I'm Home 🏡
Today we’re starting with a BIG shout out to the 5 new ✨SYSCA SUPPORTERS✨ who’ve joined us in the last week!
Become a ✨SYSCA SUPPORTER✨ and get access to our weekly 🍿Culture Vulture newsy🍿, our special 📚bumper book list📚 and our 🎶SYSCA playlists🎶 (or just support us coz u love us 🥺)
Hi my friends!! I'm currently home in Blenheim and let me tell you - I think this is just what the doctor ordered. Before telling you about my weekend, let me set the scene for you. It's 4pm on Sunday, I'm sitting by the fire, Squish is asleep in the couch beside me (we got up to watch F1 qualifying last night so it's a well-deserved nap) and we're about to go and celebrate his 27th birthday - which is today (as you're reading this!!!)
I arrived home on Sunday at about lunchtime, got off the plane and went to a winery for some yummy kai (food). Malrborough/ Blenheim is a wine region, so we had a very wine-filled day. After lunch Squish took us to the winery he works at and gave us a big tour and a big tasting - it's called Mahi and legit makes the best wine in the region - I'm not even kidding!!
After that we came home, chilled, I saw my cat (her name is Tinkerbell and she's about 15 and she's deaf 🥺🥺), before going out for some dins, coming home for a nap, and then waking up at 2am to watch F1 qualifying!!!
Oh also, while we were at dins, Normy (who you all know and love from that time he fucked up big time) was trying to download the geocaching app (yes I'm getting everyone into geocaching) and for some reason he couldn't find it! Anyway, he was looking for a while, and then after not succeeding, he passed the phone to me and this is what/where he'd been searching:
HE WAS SEARCHING IN THE APPLE PODCAST APP INSTEAD OF THE APP STORE!!! Never a dull moment with that man I s2g.
Now fast forward to Luce writing this on Monday morning (hi!)
Where was I? Right! On Sunday I went to the farmers market with Mum and her mates, went to catch up with some other very special people, saw my dog Max, took a hot girl walk, did some damage at a second-hand shop, and then went out to dinner for Squish's bday!!! A very wholesome weekend!!
Down below I'm going to write all about getting up and watching my first ever F1 Grand Prix so stick around for that!!
PS I'm obsessed with all your guesses as to why I'm going to Texas - let's talk about that in tomorrow's edish eh??
Come home with me for the weekend!!! — www.tiktok.com
(Also squish reveal!!)
My first F1 Grand Prix experience
Pakistan appeals to world for flood help amid devastation
Fiji joins BeReal and becomes first country with an official account
Our favourite TikTok song is now on Spotify and it stayed beautiful
I Can’t Shut Up About Being Sexy and Having Fun
My first F1 GP!!
SPOILER ALERT!!
It's currently 1am in NZ, my little brother has just knocked on my door to make sure I don't miss the start of the race, I'm up in the lounge with my whole family, the fire's roaring, and I'm watching the Belgian GP!! It's already exciting because Squish has just arrived and it's his birthday (it's also Bottas's birthday) and within the first few minutes Hamilton AND Bottas are out!!
The rest of the race was pretty standard - Verstappen SLAYED, Ferrari did some ✨unique✨ things, a cheeky first and second for Red Bull - now I'm sleepy and off to bed!
Fiji joins BeReal and becomes first country with an official account
In some buzzy news, Fiji has joined BeReal!! They're the first country to make an account, and how it's going to work is that island locals are going to be working with Tourism Fiji to upload one unedited post every day. According to CEO of Tourism Fiji, the account would feature "really authentic stuff" like small coffee shops, friendly locals, and of course, their beautiful vistas.
Idk how successful this will be, but I kinda dig this leaning-in energy from Tourism Fiji!!!
Pakistan appeals to world for flood help amid devastation
More than 1000 people have died and millions have been displaced due to flooding in Pakistan since June, and they're calling on the world to help. People are struggling to get food, they're catching waterborne diseases, and the government have called this a 'climate catastrophe,' saying they're the worst floods they've seen since 2010.
Our favourite TikTok song is now on Spotify and it stayed beautiful
🎶I’m wearing his boxers
I’m being a good wife
We won’t be together
But maybe the next life
I need him like water
He lives on a landslide
I cry in his bathroom
He turns off the big light🎶
If your TikTok FYP was anything like mine, this song was ALL over it for weeks!! This snippet was shared by Katie Gregson-MacLeod, a songwriter/ barista from Scotland, and went - dare I say - ✨viral.✨ It was covered by King Princess, Camila Cabello, Madison Beer and... basically every budding singer on my feed.
The evolution of this song has actually been blissful to watch. I'm always worried when I see a new singer/songwriter rise up through the algo, because (as Liv and I have spoken about multiple times) music labels are literally throwing contracts/ deals at any and everyone popping off on the platform at any given time, and they love to rush out a release to capitalise on its virality. And fair enough! It's how 2022 works! Katie signed with Columbia Records super quickly, and within about a week has given us a full version of her song, but I love it coz it's still perfect.
It's reminding me of Leith Ross's 'We'll Never Have Sex', in the way that it was recorded in a super similar way to the original TikTok and wasn't touched by too much production/ the magic STAYED!! This could easily have been a segment about how our fave TikTok song has been ruined by the machine, but it hasn't and I love it too much and you should listen and support Katie!!
complex (demo) - song and lyrics by Katie Gregson-MacLeod | Spotify — open.spotify.com
Listen to complex (demo) on Spotify. Katie Gregson-MacLeod .
I Can’t Shut Up About Being Sexy and Having Fun
Is it time for some more discourse about people choosing not to have kids? Apparently so. This is the tweet that sent ✨the internet✨ into a minor tailspin the other day:
Mia Mercado from The Cut wrote a fucking brill piece in response to this, and I think it deserves a lil airtime in the newsy:
"The sad fact is there aren’t any examples of people over 40 who live a happy, fulfilling life without kids. Fortunately, I am still a spry and virile (though currently childless) 31-year-old. Thus, I have a few years left to keep trying to be sexy and have fun. (As we all know, you cannot be sexy or have fun after age 40.) So, I have devised a few answers about what to do once you reach that godforsaken point."
She goes on to list things like:
Use your disposable income to buy a houseboat
Travel
Think about why you don't have kids
Be ugly and have a bad time
Obviously, this piece is meant as a bit of a lol, but this tweet is kinda the perfect example of Twitter... Twittering. The platform basically begs you to tweet everything you think, and if you're like old mate Shane you'll double down on your initial over-sharing and... things might not go too well for you.
And now, a good tweet to balance this chat out:
A Bad Week To Be A Woman (The Shit Show)
Dan Schneider and the Nickelodeon Nightmare (Culture Vulture)
Why R U Mad at the Name Kayleigh? (The Cut)
Why Do We Love TikTok Audio Memes? (The New York Times)
SYSCA playlist (✨Supporters only✨)
Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)
