Dear Đán,

Congratulations on the good grades for the second quarter. I am very proud of your accomplishment. You have proven that you can do anything to keep your PC. I still worry deeply that you have grown too attached to your machine.

As a father, I am responsible for your well-being. I want to improve your life, not ruin it. I am lost for words. I can’t tell what is on your mind anymore. I don’t know how we get to this point. I am struggled to understand what is going on.

If helping you is hurting you than I am failing miserable as your father. Please tell me what I can do for you. If you want me to back off and leave you to your own devices, then just let me know. I need you to help me to help you make your life better.

You are a talented kid. I would love to have your rollerblading and snowboarding skills. It’s so hard for me to watch you not taking up interests in these sports, but I can no longer make you. It’s even more heartbreaking for me to see you glue to your PC, but I can no longer do anything about it. You have made up your mind.

You don’t need to stress out anymore. No more bans. No more restrictions. No more expectations. I trust you to make the right decision for your life. I’m not mad you. I have nothing but love for you. Do your thing, boy.

Love,
Dad

Went to Liberty this morning for the last time before the warm weather and rain wash away all the snow. The next 10 days or so will determine if the resorts in Pennsylvania will stay open.

I snowboarded first then switched to ski. Had about a dozen of runs and left at noon. The warm temperatures started to turn the snow slushy.

I am still hoping for the March miracles. We’ll see!

Dear Xuân,

Congratulations on acing the Pueblo test. When you studied hard, the result showed. Keep up the great work. I learned about the Pueblo people as well from studying with you. If you need help with school work, I am here for you.

I am glad that we had finally getting into our reading routine. I noticed the improvement in your reading with just 10 minutes a day. You will discover so many wonderful stories through reading. So please keep on reading.

I enjoyed your special Spanish performance on “Pin Pon.” Your whole class did a wonderful job. I loved the part where you interacted with your classmate. I would love to hear you sing more Spanish songs.

I know you wanted to ski with your cousin Hân and today we made it happened. We had a great time skiing and snowboarding at Roundtop. You are a skillful skier. Keep up the good work!

Love,
Dad

We went to Roundtop for the first time this season. It’s simply the furthest from our house. I was a bit disappointed that Gunbarrel was closed. Ramrod was the only double black diamond slope opened. Nevertheless, the conditions were surprisingly good. I had fun skiing and snowboarding with my family. Xuân finally got to ski with his cousin Hân. We spent 6 hours there. Can’t ask for more on a Sunday. It seems like the season is ending soon. Mother Nature is not giving us any cold days or snow. I am trying to get as much mileage as I can with my Epic pass.

I have been obsessed with carving with skiing and snowboarding. I spent time on the slopes learning instead of enjoying myself.

Today, I just told myself, “Fuck it. Just have fun.” I went to Liberty and kicked off with snowboarding. Instead of trying to carve, I applied Malcolm Moore’s “Skidding to Carving” technique. I enjoyed riding it much more.

When I switched to skiing, I used the technique that I just learned to keep both my feet in parallel. I tried to roll my knees a bit, but I was not worrying about carving. I sped up a bit more.

In digital design, we often discussed about user experience, but we hardly talked about user safety. In her excellent book, Eva PenzeyMoog provided real-world examples of well-intended experience can be used to harm others. It is our responsibilities as designers and developers to create digital products that put our users’ safety first. We have no excuse not to do it because PenzeyMoog shows us how.

I was heading to Whitetail and planning on continuing to work on my carving skills on skis, but I decided to take a lesson instead. I signed up for the two-hour group lesson, which cost $88. I couldn’t effort the two-hour private lesson, which would have cost $355.

Before siging up, I made sure they had advanced group lesson available. I didn’t want to be placed in beginner or intermediate level. The lesson coordinator was going to put in a group lesson with intermediate students who were still learning to turn, but I specifically requested carving lesson. They assigned me to an instructor.

She asked me to show her my turns. I tried to carve, but my turns weren’t perfect. I had to fix my inside foot in order to keep my skis paralleled. She made me work on coordinating my feet. The whole lesson was for me to be patience when I initiated my turns. I had to let both skis turn together and not just my outside ski.

Being patience was fine on the green slopes, but a bit nerve-wrecking on the blue slopes as I picked up my speed. She continued to insist that I must be patience and let my skis make the turns. It worked. I could feel my feet making the turns without having to fix my inside foot.

We went on the black trail then the double black slopes. I trusted my skis to do the work for me. Two hours zipped by so fast. We ended the lesson with her giving me some tips on carving after I perfected my parallel turns.

She complimented me on my skiing and encouraged me to become a ski instructor. I would get free training, free Epic pass, and to make money. It sounded great and I would give it some thought.

Before we part way, I handed her a $50 bill. I got a private lesson for not even half a price. I might try this again with a snowboarding lesson.

The law school will be offering a summer program on “National Security & Separation of Powers” taught by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch in Porto, Portugal.

Let’s this one sink in. A U.S. Supreme Court Justice will be teaching a course on national security and separation of powers in a foreign country. For two weeks, the cost for each student is $1,724 (in-state), $2,856 (out-of-state), or $3,700 (non-tuition).

It sounds more like a luxury vacation in Portugal for the Justice and his family paid for by the students and the law school.

When it comes to sex, I am straight. When it comes to skiing and snowboarding, I swing both ways.

Huge thanks to Huge for sending me a copy of Huge Moves, “an editorially independent magazine focused on the design and technology trends shaping the future of business.” I will spend some time reading it.