Gods used to be things we prayed to, in exchange for favorable weather, relationship, or politics.

Now we are actively building one, the final one.

I just refreshed this site's look:
The 2 new symbols

1. The number in the 3 windows is the percentage of my life I have left. Read them together like this: 55.9843687%.
   1. How did I calculate it? Based on the average Vietnamese male's lifespan (by The Global Economy, 2022). Perhaps humanity can figure out immortality this decade, but I may also very well die of some other stupid cause. Best stick to the average.
2. To the right: every post now contains the first window of % of my life left when I wrote each post (red arrow)
3. At nine o'clock is the Vegvísir, an Icelandic symbol for navigation, representing my wish for how to spend my life well.
4. But how do you spend a life well? I agree with Benjamin Franklin's prayer O Powerful Goodness: to continually discover where my "truest interest" is, and have the courage to do it.
5. The design is somewhat inspired by the beautiful A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1

Why?

This creates an incredible effect of seeing how my life just ticks away (especially in Grid View!), and what kind of thought I had at the time.

Which incentivizes me to write more.

Bonus

Earlier this month, when a whole number went down 🥹:

I've been obsessed with the topic of time since forever. Unsolved.
From my 2014 Photography portfolio

Sign of people who peaked in high school: they keep talking about high school.

Now it's great to be reminded of the past from time to time, but you can recognize these people by the frequency of how much they keep referencing the past:

1. the relationship they had
2. how cool they were
3. who they knew
4. what they did...

and there are some people whose entire current group of friends is the one from high school they hung out with. And their identity is entirely based on whoever they were in high school.

As if the last time they ever felt happy, was back in high school (kinda sad, tbh)

My suggestion is to stay far away from these people.
They don't grow, and haven't for quite some time

Note: All opinions below are my own. I never wrote on entertainment topics before here, so it's worth it to tell you that.

Their acting in a few words:

Delicate, Punchy, Masterful

Here are my 5 stand out performances of season 1. Absolutely loaded

My tier list:

1. Patricia Arquette (8 o'clock): steals EVERY scene. Every delivery, voice or micro expression, is packed with intention and range. Perhaps the most skill on display in the whole show.
2. Tramell Tillman (11 o'clock): a delightful mix of being very friendly & unfriendly. Watching him is a constant joy. There is never confusion which trait is showing up when. Surgical performance.
3. Adam Scott (center): plays our main character, which carries the show's major emotional weight. And it's a success.
4. John Turturro (2 o'clock): his feelings are controlled like seeing a volcanic eruption being administered though all of his senses
5. Christopher Walken (5 o'clock): I don't think I see Walken much (may be some initial appearance 😆 unavoidable for such an actor with distinct facial feature), but he fully disappears into the role. It's the great casting of comedic actors into drama roles (credit to John Turturro), that help with the distinction.

Everything else contribute, as well:

• great styling choice, scene direction, character writing...
• which leads to each scene seems to deliver the most, with the least screen time needed.
• Feels like watching an ensemble of masters working on their new filmmaking textbook.

Most of the things I said above can be glanced at with the scene below.

It's very subtle, and happens during episode 1 (doesn't spoil anything).

If you still haven't watched the show, watch it. I recommend.

P/s: I've also watched season 2, but I think 1 is clearly superior.

I sat down with Hiếu and Sơn for episode 1 of their new podcast, Đàn ông Tập sự (Apprentice Men).

Three men, still in a life long training.

We talked about:

• In 2016. I spent ~3 months trying to commit suicide
• My late grandmother, in an LSD-induced vision. She said nothing, knew every failure I had, and hugged me anyway.
• Memento mori. I will die anyway, so life is a game with a deadline. The calm became my launch pad.
• My coats: success, studying abroad, my parents' pride, art. Shiny on the surface. All failed at once.
  • Some of these was mentioned in How a filmmaker ended up founding an edtech company
• Side quests before the main quest. When a coat stops fitting, try other coats.
• Respawn should be a default response for failure.
• The Wedding: How I decide who to marry 😆
  • Have a peek at here my wedding here

The episode is in Vietnamese, make sure you turn on English caption.

And if some of these topic resonates with you, I do offer a personal coaching service

The many "you"s, in you

Here's a service I offer.

You lie in one spot, not wanting to do anything. No dreams, no ambition. Disaster or not, you don't give a damn about doing anything. You know you're in a pit. You know you're going to die soon, you know it.

If you want out of this state and to walk straight at a goal (graduating, finishing a dream, facing a fear), reach out to me 1:1.

Finish the first session and don't like it? I'll refund you.

Questions

How are you credible for this?

I was in exactly this state, then climbed out within a year. Over the next three, I hit some unusual milestones in my career.

• Check: How a filmmaker ended up founding an edtech company

What does it cost?

~$4000 for 10 sessions.

Why do this now? Why not five years ago?

I only now have enough teaching experience for it. Knowing something is one thing; passing it on is a different skill. I'm a lot more grounded than I was five years ago.

Want in? Email me and we'll work something out.

One of my favorite shot ever, with random park goers encountering us
We got married on Nov 22nd (2025), half a year after my proposal 🥹

Lookbook

Many couples start planning their wedding at the end of this year. For you, Giang and I released our full lookbook:

• Wedding: https://giang.huy.today/wedding/
• Pre-Wedding Album: https://giang.huy.today/pre-wedding/

Check out our documentary:

A note on the website:
The site began as our online wedding invitation. I think you should definitely have one 😆.
It now carries the content after the wedding too.

