Casey Cep profiles Jake Reiss who is a successful book seller. Cep writes in the New Yorker:

Outside, the Alabama Booksmith is so unassuming it’s as if Reiss had forgotten that he was running a retail business: a two-story, nearly windowless structure, surrounded by office parks and parking lots, on a dead-end street in a suburb of Birmingham. Inside, the vibe is half 1970, half 1870, with wood panelling, rattan chairs, and a drop-tile ceiling—but also patterned tablecloths, cozy curtains, a functioning fireplace, and an oversized hourglass. As for the books, they sit on uncrowded shelves along the outer walls, almost all facing out so that customers can, indeed, judge them by their covers. Collectively, they are what make Reiss’s store the only one of its kind in this country: the books are all hardcovers, virtually all first printings, all signed, and, except for a handful set aside on a small shelf, all for sale at the regular retail price. “Our books don’t cost more,” Reiss likes to say, “but they are worth more.”

It’s such a fantastic business idea I wished I had came with it.

After receiving both emails from the Cub leaders and the Troop leaders, I sent the following emails.

To the Troops:

Hi Troop Leaders,

Thanks for the update. Why are we cancelling the LD Tết, but not the regular meeting? As a parent of Cub, Troop, and Crew, I find it odd that LDHV will not celebrate Tết together.

Regards,
Donny Truong

To the Cubs:

Hi các trưởng,

Hope you are enjoying the snow.

As a parent of Cub, Troop, and Crew, I find the division to be puzzling, if not troubling. While my younger kids celebrate Tết, my other kids won’t and we will be in the same building.

In the red note said: “Pack would love for you to join but keep in mind your Troop or Crew kids will NOT be able to eat until AFTER ‘official’ Scout hours ~ 8:30pm.”

What if my kids come as family members and not as Troop or Crew? The eating part doesn’t matter. I just don’t want my family to be separated when we celebrate Tết. It is supposed to be the time to be together.

I understand if it can’t be changed. There’s no need to make an exception for us. It’s my fault for having too many kids (LOL!).

Regards,
Donny Truong

PS, I emailed the Troop leaders about this matter as well.

I did not get any response from any leader. Our family ended up staying home. Afterward, one of the Cub leaders sent out an apology and I replied:

Hi Trưởng H,

I understand your intention and support your decision to hold our annual Liên Đoàn New Year Party. I am 100% with you on celebrating Tết together as a family; therefore, I was taken aback when I received both emails from the Cubs and the Troops.

As parents whose kids are in Cubs, Troops, and Crews, we found ourselves in an awkward position—though our family was not alone. I responded to both emails and asked for clarifications. To my disappointment, I did not receive any response from the leadership.

As parents, we could have made the decision to pull our older kids out of the Troops and the Crews to join the Cubs in celebrating Tết together, but we wanted to hear the official words. So when we didn’t hear anything from the leaders, we had to sit out.

Trưởng H, I appreciate that you are taking one for the team, but it was not your fault alone. Leaders need to communicate better and with more transparency with the parents and the scouts. For exemple, an email from the Troops can’t simply say “Feb 13: Lien Doan Tết Celebration – Cancelled (Regular meeting instead)” without any explanation.

Trưởng H, don’t beat yourself up. Your heart was definitely in the right place. If we knew that you voted to hold the party and to keep our Vietnamese traditions, we would have come to support your effort.

Thank you for everything that you do for LDHV. Throughout this experience, you have demonstrated to be a true leader who isn’t afraid to apologize.

Wishing you, your family, and the entire LDHV ride high in the Year of the Horse!

Regards,
Donny Truong

Uyên Đồng writes:

Uyên xin gửi lời chào anh Donny,

My name is Uyên Đồng, and I’m writing to you with deep respect for your work and your long-standing contribution to Vietnamese typography.

Your research and writing, especially Vietnamese Typography and “Diacritical Details,” have accompanied me quietly but persistently throughout my journey as a designer and educator. What I admire most is not only the depth of your typographic knowledge, but the care, clarity, and responsibility with which you approach Vietnamese diacritics as both a linguistic and cultural system. Your work set a foundation many of us continue to stand on.

She went on:

Your work made me realize how essential it is for Vietnamese typography research to continue evolving, not only through books, but also through digital forms that allow knowledge to be shared, revisited, and expanded over time.

I am so grateful for her words of encouragement. I will contribute what I can to continue elevating Vietnamese typography.

Thảo and Duy had written about their thought process behind the branding:

With the intention to build a brand rooted in Vietnamese culture, we set out to have the cultural thread seamlessly woven into Vân Vân’s identity.

For typesetting, they shared:

Typography for our website and packaging was another crucial consideration. We often encountered websites that failed to support Vietnamese diacritics leading to disruptions in our native language. It was important for Vân Vân to have legible and readable Vietnamese texts on all digital and print materials. We turned to Donny Trương’s thesis on Vietnamese typography as a trusted resource.

Thanks Thảo and Duy for trusting my site as a resource on Vietnamese typography. Best of luck with your business.

