It has been 10 days since Vương’s arm is fractured. Today we need to take him back to the pediatric orthopedic for an x-ray to determine if he would need surgery or not.

The last 10 days seemed like eternity. I constantly have to remind him not to move his fractured arm around too much. I have been praying that he wouldn’t need surgery to put a screw in his bone.

We were talking about skiing at dinner last night and Vương said sadly, “I am not going to be able to ski or snowboard.” Damn! That cut like a knife. If he won’t need surgery, he will be out of his cast in less than 3 weeks.

Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep last night. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. As I am writing this post, I am feeling butterflies in my stomach. I am taking the day off from work because I am not going to be able to concentrate on anything else other than his arm.

This is the first time in my life that I am dealing with bone injuries. I hope it is my last. Vương is the one with the fractured bone and yet it hurts me more than I am being injured myself. I am praying that his bone is healing well and no surgery required.

Today is Election Day in Virginia. I will head to the poll and cast my vote for all Democrats:

• Abigail D. Spanberge for Governor
• Ghazala F. Hashmi for Lieutenant Governor
• Jay C. Jones for Attorney General
• David L. Bulova for Member House of Delegates 11^th District

I urge you to vote for candidates with a D next to their name to resist the current president and his administration. Our constitution is under attack. Our democracy is dying. Our country is falling under autocracy. Voting for Democrats is the only way to take back our government from an authoritarian.

My mind has been fucked up lately and alcohol keeps me floating above my own ocean of emotions. Once the alcohol wears off, however, I am drowning again. I need something else to take things off the edge. I recently discovered Alice Phoebe Lou through her latest release, Oblivion. The acoustic setting calms my mind as her intimate singing soothes my soul.

Right off the opening track, “Sailor,” I dig her angelic, slightly scratchy vocals. Accompanied by a strumming guitar, she sings, “You were once a sailor / Sailing through my mind / I had never given up / On your return to my shores.”

Furthermore, what draws me into Lou’s music is her poetic lyrics. On “Sparkle,” accompanied by subtle piano keys, she phrases softly, “I will not change / For the reasons you think / In a blink of an eye / I’ll have metamorphosized.” Love the way she enunciates that last word.

“Skyline” is a testament that Lou is a great storyteller. Using piano as a device, she narrates the lyrics with poise and punctuation: “There’s a body lying in the middle of a busy street / He’s painted red and staring at the sky / He leans out his car window and says, ‘Get the hell out of my way / I’ll be late, I’ve gotta be on time.”

The entire album is filled with poetic lyricisms and her simple approach makes her songs personal and comprehensible. The whole close-out track consists of, “With or without him / With or without / Without / With or without.” Without a doubt, Oblivion is a masterpiece of minimalism.

I haven’t listened to Lily Allen for a while. The last time I wrote a review of her sophomore album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, was in 2009. When I spotted her latest release, West End Girl, on Spotify, I knew I had to listen right away. I was not disappointed.

On the opening title track, she sets up the narrative over the bossa-nova rhythm. She briefly describes their relationship when she and her husband settled in New York. Then she moved back to London for a lead role. While they were apart, her husband wanted an open relationship because he needed pussy. She agreed because she wanted him to be happy.

Over the heavy electronic production, she started to “Ruminating.” With the assistance of Auto-Tune she confessed, “And I can’t shake the image of her naked / On top of you and I’m dissociated.” She even got jealous, “And I’m not hateful but you make me hate her / She gets to sleep next to my medicator.”

Over strumming guitar and pounding bass in “Sleepwalking,” she revealed her marriage issue: “‘Why aren’t we fucking baby?’ Yeah, that’s what you said / But you let me think it was me in my head / And nothing to do with them girls in your bed.”

On “Relapse,” she declared that her marriage was over: “The foundation is shattered, you’ve made such a fucking mess / I tried to be your modern wife, but the child in me protests.” Just hearing her sing softly, “Pussy Palace,” gets a kick out of me. What things do they have at the “Pussy Palace?” Of course, she knows you wonder; therefore, she discloses, “Duane Reade bag with the handles tied / Sex toys, butt plugs, lube inside / Hundreds of Trojans, you’re so fucking broken / How’d I get caught up in your double life?”

With “Nonmonogamummy,” a collaboration with Specialist Moss, she tried to be open as well: “And now I’m looking at my Tinder, well, maybe I’m more of a Hinger / He wants to take me out to dinner, hope he looks better than his picture.”

The album closes out with “Fruityloop” and she leaves it as is: “It is what it is, you’re a mess, I’m a bitch / Wish I could fix all your shit, but all your shit’s yours to fix.” Based on her divorce, Allen crafted a conceptual album that reads like an open book from start to finish. It’s an honest-yet-ruthless work of art.

Nowadays Xuân and Vương take over the music when we ride in our minivan. They created their own Spotify playlist. Xuân picks most of the songs, which have loopy techno beats and a few weird-accented singing. The type of songs that make me say, “What the heck, guys?” Then there’s a particular song that made me say quietly to myself, “What the fuck, kids?”

The song kicks off with distorted violin playing and random bass plucking. Chilling voices started to sing:

Take my eyes, take them aside
Take my face, and desecrate
My arms and legs, they get in the way
And take my hands, they’ll understand
Take my heart, pull it apart
And take my brain, or what remains
And throw it all away

What the fuck kind of crazy shit is this? Of course, I started to pay attention to what my kids are listening to. The rest of the rhythm section (electric guitar and drums) joins in to rock up the eccentricity. Vocalists continue to sing:

Take my lungs, take them and run
Take my tongue, go have some fun
And take the ears, take them and disappear
And take my joints, take them for points
Take my teeth, tear through my cheeks
And take the nose, go and dispose
Oh, would you go dispose, just go dispose?

