Archive • Weekend Reading : Flashing Palely in the Margins • Buttondown

On the way to the bus stop

November 8, 2024

On weekday mornings, early enough that the sun is still creeping up past the horizon, we bundle up in our jackets, grab the backpack, and walk to the bus...

Ask me what I am writing

October 25, 2024

I’ve had the links below sitting in my drafts folder for weeks. By now, you’ve probably read most of them because they’ve made the rounds online. Even still,...

First day of school

September 6, 2024

School started this week, and I haven’t been this nervous or excited in decades. I don’t remember my absolute first day of school ever—it was sometime when...

There was a morning last week when everything was so still, it was as if the world was on pause, frozen in time, waiting for us to hit play so that the...

Asparagus season

There is an asparagus farm a stone’s throw away from our house, and every spring, I’m so thankful that it’s there. I didn’t grow up eating asparagus; it...

In middle school and high school, I fancied myself a poet. I would carry a notebook around with me and scribble down thoughts and verses and turns of phrase...

There are mountains

The hotel room has a large wall of windows, floor to ceiling, stretching from one corner of the room to the other. It lets in the light in the morning and...

Grieving over what was lost

How do you grieve for something you’ve lost, when you knew all along that the something wasn’t meant to last forever? These past few weeks, I’ve been...

Distraction-free

We spent last weekend at a spa. It was decadent and delightful: my parents were taking care of the little one for the weekend so L and I were able to have a...

Omakase (forty-two)

We celebrated my forty-second birthday last week by getting a babysitter and going out for sushi. There are many things I love about a sushi omakase: the...

Podcasting and the open web

February 9, 2024

Two of the many things that interest me: podcasts and the open web. I subscribe to about fifty podcasts (I don’t listen to every episode of each one, but...

January 19, 2024

This past October, we had one of the best meals we’ve ever had during our trip to New York. The whole experience was exquisite: the service was impeccable,...

January 12, 2024

We took Zoya sledding a couple of days ago. She loved it. I didn’t grow up with an appreciation for winter. Ever since I was a child, I found it too cold,...

A year ending with nothing left to say

December 15, 2023

I had a coffee with a friend last week, and he remarked that I hadn’t sent out posted a “weekend reading” post/newsletter in several months. I showed him my...

The change of the seasons

September 29, 2023

The tree in our front yard starts turning yellow in late August. By the end of September, it has shed almost all of its leaves, leaving a dusting of golden...

Sounds of summer

The blue jays and the cardinals singing to each other as the sun begins to rise. The exuberant “hellos” from neighbors as you pass them on your morning walk...

Tell your friends you love them

Tell your friends you love them when you can. You never know when you may not be able to say it again.

When ChatGPT takes my job

I worry a lot about what will happen when machines take over my job. As someone who does a lot of writing for work, whether that be in briefing notes or...

Looking for delight

If you asked my what my favorite word in the world is, I’d say it’s a toss up between “delight” and “grace.” I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say about grace...

At this time last week, we were caught in a winter storm. It is the time of year for snow and ice; every February we hope that the winter will pass us by,...

February 3, 2023

During our recent vacation, I decided to take a beginner’s tennis lesson. I had taken a tennis lesson years before, when I was younger and spryer, but everything I learned in that lesson had already left me. I was starting fresh and anew.

I don’t have any hobbies

November 19, 2021

Growing up, I collected stamps. This probably comes as no surprise to most of you that know me: I’ve long been enthralled by all things related to postal...

New beginnings, new returns

After almost a year away, I return to work next week. Zoya will be starting daycare early in the week, and both L and I start work shortly after that. My...

No ideas to explore

I have nothing to say. No stories to tell, no insights to share, no ideas to explore. I’ve been sitting on this list of links for weeks now, waiting for...

Five nice things

Five nice things that passed through my mind this morning as I sat in front of my iPad and started to type: We have a magnolia tree in our front yard, and...

People are getting vaccinated

People I know are starting to get vaccinated. Depending on where they live, friends and family are starting to receive their COVID vaccines, and I couldn’t...

