July 31, 2022

Hit and Miss #256: Malleable words

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 a night shift. I am, in other words, surrounded by loved ones—and happy for it.

I’m pretty tired, so straight into the links we go:

• Maria Popova always weaves together her reading with deft and grace—including a recent piece on suicide and living, centred around a Roxane Gay reading of a Gwendolyn Brooks poem.
• Simon Willison recently shared highlights from twenty years of blogging. I’ll always cheer for folks celebrating their blog—blogging can be such a nourishing experience.
• Cory Doctorow recommends A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys and I just want to run out and read this book.
• In last week’s issue, I linked to Michael’s piece on “Government from home”. This week, Steph Percival followed with a call for a fairer, flexible future of work, grounded in empathy and ethical experimentation, and Sean contributed his own perspective on the power dynamics inherent in the current approach toward “hybrid” work.
• Mandy Brown reflects on the idea of practice as a way to ponder and shape the future, drawing on Octavia Butler and adrienne maree brown. Practice is one of those delightfully malleable words—a verb and noun, both of which have a a number of adjacent but distinct definitions, definitions that can prompt a different way of approaching a situation—and this piece captures well its potential.

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas