Being Mysterious Is Sexy 🧙‍♀️

Sep 07, 2022

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Hi angels!! First of all, I made some errors yesterday that I wanna clear up (in classic Luce fashion.) For one, I wrote that one of the suspects in the Saskatchewan stabbings had died, due to 'self-inflicted' injuries - these were in fact not believed to be self-inflicted. I also said that the Nirvana baby was four years old when he was very clearly only four months old and I should just not be trusted to make any calls at 5am.

I'm off to record The Shit Show this morning with Squish at 6am, and to be honest with you I'm feeling completely worn out, so this is going to be a short but shiny one today (short thanks to me, shiny thanks to Bel) - hope that's okay!

Let's hear it for the women's Rugby World Cup!!
Bel Chimes In: Being Mysterious is sexy and here's why
Hong Kong judge finds five guilty over children's books
Horoscopes and various shitposts

Let's hear it for the women's Rugby World Cup!!

This section was brought to you by the legends behind the women’s Rugby World Cup!

Does anyone else just have intense memories from the 2011 Rugby World Cup?? I would have been like 14 and even though I definitely wasn’t seeking it out, it just felt like it was everywhere and such a huge moment. My teachers were helping us track it, my family would have every game on… I think I even went to a random match?? Well, this year - we’re hosting the Rugby World Cup again - but this time it’s for our sisters on the field - and I want to see/ feel that same energy!!

I bet that you - even if you aren’t one of our kiwi readers, know who the All Blacks are - and that’s great. But what about the Black Ferns??? Our women’s rugby team who’ve won the world cup five times??

This year we’re hosting the women’s Rugby World Cup (in both Auckland and Whāngarei) which is from the 8th of October - 12th of November, where the top 12 teams in the world are gonna be playing, and there’ll also be performances from people like Rita Ora & BENEE!! Slay!!!

We all got gassed up for the Tour de Femme, and when the US women’s football team were finally promised equal pay - let’s channel that energy for women's rugby eh??

PS, if you want tickets, you can get them here!!!

Bel Chimes In: Being Mysterious is sexy and here's why

This section is written by my crush, the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day, Bel Hawkins. You should check out more of her beautiful words here.

I cannot say how GORGE it is to be back, writing to you all in real-time and not the past, pretending to be the present, from the floor of an airport lounge en route to or from my holiday (side note - this used to be my old life when I was a digital nomad, and it gave me cute flashbacks to my old greasy life where I taught myself how to run my own writing business from various floors of public transport. More on that later, perhaps).

I had an absolutely divine time away, thanks for asking, swimming in seas, living out my Blue Crush surfing dreams, drinking spicy margs at lunchtimes and hanging out with my sis who I affectionately call Baby Hawk. This worn-out-woman (WOW for short - what do you think?) is back, cup to the brim - we hope it lasts!

Firstly, as always, j'adored all your responses in my absence. Who knew Irish goodbyes (and all the other names you gave us) were such a hot topic! We love a secret escape, but also, we do love a warm goodbye. You pick your poison :)

This week I thought I'd talk about the importance of being mysterious. During my time away, I was kinda shocked by how consumed by our phones everyone was - even in the most lush paradise settings, or divine meals, or like, hooning cockies (cocktails — just to be clear) with your besties, here we all were, transfixed by our phones checking in on everyone else's lives, wondering if out there, there's something potentially better. (My hot tip was not to get a local SIM so I could only connect when I got home to my accom each night).

I've always hated the idea of someone searching me and knowing everything about my life. Where I get my coffee. What I wore to work that day. Who I'm crushing on. Where I work out. What car I drive. What my favourite treat to buy at the dairy is (Milky Bar, though - if anyone was wondering). What the inside of my mind looks like. What I'm doing all weekend. It might be because I'm a romantic gush, but I love the idea of living a life wrapped up in enough strategic mystery that if someone were to search me online, sure they'd find cute snaps from my holiday up north from my girl band or pics of the art I love in my house, but they wouldn't know me intimately.

It also relates to real life. As Luce and I were talking about Mystery Being Sexy as a concept, we laughed about how many times when we were younger we'd come back from a party riddled with hangxiety on how much we'd overshared after too many RTDs (ready to drinks — Smirnoff Double Black, she's chic) the night before. And how many times we wanted to CONTROL+ALT+DELETE (new phrase, do you love it?), reboot, and live the night again.

All of this begs the question: What if we set boundaries as to where our public lives end and our public lives begin? What do we really feel comfortable with people knowing about us, and what would be ~ cute ~ hot ~ caring ~ mysterious ~ if we kept it for ourselves, or the circles closer to us?

This is totally not a judgement on anyone who loves sharing their life on social media - kudos to you if you love it and it makes you feel connected with the world! Live your life! But also maybe this is a cute prompt to think about how you can invite more mystery in your life. Hot.

Hong Kong judge finds five guilty over children's books

A Hong Kong judge has just found five speech therapists guilty of publishing 'seditious children's books' (sedition basically means inciting people to rebel against the authority of the state.)

The group of five speech therapists, who were founding members of a union, produced cartoon e-books that some interpreted as trying to explain Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement to children.

The books in question?

They were about "sheep trying to hold back wolves from their village" and were "interpreted by authorities as having an overtly political message."

In one of the three books a village of sheep fight back against a group of wolves who are trying to take over their settlement.

In another one, the enemy attackers are portrayed as dirty and diseased wolves.

After a two-month trial over these books, judges ruled that seditious intention was 'clear' and the five creators of these books - who have already spent a year in jail awaiting their verdict - will have to wait a few more days to be sentenced, but face a few more years in jail.

But why?

You might remember that in 2022, Hong Kong brought in a range of sweeping new security measures to try and crack down on citizens and 'squash dissent.' We covered the then-new national security law on SYSCA pretty heavily, but to recap, it was kept secret until it was passed and it criminalises any act of:

secession - breaking away from the country
subversion - undermining the power or authority of the central government
terrorism - using violence or intimidation against people
collusion with foreign or external forces

These speech therapists are the just the latest to be cracked down on in what I imagine is a really scary time for anyone who has made Hong Kong their home and wishes to speak freely about ✨certain things.✨