I'm Not Supposed To Be Doing This
So I know I told you that you weren’t gonna be getting a newsy today, but since I love you (and I wanna remind you that doing this for you every day GENUINELY IS MY HOBBY) you’re getting a cheeky long weekend edition. I thought I’d use this time tho, to re-tell you what my mornings look like, and to re-introduce you to SYSCA’s other children (believe it or not, writing this newsletter isn’t the only thing we do throughout the week.)
Who knows, maybe reading this will even give you a little nudge to come and support us??
My morning routine
Here’s me, back in November last year:
“I’m gonna describe my morning to you so that you can have a picture of me in your mind when you read these. I think that’d be fun. So, my alarm goes off at 5am. Depending on how early I went to sleep, I’m awake 2 minutes before it and am good to go, or, I wake up in a panic upon hearing the alarm. Either way, I jump out of bed, pull my curtains, listen to the birds for a sec (I love their company in the AM) and flick on my lamp. Then, slippers on, I wander out to the kitchen and in my head, every morning without fail, is the theme song from Reba 🎼a single mom who works two jobs, who loves her kids and never stops… 🎼 as I do all my silly little morning chores for my flatmates (making a pot of coffee, pulling curtains, emptying the dishwasher on a good day.)
Coffee in hand, I head back to my bed, balance the coffee on the leaning tower of books and magazines on my bedside table, grab my laptop and start writing/ searching through the news for good content for you. Sometimes, I’ve done a little bit the night before, most days I’m coming at you fresh and blank. About half an hour in, after my first coffee, I need to use the toilet. I do that, grab another coffee, and get back to it. Then after about an hour of writing, I’m ready to make the little header image and format the newsletter. After that, I send a preview to my phone and read it on there as if I were you (wanna get and give the best experience). While I’m doing that I make edits on my computer, panic for about five minutes before I send it about what I could have gotten terribly wrong / the embarrassing typos I might have missed, and then hit send.
After that, I slam my laptop down, have a shower and then from 8-9 is my favourite time of the day. It’s like my free hour, where I can go for a bike ride or a walk and listen to a podcast, or I can read a book, or I can reply to all of you! It’s my favourite hour of the day!”
Ahhh, I was so spritely and not beaten down by the grind back then!!
Since then a few things have changed:
If I want to avoid falling asleep in the afternoons (and if I have time) I will write some of the newsy the day before so I can extend my sleep until 6am (this doesn’t happen often, but I love when it does)
I no longer have a coffee as soon as I wake up, I usually have it when I’m editing the newsy (I know, you can’t tell that I edit this thing because of the mistakes - I do my best)
My aforementioned ‘favourite hour of the day’ doesn’t really exist anymore!!! Things have gotten so busy at SYSCA (which is a dream) that I’m usually working right through from 5/6am.
This has actually been a good exercise for me to see that I need to actively carve out my special hour of the day (preferably in the mornings because by the end of the day I’m spent), and hopefully it’s been helpful for you all to see what goes into this baby between 5-7am!!!
Anyway, I hope this painted you a picture of what my day is like every single day, and just know, I STILL love every second of it!
(If that didn’t make you wanna support me / this newsletter, idk what will!)
Re-introducing The Shit Show podcast!!
I also realized that I’ve been throwing the links to our podcasts around in these newsletters like you know what I’m talking about (and I’m sure a bunch of you have picked up on it by now) but I thought I would give my other children a formal (well as formal as I get) intro today too.
The Shit Show was our second baby (after we launched SYSCA.) We designed and sold tote bags to raise money for a couple of podcast mics that we could plug into our laptops (which we still use to this day), taught ourselves how to use Garageband (which we still use to this day), and honestly, just jumped on the mic and… did our best. It wasn’t good, but it was our classic SYSCA way of not planning too much and just STARTING THE THING! The three of us (or just whoever was free that week) would jump on the mic weekly and try to explain whatever was going on in the world, to make it make sense (and when covid hit and Rubes and I couldn’t move to London we even did it twice weekly - which was a LOT), but it helped us grow a loyal and loving audience over there, and helped us get better at chatting shit!!
Today The Shit Show is still a weekly news wrap-up, still recorded on those very same mics, but it’s hosted by me and my older brother Squish (who you’re all obsessed with), and Rubes has moved into the role of editor (huuuuge role considering how much we fuck up on that mic.) It makes the news not scary, it’s full of sibling banter, and you should really come and subscribe.
Some of my fave eps:
(The Shit Show also won best independent podcast AND listeners choice at the New Zealand podcast awards, so if you won’t take my word for it, take New Zealand's!)
Re-introducing the Culture Vulture podcast!!
Culture Vulture is our third child, and honestly one of the highlights of my week. It’s a pop culture / celeb industry / mental health wrap up that Liv and I do weekly. It ranges from super heavy shit (like the Amber Heard Johnny Depp trial) to lighter shit (like ‘WTF happened to Ed Sheeran’s music?') to celebrity interviews (with ppl like Lorde & Benee) and reality TV chats (don’t worry, the Love Island debriefs are coming BACK.)
We’ve been told that we fill the gap that The High Low left (huge compliment but we’ll take it), and if you’re interested in balanced and smart takes about an industry that really does affect us all (no matter how immune you think you are to the Kardashians), you’ll LOVE THIS!
Some of my fave eps:
Partner with us!!
Now feels like a good time to give you all a little reminder that we have space within both our podcasts, and within the daily newsy to work with sick partners who align with our values!!
If you reckon that’s you, hit us up here!
📚Shit You Should Read About📚
Every ✨SYSCA Supporter✨ gets access to our bumper book list as soon as you sign up! It's all the books we loved, hated, and the books that changed us.
What supporters are saying about the book list:
Louise: "Omg there are so many books and little write-ups! I was literally expecting a list (which would have been totally cool) 🥺 but you guyssss 💕
Taylor: "So excited to watch this list grow. From one book lover to another, thank you for this and everything else you do!"
Jessi: "Already loaded three recs onto my Kindle so safe to say early on that this perk is the move. 😍"
🎶SYSCA Playlists🎶
If you’re a monthly or annual ✨SYSCA Supporter✨ then we are opening up our souls to you and gifting you some 🎶playlists🎶
What supporters are saying about the playlists:
Michelle: “Luuucee anybody with Can’t Fight the Moonlight on their playlist is immediately my best friend. I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.”
Allison: "Ahhhhhhh these are amazing—but please especially give my compliments to Chef Ruby for cooking up a playlist that is s e n d i n g m e"
Hannah: “This is the greatest thing. Of all things. At this moment right now. I've been CRAVING new music (cheers Hazza for helping me out) but I don't trust spotify playlists because the ones they recommend to me I never seem to enjoy!!! So thank you. Off I go to listen!”