Is this some kind of dysmorphia shit? I asked my sons, “How did you guys discover this song?” YouTube, of course. The song is titled “Body” by Mother Mother. It was released in 2008 and I only heard of it recently through my kids. The lyrics are so damn depressing.

Why would you want to take away your body parts and organs? Fortunately, the singers (Ryan Guldemond with Molly Guldemond and Debra-Jean Creelman) explain in the chorus:

’Cause I’ve grown tired of this body
A cumbersome and heavy body
I’ve grown tired of this body
Fall apart without me, body

Of course we have our days when we feel like that as well. It is just an exaggerated expression, please don’t do it. If you want to do something like this, please seek help.

After the kids went to bed on Saturday night, the dads kicked back at the campfire. We passed around two of my favorite Japanese whiskey bottles: Yamazaki 12 and Hibiki Master Select. Around midnight, I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore due to the lack of sleep the previous night. I said goodbye to everyone and went back to our tent.

Despite the cold weather, Xuân was already knocked out after a full day of activities. I opened up the other sleeping bag and found Peanut, Vương’s favorite stuffed-animal dragon. The alcohol got me emotional. Vương was sleeping here last night with his mom, but they went home to sleep because Vương fractured his upper left arm. His mom and I took him to an urgent care nearby to take an x-ray. He had to wear an elbow brace to keep his arm from mobilizing.

Since his left arm was fractured, I helped him with his dinner. Suddenly, he asked me, “Daddy, do you remember the water fountain where you make a wish then toss a coin?” I replied, “Yes, son. I remember.” He asked further, “Does the wish come true?” I hesitated and asked him, “Why do you ask?” He responded, “I wish for my arm to heal.” I promised him, “Tomorrow after camping, I will take you to find a fountain. You have to heal fast so that you can learn to snowboard this season.” He replied, “Yes, I will learn to snowboard with you because you’re a good snowboard patrol.” He meant to say instructor.

As I was tossing and turning in my sleeping bag, I visualized his scrawny body, repeated his words in my mind, and wept in silence. I knew deep down he would be alright, but I couldn’t control my emotions.

Our 2011 Toyota Sienna is crumbling one thing at a time. Both the sliding doors are broken and they are too expensive to replace. The struts hadn’t been supporting the liftgate for a while,
but I didn’t think they would be easy to replace. Fortunately, this YouTube clip shows how easy it is to replace them. The struts were purchased from Amazon for $23.

Saturday morning, I opened up Facebook’s Marketplace and spotted a free piano. To my untrained eyes, it still looked good. I messaged the seller and got an immediate response. She told me that her family just moved into a new house. It was smaller; therefore, she needed to get rid of it as soon as possible.

I told her that I would need to hire a mover. I fell right into her trap. She told me she could recommend a mover who moved her piano yesterday. They did a great job carrying it to the second floor. She gave me their phone numbers.

I called and asked for a quote. A man answered and said that his company will charge $500. The company policy was that half must be paid first then the rest must be paid when the job was completed. I told him I couldn’t pay $250, but I could make a $50 deposit. He said that the piano was on the second floor; therefore, he needed to get a crane. He was willing to take $100. I asked him if he would take credit cards and he said no. I said how would I know if he was not scamming me. He told me to hire another local mover. We ended our conversation.

Of course, I was texting my wife during the whole transaction. She told me to be careful of scammers and advised me to ask for the piano owner’s address. When I asked for her address, she stopped responding. I reported her account.

My wife was right and she saved me from being scammed. I went back to the Marketplace and saw lots of similar listings. Beware of the free piano scams.

Two weeks ago, Ðán, my second son, wanted to try Dave’s Hot Chicken. He ordered extra-hot chicken tenders. I ordered a reaper chicken sandwich to see how hot it was. The cashier made me sign the weaver. As soon as I paid for our food, he told the staff that someone ordered a reaper. The entire staff in the kitchen chanted, danced, and cheered. I knew I was in trouble.

When the food came out, I took a bite of the sandwich. The heat quietly took over my body. I drank water and ate fries and pickles. Sweat started to pour from my head. The flare lasted about 5 minutes. I could have taken another bite, but I didn’t want to risk internal bleeding.

Ðán wanted to try. I advised him not to, but he picked up my sandwich and took a small bite. He said, “Not bad.” Then the reaper kicked in. He asked me to get him lots of water, which I complied. I was glad he made it through.

It was definitely an experience. The reaper was no joke!

Today marks my fourteenth anniversary with Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. One of the major changes of last year was launching a brand new website and switching to a new content management system. Nevertheless, my role hasn’t changed. I am still Director of Design and Web Services who is responsible for the law school websites.

In my fourteen years at the law school, I worked under three supervisors and three deans. The current dean will conclude his term in the summer of 2026. My supervisor will also retire around the same time. I don’t know what the future will hold. I’ll just have to go with the flow.

I am grateful that I am still here making ends meet to raise my family. I am content with my career choice. I still enjoy the work and the people I work with everyday. I appreciate the flexibility. As long as I take care of my business, I can do other things such as spending time with my family, teaching snowboarding and skiing in the winter, and pursuing different creative works outside the law school. I only take on small projects that I want to do. Having that option is a privilege.

It’s hard to believe I will reach a decade and a half next year. Maybe I will make it to 2 decades and then retire. Who knows. For now, I am thankful that I still have a job while the government is still in a shutdown. I can’t ask for more than that. Thank you, Mason.