In her latest Netflix Special, Tomlinson shares the loss of her mother when she was eight, the struggle with her mental health, and the challenge of her religious upbringing. Tomlinson definitely has a dark sense of humor because she believes “if you can laugh at the darkest stuff that’s ever happened to you while it’s still actively happening to you, sometimes that’s what help get you through it.” Tomlinson is a fantastic writer. Her materials are thoughtful and her delivery is on the beat. I highly recommend streaming it.

On Saturday, we had a surprise snowstorm with the temperature dropping to the teens. We were to cancel our trip, but I took Đạo and Xuân with me to Liberty in the afternoon. The conditions were a bit icy, but still decent for skiing. We skied mostly on mogul terrains. The blue moguls were fun and manageable. The double-black moguls were tough, but I loved the challenge. I hadn’t conquered them yet, but I was more comfortable with them. I understand why many skiers don’t like moguls, but I am starting to appreciate them.

On Sunday, I took my kids and my brother-in-law took their kids to Roundtop. The conditions were great and the lifts weren’t too crowded. The younger kids skied in blues with one of my brother-in-laws and I led the older kids on the double blacks. In the afternoon, Roundtop held a Pond Skim competition. Participants dressed in customs and skied or snowboarded over a pond of cold water. After watching the first few folks dropping into the pond and only one of them made it, I headed over to the double black slopes to do a few runs down Gunbarrel, the steepest slopes out of the three resorts: Roundtop, Liberty, and Whitetail.

I shared a lift with an older woman and we had a short exchange. She shared with me her personal story about her late husband who used to work at Roundtop as a mechanic. She lost her husband over pancreatic cancer. She also revealed that she was wearing his jacket. I was touched. She was such a sweet woman.

After three runs on my own, I met up with my three boys (Đạo, Đán, Xuân) and their cousins (Hân, Khôi) and they all wanted to do Gunbarrel. My three boys and Khôi made it all the way down. Hân plowed down just a quarter of the slope and freaked out. He didn’t want to go all the way down, but he couldn’t go back up. His only option was to slide down on his behind. The second time, Khôi plunged into a tree. Thank goodness he didn’t fall on rocks. After that we went home.

This weekend was probably our last ski trip for the season. The resorts will stay open until next Sunday. Looking at the forecast, the weather will be warm next week. I am not so sure if we can take our last trip next Sunday.

Here’s a clip of me taking my time down the Gunbarrel.

Sedaris’s diaries from 2004 to 2020 are filled with humorous stories he had seen, heard, or encountered. His observations are the money shots. The “balls” joke is just too hilarious. His entries on the 2020 election are moving. Against all odds, his father beat Covid at age 97. It made me wonder what if I never made that 911 call to get my mother hospitalized. Could she have beaten COVID as well? I can’t turn back time now.

What prompted me to read this book was that I wanted to write my blog posts like he writes his diaries. What I had discovered is that Sedaris hated writing about feelings. He thinks feelings are boring and no one gives a fuck how you feel. I finally understand why he is a successful writer and I am still an amateur. Then again, Sedaris does Sedaris and I do me. I will continue to write about my feelings and the things I want to write about. Even if no one cares, I do, and that’s all that matters.

This winter, I skied from green to double-black-diamond slopes without taking any group or private lessons. I learned everything from watching YouTube.

Unlike figure skating, skiing has no standardized curriculum, or I could not find one; therefore, I had to do the research on my own. Now that I had done it, I wanted to share my experience. If you want to learn to ski on your own and want to take your journey to the next level, you may find the instructional videos helpful.

If you had taken skiing lessons and were taught how to plow (pizza), you need to unlearn it. You need to move from plow to parallel. Janus Hecht’s “Two Keys to Parallel Skiing” has unlocked my parallel skiing. It took me a few days to make the adjustments. Once it was clicked, I hardly went want to plowing.

Once you can parallel, the next step is to learn the hockey stop. Again, Janus Hecht is the man to watch. Hockey stop is not only an essential skill, but it is so much fun to do, especially the hop to stop technique, which Hecht also covered in the video.

Once you’ve mastered the hockey stop, you can make the transition to short turns. I find the step-by-step video from miromiro for short turns to be helpful. In addition to short turns, the instructor (I can’t find his name) shows the jump-turn technique. I love jump turns and use them all the time to ski down the double-black-diamond slopes. In this video, “How to Ski Steeps,” Warren Smith shows how step turns and jump turns can help you navigate the steep slopes. It is incredible to watch.

