FNC - Are you allowed to play that in your car?

Emily Writes

09 Jan 2026 — 7 min read

Welcome to Friday Night Chats! I hope you had a very restful break. It's been a very bleak time for the world truly, but we're here, and we're here together, and that's what matters. It all feels weird, but we at least have each other. Let's chat.

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I am enjoying the lovely sunshine! The world feels like it's going mad - but I am clinging - CLINGING - onto any joy I can. And trying very hard to just be grateful. Grateful for:

The Sun
Good friends
Heated Rivalry memes and every interview with Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie
I cleaned my room and replaced my bedside drawers with K-Mart ones for $39!!! Wow, my life is not exciting.
And on that note, I went to K-Mart, and my son wanted one of those Lego mini-figures that you have to collect, but they come in a box, so you can't see which one is which, and it's designed to make parents have to buy 10 of them and get six double-ups. Anyway, I knew my son would not cope if it wasn't the one he wanted (autism), and we found an online Lego scanner - you can scan the bottom of the box and it tells you what's inside the box. FINALLY. So we scanned 20 boxes in a very busy K-Mart, and he got the one he wanted. Success. Small wins, baby.
My son does not eat much. He only really eats potatoes. So my husband does potatoes a thousand different ways. Today he made tornado potatoes and this was his FIRST TRY! The man is a wizard to me.

As you know, I'm not doing NY resolutions really - I'm doing hopeful attempts at joy. But I did find this post really helpful! I especially like the very Australian idea of a 'blockie'.

A great NY activity that nurtures the soul that you could have a go at is Nadine Hura's Summer Journalling project:

What I am not grateful for:

It's self-inflicted, but I have the worst hangover of my life after drinking Aperol spritzes in the sun. I feel like I need to be in the intensive care unit. I had to put petrol in the car, and I was fighting for my life. I mean, look how happy I was just yesterday:

What I'm reading:

I have been reading a lot of light, fluffy books on my Kindle, and I'm enjoying it so much! I read Heated Rivalry and the book after that Tough Guy, and now I'm onto Common Goal. I am trying to read them all before reading the sequel to Heated Rivalry - The Long Game. A friend asked why I'd read it if it would spoil the next season of Heated Rivalry, but I will never remember that book in 2027.

All of the books are so short and easy to read that it feels satisfying to churn through them. And whenever Ilya or Shane turn up in a book, I get my Heated Rivalry fix. I am unwell. I know it.

This is a great line: "Everything Hegseth does reeks of profound desperation. His whole life feels like watching someone pee their pants in public."

Also, "Nike sold out of the tracksuit Maduro was photographed wearing" is so bleak.

What I'm watching:

Not a heap of stuff, to be honest, because I am really enjoying just reading. And every new TV show seems depressing. I started Paradise on Disney+ and I'm only one episode in but phew! What a twist.

I think I'm just not going to watch anything until The Pitt S2 comes out.

I do have a list of documentaries I want to watch/finish watching. I just need to find them online...

Forgetting Dad - After a car accident, a 45-year-old man with amnesia starts a new life with a new wife. 16 years later, his son investigates why his father's memory never returned and films the process.
Love and Bananas - A heartwarming and hopeful film that exposes the plight of Asian elephants and the people who work tirelessly to save them.
Sharkwater - An investigation of sharks' importance to ecosystems and humankind's mass destruction of shark species worldwide.

This looks good:

What I'm listening to:

I am enjoying the Empty Netters hockey podcast, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say. But they're covering Heated Rivalry, and while I never thought I'd willingly seek out a straight man's opinion - I really love it.

The Quinn erotic audio app....I don't know if I like it yet. I was listening to the fairy story in the car (alone), which I know I'm probably not meant to do, and I didn't realise the back window was down for the dog. No wonder I got such a weird look from the car next to me at the lights. I'm so deaf that I had it up really loud so all they would have heard was "HIS WINGS !!! TREMBLED !!! HIS THICK !!! ERECT !!!..." etc.

I tried another one that is like someone talking to you. But it was a man telling me what to do, and no thank you.

I am not up to episode 3 because I don't have any time to myself right now. My husband just walked into the bedroom (with a closed door) where I'm writing this and gave me a look as he heard 'his mouth was warm and soft'. GOD FORBID A WOMAN HAS HOBBIES!

What are you watching? Reading? Listening to?

What are your plans for the weekend? What are you grateful for and NOT grateful for? Arohanui Emily x