The Cherkewski View – Study

A pretty well perfect day

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 17:20:00 -0400

Nine years ago (accounting for leap years), in the first issue of this newsletter, I wrote the following under “An update on my life”:

I’m writing this at the end of a pretty peaceful day—a rarity for me in the last month or so.

From 2017 to 2026, much has changed, but that sentence still fits. I’m writing this in the late afternoon of a pretty peaceful day—a rarity for me in the last month or so (heavy on the “or so”).

Over the last several months, T and I have been hard at work in the off hours and days of the week, getting ready for yesterday, when we gathered friends and family at a big farmhouse in Prince Edward County to share in a pretty well perfect wedding day.

T and I met just under five years ago, going for our first date on Halloween. That evening, I wrote that I was “writing to you late, after a nourishing weekend of housework, walking, and friends (new and old alike). I’m leaving October on a high.” That issue was titled “Surviving November”—meeting T, that new friend, made that November so easily survivable, I don’t even remember turning to the survival guide I wrote in that issue (except to share it with her, one of those “here, this is me” novelties).

In the years since, literal Novembers haven’t been so hard. We’ve faced our share of metaphorical Novembers, but have built our own survival guide of sorts: after-dinner walks, snacks when we’re stressed-but-maybe-hungry, cuddles with the cats, check-ins and taking-ons, and quality time with friends and family.

Those same friends and family were key to making yesterday happen—for the first day in I can’t remember how long, we were gifted with having no responsibility short of getting ourselves dressed (which, I acknowledge, involved much more work for one of us than the other!). Our impulse to take things on (or, perhaps, lack of impulse to delegate) was met with gentle but firm reminders that, for one day at least, we could just be. And what a day that made.

In one of the quiet moments (which friends wisely recommended we schedule into the not-too-scheduled arc of the day), we reflected on the love and generosity that surround us, most acutely yesterday but in little doses every day. That same love is woven into our relationship itself—we truly would not be where we are today without those that joined us yesterday, for which we’re deeply grateful.

We bonded early over a shared love of Mary Oliver. Many of her words graced our day, benedictions from a poet who’s been with us in moments light and heavy alike. This newsletter is nominally about what I’ve been reading, and Mary certainly fits the bill, so I’ll share here one of our favourites, “The Summer Day”:

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

At the end of that first newsletter, I wrote the following:

The title of this letter, “Earthworming,” is a reference to [Ursula] Franklin’s sixth lecture. In it, she shared “Franklin’s earthworm theory of social change”:

Social change will not come to us like an avalanche down the mountain. Social change will come through seeds growing in well prepared soil and it is we, like the earthworms, who prepare the soil. We also seed thoughts and knowledge and concern. We realize there are no guarantees as to what will come up. Yet we do know that without the seeds and the prepared soil nothing will grow at all. … What is needed is a lot more earthworming.

Franklin was referring to changes in society, but “social change” can also be taken to mean changes in people, individually and in relationship. There are no guarantees as to what will come up in a person or relationship, but we can prepare the soil. T and I have prepared and seeded the soil well these past five years—I can’t wait to see what grows in all the years to come.

With love, gratitude, and excitement—all the best for the week ahead,

Lucas

Digital transformation and neighbourliness

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 22:20:00 -0400

So the big news this week, for a certain definition of big and a certain audience for news, was the long-awaited announcement of Digital Transformation Canada.

Kathryn May gives excellent context for this new [insert machinery type once anyone knows what it is], which will include my beloved former workplace, the Canadian Digital Service (CDS). There were many reactions worth reading, including from former colleagues Michael, Alex, and Ryan. (Okay, Ryan was a near-miss colleague, but his time at CDS felt very close to my own.)

I, like others, will eagerly watch the Orders in Council site for the various OICs that’ll give this effect. A few under the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act, maybe another under the Shared Services Canada Act or Public Service Employment Act (depending on the machinery choices). The details of which teams are scoped into this new body will prove important—I’m particularly curious to understand who’s coming over from PSPC and TBS.

Putting all these teams in one place has a machinery elegance to it. Whether it’ll be possible for everyone to row in the same direction will be key: the interfaces between these different mandates and departmental IT / delivery teams has long been complicated enough; will departments feel they’re working with (/ being supported by / etc) a single organization, or will the constituent parts maintain their distinction? (Which, in CDS’s case, was long sought and hard fought, and served a very valuable recruitment function.)

