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

  • 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.
  • First day of school Sep 05
    School started this week, and I haven’t been this nervous or excited in decades.
  • Media Diet: July and August Aug 28
    A quick look at the movies, television shows, and books that have captured my attention over the past two months.
  • Media Diet: May and June Jun 29
    A quick look at the movies, television shows, and books that have captured my attention over the past two months.
  • Things I learned these past few months Jun 29
    A quick roundup of a few of the things I learned over the past few months.
  • Cold water Jun 25
    I’ve been thinking about “truths” I tell myself, about the narrative I construct about the things I like and do not like, the things I do and do not do, the way I am and am not.
  • Asparagus season May 23
    There is an asparagus farm a stone’s throw away from our house, and every spring, I’m so thankful that it’s there.
  • On poetry May 08
    Some time ago, someone asked me why I share poems on my website and newsletter when poetry is so easily accessible everywhere else.
  • Media Diet: March and April Apr 29
    A quick look at the movies, television shows, and books that have captured my attention over the past two months.
  • There are mountains Apr 17
    We can see the snowy peaks of mountains rising up above the buildings, providing a majestic backdrop to the city that can't be ignored.
  • Grieving over what was lost Apr 04
    These past few weeks, I’ve been grieving. With a stroke of a pen, the Ontario Digital Service, an organization I helped conceive of and build from scratch, was effectively erased from existence.
  • Things I learned these past few months Mar 29
    A quick roundup of a few of the things I learned over the past few months.
  • 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.

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