Ngọc Lan was a multilingual musician. In addition to her native language, she could sing French, English, and even Chinese. Her Vietnamese was impeccable. She knew that the diacritics were as essential as the letters in a tonal language; therefore, she made a clear distinction between her hook above and her tilde in her phrasing. Her effortlessness on accenting the tilde, in particular, was unmistakable. She also articulated her “tr” and her “ch” with distinguishable nuances.

For Chinese, she only recorded a few songs; therefore, I won’t get into that. Besides, I don’t know Chinese. As for French, she had been praised for singing with fluency. My French is very limited; therefore, I’ll leave that one out too. Since I know English and love my second language as much as my first, I would like to focus on her English singing, which fascinated me.

I have spent years listening to jazz legends, including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Anita O’Day, and Lena Horne, as well as modern jazz vocalists, such as Tierney Sutton, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Sophie Milman, and Diana Krall. I love them all, but one particular singer has me hanging onto her every word is Stacey Kent. I adore the way she enunciate each syllable. I could listen to her records all day just to learn English. Similar to Ngọc Lan, Stacey Kent can sing French fluently. If you want some relaxing French jazz ballads, check out Stacey Kent’s Reconte-Moi.

When I wanted to put together a collection of Ngọc Lan’s English recordings, I had trouble finding them. Fortunately, Ngọc Lan still has many devoted fans who know her repertoire inside out. One of them is Nguyễn Quốc Anh who I had reached out through I Love Ngoc Lan Facebook Page and he provided me with a list of sixteen songs recorded in English and Vietnamese. Although incomplete, the list gives me enough materials to pore over.

I was not impressed with her early English works, particularly her new wave covers. From John Christian’s “Ebony Eyes” to Optimal’s “Kimi Ga Suki” to John Farrar’s “Magic,” the uptempo productions drowned out her soft voice. With Brenda K. Starr’s “I Still Believe,” the bass-pounding r&b beat overpowered her vocals. I could barely make out what she was singing in English. With Bertie Higgins’s “Casablanca,” she mispronounced the lyrics quite a bit. When I heard her sing, “Popcorn and Cokes beneath the stars,” I almost fell out of my chair. I had to repeat it several times to make sure I didn’t mishear the word Cokes. The mispronunciation was just hilarious, but it might make sense with, “Making love on a long hot summer’s night.” I am kidding.

Fortunately, Ngọc Lan’s English improved tremendously in her later works, starting when began recording for Mây Productions. Her rendition of Alan Nguyễn’s “Whenever You Come to Me” was damn-near perfect. I love the way she enunciated truth in these bars: “It’s time to tell the truth, please tell me what to do / Someday I’ll find the way to get to you.” Her cover of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” would have been excellent if she adhered to the original pronoun. Changing from “she” to “he,” she lost that sweet s sound: “Why she had to go? I don’t know, she wouldn’t say.”

Her interpretation of The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” worked surprisingly well. She kicked off the tune in Vietnamese and she sounded lovely. Saxophonist Thanh Lâm played a soulful solo at the break. Ngọc Lan picked up the second half in English: “Woah, my love, my darling / I’ve hungered for your touch.” I love how she ended the word touch. She pulled off the high note, “Are you still mine?,” with ease and wisely departed from the famous climax, “I need your love.”

Although her accent had not completely gone, she had proved that she can adapt and adjust to English. As someone who still struggles to learn English after 30 years living in the United States, I admire how quickly she picked up a new language. At first I was not impressed, but I found her accent to be charming and intoxicating. Her take on Paul Anka’s “Diana” puts a smile on me every time I hear her sing:

I’m so young and you’re so old
This, my darling, I’ve been told
I don’t care just what they say
’Cause forever I will pray
You and I will be as free
As the birds up in the trees

Yes, fly freely my love.

Ever since we moved into our house, I never gave a thought about winterizing our spigots because I had no idea I need to do that. Last winter, I didn’t even disconnect the hose from the spigot. When we were driving back from skiing on a snowy day, my wife told me about it, she made me worried. I was praying the pipes wouldn’t bust. I disconnected the hose from the spigot the next day. Fortunately, we didn’t have any issue and I started looking into winterizing out spigots.

A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law noticed that the spigot in front of the house started to leak. Although tightened up the screw stopped the leak, it was time to replace the old spigots with the hose bibb round wheel handles with the ball valves. I called my handyman Ricardo.

I watched him replacing the spigots and learned so I could be more confidence if I have to replace them on my own. When he cut up the ceiling for the back spigot, we discovered a shut-off valve to winterize the spigot. I asked him to replace the valve as well. Even though we didn’t discover a shut-off valve for the front spigot, I asked him to put one in as well just to make sure we won’t have any issue in the winter.