Just as with CDS’s move to ESDC a few years back (when I was still technically part of CDS), there’s a bittersweet element—is this the end, is this special organization to fade away? It’s fair to say that my feelings about that are… complicated.

It’s a very special place we built, and I wish more folks got and get to experience, learn, and benefit from its special capabilities (namely, its strong culture and ability to deliver). But I also remember, two weeks into my time at CDS, participating in a vision exercise for the then-babyfaced organization. Asked where it’d be in five years (or some similar horizon), I, the cheeky new guy on the policy team, said “non-existent”. Not because I wanted to lose the special place I’d recently started at—because I wanted that exceptionalism to become the norm. To which, ahhh the audacity of youth.

But perhaps a move to a new organization, one with energized leadership and top-level support, can help reinvigorate some of that audacity. It’s worth a shot, at least.

A coda on digital government efforts:

I’m writing tonight’s letter after joining a delightful neighbourhood street party this week, chatting with neighbours familiar and new alike. It was delightful, a great example of what a bit of organizational effort and a “let’s try this” spirit can bring about.

Events like these build familiarity and bonds. Sometimes that’s it. But sometimes, those bonds become essential, enabling action or support that you wouldn’t otherwise have been able to draw upon.

It was a similar thing working on digital government. Some of the many successes within CDS came from people knowing each other, reaching out, and working together—regardless of what the formal structure allowed or provided for. The same is true of digital government generally: its magic is in the ability to share approaches (even, at its best, projects or people!) outside the constraints of departmental or organizational structures.

For any worried about the meaning of this new organization, this may offer a source of hope or reassurance. Success will continue to come from strong community, so build and sustain it wherever you find it. (While I’m less directly in the digital government game these days, I remain a huge fan, ever supportive, and hope to one day rejoin the effort.)

The other big news this week, likely among different circles than those interested in the above, was the death of farmer, poet, and storyteller Wendell Berry.

I first learned of Berry, as best I can remember, from watching Look and See, a film in large part about Berry and his work (that and more, really). I believe it was staged in connection with The Working Centre, a one-of-a-kind organization in Kitchener-Waterloo, which had “a year of Wendell Berry”.

I distinctly remember the reading of “Window Poems Part III” in the film, and the iconic image of Berry, booted feet up on his desk, staring out those forty panes of glass. I then picked up some of his essays, though I confess I struggled through them more often than not.

But I knew I had things to learn from Berry—in part thanks to Nick Offerman, and his frequent advocacy for Berry’s work. Eventually, through T, I read some of his fiction, and what a world that opened for me. It also exposed me to his poetry, and, in a roundabout way, made the essays more approachable—same voice, different format.

Perhaps the best final words from me on Berry would be those I first wrote, after watching Look and See nine years ago:

I don’t know much about Berry, but I like what he said in the documentary, and I like how he said it. One point he made really stuck with me. In talking about the small communities throughout the rural United States, communities which used to thrive but may now be dead due to the loss of family farms, Berry says that “no place is nowhere.” There are important histories all around us, and we ought to accord them more respect. No place is nowhere. Nice.

Okay, it’s getting late, but let’s share a couple links:

FutureBridge is writing some excellent guides on navigating and interacting with government (for both political staff and advocacy organizations). See, for example, “What Political Staff and Governments Wish You Knew”. (via Christopher Parsons)
Loved pondering the labour, energy, and logistics involved in renovating a structure on the Japanese hillside.
Appreciated Marco Arment’s ruminating on neighbours, particularly after spending a very enjoyable afternoon and evening hanging out with mine.
Enjoyed the second-hand joy of Gina Trapani’s “joy of making stuff with a 3D printer”.
“How Blackwing Pencils Are Made”, excellent. (via Jason Kottke)

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

Overtired or… hungry?

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 19:35:00 -0400

Perennial note to self: the overtired you’re feeling at the end of a long day’s drive is likely a combination of, yes, actual tiredness, but also hunger. So eat something filling and see how you feel.

Apropos of nothing, I’m now feeling pretty good, having eaten a good meal by T, after our drive home from an impromptu weekend visit to see the Italian side of the family. Really glad when we can make these visits work, even as it gets trickier with fuller schedules and less frequent gatherings.

