FNC - Good news! Good news!
Hello! Welcome to Friday Night Chats! It's so lovely to have you here. We made it through the week. And now we're here together - ready to chat! Let's go!
I am so happy to share some good news! Eddie has been given a Diabetes NZ scholarship!
He's the winner in the arts and culture category of the John McLaren Youth Awards.
Eddie Te Hōia from Wellington | Te Whanganui-a-Tara is our winner in the Arts/ Culture category. Eddie is a kaitiaki to tamariki who have been newly diagnosed at Wellington Hospital, he has organised fundraising drives and played a key role in driving for funding for CGMs. He will use the scholarship to fund a trip to his ancestral home to gain strength and confidence for his future mahi.
We are, of course, wildly proud of him, and we are saving for his dad so they can go together to Rēkohu and see where they are from. My husband has been before, when he was about the same age as Eddie. It's very exciting and very special!
This week has been busy. But there's been other good news. As you will all know by now: Zohran Mamdani won! Yay! Hammy was very excited. He has created a game based on US politicians that is basically like Top Trumps. The problem is, I don't know any of the people, but he's teaching me. He also has a very specific system of like political power vs. cultural power and it's almost impossible to understand but it is what it is!
My fave Zohran Mamdani commentary is from JP Hill: Zohran Mamdani and the Politics of Every Day - Hope, change, and action.
What happens when we understand this, when we do politics every day? Voting in an election can do some good, can mitigate harm, but the powers that be certainly don’t restrict themselves to election day. The forces of capitalism and fascism are active every day, and we must be too. It is this idea, as much as anything, that won Zohran the election.
I've been working on managing my ADHD/mental health for the last sort of...eight months? I have switched meds quite a lot, methylphenidate, dexamfetamine, and lisdexamfetamine...
Really, the only thing I've managed to do is get off sleeping pills. Which I guess is an achievement? But it's been slow going. I think a part of me felt once I finally sorted my life out and got ADHD meds I'd be "OK" but that just hasn't been the case.
But I have started doing a one-hour workout three times a week, which is helping a lot. I'm on the 0% alcohol beers. That's helping too. I'm doing a boring mental health walk every day. I'm trying to swim in the sea as often as I can. And I have used an app to turn off my social media at 10 pm.
It's very annoying to me that I have to do all of the things people say work. Very irritating that exercising helps me.
So, that's my update. I'm still a work in progress.
I put my Christmas tree up. Actually, it was late this year. I usually do it on the 1st of November, and I did it on the 3rd.
I needed a little Christmas magic and I won’t apologise for it! Christmas is my favourite holiday and my favourite time of year. I love everything about it, and I’m happy to love it again after a bleak time when the kids were babies and I hated it because they never slept. Anyway, it doesn’t matter - they’re older now, and it’s so much better!
What I'm reading:
Fancy that the journalist changed my title from 'blogger "Emily Writes"' to 'author "Emily Writes"' lol - Wellington mayor receives flurry of emails over Chung appointment.
Friedrich Engels' beard inspires climbing sculpture in Salford
Deconstructing the male centre of gravity is for all of us - absolutely my read for the week. So good.
What if we paid the Supported Living Payment like we pay the pension?
Why Kelston Boys could be turned into a charter school without the school’s approval
Does my vagina really need a ‘facial’?
Measles left me blind, this is why vaccinations matter
What’s Driving The Rise Of Workslop In AI Music Journalism?
This is an absolutely wild long read from the New York Times. It's paywalled, but you can access it here in the no-paywall place: She Was Ready to Have Her 15th Child. Then Came the Felony Charges - MaryBeth Lewis’s desire to be a new mom again, at 65 years old, led to a custody battle like no other.
I wish the journalist had been more curious about unpacking why she had an obsession with having babies tbh. And I hate her husband - oh, you thought you were going to retire and travel the world after having 8000 kids? Get real, BOB!
What I'm watching:
My favourite hate-watch, Selling Sunset, is back. I can't get enough of it. It's a banger of a season.
Look at this one scene where Chrishell (hot caramel blonde whose wife is Australian lesbian icon G-Flip) is sitting with Emma (hot white blonde who has an empanada empire and is not Hispanic) and Chelsea (Hot brunette who is English and is divorced from a crypto-bro), with Emma's boyfriend (his father invented microwave popcorn). It really shows what this show is about.
They are talking about how he ate at Taco Bell before going to the restaurant. He says he had a taco with no lettuce.
@dawsensaley emma. emma. are we joking. EWWWWW #sellingsunset #disgusting #baby #eatyourvegetables #fruits
♬ original sound - Brajan ☆
Look at this queen. Team Chelsea forever!
I mean, how can you not love the absolute chaos of this top she’s wearing at a restaurant??? When I tried to share it, Ghost thought I was sharing nudes and kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to post!
Mary is so manipulative! Also, while I definitely relate to Chrishell hating her friend's boyfriend, I think she went a bit hard at the reunion. Why do I care about these awful people? I don't. (I do).
All the Final Destination movies are now on Neon, and I am tempted to watch them all again. I will not be watching Scream Seven at the cinema because of the Palestine boycott! But also because I can't believe Sydney is still answering calls from unknown numbers. Come on!
I do think I'll check out Frankenstein on Netflix and Pluribus on Apple TV. I will also try to watch All's Fair even though it's had zero good reviews.
Companion reading: All’s Fair review – Kim Kardashian’s divorce drama is fascinatingly, existentially terrible.
What I'm listening to:
I listened to an episode of a podcast called Bad Results. Well, I listened to the first episode: Fake Baby, which was so out of the gate.
"In 2015, a 20-something American named John learns he might be a father. A prenatal paternity test confirms it, and he quickly pivots from college student to family man. But eight months into the baby’s life, a second test reveals John is not the father, shattering his new reality. “How could I be that unlucky?”
And then I kept listening, and it's just astonishing. It's so unbelievable. I guess I thought paternity tests were foolproof. What a nightmare. Every episode, it gets worse and worse.
Hammy has been wanting to listen to some musicals and put The Book of Mormon soundtrack on in the car, and LET ME TELL YOU THAT IS not age-appropriate lol. It's also very racist?!? Which is a shame because the first song is amusing.
What are you reading? Watching? Listening to?
What are your plans for the weekend? It's like eight days until Haute Take Presents: Everyone Got Made Redundant But Fk It - We’re Dancing! So make sure you get your ticket!
My best friend gave Hammy and me tickets to the ballet, so I'm hoping it will go well!
Whatever your plans are - have a lovely, lovely weekend and I’m so happy you are here.
Hammy's recommendation for a cool website: RandAnimal. Generate random, fascinating animals and learn facts about them!
Still bored? Will AI Take My Job?
I hope you sleep tonight as well as Pipi sleeps every day!
