Hit and Miss #273: Transcripting

November 27, 2022

Hello! I spent much of the weekend working on a civic tech project, so I haven’t got much juice left to write in-depth here. The project is a web version of...

Hit and Miss #272: Extremely online

November 20, 2022

For the Extremely Online™, this last week has been a continued horror show. It’s renewed and revitalized my impulse to have whatever I write (post, photo,...

Hit and Miss #271: Promises to self

November 13, 2022

I’ve been lacking the motivation to go outside the last few weeks—little surprise, as the seasons change and our bodies only gradually adapt. And as I write...

Hit and Miss #270: Constitutional unconstitutionalism

November 6, 2022

I’m pretty tired, so I won’t dive into the big thing of the week—constitutional unconstitutionalism is what I’ve been calling it, and yes, sure, in a formal...

Hit and Miss #269: Crises abound

October 30, 2022

Hello! Had one of those “sitting an exam you haven’t studied for” dreams last night, except it was very much a history student version of it: I dreamt that...

Hit and Miss #268: Convo dump

October 23, 2022

What a lovely weekend it’s been. Plenty of time outside, alone and with friends, biking and walking and eating and enjoying the scenery. But it’s also tired...

Hit and Miss #267: Serious links™ on work

October 16, 2022

Hello there! It’s been a few weeks of glorious fall colours. T and I have been making a point of getting out, to bask in some of this precious season while...

Hit and Miss #266: Public delivery

October 9, 2022

I often put off shopping (and the research it often requires) until I can do so in one burst, which I did recently. I recently had something like four or...

Hit and Miss #265: Calls continue

October 2, 2022

Hello! It’s October, delightfully, and we’ve resolved to get out regularly to enjoy the changing leaves. So far, on a good track in that direction. Friday...

Hit and Miss #264: Work, birds, tech, munipoli

September 25, 2022

Hello! Meant to get this out earlier today, but the weekend took a series of unexpected turns. All’s good now—on with the show! I’ve been thinking about...

Hit and Miss #263: Technicalities

September 18, 2022

Hello! It’s been a great week, full of catch-ups and chats and down-time and up-time. With more to come, today and tomorrow! Some links—most of which have...

Hit and Miss #262: Five years!? A thank you

September 11, 2022

Hello there! It’s been quite a week, hasn’t it? We came back from a great weekend away, with plenty of ice cream and friendship time, only to confront long...

Hit and Miss #261: Holding pattern

September 4, 2022

Hello! Writing you Friday, but if all goes well you’ll get this sometime Sunday. We’re away for the weekend with friends and I’m trying my best to...

Hit and Miss #260: Learning in crisis

August 28, 2022

They’re filming yet another Christmas movie in the courtyard below, which means August is nearly done. Strange to say it, but it increasingly feels like fall...

Hit and Miss #259: Just the links

August 21, 2022

Hello! It’s been a bit of an odd week—lots of good, some tricky, but on the whole doing fine, if fairly tired. There’ll be some more such times ahead, but we...

Hit and Miss #258: A shout to the wind

August 14, 2022

Good morning! I’ve been getting up around 5:30 when T has day shifts, both out of solidarity and because, while I don’t like getting out of bed early, I...

Hit and Miss #257: Hot brain links

August 7, 2022

Hello! Spent a few hours on the shore of Lake Ontario today, enjoying fish and chips with my dad and Oma. It was lovely—but hot. My brain is more fried than...

Hit and Miss #256: Malleable words

July 31, 2022

Arthur’s on the couch beside me, dreaming about whatever cats dream about; my family are arrayed through various rooms of the apartment; and T’s sleeping off...

Hit and Miss #255: Welcome to the party, pal

July 24, 2022

When new leaves grow on one of my houseplants, I sometimes greet them with, “Welcome to the party, pal.” Hello! Happy Sunday to you. (That opening quote is…...

Hit and Miss #254: Slow links

July 17, 2022

Hello! Bit of a slower day here—mostly laying low as this heat rolls through. It seems Europe’s in for a wallop of a heatwave, but I don’t have the heart to...

Hit and Miss #253: Systems

July 10, 2022

Hello! This week’s reading seemed to converge on a theme of “thinking and acting in systems”. This is, perhaps, the root challenge of our times. Using self-...

Hit and Miss #252: Broken social scene—wait, I mean, contract

July 3, 2022

Hello! I hope you’re doing well. I don’t say that enough, tend not to address you directly—but it’s true, I do hope that, today and always. It’s an important...

Hit and Miss #251: Internalized stress

June 26, 2022

Hello! Friday, T and I drove Arthur to the vet for a regular check-up. It was perhaps shortsighted to go at the end of the workweek, heading into a sunny...

Hit and Miss #250: Decommissioned

June 19, 2022

This week saw the formal end of life of two software products—both were famous, for a time, before ending their lives more or less infamously. First,...

Hit and Miss #249: Half-caff

June 12, 2022

Hello! Pretty tired today (rainy day, and T and I only realized midafternoon that we’d made half-caff espresso this morning), but hanging in. We’re all...