I love Ross Gay’s idea of a “delight muscle”: “the more you study delight, the more delight there is to study”.
Sam Holden is sharing the week-by-week story of the restoration and construction of Onomichi Labyrinth House. The first post, “MLH(1) — A moment & place”, has me excited for all the ones to come.
Enjoyed Jason Kottke’s energy in “Emptying the Tabs…”.
Full-length episodes of The Repair Shop are on YouTube, if you ever need 265 hours of chill background entertainment. (via Laura Olin)
Love Shea Alexander’s idea of “swift, not hurry”, and his exhortation for how to include kids in the shop.
From the end of today’s drive, Springsteen’s ever-excellent “Living’ in the Future”. (We were specifically enjoying the October 26, 2007 Oakland show, with an intro about the American government that could be just as appropriate nineteen years later.)

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

Glossing

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 21:30:00 -0400

Gloss (glŏs), transitive verb 1. To render clear and evident by comments; to illustrate; to explain; to annotate.

(Webster’s Unabridged 1913)

Mandy Brown, glossing Ursula K. Le Guin:

Le Guin gives us a glimpse of another way. The Kesh are not ignorant of digital technologies. The world in their time is connected via a vast computer system with huge amounts of data, text, story, audio, information, literature. Anyone is free to interact with that system as they like, and some few people choose to make it the locus of their work. But to connect to this network requires visiting an exchange—a physical place—of which there is only one in the entire valley. They could have more exchanges, if they liked, but they choose not to. They do not carry the network in their pockets, nor do they invite it into their homes. Perhaps there is a clue: that to keep the word, we must keep our distance.

L. M. Sacasas, glossing C. S. Lewis:

Thus, I was initially tempted to suggest that in the face of a certain strand of apocalyptic AI doomerism, one could do worse than repurpose Lewis: If we are going to be destroyed by some Lovecraftian super-intelligence or a Kafkaesque paperclip maximizer, let it find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about AI safety.

Duncan Ellinwood, glossing how experience teaches you to really see things that were always before you:

With time, I’ve gotten good at quickly looking down my plane’s sole; the thin black line of my iron leaps out and, even if the lateral adjustment is just a few thousandths of an inch off, it’s obvious. I’m not getting any new visual inputs, but my brain has learned to resolve the information. Woodworking, and I suppose all of life, is full of sensory inputs that can completely pass us by if we don’t know how to decipher them. It can feel revolutionary when you learn to understand the signals transmitted to you, or so frustrating when you know you’re getting the information but can’t quite understand it.

Gloss, transitive verb [imperfect or past participle Glossed; present participle or verbal noun Glossing.] To give a superficial luster or gloss to; to make smooth and shining; as, to gloss cloth.

(Webster’s Unabridged 1913)

Dave Rupert, glossing your code:

I made a smol client-side syntax highlighter that uses the CSS Custom Highlights API called MicroLighter. I’ll talk about why I made it in a bit but first I wanted to… ahem… highlight… some of the features.

Zero-dependencies

~2kb minifed+gzipped

Uses CSS ::highlight(token-name), not spans

Leverages Textmate’s language grammars

Human-readable light-dark() themes

All languages/grammars loaded on-demand

Moves all non-highlight functionality to a <micro-lighter> custom element

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

Vampires and the administrative state

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 17:00:00 -0400

So, I don’t think vampires exist. But if they did, in our world, imagine their perspective on technological and political trends.

As governments digitalize, with increasing embrace of digital identifiers and records, vampires’ great asset—longevity—becomes an even greater liability: your ageless nature is that much harder to hide if you need to interact with the state, and the state’s way of making you legible is to digitize your existence.

But vampires have been around a while. They’ve witnessed the rise of the administrative state. Probably met Max Weber and James Scott. So they know a thing or two about how states work—and how to influence them.

If you were a vampire, coolly assessing the rise in digitalized government identification and record keeping, how might you respond? You couldn’t well agitate on the front lines against such changes—your unchanging nature isn’t well-suited for high-profile appearances. But you could, with the considerable wealth you could acquire over a long life (carefully hidden though it must be), influence and invest in others doing the agitating for you.

I’m not saying that vampires are behind the anti-digital-ID movement. But I’m also not saying they’re uninvolved. At least, I wouldn’t be saying those things if I think they existed. Which, again, I don’t! (If vampires aren’t your thing, consider that Adaline would have the same problem—though probably easier to manage as an individual than as a secret society.)