Tình cờ đọc được bài viết về Vietnamese Typography bên Threads nên copy lại để dành. Cô Quỳnh viết:

Mình tin là ai giữa dòng đời tấp nập này cũng đã lỡ làm chuyện tà đạo là đi đơm dấu cho 1 font không có tiếng Việt, vậy thì tất cả mọi người lại càng phải đọc cái này: vietnamesetypography.com

Vietnamese Typography là luận án thạc sĩ của anh Donny Trương, hướng dẫn căn bản và dễ hiểu nhất và type anatomy của tiếng Việt.

“Việt hoá” hay thiết kế font tiếng Việt thật ra rất khó và xí lắc léo vì tiếng xứ mình có quá trời tầng – 3 dòng baseline, acensder, decensder không chiều nổi.

Dù không chuyên về typography nhưng mình hiểu nôm na là chữ cái tiếng Việt cần rất nhiều dòng phụ: guide cho dấu của chữ cái và guide cho dấu thanh. Dấu của chữ cái thì lại có cái dính với chữ (ư, ơ), có cái tách rời (ă, â, ô,…). Dấu thanh thì nằm trên, nằm dưới. Combo huỷ diệt hẳn là Nguyễn, Thường, Ngớt,…

Cho nên làm dấu tiếng Việt khó xỉu, không phải muốn đơm dấu ở đâu thì đơm đâu ạ (như bộ font Helvetica Neue lỗi tè lè quất nguyên dấu phẩy làm dấu ơ mà mọi người dùng như đúng rồi.)

Có rất nhiều thứ mình thích và mê mẩn và phải vỗ đùi đen đét khi không nghĩ ra cách tiếp cận của ảnh (nếu bạn là designer thì sẽ hiểu cảm giác này của toy). Như cách ảnh miêu tả dấu câu tiếng Việt cho người không biết tiếng Việt nè, kèm những lưu ý về accessibility và thẩm mỹ.

Hay cách ảnh túm gọn lịch sử chữ cái Việt Nam. Hay là đọc tiếng Anh khiến mọi thứ dễ hiểu hơn ta?

Và dĩ nhiên không thiếu những khổ đau trăn trở khi một type designer nhận con job làm typeface tiếng Việt. Ngả mũ trước anh Donny!!

Bữa trước tình cờ gặp bạn nào làm A/B testing hai vị trí đặt dấu huyền/sắc trên các chữ cái có mũ. Đây là nhận định cho các vị trí bao gồm vị trí on top dấu mũ lun.

Cảm ơn Cô Quỳnh

Thật vui và cảm động khi đọc bài viết của cháu Nguyễn Nhựt Trường với tựa đề, “Chú Donny có một trang web xịn!”

Lúc tung ra phiên bản thứ hai của luận án Vietnamese Typography, tôi mới thêm vào phần mẫu (samples) để những nhà thiết kế chữ có thể thấy chữ Việt được sắp xếp ra sao.

Lúc đầu tôi chỉ thiết kế chừng vài mẫu thôi nhưng càng lúc tôi càng cảm hứng làm thêm nhiều trang khác nhau. Như lời cháu viết, tôi không chỉ muốn “tôn vinh” chữ Việt mà còn muốn tôn vinh văn hóa và văn học Việt.

Tôi không nghĩ nhiều người xem nên chỉ âm thầm thiết kế để thỏa mãn chính mình. Khi nhận được tin nhắn động viên của Nhựt Trường, tôi cảm nhận được rằng cháu hiểu được mục đích của tôi từ bấy lâu nay. Tôi cảm ơn cháu.

Thank you for your requests and pre-orders on our HaH! Chili Sauce. While waiting for our HaH! Chilimaster to make a new batch, we invite you to check out our HaH! updated website. We added a photo gallery to the site. We also created a fun YouTube playlist of Donny Trương (that’s me) enjoying his food with HaH! Chili Sauce.

I don’t want to buy a new car, but our 2011 Toyota Sienna is dying. I almost got stranded twice. The car was completely shut off with no power at all when I turned off the ignition. I thought the battery was the cause, but then it rebooted itself after a while. Everything was reset including the clock.

As the winter is approaching, I don’t want to put my family at risk. In addition, we’ll need to have an all-wheel-drive vehicle to handle the snow when we go skiing. We also need a roof rack and trailer hitch to carry our gears and things. My wife narrowed down to the 2026 Sienna Woodland Edition.

I am in the market to look for that specific minivan. If you know of any good deals, especially in Virginia, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.

It’s hard to believe that my final thesis is 10 years old today. To celebrate this special occasion, I wrote about “A Decade of Vietnamese Typography.”

I tuned up a young man’s snowboard for $50. Yesterday he came to pick it up and tipped me $10. I didn’t expected it. As far as I could remember, it could be the first tip I ever received in my life. It made me even more appreciative of his generosity.

I taught snowboarding last season and I received no tip at all. I was not complaining though. I was doing it for fun and, of course, for the free passes. Although it is not required, you should tip the instructors if you take skiing or snowboarding lessons and if they had done an excellent job. We get paid very little.

On the other hand, these group and private lessons aren’t cheap either; therefore, don’t worry about tipping if you can’t. We do our job regardless to help you enjoy an experience of a lifetime.