A different kind of Friday Night Chats
Why don’t you come up and see me some time 😘
Kia ora! We are fresh from a wonderful trip to our son’s dream destination of Palmerston North. We had a lovely night last night with our lovelies in Glen Oroua and got to have a hangi! It was so dreamy.
Every Friday we have Friday Night Chats for paid subscribers but since it’s been such a chaotic week - this isn’t our usual FNC.
I’ve opened it up to all subscribers because I have something to say! And if you want to see piccies of our dreamy lil trip to Palmy I posted TWO videos on Insta.
Yes, it was that exciting. Anyway, the news:
Rebecca Keil and I are going on tour and we finally have a venue for Tāmaki Makaurau and Palmerston North! And tickets are on sale now!
It’s going to be so fun! Our last tour in 2021 was so just blimmin fun! Just an absolute joy. We are raising money for a couple of great charities - Kia Ora Gaza, StarJam and Te Kōhanga Reo o Kākāriki. If you’d like to donate something for the mega raffle let me know!
The tour is running from May 7 to May 22 so it’s really soon! They’re about 70% sold for all the shows with some about to sell out today. So grab your tickets if you want to come!
Now onto FNC (a shorter version than usual because it’s the last week of school holidays and I took some time to be with my babies). Please excuse typos, when I tell you this w
What I’m reading:
has a newsletter New Means which is essential and I mean essential reading. I’ve been very slack in upgrading to paid even though I’ve read everything he’s written so today I did it. I paid!Anyway - a must-read this week in light of the enormous protests against genocide that are happening in campuses across the United States.
Being afraid does not mean you’re under attack.
Another must-subscribe for me is
- Submissions on the Fast-Track Bill closed last Friday night. Apparently, over 13,000 people submitted!If you’ve listened to the podcast Harsh Reality - Miriam Rivera, Reality TV's First Trans Star, Will Be the Subject of a New Documentary
Gay Furry Hacker Group SiegedSec Breached a Far-Right Media Outlet and Wreaked Havoc
Protesting against slaughter – as students in the US are doing – isn’t antisemitism. And that’s why there’s so many Jewish students protesting!
And I have a few things on my list to read - because mostly I’ve been busy with the kids!
has a post - Why are we still backing fossil fuels? I also want to catch on my fave newsletters More than a Fielding and and . And one of my favourite writers has joined substack. I immediately signed up to her newsletter and I want to spend a bit of Sunday reading.I do also want to read the reactions to Luxon having to sack Penny Simmonds and Melissa Lee. It’s a sign of the incompetence of this government that he had to bone two ministers when he only hired them two minutes ago. But I won’t shed a tear for Simmonds. She was crueller than cruel and I’ll celebrate this small win even though her replacement is going to be a nightmare.
I definitely liked
take on Simmonds - “She also “managed to unify the disability and caring community in collective outrage by placing the blame [for budget shortfalls] on carers for spending up large on haircuts, massages and pedicures”.”Yeah she did. Don’t fk with us.
Anyway this is cute but lord the unmade bed 🫣
What I’m watching:
I saw The Challengers at the movies in the hopes that it would be horny and it really is horny. Zendaya is brutally hot. I liked this review by
I am also looking forward to this cheerleader movie because I love cheerleader movies and also it’s directed by Elliot Page so I have high hopes that we finally have a spiritual twin to But I’m a Cheerleader (and by that I mean GAAAAY).
Like the entire universe I watched Baby Reindeer on Netflix. And can I just say JUSTICE FOR TERRI. I have a lot of feelings about how the show minimised the harm caused to the women in his life. But also, that’s a quibble because obviously it’s very good and a very accurate portrayal of complex PTSD.
People keep asking me if they should watch it and I would say - yes, if you’re in a good place mentally. No, if you’re a bit fragile. If you’re fragile I would suggest just following Nava Mau on Instagram because My GOD what a babe.
I also watched The Buccaneers on Apple+ and it was infuriating but fun with a killer soundtrack.
What I’m listening to:
Well - as always I’m listening to Tami Neilson. The pipes on this woman!
Look, it does not sound like a good listen - but I’m listening to a podcast about Guantánamo Bay. It’s season four of Serial and I haven’t listened to the first four seasons of Serial. But truly, it’s fascinating and I can’t stop listening. It’s wildly grim but great. And it just feels important to know this stuff now right?
I also can’t get past the fact that there’s a Guantánamo gift shop and you can buy Guantánamo tee shirts!!!!!!!!! They even had a Disney x Guantánamo line! Capitalism is truly a crushing force y’all. I cannot get over the fresh Hell of a Minions/place where we illegal hold and torture people tee shirt.
There is no efficient way to segue from war crimes to school holidays so I won’t even try.
How are your school holidays going if you’re on school holidays? Have you been chilling at home? Travelling? How was your short week? I would love to know what you’re watching, reading, and listening to! Let me know!
Have a cute poem that was sent to me that I love:
“May we raise children
who love the unloved
things–the dandelion, the
worms and spiderlings.
Children who sense
the rose needs the thorn
and run into rainswept days
the same way they
turn towards sun…
And when they’re grown and
someone has to speak for those
who have no voice
may they draw upon that
wilder bond, those days of
tending tender things
and be the ones.”
~ Nicolette Sowder
Tonight I got sent a picture of a little boy dancing with the spinning ball we sent him after posting it on Specialist Interests Aotearoa Facebook page. He loves to spin! My ND person is 12 going on 13 and things are a bit easier especially since my mum moved in with us, however I remember how hard it was to keep up with his voracious specialist interests when he was younger. Paying international shipping for godzilla dvds before godzilla was back in fashion and watching all the avengers movies over a summer so I could spend hours discussing who would win in a battle. Being able to share some of the items from our collections with other families now they are no longer of interest has been so special for me. A small piece of love from our family to another. Thank you Emily and Ham.
I just came here to post gifs of Captain Holt yelling BONE?!?! at the image you have put into my head of the thumb boning his ministers.