Hi. I’m Sameer Vasta, a snail-mail boy living in an email world. I'm an over-user of the discretionary comma.

I pass my time reading my never-ending stack of library books, writing letters to penpals, and exploring the urban landscape on foot.

If you'd like to get in touch, feel free to send me an email or find me on Mastodon.

 
Recent Posts

  • Visiting the alpacas Mar 14
    Every year since Zoya was born, we’ve gone to visit the alpacas.
  • Distraction-free Mar 07
    It can be daunting to be bored (though I’d argue that being alone with your ruminations is anything but boring) in a world engineered to keep us distracted and busy.
  • Omakase (forty-two) Feb 28
    In an omakase, every course is one bite, and in that bite, an opportunity to not only wow you with the quality of the fish and the flavors of the composition, but also to impress you with the immense mastery of craft needed to create a piece that is delicious, intricate, and visually stunning.
  • Media Diet: January and February Feb 28
    A quick look at the movies, television shows, and books that have captured my attention over the past two months.
  • Recoding America Feb 22
    Reading Jennifer Pahlka’s Recoding America was a perfect reminder of why I do the work I do. Pahlka provides a number of examples of how thinking differently about the way we deliver services leads to better outcomes for people, and how thinking differently requires having digital talent inside government.
  • Podcasting and the open web Feb 08
    I have long been awed by an amazing thing: podcasting doesn’t belong to anyone. Anyone can start a podcast, anyone can share a podcast, anyone can subscribe to a podcast. Podcasts are for everyone, without consideration of platform or application.
  • No skips Jan 27
    Albums I listen to regularly with no skips because they are perfect.
  • Remember Jan 17
    I laugh and tell people that I have a bad memory, but perhaps I am not working hard enough at remembering.
  • In the snow Jan 12
    I didn’t grow up with an appreciation for winter. Ever since I was a child, I found it too cold, too uncomfortable, too desolate of a season.
  • Things I learned these past few months Dec 29
    A quick roundup of a few of the things I learned over the past few months.
  • A year ending with nothing left to say Dec 15
    Life has been too busy, too hectic, too scattered to get my thoughts together and write something.
  • Eight years ago Nov 08
    Eight years ago, if you were to have asked me what my life would look like in eight years, there are very few things I would have guessed right.
  • Things I learned these past few months Sep 29
    A quick roundup of a few of the things I learned over the past few months.
  • The change of the seasons Sep 28
    Autumn has arrived. Change is on its way.
  • Sounds of summer Jul 20
    More and more these days, I’m making it a point to take out my AirPods and listen to the world as it rushes by.
  • Things I learned these past few months Jun 29
    A quick roundup of a few of the things I learned in over the past few months.
  • Fat Talk Jun 21
    Fat Talk is the book I needed to read, not just as a parent, but as someone who is fat.
  • Tell your friends you love them Jun 07
    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 May 08
    As someone who does a lot of writing for work, whether that be in briefing notes or presentation decks or memos or just in Slack, I’ve long thought about what it would mean if a machine could do my writing better than I could.
  • Looking for delight Apr 04
    Every day, I look for the little moments of joy, the little bits of delight that cross my path.

 
Visit the archives for a longer list of recent posts or search the blog to find something in particular.