. I can skate there for about 45 minutes since the park was only eight minutes away from my office. It’s a decent park.

I found a pair of Flying Eagle Enkidu aggressive skates on Amazon Warehouse that fit me perfectly. It was such a great deal that I couldn’t resist. Except for the damaged box, the skates were brand new. I gave the pair a try at the skate park yesterday and I am loving it.

I went down a few curved ramps and a quarter pipe, but I did not try the higher curved ramps yet. The skates are a bit heavy, almost five pounds on each foot, but they felt so comfortable. I predict that the smaller wheels and the heavy boots were designed to keep me balanced. Aggressive skates don’t come with the heel brake; therefore, I need to learn to do the T-stop or other braking methods without relying on the heel brake. I am taking my time because falling at my age takes too long to recover.

I need more time to adjust to the new Flying Eagle since I had gotten used to the Zetrablade, which I still love. It was the first inline skate that didn’t hurt my feet. I didn’t even realize that the Zetrablade was designed for skating on the road instead of at the skate park. I changed the heel brake and still keep the pair for skating with the family when we go biking on the trails.

Đán also wanted a pair of aggressive skates. I wanted to get him a pair of Rollerblade NJR, but I could not find his size. Fortunately, I found a different pair with his size on eBay. Since it was a great deal, I bought one pair for Đạo as well. They look great, but they have no brand. I called the skate shop and the seller told me that there were no boxes and they could not find the brand on the skates. They just found them in their warehouse and listed them on eBay for sale. They already sold six pairs and haven’t heard any complaints from their customers.

I can’t wait for their skates to arrive. We’re now moving from recreational to aggressive. Đạo, Đán, and Xuân who uses a scooter prefer skate park over ice skating. They had been willing to go to the skate parks with me more than ice skating rinks.

This is a super quick introduction to web design for non-designers. Osborn shows the principles of design, which include layout, hierarchy, color, and typography. She keeps each theory short and sweet and without a line of code. I read the entire book in an hour. I am not the target audience, but I have not read a book on web design in a long time. Plus, the book is beautifully typeset in Tisa family.

Wednesday night, I didn’t go to sleep until two in the morning. Then I had to wake up at seven to take Đạo to school. I drank massive coffee and felt like shit all day. I went to ice skating class and couldn’t even do a proper Mohawk. I stayed back after class to practice, but the public session was crowded. Katie, my former coach, was there skating with Megan, one of my classmates. Megan and I used to take Katie’s class, but now we have a different instructor. I took three classes taught by Katie and she barely spoke to me beyond simple instructions. Somehow Megan managed to befriend her. I watched Katie perform and show Megan how to spin on one foot. Katie was fantastic.

I tried to do the dance sequence our new coach Kim taught us, but I couldn’t do it. My mind was exhausted and I was intimidated by the good skaters and instructors. I left the rink early and went home. I felt incompetent. I told my wife that I will quit after Freestyle 2. I went to bed and had almost eight hours of sleep. I felt much more refreshed. I worked from home on Friday; therefore, I took a lunch break and headed back to the rink. I had the entire rink to myself for the first half an hour. I focused on the dance sequence and was able to pull it off. I felt great again.

What I liked about Kim, my new coach, was that she focused on forms and she broke down the steps clearly. In a group lesson, I had about three minutes one on one with her. So far, I can do the dance sequence, the jump sequence, the spirals on edges, the ballet jump, and the half lutz. I just need to focus on the one-foot spin and the forward edge entrance. When I told my wife that I might go to Freestyle 3, she was not too happy since I said that I would be done with ice skating lessons after Freestyle 2. She showed no encouragement at all.

