This book of poetry is heartbreaking yet beautiful. Sin is so good with words. Here are a few examples:

it’s hard to enjoy the sun
when there’s a storm
growing in your chest

you can’t nurture a rock
you don’t water a stone
no amount of love
will soften the heart
of a person
who doesn’t intend
to love you

when you’ve
been in pain
for years
“it gets better”
sounds like a lie

the more you ignore the wound
the wider it grows, the deeper it gets

We were supposed to be a team, but you treated me
like a competition.

Quietly noticing everything. Saying nothing is so
fucking painful.

people rarely see your wounds
and despite the pain, you feel
you spend most days forcing a smile

you’re toxic
I have to stop
breathing you in

what was once
sweet to taste
is now bitter fruit

forever is something we say
but it’s never what we do

tired of handing roses
to the person
who treats me like weeds

the way I choose a person
sometimes I think
I’m attracted to loneliness

the people who hurt you
are teaching you who to avoid

your relationship spoiled a long time ago. Why do you insist on keeping something past its expiration date?

Thùy Chi có giọng hát mong manh như sương khói. Chỉ cần nghe thoáng qua cũng bị lôi cuốn. Tôi ấn tượng ngay khi nghe cô hát “Đánh rơi bên hồ” (Việt Anh) và “Một thời đã xa” (nhạc Trường Hy và lời thơ Nguyễn Thanh Hà) được nhạc sĩ Đức Trí hòa âm theo dạng acoustic.

Tôi có nghe dự án Nỗi yêu bé dại của Đức Trí và Thùy Chi cũng khá lâu nhưng tuần trước mới có dịp nghe. Những bài pop ballad nghe nhẹ nhàng nhưng hơi bị buồn… ngủ. “Dáng lụa cung tơ” và “Dạt dào thương lắm” là hai ca khúc đỡ buồn (ngủ) nhất nhờ có một chút giai điệu dân gian. Đức Trí chơi đàn tỳ bà thật tuyệt diệu.

“Chắc vì em đã” là một bài hit dễ nghe và dễ gần: “Chắc là vì em đã chọn sai con đường / Nên suốt đêm qua em khóc nhiều lắm.” Đức Trí dùng dàng dây đệm bài này thật mát tai.

With open structures and gracious proportions, Euchre, a sans-serif family designed by Jackson Showalter-Cavanaugh, is designed for comfortable reading. Its balanced contrast makes Euchre a solid text face that supports many languages. For Vietnamese, its acute, grave, and hook above stack to the right of its circumflex. Take a look at Euchre set in Vietnamese.

Yesterday our master bathroom fan stopped working. I bought the exact same model (Broan-NuTone 688 Ceiling and Wall Ventilation, 50 CFM 4.0 Sones, White Bath Fan) to replace. Plugged the fan back in and still nothing was running.

The next step was replacing the housing. I thought the plug might have gone bad. Still nothing. The culprit was the switch. I should have checked the switch first. I replaced the switch and everything worked.

Fortunately the fan only cost $22 so I was not sweating it. The small job I could have done in 3 minutes turned into 3 hours. Lesson learned.

Since today was our last day at Mount Snow as well as our final day for the season, I caught the shuttle at 7:50 am to get to the first chairlift of the day. Unfortunately, the wind was too strong, they didn’t turn on the lift to the top as well as the lift at the back side.

There was only one lift opened and it only could take us to the blue and green trails. Since it was my last day and my legs were exhausted, I decided to take it easy on my snowboard. After my first run the blue trail, my legs were already burned from trying to carve. My heel side was fine, but my toe side couldn’t dig into the snow. I decided to change my bindings from -15 degrees (back) +15 degrees (front) to +15/+15 degrees. Just that alone changed the carving game. I was so happy. I ended up carving the entire day. I need to pick up these skills again next season.

I am sad to say goodbye to this season. My Epic counted 39 days on the slopes. I counted 43 days. I knew some days weren’t counted because they didn’t scan my card. My counts are based my journal entries on this blog. I wrote about each day to keep a record.

Without a doubt, this season had been great for us. A special shout-out to my wife for putting up with me throughout the season. I wanted to hit the slopes any chance I had. Skiing and snowboarding were a form of therapy for me. When I was on the trails, I left all of my stress and worries behind.

We diverted to Okemo today for a change. Okemo was an hour away from Mount Snow. The conditions at Okemo were slushy. I took my five-year-old son to the top. When we went back, I took him on the black instead of the green trail. He skied surprisingly well. He didn’t fall at all.

In the afternoon, I hit all the black trails on my own. I struggled on the moguls a bit. I did four runs and the back lift closed. The day seemed so short. I only did a few carvings on skis.

Tomorrow will be our last day. A week had gone by so fast. I will have to say goodbye to the season after tomorrow.

Album đôi của Đức Tuấn thu âm 16 ca khúc của Phú Quang đã phát hành vào cuối năm của 2018 mà giờ này tôi mới phát hiện. Đức Tuấn rất chịu đầu tư vào phần nhạc nên những sản phẩm của anh rất đáng giá. Từ “Nỗi nhớ mùa đông” đến “Hà Nội ngày trở về”, Đức Tuấn hát những ca tư sâu lắng với tất cả tâm hồn. Chất giọng của anh đẹp và miệt mài. Tuy album đã được thu âm hơn 6 năm mà nghe vẫn tươi sáng.

It was lightly rain all day. I switched to snowboarding and learned to carve. My favorite trail was Fallen Timber. It’s a mellowed black trail, not too steep and not too bumpy. I started to get into the carving groove, but my feet were too tired to bend and flex.

My wife and I went on a skiing date. We hit the green trails. She’s started to parallel on her skis. I am so happy seeing her making progress. I hope she enjoyed skiing.

We’re now resting and we’ll continue tomorrow. We only have two more days left to go. Damn, time flew by fast.

It rained all day. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop us. The conditions were slushy, but skiable. I had to use my legs more. After the first run trying to keep up with the kids on the long green trail, my legs were burning.

I am not sure if I am getting old or I just needed some liquors to kick in. I had a can of beer for lunch and I was recharged. My wife and I had a bit of a skiing date on the green trail then I headed to the back side. After 2 black runs, they closed down the trails. The ski patrol told me, “Time to go home.”

I took the long green back to the base. I took my time to carve and it felt great to see the train tracks I left behind. Even it was raining, we had a great time.

Hồng Nhung ca nhạc Trịnh qua phần hòa phối khí theo giai điệu jazz thì còn chỗ nào phê bình được nữa. Giọng của cô như rượu vang. Càng ngày càng thêm độ sâu, chẳng hạn như cô hát “Vết lăn trầm” với chất blues nồng nàn. Với “Ru ta ngậm ngùi”, cô nâng giọng alto của minh lên khi hát những nốt cao nhưng vẫn giữ được nét êm dịu. Đặc biệt là ca khúc “Như cánh vạc bay”, cô được Clara Simonoviez hát lời Pháp rất dễ thương. Hồng Nhung cũng hát lời Pháp cho ca khúc “Bống bồng ơi”. Dĩ nhiên tôi không biết cách phát âm tiếng Pháp của cô ra sao. Nếu có phê bình thì chỉ phần đó thôi. Ngoài ra đây là một album có giá trị để thưởng thức và tôi sẽ nghe đi nghe lại nhiều lần trong tương lai.