Reminder:

No lookbook and no website can look good if your relationship does not.
Affection shines through in every frame.

Good luck!

Some snippets from the albums

A "Museum of Friendship", where each guest has a photo & history with us
A special seat for the memory of Giang's father, who passed away when she was 12
I and Giang during the banquet
Giang's mother sang to her, and Giang burst to tears
Pre-wedding: Traditional Việt Phục clothing (Áo Nhật Bình / Áo Tấc - Nguyễn dynasty)

Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of me giving up reading paper books for e-books, and I never looked back.

A friendly reminder from Amazon. 15 years 🤯

For me, people who still use physical books these days

fall into one of two categories:

1. Entertainment / Consumption

1. They see the paper book as part of the overall experience: consuming it more like an art product, a piece of UX, or entertainment. The feel of the paper, the smell, the weight... all enhance the experience.
2. But compared to humanity's vast library, most works don't fall into this category. And the UX issue can always be improved.
3. There are many types of people in this group:
   1. from artists
   2. to Instagram influencers trying to look intellectual
   3. to aristocrat wannabes
   4. book snobs
   5. or even preppers getting ready for the apocalypse when there's no electricity to charge an e-reader (okay, that last one is a valid case; I do collect a few paper books for that reason...).

2. Lack of Experience

1. These are the people who stand to benefit the most from e-books (thin and light, search, AI, sync, disposability, dictionary, quick wiki/web search...) but are completely unaware, misunderstand, or are technologically outdated.
2. It’s the classic problem of the unknown unknown. Frankly, I pity these people.
3. As for the argument that reading books isn't necessary anymore, that you can get knowledge from TikTok, blogs, audiobooks, or podcasts, I'll save that for another post, where I'll discuss what is truly unique about books in general.

My beautiful Kindle Paperwhite 5 Signature Edition 😍😍

So, what is the most effective way to read these days?

For me:

1. Get an e-ink reader (Kindle, Kobo, Boox...). Even an old one is fine; you can find them for cheap starting at around $20 USD 😆. I personally use the Kindle Paperwhite 5 Signature Edition (image above). At one point I tried reading on an iPad for a year, didn't work at all (an intense level of distraction; too heavy, too large).
2. Where to find books: Classic literature (which is still great and not outdated) is mostly free or super cheap on the stores available in the e-readers. Plus, I both buy and sideload the external epub files I need (how you acquire them is your business 🤫).
3. I read multiple books simultaneously. Usually, one book takes up 80% of my reading time, and the others take up the remaining 20%. I typically pair fiction and non-fiction.
4. Every time I start a new book, I start a dedicated note in my Knowledge Vault (Obsidian). I put the highlights from the book directly into this note and write my own commentary right there. At the same time, I link these highlights with other related notes. I absolutely avoid automating highlight management (e.g., Readwise). Why I do this, I'll probably write about in another extensive post, but it's similar to how I want to encourage gym-like mind training.
5. Depending on the complexity of the book, I'll read during different time slots. But these are frequently used:
   1. In bed before sleep
   2. While waiting in line for X (airport, bus)
   3. While the AI is running a task
   4. Grocery shopping with my wife, where my only job is pushing the cart, so I push and read
   5. Or, if a book is too difficult, I'll schedule separate time slots just to consume it...
6. Currently reading: Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah. My favorite recent book: Knowledge by Jennifer Nagel (on epistemology).

I read entirely by choice, with no one forcing me, but if anyone needs a support group for reading, leave a comment. Just a warning: if you read paper books, or scroll TikTok, I won't help you though 😆.

Original post in Vietnamese

Google Gemini 2.5 Flash provided help with the English translation.

If you're looking to understand Western culture for any reason: I highly recommend you read the Hebrew Bible.

Again: I'm not religious

Terrazza del Duomo, Milan, Italy

Potential benefits:

1. The most immediate one is that you will instantly connect with the massive Jewish and Christian community in the West. You'll quickly grasp their allusions, idioms, and proverbs. It's like knowing the local dialect in Vietnam: you'll immediately see how much locals appreciate you.
2. The next benefit: you'll realize how the average Western mindset is influenced. This can increase your empathy, which is crucial for smooth dialogue and negotiation.
3. Another benefit: it raises your literary appreciation to a new level. The West has left behind a massive literary heritage. Whether it's fiction or non-fiction self-help books, recognizing the shape of the Bible can absolutely help you spot the essence, or the creative limitations, of a work (I bet a bazillion works rely on the Bible already, it's so cliché == ).
4. And countless other benefits (like realizing your friend "David," whose name is as common as dirt, was once a king. It feels like reading the lore after watching a movie or playing a game. Plus: you gain a deeper understanding of current world conflicts).

So, if you want to start reading, what do you need to know?

Here is my crude summary, using everyday language for complete newbies:

1. All three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (and many more), share a common root: the Abrahamic religions.
2. The Hebrew Bible talks about this shared origin (and is still used by Jewish people today).
3. Christianity (worshipping Jesus) reuses the Hebrew Bible and calls it the Old Testament. So, with the post I wrote above, I'm mostly referring to the Old Testament. It's great if you read the New Testament too, but the Jewish faith doesn't use it.
4. The Quran of the Islamic faith also touches upon details from the Hebrew Bible. I find reading the Quran after the Hebrew Bible much more interesting. Having read One Thousand and One Nights, which mentioned the Quran frequently, added quite a lot to the excitement.

In short, if you care about Western culture, go give the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) a try. 😆

Original post in Vietnamese

Google Gemini 2.5 Flash provided help with the English translation.