Hit and Miss #248: Financialized nesting dolls

June 5, 2022

I’ve just spent who knows how long perusing biking maps of Ottawa, planning for countless little tours. The past week or so has seen me doing plenty of...

Hit and Miss #247: Busy rest

May 29, 2022

Hello! It’s been quite a packed week. My parents were up visiting, which was lovely, with evenings of family friends and catching up. This weekend has been...

Hit and Miss #246: Climate unpredictability

May 22, 2022

Hi folks! Yesterday afternoon featured one of the fiercest storms I’ve seen in Ottawa for a while. The water running down the street was so voluminous it...

Hit and Miss #245: L’aride follie del viver mio

May 15, 2022

Good afternoon! While I’ve plenty to share, I’ve been slow today to write—something about the weather, maybe, the heat leaching energy, even while I chill in...

Hit and Miss #244: Sunny springtime links

May 8, 2022

It’s a beautiful spring day in Ottawa—even emphasized with italics, “beautiful” doesn’t quote cut it, which, I suppose, is why we have poetry. Life, in other...

Hit and Miss #243: Anniversary treat

May 1, 2022

Good morning! It’s May. Wow, eh? This time last year, leaves were already out on the trees, and spring flowers were merrily on display. We’re not quite there...

Hit and Miss #242: Forces for good

April 24, 2022

Hi there, I’m perched on the ladder of a tree fort in my parents’ back yard, here in Waterloo, soaking up some sunshine, fresh air, and unseasonably warm...

Hit and Miss #241: Abundant, virtuous futures

April 17, 2022

Hi there! I’m experiencing heavy time dilation this week—my perception of days and hours is way out of whack with what the clock says. But I’m not...

Hit and Miss #240: April again

April 10, 2022

T called me to the window yesterday, to see a heron flying lazily over downtown. There are many signs of spring, but I always take great, excited joy in this...

Hit and Miss #239: Spring (tab) cleaning

April 3, 2022

Good afternoon! The city put out street sweeping notices this morning, a sure sign of spring in Ottawa. I gathered numerous links this week—thanks in part to...

Hit and Miss #238: Links on ambition, resilient building, and more

March 27, 2022

Good morning! I was up late playing Cities: Skylines last night (no regrets), but I bounced back with a triple espresso to start my day—it’s hard to predict...

Hit and Miss #237: Doing our parts

March 20, 2022

It’s here—we’ve gone from “springlike” to “spring”, at least officially. There’s still snow on the ground, and ice in the rivers, but it’s melting quickly....

Hit and Miss #236: Seeking beautiful moments

March 13, 2022

(A sombre reflection on the current moment. I invite you to skip ahead to the end for two beautiful links, if that’d do you best.) Two years ago, with COVID...

Hit and Miss #235: Chase the sun (redux)

March 6, 2022

Good afternoon! It was a tough week. And I was barely reading the news. It feels weird to have a tough week when the world is on fire (literally,...

Hit and Miss #234: War in real-time, in all its ugliness

February 27, 2022

Hi there. It’s been quite a week, eh? The overwhelming story, in print and online, has been Ukraine. “Overwhelming” applies, in every sense: it is...

Hit and Miss #233: Goodbye (?) to the occupiers

February 20, 2022

Hello! It’s been (yet another) interesting week in Ottawa. A few reflections, for posterity: Over the last few days, downtown Ottawa has looked very...

Hit and Miss #232: Savouring silence

February 13, 2022

Good evening! I returned to my apartment on Monday to find the street below mostly clear of vehicles, and enjoyed, for the first time in a few weeks, a quiet...

Hit and Miss #231: Acoustic assaults

February 6, 2022

Good morning! An opening note: when I sent last week’s newsletter, it was titled “Honk honk”. I later learned this is a dogwhistle phrase. There’s no need to...

Hit and Miss #230: Occupied

January 30, 2022

Hi folks, I hope you’re doing well. I’d planned to follow up last week’s newsletter, saying “But we can’t do it alone” and examining where the public service...

Hit and Miss #229: Playing for team public

January 23, 2022

Good evening! It’s been a lovely weekend—I hope the same for you. This week, The Globe and Mail ran a number of articles on outsourcing by the federal...

Hit and Miss #228: Where have the snow days gone

January 16, 2022

Good afternoon! It’s blustery here in Ottawa, and it looks like we have an enormous storm headed our way. I miss snow days, whether staying home from school...

Hit and Miss #227: Melancholy and drama, but peace

January 9, 2022

Good afternoon. Something about an overcast winter day, gloomily raining after a day of sunny but freezing skies, causes feelings of melancholy and drama....

Hit and Miss #226: Digging roots

January 2, 2022

Good evening, and a good new year to you! I just jolted out of bed, realizing I hadn’t yet sent this newsletter—blame it on a day of driving. I haven’t had...

Hit and Miss #225: A few books feed us well

December 26, 2021

Good morning! Today’s the last Sunday of the year. It’s been a head-turning few weeks, capping off months full of ups and downs. I’m trying to take what...

Hit and Miss #224: Staring down the barrel, at least the memes are good

December 19, 2021

This issue is just COVID. There’s a gallows humour quote at the end, if that’s your jam; if you’d rather keep your mind on other things, sit this one out and...