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

  • A few nice things Mar 20
    A few snippets from the week gone by involving ice cream, birdsong, bubbles; Nowruz, and a whole lot more.
  • Walk-and-talk Mar 13
    A walking meeting is not just a way for me to accumulate more steps in my pedometer. It's also a way for me to experience the content of the meeting with new context, to literally ground myself and surround myself with life.
  • What is your work? Mar 13
    When was the last time you asked yourself about the work? What is your work now?
  • A bit of anger, a bit of sadness, a bit of wondering where this is all going Mar 07
    As part of the recent tumult in US politics, Trump/Musk/DOGE recently laid off all the staff at 18F, essentially shuttering the agency and with it destroying years of digital experience in government.
  • Letter to city council of London, Ontario to stop using X (formerly Twitter) for official city communication Feb 28
    I am writing city council to request that the City of London stop using X (formerly Twitter) as a method of distribution for official city communication.
  • Forty-three Feb 26
    February is the cruelest month, but it is also filled with kindness.
  • James Feb 21
    What Everett’s _James_ does is give interiority to a character that has nuance, that has a family, that has aspirations, that knows how to navigate the world and isn’t just along for the ride. He is in control of his narrative, and is able to articulate his story to us without intermediary.
  • On the precarious situation of the civil service Feb 16
    I recently read an interesting look at how the stable, impartial civil service was created, and how it was different from the partial, ever-changing system of government workers before it—and how it’s slowly being dismantled by the Trump administration.
  • The crazy thing about babies Feb 15
    I’ve read quite a few great things about parenting over the last few years since becoming a father, but this short paragraph made me tear up a little.
  • Life in weeks Feb 14
    It’s so easy for a week to fly by without really feeling like we’ve fully lived it. If we only have four thousand of them, there’s an important impetus to live each one with intention.
  • Water slide Feb 04
    It had been almost 30 years since I last went on a water slide.
  • Recommitting to handwriting Feb 04
    I don’t write in cursive anymore. I still do a ton of writing by hand—postcards and letters and even notes from work and life—but I inevitably write in block letters because they are easier and more comfortable, and mostly because I have fallen out of practice writing in cursive and don’t really know how to do it well anymore.
  • Media Diet: January 2025 Jan 29
    A quick look at the movies, television shows, and books that have captured my attention over the past month.
  • Demotion Jan 22
    This week, I returned to my job working in employee experience and organizational culture after six months of managing a team of talent and operations professionals. And I am relieved.
  • Re-entering Jan 09
    There are always things that can change to make things easier, to make the everyday more fulfilling. A period of reentry puts those things in perspective.
  • 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.
  • Media Diet: November and December Dec 28
    A quick look at the movies, television shows, music, and books that have captured my attention over the past two months.
  • Snippets at the end of the year Dec 22
    This is most likely the last update I’ll be posting until 2025 — I’ll be spending the rest of the year celebrating with family and friends and thinking fondly about everyone that I love.
  • Maa Dec 11
    When I was young, still living in New York, I would often wake from my sleep, deep in the middle of the night, and wake up my grandmother.
  • On the way to the bus stop Nov 07
    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 stop.

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