On a more serious note, T and I had a lovely evening on Friday, enjoying Pizza Nerds in a park in the Glebe before heading down to the Mayfair to watch Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World. T and I bonded early over a shared love for Mary Oliver, so it was a delight to see her story told by her and so many who knew her. We capped the night off with ice cream and a leisurely walk home along the river.

Eating and moving outside, watching excellent movies, supporting local businesses—with loved ones? Yes, please!

Elizabeth Lopatto responds to Zuckerberg’s AI manifesto, reminding us why Silicon Valley billionaires’s visions of “the good life” aren’t worth running at. (via Sean) See also Nick Heer’s annotations to Zuckerberg’s essay, in which Heer surfaces the essay’s very few concrete references and thoroughly dissects them.
In local-ish news, enjoy this well-written account of a couple who threw their cottage neighbours into a legal battle that went to the heart of property rights, all over a rutted forest road. (I find it telling of modern reality that the police, when called to mediate, noted that the road “appeared as an existing road on their GPS” and required it remain open—data and its meaning are both socially constructed!) The Quebec Superior Court decision, Howes c. Scoles, is a great read.
I like this idea of “heuristics for environmental impact”, here with LLM tasks as the example, but applicable to far more—we don’t always have the right intuitions for what’s high versus low impact. (Cohen’s article also has a great list of effective applications of LLMs in humanities research happening right now, which is neat to see.)
We are surrounded by “ordinary abundance”, as Jordan Dworkin illustrates. Perfectly lovely. (via Alan Jacobs)

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

A sea of shimmering metal

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 21:21:20 -0400

Driving along the 401 yesterday, cresting a hill and seeing cars, cars in all directions, express and collectors, east and west alike. If only there was a way to efficiently transport so many people!

Anyway—family-packed long weekend (with über-family day coming tomorrow!), in which I did not realize today was Sunday 😅 So… brief set of links to follow:

The org chart isn’t the power chart. Honey Dacanay maps the different rings of power within an organization, and how membership within each ring affects one’s behaviour and relations to others. Can’t recommend Honey’s writing enough.
Simon Willison’s write-up of the timeline of the OpenAI / Hugging Face incident captures the mindboggling scope of this event. Simon’s tracking this and other coverage under his accidental-cyberattacks tag—nutters that this is now our world!
Dan Hon’s “tools vs. data“ contrast feels very real. Next Magic Quadrant, here we come!

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

Links of links, quotes of quotes

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 13:20:00 -0400

Hello!

Writing this in between visits with friends and other things going on this weekend, so will move straight to the links:

Deb Chachra’s latest Metafoundry, “determinate tomatoes”, is full of lovely reflections and links. I’m eager to see what the rest of this generative year brings of Chachra’s writings.
Robin Sloan delivered some thoughtful advice to his younger self in “Fogbound”, the January edition of his newsletter. (And, as is the theme, links!!)
Mike Monteiro recently wrote a piece which included this, quoting Marisa Kabas who was quoting Jamelle Bouie (quote me, we can be four or five levels deep on this!): “There is a cohort of men who resent the responsibilities and obligations of adulthood—of the fact that you owe things to other people.” WHEW!! Great piece.
Mandy Brown on how reading ought to be more than the practice of empathy: “To reduce reading to the practice of empathy is to divorce it of its real power and pleasure: to enjoy the fruits of another person’s creative effort, to think with the writer and their characters, not becoming them, but becoming more fully yourself.”
Bruce Schneier offers a framework for deciding when to use AI: should I approach this task as work (AI may be fine), or exercise (AI atrophies the very skill you’re trying to develop)?
Excellent to see that online passport renewals will now be generally available in Canada. Huge props to the teams behind this!
Dave Rupert offers a tangible example of “voting with your dollars” by explaining how powerful the “number chart” can be: “Collectively we can influence the number chart. It could be a coordinated buying campaign or boycott, but I think it could be as simple as re-patronizing small businesses you already enjoy.”
Debbie Millman’s responses to the Oldster Magazine questionnaire are delightful.

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

Government nerdy, HVAC and construction economics, and the two Ursulas

Sun, 26 Jul 2026 20:35:00 -0400

Was excellent to visit with friends yesterday (S+H+B+A!), revisiting an old childhood favourite (Aviation Museum!) and making the most of an excellent summer day with a barbecue. Humid days aside, Ottawa’s such a lovely place to be in the summer. If ever you’re passing through, please let me know, I’d be happy to meet up!