While I had him in the house on Monday, I asked him to replace the shut-off valves for the kitchen faucet. I could have replaced them myself, but I rather had the professional taking care of them for now. He recommended Sharkbite technology for the plumbing works even though he could also do the soldering. I now have a peace of mind knowing where all the pipes are and how to fix them.

Here are the products we used:

• 2 American Valve 1/2-in FNPT Brass Quarter Turn Sillcock ($10)
• 2 SharkBite Brass 1/2-in Push-to-connect x 1/2-in Push-to-connect Ball Valve ($25)
• 1/2 in. Compression Inlet x 3/8 in. Compression Outlet 1/4-Turn Angle Valve ($10)
• SharkBite Brass 1/2-in Compression x 3/8-in OD Compression Quarter Turn Dual Outlet Valve ($17)

The labor was $400. He also fixed the leaking PVC pipe that drains from our half bath. I forgot what the part called.

I haven’t stepped into an ice rink for at least three weeks. I guess I am taking a break from ice skating. I don’t when I am going to pick it up again. I am stuck at the loop and flip jumps.

I only rollerblade for half an hour each day. I am not learning anything new. I just keep doing the same things over and over again. I am not making any progress at all. I am losing my passion for rollerblading as well. I felt intimidated when I met much better aggressive skaters. I used to be the only rollerblader at the parks, but now there seems to be more. They were super friendly, but I just felt embarrassed.

I am not sure where I am heading with these sports. I guess I am showing my age after all. I still want to skate recreationally though.

Last Sunday my colleague whose office is next door to mine tested positive for Covid. I took a test on Wednesday and the result came back negative. My niece who flew back from Taiwan tested positive yesterday. My cousins and nephews tested positive after taking a vacation. My wife’s sister and her family tested positive a month ago and we had always been in close contact with them.

Our little family and my mother-in-law who is living with us haven’t caught the virus yet. How have we dodged it thus far? I could only think of three reasons. One, we have been extremely lucky. Two, I believe my mother has been protecting us from afar. Three, masking works.

With the way Covid continues to spread, it seems inevitable that the virus will eventually catch up to us. I hope our luck won’t run out. I pray that my mother continues to watch over us. We continue to mask up. It is not over yet, please don’t let down your guard.

I didn’t realize that I had watched Cristela Alonzo’s previous special in 2017 until I looked up my blog archive. Follow up with Lower Classy, Ms. Alonzo named her latest Netflix Special Middle Classy. As a Mexican-American comic, she has made it to the point where she has health insurance, and no more Vicks for everything. She shared her experience of getting a checkup for the first time in her viginia. Her materials were consistent the whole way through. Recommended streaming.

I love all my sons, but I worry about Đán the most. He always occupies my mind. As my wife and I have decided to give the kids a break from their digital devices for the summer, Đán is not coping too well without his PC. While Đạo, Xuân, and Vương find something else to play, he finds ways to get under their skin. Without video games, he plays the piano really fast or just slamming the keys at maximum volume to drive everyone nuts. When he is not irritating his brothers or getting on our nerves, he just withdraws and thinks about video games. He doesn’t want to do anything else. No skating. No rollerblading. No reading. None.

He has all the behaviors of ADHD. He also has some serious skin issues. Vitiligo seems to affect his confidence. He wears long sleeves and pants to cover his body even in the summer heat. We try to get him to wear short sleeves and shorts, but then again, he should wear long clothes to protect his skin. Like me, he is a keloid former and he already has a thick one on his elbow when he scraped himself from rollerblading. He is only ten years old and already developing keloids. That’s not a good sign at such an early age. He could get worse if he is not being careful with his skin. Any cuts or scratches could lead into keloids. That was part of the reason I was blowing up when his cousin scratched him. I hope those scratches won’t turn into keloids.

He is still a fun, silly kid and full of life. I hope he continues to play the piano to keep himself focused. I know he will turn out OK, but I just can’t help worrying about him. The hardest part about being a parent is that you have the responsibility of another human being.

Once in a while, the beast in me came out. I burned bridges and destroyed relationships, but I couldn’t tame the beast. I rather let it all out than keep holding on to it. Once I get it out of my system, I can move on. Do I regret it? No. Should I have handled the situation differently? Probably.

How do I avoid future conflicts and confrontations? I don’t know. I don’t want to keep things inside my head; therefore, I speak my mind. It is easier to just let it out on the page like this or to the people I never have to deal with again. It is much harder when I have to to face the people days in and days out. I am stuck inside the bubbles and they will pop eventually. I need to get my head out of the bubbles.

Is life complicated or am I making myself complicated as I grow old and grumpy? Maybe it’s the latter. Maybe it was overblown. Whatever the case, the beast is already out and I can’t take it back. I just need to get past it and move forward. Life’s a beast and I can’t hide it. I have go face it straight on.

