FNC - My bestie's back

Kia ora, welcome to Friday Night Chats! It's so nice to have you here. It's been a real week of high highs and very low lows, so it's nice to be together here. I am feeling very happy today though. The sun is out even though it's cold, and I have had a great morning! Let's chat!

It has not been an easy week at all. I feel like I've failed in every area of my life - as a mum, wife, friend, volunteer, person etc. But then, this morning I was dropping my boy off to school and a little one came up to us and said that he had seen Ronnie wearing Pringles socks and so he got him some Pringles!

Isn't that so gorgeous? I almost cried on the spot. And it reminded me that mostly the world is good and we need to get out of our own heads. So I then had a nice long walk in the sun - putting off finishing this newsletter by an hour (and that's fine!). And I had a lovely morning. Tonight, I'm going to see Public Service Announcements: Election Meltdown at Circa. I'm really looking forward to it. And other than that it's a quiet weekend (except for MCing Julie Anne Genter's campaign launch which I mention later in the article).

I'm hanging on for next week, because I'm taking an impromptu girls trip to Ōtepoti (thanks Grabaseat) to see my friends Steph and Alex. We are very excited. We're going to get tatts (Steph is a tattooist so yay for mates who will tatt you up) and go to Woof (my favourite bar) and the new lesbian bar !!! I am very excited. Honestly, there's nothing a weekend with the girls can't fix. Big thanks to my husband, who will be holding down the fort so I can go away and try to avoid having a nervous breakdown lol.

Also, my bestie is back. She went away for a holiday (boo!), and it sucked not having her around even though we talk each day. We're so used to working together and seeing each other all the time. I felt a bit like I was missing half my body.

Your children are unpredictable

This week my son spoke to his class. This might not seem like a big deal, but it really, I mean really, is a big deal. My son has not spoken to another child his age for a long time. Almost two years. This year, he started at a new

Emily Writes WeeklyEmily Writes

It's never nice to wake up and be told 'you're in the NZ Herald'. Luckily it was just a photo of me (and I look cute). Unluckily, it's about how Tamatha Paul, Green candidate for Wellington North, has to withdraw her cool tees over copyright stuff.

It sucks because it's such a cool tee! And we need funds for Green Party campaigns! So if you want to support the campaign, you can volunteer or donate here. There's also (way cooler in my opinion) tees here.

Join the movement — Tamatha Paul

Grab some campaign merch and help make Tamatha Paul the future MP for Wellington Central

Tamatha Paul

As I said, I'll be MCing Julie Anne Genter's launch on Sunday - info here.

Thank you all so much for your lovely messages about my post about my boy. You're all so lovely. This week was a really rough one for him and therefore for us, and it's so important to remind myself that we're not going backwards any more; we're just sometimes having hard days. And that's part of life.

I am exhausted from this week, though, I gotta say. Sometimes I just think, surely life has to get easier, right? Is it winter? Is it the world? Is it the government? Everything just feels a bit grim right now eh? How are you feeling?

What I'm reading:

Jay Hulme's first collection of poetry, Clouds Cannot Cover Us, that I ordered a million years ago finally arrived in the post, and...it's ok?

I am very excited about Chris Tse's fourth collection DANCE FLOOR ROMANCE which is out in September. You can pre-order it here.

I've been reading a real mixed bag of posts this week!

Who’s behind those AI dread billboards? A tech company

San Francisco finally got a billboard that understood its AI anxiety. Then we found out who bought it.

The San Francisco StandardZara Stone

The Weight of Survival: When a Jug of Water Becomes Too Heavy for a Child

A fleeting video clip encapsulates the daily struggle in Gaza: a young boy trying to carry water for his family, only to collapse under its overwhelming weight.

Jehad's Substack’Dr .Jehad Malaka

The Wrong Man: The Bestselling Author, the Exoneration and the Rape Crisis the Police Ignored

Five years after Anthony Broadwater was belatedly cleared for the sexual assault of Alice Sebold, the questions of how he came to be wrongly convicted and how one or more serial rapists operated for years with little consequence have only deepened.

ProPublicaJoaquin Sapien

Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man

As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my…

London Review of BooksEmily Wilson

Public Fatigue, Diminishing Trust: Americans Turn Against the War on Iran

A new CBS News/YouGov poll reveals deep skepticism over the Trump administration’s handling of the conflict, as a majority of Americans view the war as harder than promised and favor an immediate end.

Jehad's Substack’Dr .Jehad Malaka

Stop the Climate Amendment Bill!

This is important because climate change is the most serious and important issue facing humankind. We have a rapidly closing window of opportunity to prevent catastrophic damage to the natural world and all human populations. The National Party / ACT / NZ First coalition government has already removed all previously useful emissions reduction laws and policies, leaving us only with the failed ETS scheme. This type of failure is not an option if we are to prevent the extreme weather events…

OurActionStation

Labour accuses Simeon Brown of using ‘personal troll farm’ to attack reporter - but PM ‘relaxed’ about matter

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he’s “completely relaxed” about a journalist’s questions to his health minister ending up with the Free Speech Union (FSU), who then attacked the reporter.

StuffAnneke Smith

Every major summer concert rumour, analysed for accuracy.

Radiohead! Muse! Flight of the Conchords! My Chemical Romance! Electric Avenue! Nine Inch Nails! Gorillaz! Fred Again! Olivia Rodrigo! Laneway! And the Black Eyed Peas?

Boiler Room with Chris SchulzChris Schulz

What I'm watching:

Remember that podcast I told you about? It's up. Unfortunately, it was videoed. Eddie is cute. I hate looking at myself and I wish podcasts weren't recorded. Anyway:

I haven't been watching much because Ronnie is going through a 'read to me! You can't watch TV!' phase. I watched A Toxic Love Story on Netflix. Good lord. What a yarn. I mean they really stretched it out but still...Yikes.

Want something to watch where both you and your kids learn something? I got you!

This might be helpful for future watching: A timeline of Josh O'Connor playing queer characters (past and future).

What I'm listening to:

I finished Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter. It was terrible. Look, it was so bad that I listened for like 11 hours, and there were about three minutes left, and I just stopped with three minutes left.

Then I started Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Which I really like. The author's note is so beautiful. I love the stars - so I know I'm going to really like this one.

What are you reading, watching, and listening to?

Want to do something fun? My friend and favourite writer Nadine Hura, who is incredible at journaling, is running a workshop series! Journaling is not a Luxury looks amazing. Check it out!

Journaling is not a Luxury

Powered by Lil Regie

I hope you have a nice weekend. We are also doing a family trip to the library this weekend. It's our new thing. It's really quiet at 10am on a Sunday (until the babies all arrive but we all love babies).

And we all get a book each for the week. It's a nice little ritual. And very good on a rubbish Wellington day, of which there are a lot of rubbish Wellington days lately.

Whatever you have planned, I hope it's nice. Thank you for being here with me. It means the world

Arohanui, Emily x

Here's a pic of me and Pipi on our walk.

Reminder: You can donate for cancer research and funds to support folks fighting cancer by joining our Daffy Dip team or donating to me! Click here for more info.