A concise book providing tips for landing a job. It’s a good beginner guide. It’s a quick flip-through book, which is what the author intended. I wish Foss delves deeper into specific situations. Maybe I am just too old to deal with office politics and co-worker conflicts.

for my husband, twenty-one years my senior

There are so many times
I could have killed you.

After twenty-eight years of marriage—
the only contact sport I’ve ever stuck wit—

I found myself

crying this morning,
after a trip outside,
singing Happy Birthday

three times through,

just to be sure,

scrubbing despite
the sting of my split skin

as I’ve loved you through
even the rub
of the raw years.

I held my hands steady
in the water’s reassuring scald,

trying and trying
to save you.

Francesca Bell

I voted yesterday. I didn’t even know any of the candidates. I just filled in the names with a D next to them. If there were no D next to their names, I relied on the sample ballot handed out by the Democrats. I don’t care for the Democrats. I just can’t stand the Republicans. I was also glad that the Democrat incumbent beat the Vietnamese-American MAGA magnet in District 9. He was such a joke. Flipping the House of Delegates is a huge blow to Youngkin’s right-wing agenda and his limits on access to abortion.

I required, finally, a boy with twelve years
of piano lessons singing in his hands,
and the girlfriend before me who taught him
to play scales up and down her body.
He reached casually between my legs,
without needing to look,

to place one practiced finger on my clitoris
and press as if freeing a clear note from his piano.
My body did the rest, bucking against him,
then arching with an involuntary, jubilant moan.
I lay after, amazed and chagrined to think of pleasure,
a spring coiled all that time in my body.

Francesca Bell

I just learned about a CSS feature that would prevent orphans on text blocks. Of course, I applied it to this blog:

.content {text-wrap: pretty;}

This will make my body text less lonely (no orphans left behind). Thanks to Robin Rendle and Stephanie Stimac for the tip.

While reading Trúng Số Độc Đắc (Winning the Lottery), a classic novel by the great late Vũ Trọng Phụng, I encountered so many use of Vietnamese proverbs. One of my favorites is “Con giun xéo mãi cũng quằn” (Even a worm will turn). I collected them for my literary leisure and created a sample page. Typeset in Loes, designed by Dương Trần.

Once, I was a whole person.
I agreed to be transformed,
through trauma, into pieces.
I laid myself cheerfully down
before the apocalypse.
After, the doctor placed the baby
among my body’s wreckage.
I learned to call this love.

Francesca Bell

Raymond Leone writes for Psychology Today:

Obviously, it’s not that simple. And just like the nature vs. nurture debate, it’s really some combination of both. I’m certain that Alexander has spent hours and years practicing and perfecting the “craft” of his instrument. And I don’t think Yo-Yo Ma became who he is just because he practiced more than everyone else. But creating in the moment is certainly different than, say, playing Bach note for note, as written. There is no room for error in playing the Bach cello suites. Is there more room for error in jazz? Miles Davis famously once said, “If I play a wrong note, I’ll just play it again and then it’s not wrong anymore.” Well, I don’t think you can do that when performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor.

What I think is that you need both. The creativity fuels the craft. And the craft is needed to express the creativity at a high level. A professional level. There is always some of both involved. And ultimately, it’s those who are most creative and most dedicated to the craft that are the most successful.

After reading my latest rant on digital addiction, Adrik Ivanov writes:

Greetings,

I have seen your parenting column on your blog and I have some suggestions. I think that you should be concerned that your children are addicted. This will be the first generation to be born with digital devices constantly around them. They will be bombarded with mass amounts of hyper palatable videos from TikTok and such. The internet is currently designed to be as addicting as possible and will change your children.

I’m not trying to be alarmist, but this technology is going to fundamentally change the fabric of our society. It’s concerning, and no you are not alone in your concerns. Why do you think billionaires are trying to limit their child’s screen time? It’s because they know that they have created a monster.

For your kids, I think you should intervene. Be gentle but firm, enforce screen time and such measures. If they cry, do not waver in your conviction. If they get bullied for not interacting with the latest TikTok trend of the day, support them. I know it’s hard, but by letting your children do whatever they want, you could expose them to the Pandora’s Box of the algorithm. It will get worse, much worse.

I hope this doesn’t sound too conspiratorial or “i-know-what’s-best-for-your-kid” karen type. I’m worried about the future. My cousin has always glued herself to her phone, and I’m not really better.

From an emailer in Vietnam

Adrik Ivanov

My life sucks, but my wife won’t,
he said, rolling onto his back
on my massage table.

He laughed, a painful choke,
as his penis slowly rose,
quiet question tenting
the flannel sheet.

I think he wanted—
not to be blown,
but played,

trapped song
coaxed from him
by careful embouchure
and another’s breath.

I heard the faint thrum
of his loneliness
all the way home.

Francesca Bell