A week before the kids’ summer started, my wife announced that the boys needed to take a break from their screen for the summer. Even though I supported her decision all the way, she had absolute power in this house. My soul had crushed whenever I turned around and they would be sitting in front of their screens. When I asked Đạo and Đán to go to the skatepark, they acted like I asked them to commit a crime even though I would reward them afterward with boba tea. Even Xuân and Vương would rather sit in front of their iPads than run around the playground. I tried banning them from their screens, but my words had no power. My wife’s words, on the other hand, were rules the kids had to follow.

As soon as the summer began, we took a vacation in Wildwood. With the beach, boardwalk, arcades, and other activities, they were fine without their device. After the vacation, the addiction kicked in. Đán, in particular, had been miserable. He couldn’t function without having access to his computer. He couldn’t do anything during the day and couldn’t sleep during the night. He started thinking of ways to gain back his screen access. He started to write down his plans on his blog using my laptop. His “Remmus” (Summer backward) series is hilarious. He is allowed to write whatever is on his mind—even about his parents.

Without video games, he is bored out of his mind; therefore, he is picking up writing. The more he practices, the better he gets. He managed to get decent ratings in fourth grade, but he could use some help. In July, he and Xuân will start the Summer Olympians Aspire and Reach (SOAR) program. I am so glad that they were invited to take summer school. They definitely need all the help they can get. I hope they will have better focus on improving their math and language skills since they don’t have any distraction from their screens.

My ice skating progress is stalling. I still can’t accomplish my flip and loop jumps. I am about to hit the reset button and go back from the beginning to relearn all the techniques the correct way. I just plowed through them the first time and now I am stuck. It’s time for me to let it go. My kids have moved on a long time ago. They don’t even want to skate around the rink for fun.

I am not making much progress in rollerblading either. My power stops were good, but they caused my wheels to worn out. I can’t find the wheels for my Flying Eagle aggressive skates to replace. I might just look into getting a new pair either USD Sway or Roces. I am learning to do fakies and turns on the quarter pipes. The other day, I watched a guy skated effortlessly around the bowl. He just jumped into the ramp without coping and he did a fakie from the high bowl with ease. I was in awe. I’ll get to his level one day. For now, I am just enjoying what I have accomplished up to this point. My kids aren’t interested in rollerblade anymore despite my attempt to get them to the skate parks.

My kids are looking forward to skiing though. My wife and I started to buy gears for them. Since I can now tuning up our skis in our basement, we can get used skis that are still in good conditions. I have sharpened, fixed the bases, and waxed our our skis. Once the winter arrives, we’ll be able to hit the slopes.

I bought Đán a used snowboard. The board and the bindings appear to be in good shape; therefore, I am not sure why the seller only listed it for $35. All I need to do now is tuning it up and getting him a new pair of boots. The board is a bit heavy. I am not sure if Đán can handle it. We’ll see!

The first time I watched Ngọc Hương’s video, “Mưa Trên Biển Vắng,” I flipped the fuck out, just as I did thirty years ago when I first heard Ngọc Lan’s voice. In Ngọc Lan’s case, I was amazed. In Ngọc Hương’s case, I was shocked. From the voice to the curly hair to the outfit, Ngọc Hương struck unmistakably resemblances of Ngọc Lan. I didn’t know anything about Ngọc Hương. I had no idea who she was. She loves Ngọc Lan even more than the dedicated fans at iLoveNgocLan.com.

Last week, I watched Ngọc Hương perform as a guest singer on Lung Tung Xèng just to hear her in conversations. The whole time I had the impression that she played Ngọc Lan’s character. From the soft tone to the sweet talk, she seemed to have impersonated Ngọc Lan. If someone were to make a film about Ngọc Lan, Ngọc Hương would be perfect for the part—similar to how Jamie Foxx played Ray Charles and won an Academic Award for his portrayal of the iconic soul singer.

I am curious if Ngọc Hương steps out of the Ngọc Lan character in her real life or if she has embedded herself deep into her idol. Whatever the case, I have tremendous respect and admiration for her courage. I am sure she gets tons of criticism for trying to be like one of the most beloved Vietnamese singers of all time. It is obvious that Ngọc Hương will never live up to Ngọc Lan’s stature. Even she admitted on Lung Tung Xèng that she can’t be the second version of Ngọc Lan. Her technique is nowhere near Ngọc Lan. From her phrasing to her enunciation to her breath control, Ngọc Lan’s technique was to reveal no technicalities. She has mastered the art of natural expression in her singing similar to Billie Holiday even though the two were a world apart in their styles and repertoires.

As with Ngọc Lan, Billie Holiday has left a profound influence on singers long after she has passed and Madeleine Peyroux is one of them. In the early days of her career, Peyroux channeled Lady Day down to the vibratoless technique and off-key singing. Over time however, Peyroux has escaped Lady Day’s towering shadow and found her own voice. I hope Ngọc Hương will also find her own path as she develops her singing, style, and sensibility.