Archive (Page 13) • Hit and Miss • Buttondown

Hit and Miss #215: Leaves pass to soil

October 17, 2021

Good afternoon! Isn’t fall grand? Fiery trees give way to a satisfying crunch underfoot, ultimately yielding the musty smell of decaying leaves. Leaves pass...

Hit and Miss #214: A brief rom-com review

October 10, 2021

Good afternoon! Last night, I started watching Beverly Hills Cop, thinking I’d do a few sudokus while tuning in and out of the action. A few minutes in, I...

Hit and Miss #213: Truer histories

October 3, 2021

Hello! Somehow today’s starting off even more drizzly and grey than yesterday—we (I, and hopefully you) fought off the gloom by baking biscuits and bopping...

Hit and Miss #212: Star Trek days

September 26, 2021

Hello! A friend’s visiting this weekend—it’s been a lovely change from routine. We bonded long ago over a shared love for Star Trek, so the weekend’s been...

Hit and Miss #211: Paths (not) taken

September 19, 2021

Hello! It’s a wonderfully sunny Sunday here in Ottawa. The political folks are out on the hustings across the country (don’t forget to vote tomorrow, if you...

Hit and Miss #210: Little reading

September 12, 2021

Hello! It’s been a quiet vacation week for me. It included a visit with a friend to Laurel Creek Conservation Area (a history of which I wrote up a few years...

Hit and Miss #209: September, it’s finally here

September 5, 2021

Though it’s been a while since I traded the arbitrary requirements of professors for the arbitrary requirements of checks notes bureaucracy, part of me still...

Hit and Miss #208: Reading and movies

August 29, 2021

Hello! It’s slaloming between drizzle and downpour here. I spent the morning catching up on Star Trek: Lower Decks. Nothing quite like cozying up with...

Hit and Miss #207: August free fall

August 22, 2021

It’s the part of the season when I start liking summer. (Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi”, on not knowing what you’ve got ’til it’s gone, comes to mind.)...

Hit and Miss #206: Democratic event(s)

August 15, 2021

Hello! I’m writing you from my kitchen, where I’m nursing a temperamental batch of stock. (Only one boil over, we’re in good shape.) This morning, the Prime...

Hit and Miss #205: Let’s get nerdy

August 8, 2021

Good afternoon! How are you? I hope this finds you as well as can be. Links for you this week: I’m still scratching my head over this bizarre story. Men in...

Hit and Miss #204: Cool sunsets

August 1, 2021

August!! Welcome to the summer-y month where we start to get a hint of that most wonderful of seasons, fall. There’s heat yet to come, but the last few days...

Hit and Miss #203: Parables

July 25, 2021

Hello! I spent most of the weekend reading Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler, for a book club early this afternoon. It’s so good—better even than the...

Hit and Miss #202: Boredom, boiling frogs, and miscellany

July 18, 2021

Boredom. A mind searching for things to think about, for things to do. Webster’s 1913 edition characterizes it as weariness “by tedious iteration or by...

Hit and Miss #201: Summer dreaming

July 11, 2021

Hello, and a happy Sunday to you! My week was filled with family time, which has been wonderful. Such time reminded me of the quiet reassurance that comes...

Hit and Miss #200: “You give me life”

July 4, 2021

Good evening! Somehow, I’ve been writing this newsletter for 200 weeks in a row. Half the archive ago, I wrote about my principles for living. Happily, they...

Hit and Miss #199: Loading

June 27, 2021

Hi friends! It’s been a busy weekend for me—packing things up, cleaning, and more of the above. I’ve accumulated a fair number of links to share, but they’ll...

Hit and Miss #198: Cooking, staying hungry

June 20, 2021

Hello! I’m writing this from the kitchen, a comfortable, cheery spot. I’ve just finished reading Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner. If you’re not...

Hit and Miss #197: Responding to violence

June 13, 2021

Hello! I hope this finds you well. It’s warm in Ottawa, but compared to the heat we had earlier this week, it’s rather nice. It’s sometimes difficult to know...

Hit and Miss #196: Doors Open (online)

June 6, 2021

Hi there! This weekend is normally one of my favourites in Ottawa: Doors Open, when numerous interesting organizations, big and small, open their doors to...