I understand her feelings. My life has revolved around ice skating. I want to practice every chance I have; therefore, I am not doing much around the house. I have to cut it back. So maybe this should be the end of ice skating lessons for me. I don’t think I can do much anyway. Too bad, our kids are giving up on ice skating. They have the opportunity to continue, but they don’t want to and I don’t want to force them either. For me, I have obligations to fulfill and ice skating isn’t a priority. I want to do it for fun and to challenge myself. I wanted to see how far I can go, but I think this might be it for me. I’ll keep skating for fun, but no more lessons. Without the coach to push me and the classmates to encourage me, I am not sure how far I can go. For instance, I haven’t made much progress with rollerblading. To be honest, rollerblading is a bit too dangerous. I have been injured quite a bit lately; therefore, I have to take more caution. I am too old to take risks. Ice skating is much safer, but it requires lots of techniques. I can’t spin even if my life depends on it.

Whenever I banned Đán from playing video games, he would say, “I want a normal dad. Why can’t I have a normal dad?” His definition of a normal dad is a parent who lets him play video games all the time. If that’s the case I would rather not be a normal dad.

Đạo is not doing too well in school, not because he is struggling, but because he is slacking off. No matter how much I had talked and explained to him the importance of education, it seems to go into one ear and out the other.

Xuân seems to be doing good. He is just a bit too whiny and lacking motivation. He has so much potential in ice skating, but he just wanted to quit. He kept asking me when his class will be over and reminding me not to sign him up anymore.

Vương is a three-year-old badass who curses like a sailor. Whenever he said, “What the fuck,” he would followed up with the sweetest smile. How can I even be mad at him?

Speaking of profanity, I let Đạo and Đán listen to Kanye and Jay-Z in the car. Đán’s favorite tracks are “HAM,” “Monster,” and “New Slaves.” The beats on these tracks are crisp and clean, but the lyrics are so filthy. Đán told me that he blocked out the words and just concentrated on the beats and the flows. As for Đạo, he told me that kids from his school cursed more than the lyrics on his track. He knew all the words, but he never used them. I just have to take their words for it.

I am failing in the parenting department on so many levels, but I don’t want to be too rigid. Give them some space to grow.

When I meet other Asian Americans, I always wondered which Asia they are, but I could not ask. I am not sure what would be the right question to ask. “What type of Asian are you?” That sounds horrible. “Where are you from?” I know many Asian Americans have an issue with that question, especially those who were born in America. “What is your ethnicity?” They are obviously Asian. It often felt awkward when I tried to ask their Asian origin.

I would only bring up the question if I think they are Vietnamese American. I just speak in Vietnamese, “Chị là người Việt hả?” (Are you Vietnamese). If they answer in Vietnamese then yes. If not, they would tell me that they have no idea what I just said and they would tell me what type of Asian they are.

If you have any suggestion on how to ask Asian Americans what type of Asian they are, please share. I would love to know. On the contrary, I wouldn’t mind if anyone asked me any of the questions above. I would not not be offended. In fact, I would be glad that they are interested in my exact background.

I haven’t written about politics on this blog and I don’t want to, but I have to draw your attention to the governor race between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin if you live in Virginia. We must vote for McAuliffe because the Youngkin is too damn dangerous for Virginia and here are some of the reasons:

1. Youngkin embraces Ron DeSantis’ mishandling of the COVID-19 for Virginia.
2. Youngkin opposes mask mandates in public schools in Virginia.
3. Youngkin criticizes Virginia universities for requiring students to be vaccinated.
4. Youngkin touts dangerous anti-vaccine rhetoric in Virginia.
5. Youngkin supports Texas’ abortion ban in Virginia.
6. Youngkin plans to defund Planned Parenthoods in Virginia.
7. Youngkin aims to roll back gun-safety laws in Virginia.
8. Youngkin proposes an anti-education tax plan that would be a disaster for public schools in Virginia.
9. Youngkin walks the dangerous line on baseless claims of election fraud in Virginia.
10. Youngkin brings Trump’s toxic agenda to Virginia.

Let’s keep Trump’s hatred out of the state for lovers. Youngkin, a Trump disciple, has no place in Virginia. Early voting begins on October 17, go cast your ballot for Terry McAuliffe and the Democrats. Let’s keep Virginia blue.