Archive (Page 14) • Hit and Miss • Buttondown

Hit and Miss #178: Coding by any other name

January 31, 2021

Hello! It’s a wonderfully sunny day here—sunshine, cheer for the heart and soul. I recently learned that you can only open 500 tabs in Safari on iOS. I know,...

Hit and Miss #177: Gettin’ sauced

January 24, 2021

Goooood day! I’m bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning—thanks no doubt to the glorious sunshine and crisp, cold air. I hope you’re similarly energized,...

Hit and Miss #176: Working (again)

January 17, 2021

When I first started at the Canadian Digital Service (in May 2018!!), I (unintentionally) wrote a mini-series on working. #35: Working #37: Working...

Hit and Miss #175: This week in anti-democracy…

January 10, 2021

A sunny walk, Motown (from Ikechúkwú Onyewuenyi’s “chez baldwin” playlist), and quiet kitchen puttering—I’m settling into winter routines. But this week was...

Hit and Miss #174: Zoom zoom

January 3, 2021

Hellooooo! I hope you’re well. The snow on the trees feels properly like winter and the holiday season—hoorah! This week, I’ve watched opera (it was...

Hit and Miss #173: Revisiting

December 27, 2020

I’m cozied up in bed, looking out on snow-covered trees, a few birds hopping form branch to branch, doing the quiet work of staying alive on this bright,...

Hit and Miss #172: Five books for the year

December 20, 2020

I have few traditions in my life. One, though, has emerged from this newsletter: a pre-Christmas roundup of significant books from my year’s reading. (For...

Hit and Miss #171: Ugh, algorithms

December 13, 2020

We’re living in one of the least interesting timelines, as far as consumer algorithms go. Allow me to weave a few threads together… 1. Revealed preference...

Hit and Miss #170: PolySeSouvient

December 6, 2020

Today’s newsletter is heavier, discussing violence against women. All good if you’re not in the headspace for it. Today is the anniversary of the École...

Hit and Miss #169: Waiting

November 29, 2020

Whew, here we are. The end of November. I hope you’re keeping well. C’est busy, hereabouts. I muddle through by grasping at little routines: the morning...

Hit and Miss #168: Adventuring

November 22, 2020

Hello! I’m off on an adventure this morning, to buy valve oil from a music store in suburban Ottawa. Ah, the joys of living without a car. But I’m excited to...

Hit and Miss #167: For the love of knowledge

November 15, 2020

Shortly after I sent it, the title of last week’s newsletter took on new significance. I wrote “Trivial links” to bring together some different pieces that’d...

Hit and Miss #166: Trivial links

November 8, 2020

Morning! If your week went anything like mine did, there was a lot of refreshing Twitter, scrolling, doing something else, refreshing Twitter, scrolling, etc...

Hit and Miss #165: Blowing hot air

November 1, 2020

A windy Sunday to you! I love intense winds: walking in them, buffeted about, breath catching unexpectedly—what a thrill! I’ll be brief today, as I have some...

Hit and Miss #164: Argh

October 25, 2020

It’s been a heavy week, and the first section of today’s newsletter reflects that—if that’s not for you this week, that’s totally cool. Please skip ahead to...

Hit and Miss #163: On Mi’kmaw waters

October 18, 2020

Sometimes Twitter* seems to turn its attention to one issue. The feed fills with folks discussing something unfolding in real time. These past few days have...

Hit and Miss #162: A sense of perspective

October 11, 2020

Hi! It’s been a weekend full of long walks and calls with family and friends—wonderfully so. I spent the morning rambling among trees, yellow, orange, and...

Hit and Miss #161: Leafing through

October 4, 2020

The last days of September and first few of October are always special ones, but this week especially so. It was filled with anniversaries, birthdays, time...

Hit and Miss #160: Books at hand

September 27, 2020

As stores gradually reopened over the summer, I realized it’d been several months since I’d bought a book. This was probably a good thing—growing the stacks...

Hit and Miss #159: COVID crime

September 20, 2020

A fine Sunday to you! Earlier this week, Ontario announced a new set of “compliance mechanisms” to try to reduce community spread of COVID-19. Billed as “the...