Hit and Miss

Hit and Miss #90: Walking toward a social summer

May 26, 2019

Hullo there! (Apologies for any mixed up tenses. I’m writing this Saturday afternoon. If all goes to plan, you’ll get this some time Sunday morning.) I’m out...

Hit and Miss #89: Three blobs of words

May 19, 2019

Good evening! The long weekend happily surprised me. In my head, today’s Saturday—hence this letter’s late hour, hence its slapdash contents. I’m not itching...

Hit and Miss #88: Grounding history

May 12, 2019

Hi! A hopefully happy Sunday to you. You may know that I’m very interested in local history. I read almost every plaque I encounter—though sometimes...

Hit and Miss #87: A day off

May 5, 2019

It’s May. (!!!) It’s been a packed week. There’s something I want to write about social balance and reconfiguration. My patterns of socializing have shifted...

Hit and Miss #86: Look up

April 28, 2019

Hello! Each morning, I try to do three things. One of them is to “look up”. Literally, this refers to raising my eyes from the ground, directing them up and...

Hit and Miss #85: Valuing openness

April 21, 2019

Hello! Openness is a value. Three recent episodes highlight the value/valuing of openness from different angles: On Wednesday, I presented at uOttawa’s...

Hit and Miss #84: Thinking frames

April 14, 2019

What should education foster? By “education” I mean our formal system, plus its informal supplements—elementary and secondary schools, post-secondary...

Hit and Miss #83: Boomer empowerment

April 7, 2019

Tonight, I watched Gloria Bell. It’s a remake of the 2013 Gloria. I fell asleep during the 2013 movie, and nearly did so again tonight. But I left tonight’s...

Hit and Miss #82: Making time for music, for silence

March 31, 2019

I really think that for us, who all grew up listening primarily to recorded music, we tend to forget that until about 120 years ago ephemeral experience was...

Hit and Miss #81: A family day

March 24, 2019

Hello! I travelled briefly back to Waterloo this weekend, for my nonno’s birthday. Time with family has kept me happily occupied—I’ll keep today’s letter...

Hit and Miss #80: Communicating depth

March 17, 2019

I recently talked through a tricky situation with coworkers. I went to use a favourite slogan—“Be radical in changing how an organisation works, but...

Hit and Miss #79: The signs

March 10, 2019

The people along the sand All turn and look one way. They turn their back on the land. They look at the sea all day. … The land may vary more; But wherever...

Hit and Miss #78: I, you, we (maybe?)

March 3, 2019

To conclude last week’s issue on considered language, I wrote this: We unconsciously edit our potential conversations all the time, by editing what we...

Hit and Miss #77: Words I avoid

February 24, 2019

Some words I try not to say. They’re everyday words—seemingly innocuous, but possibly harmful or exclusive. Some examples: “Just” (not in the “justice”...

Hit and Miss #76: The 80s and links

February 17, 2019

Hello! I’m briefly back in Waterloo to celebrate my birthday, so (out of necessity, out of luxury) I’m often driving and listening to the radio. My favourite...

Hit and Miss #75: Standing in place

February 10, 2019

After writing last week’s newsletter, I bundled myself off to the National Gallery to stare at art. This differs from how I normally visit the Gallery, when...

Hit and Miss #74: When you want to get out and read

February 3, 2019

A very happy February to you! I had several ideas for this week’s newsletter, but then I slept in this morning (gloriously) and now find myself wanting to...

Hit and Miss #73: The wholesome social network

January 27, 2019

What makes a social network? The people in it. What determines a social network’s tone, whether positive or negative, healthy or toxic? The people in it,...

Hit and Miss #72: Libraries, physical and digital, visible and invisible

January 20, 2019

I love libraries and what we can learn from them—from their contents, yes, but also from the ideas and activities that their form enables. Libraries offer us...

Hit and Miss #71: Rockeuses, and leaders as facilitators

January 13, 2019

Hello! It’s one of those Sunday mornings where I started slow, puttered about quietly, sauntered to the grocery store, cleaned the apartment, reconciled my...