An inbox of newsletters

My inbox* is filled with newsletters. There was a time in the not-too-distant past when I was able to stay on top of things using my RSS reader, by following...

"The limits to your ambition were thus expected to be settled."

A few words from the pen of James Baldwin: Letter from a Region in My Mind, 1962: There is nothing new in this merciless formulation except the explicitness...

A bevy of the parenting books that I’m reading all refer to a fourth trimester: that a baby would normally stay in the womb for a few extra months if it was...

Forgiving myself for not being able to focus

The Pomodoro technique isn’t working for me anymore. Just a few months ago, I had no problems getting my work done in 25-minute chunks, and was able to do...

Wednesday afternoon coffee breaks

I think I'd like to try something, and need your help in figuring out if it's a good idea. I'd like to host mini "coffee breaks" every Wednesday afternoon at...

The cities and towns we have around us

When people asked me what I missed most about living in the big city, all of my answers involved access to things outside of the house. I would answer that I...

Words are how I understand how I feel

I don't make things with my hands, that often. Apart from the time I spend in the kitchen crafting meals, I'm not really someone who "makes" things,...

Third places after the pandemic

One of the questions that comes up often when we're having video chats, either at work or in our personal lives, is about the first place where we will go...

The sounds of the tea kettle

I have taken to listening, with conscious intention, to the sound of the kettle as I make my tea. The kettle always starts with a low hum, as if it is...

Finding it hard to write

When the pandemic shutdowns and closures started ramping up two weeks ago—when people were recommended to stay home and only go out for essential services—I...

It's hard not to panic when the state of the world is changing by the minute. Even for someone who is notorious for being level-headed and (perhaps too)...

To quiet the racing mind

February 28, 2020

A few unrelated, miscellaneous things that have been occupying my thoughts recently, in no particular order: 1. Jesse Wente, on our national broadcaster,...

Finding the things that you love

February 14, 2020

Today is Valentine's Day, and so I'm asking you to write a love letter. Last week, L and I went to a pop-up supper club hosted by a very talented couple who...

January 31, 2020

Some days, you have nothing to say. And that’s okay. Some days, you have so much on your mind and can’t figure out how to get it all out in a way that makes...

An orchestra outside

January 17, 2020

I’m not sure when I became someone who wears headphones over his ears every time he ventures out of the house. I’d like to blame audiobooks, or podcasts, or...

Ferry breakfast

January 3, 2020

Today, on the third day of the new year, I woke up thinking of ferry breakfast. The BC Ferries ships that head to the Southern Gulf Islands all have a small...

Slowing down at the end of the year

December 13, 2019

Our friends started receiving our Christmas cards in late November this year. December is always a busy month: between wrapping up things for the end of the...

A haircut, and a chance

November 22, 2019

A little over halfway through my freshman year, almost two decades ago, I agreed to let my friend S cut my hair. S had never cut anyone's hair before, and...

The physical design of our neighbourhood acts against the creation of community

November 8, 2019

We didn’t have any trick-or-treaters come to our door last week for Halloween, so I’ve taken on the formidable task of eating all these chocolate bars...

An abundance of apples

October 25, 2019

Every year, by mid-October, our home is filled with an abundance of apples. Even after making apple crisps and apple crumbles, even after taking apples into...

We didn’t have a TV set, but I still had Sesame Street

October 11, 2019

We didn’t have a television when I was really young, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t get to watch TV. Our neighbor down the hall in our building was a...

Conversations, thoughts, and hope

September 27, 2019

A few disparate, unrelated, unedited and unrevised reflections from the past two weeks: I have had to explain the concept of minstrelsy to at least a dozen...

First responder

September 6, 2019

Cleo, our cat, has become my first responder when I am feeling the onset of a panic attack. I’ve had enough panic attacks by now to be able to feel them...

A mile in someone else's shoes

August 30, 2019

I was reminded that L (my wife) and I wear the same size of footwear—yes, I have small feet—when she recently came home with a pair of shoes with a floral...

Brought to you by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.