Skiing moguls appears to be intimidating at first, but it is so much fun maneuvering around those bumps. Like anything in skiing, you want to go with the flow rather than against it. In this video, Darren Turner shows how to ski moguls with ease. I find his instructions to be approachable. I learned “How to Jump on Skis” and basic carving technique from watching him. I am in the process of learning advanced carving from this video. I can’t find the name of the instructor, but her technique looks amazing.

I hope these tips will help open up your skiing journey like they had done for me. Happy skiing.

I returned to the ice skating rink today for the first time in more than two weeks. My chops had regressed. I could barely do the salchow jump and couldn’t do the toe loop jump at all. It is quite a challenge to learn alone. I don’t have my kids to motivate me anymore. They no longer wanted to do figure skating. I don’t want to give up yet. I am going to keep trying. Maybe I should take some private lessons to help me accomplish these jumps.

I also returned to the skatepark to rollerblade when the weather permitted. I am working on my pumps. Dropping in has been scary as hell, but that’s only half of the battle. Pumping out is less intimidating, but harder to do. I spent months already, but I am starting to get it. My sons are no longer interested in rollerblading so I have to go solo. I made a video of my progression from last year to now.

They still love skiing and snowboarding; therefore, we have made tremendous progress together. Đạo, Đán, Xuân and I can do black and double-black slopes. Unfortunately, the season seems to be over already. I put together a video of our 2021-2022 skiing season. We’ll definitely go with the season pass again next year.

Skiing and skating have provided me with two benefits. I haven’t had a gout attack and I have been drinking on a regular basis—a glass of wine and a bottle of hard coffee a day. I also lost my beer belly.

On Monday, I figured out how easy it is to combine video clips together using iMovie. All I had to do was selecting the videos I wanted to combine. As a result of this exciting discovery, I put together a few longer video clips:

• My Journey to Rollerblading is a collection of clips showing my progression within a year.
• The Daredevil Đán shows clips of my second born doing a bit of wild techniques on rollerblade.
• Skiing 2022 reflects on our ski trips for this season.

I am starting to use YouTube more. If you want to see new video, subscribe to my channel.

I can’t stop watching my three-year-old son, Vương, trying to climb up the curved ramp at the skatepark. When he grows up, I will show him this video when he would get discouraged. He can do anything if he puts his mind to it. Giving up is way harder than trying.

Two weeks ago Đán asked me to take him to Popeyes before his piano lesson, but I said, “No.” He replied, “OK, then I will fail my assignment.” He explained that he had an assignment on persuasive review and he had chosen Popeyes. I was not sure if he just wanted me to take him there or he was being serious. I took him and Xuân to Popeyes and ordered a family meal for us to share. I told him he better get a good grade or else I would ban him from playing video games.

Last week, his teacher sent me the following message: “Dan did a really nice job with his recent writing. It was a persuasive review and I am proud of how hard he worked!” She went on, “Have him share the assignment with you – it is on his computer!”

Yesterday, I asked him to share it with me. His teacher was right. His review was quite impressive and persuasive. I asked him to post it on his blog. Have a read.

I offered him a deal. If he would like to write any restaurant review, I would take him. He told me has five drafts already and Bonchon Chicken is on the list. Oops! I should have said one restaurant a month.

I have been pouring my heart and soul out on this blog for almost two decades. My dream has always been to turn this little blog into a full-time gig. Then again, a dream is just a dream and it is still a long shot, but I haven’t given up because I still love blogging.

I dedicate a big chunk of my time to this blog and it costs more than time and energy to sustain. If you enjoy reading this blog, please consider supporting my efforts to keep it free of intrusive advertising and third-party tracking. Your contribution will help pay the bills and keep this blog active.

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• Nguyễn, Tân
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I didn’t know you well. In fact, we only had one interaction, but your big smile and exuberant personality left a long-lasting impression on me. You cracked a joke and I didn’t realize that you knew me more than I knew you.

At the time we met, which was at Chiến’s wedding, you were still dating Sandy. When I said “hi” to her, she introduced me to you. Of course I knew a bit about you even though I didn’t recall if we actually talked in the past. I thought you and Sandy made a great couple; therefore, I was glad that she had found love in you. I didn’t know if you knew, but I dated Sandy briefly before her ex-boyfriend who was also someone I knew cajoled her back. Things didn’t work out between me and Sandy, but I wish she didn’t go back to him. He was a jackass and I knew he would break her heart again. And I was right. They broke up after having two kids together.

When you entered the picture, I was happy for her. I still cared about her. You seemed to be a loving partner and doting parent. Unfortunately, your relationship with her didn’t last either. Then I found out from your brother and sister that you have left this world. I didn’t know that you had some serious health issues. Now you are in a better place without pain and suffering. Rest In Peace, Robbs.