If you follow Canadian politics with even half-lidded eyes, you know supply management is a lightning rod issue. But what is supply management? As with so many topics, the good folks at the Library of Parliament have you covered.
Some interesting reflections on the Government Digital Service’s first 15 (!) years, including its recent machinery whipsawing, and what its arc can teach us about public service reform in the UK. (And sounds like an interesting longer piece on the subject is in the works!)
“Area woman can’t stop talking about heat pumps, family and friends are worried”—oh, if only renters had more leverage to encourage short-term landlords to invest in long-term changes like heat pumps. (via Mita Williams)
Similarly, I like Waldo Jaquith’s vision for “Going beyond plug-in solar”.
Why construction costs related to labour and materials are harder to budge than you’d think. (With an excellent explanation of why the economics of modular construction aren’t as slam-dunk as one might think.)
Jessamyn’s West account of “young men and cars” gave me a good many chuckles.
Mandy Brown puts the two Ursulas (Le Guin and Franklin) in conversation, as the world intended.

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

Mid-summer chill

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 17:30:00 -0400

THANK YOU TO THE WEATHER GODS! Let today’s weather be the beginning to the rest of an easy breezy summer. (ha)

Feels like you could take Ken Whyte’s analysis of a Department of Heritage briefing note on the book industry and, given sufficient sectoral expertise, critique most briefing notes. State capacity shows up in so many ways, not least the state’s capacity to know the world beyond its offices.
Now, for someone with deep sectoral expertise, consider John Gruber’s analysis of Apple’s recent lawsuit against OpenAI. Commentary not only on the happenings, but potential mindsets and motivations, all drawing on a deep well of citations (links!).
Nice to read Paul Wells reflecting on international affairs and Canada’s place in it, given his usual domestic focus. (A paid piece, but his newsletter is well worth the subscription!)
Two writers whose newsletters I always open, for great links and thoughts: Laura Olin and Jack Cheng. (Jack, this week: “Would slide decks be less tedious and superfluous if we knew that each Powerpoint presentation was awake, and each chart and table nested within was happiest when able to present its information honestly?” See what I mean!?)
Always great to hear from Martha, as in this week’s “half year note”.
Book I look forward to reading: Seeing Like a Supply Chain, by Miriam Posner. (via Sean)
Weird things about GIFs, by Lauren Budorick. (via Marcin Wichary)
What might we learn from Tasha Yar’s funeral hologram? Possibly, depending how you read it, that it allows us to glimpse a future where we’re so inured to LLM text that we’re placated by a generic reproduction of a now dearly-departed friend. (Just read it, you’ll get it.)

Anyway, off to happily do some hard work. All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas

Good advice in trying times

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 20:35:00 -0400

Hi! A great week / weekend with old friends, for which I’m really grateful given how things’ve been these past few weeks. (Highlights: farm! hike! BBQ! ice cream! more ice cream!!) But even time with the best people sometimes isn’t enough, and I’m still feeling thoroughly worn out. Earlier to bed tonight, I hope, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Thank you for reading along, even as my opening note each week likely reads much the same: “struggling, feeling meh, but muddling through”. Showing up here is one of those routines that does something for me, enrichment for a body that may otherwise melt. Knowing you’re here makes it that much easier to show up. Thank you.

Mined the bookmark database for a few links on “life despite feelings of meh”:

Robin Rendle, ”The Brink”: “I always forget this so here’s a reminder for the future: books are always the answer when things suck.”
Ursula K. Le Guin via Austin Kleon, “The ideal routine”: three hours to “make dinner and eat it”, yes! (For more wisdom from Le Guin, her New Yorker profile is excellent, as is the Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin documentary.)
Jonnie Hallman, “A home, a kitchen, and a woodshop”: “Rather than waiting for the right time to take a class or go somewhere and end up only thinking about it, I need to just book the class or trip and work the rest of my life around it.” (Reading this post, three-ish years ago, was what prompted me to book a woodworking class. I’m so grateful for everything woodworking has brought me since then.)

Erin Kissane with the first in a new series on knowledge in networks.
As journalists become political targets, newsrooms need (cyber)security support.
It’s been hot the last few weeks, not least in Europe, which suffered through a terrible heatwave. Doug Muir collects some arguments around air conditioning.
John Gruber gathered more remembrances of Om Malik, and shared a few new ones.

All the best for the week ahead!

Lucas