The secret gift of being single 💋
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I feel like I seriously need to remind you all HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!!! I truly feel like we are all besties/ pen pals. Everywhere I go you give me recommendations about things to see or do, I'm constantly learning new things from you all (how are you all SO smart??), and I love when you send me things that made you think of me (like this TikTok about how the name 'Lucy' sounds.) We've got the coolest shit ever going on here, and I hope we never lose it 🥺🥺🥺
I also LOVE when you send me random newsy responses like this one, from Emily:
"Babes I’m so stoned right now but I am seriously appreciating the flashing moving writing thing at the end of the newsletter (can’t remember what it said, final thoughts maybe?). Well done for getting a video like thing into an email. I’m so impressed I can’t tell you.
Night xoxo"
HAHAHAH I JUST LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH
OK ONTO THE NEWS
Bel Chimes In: On the secret gift of being single (or solo)
Remember when I had my pre-sleep thought about how we don’t appreciate the people who built/ maintain the sewer systems enough?? Well...
‘My Abortion Saved My Life’: Halsey on the End of Roe v. Wade
Do you like minions?
Bel Chimes In: On the secret gift of being single (or solo)
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.
Each month Luce and I have our morning phoenixing meeting, spill the tea on each other’s lives and chat through our ideas for the newsy. Luce always arrives before me (or I’m always 2.5 mins late), and she always wins Outfit Of The Day, which I love. A constant inspiration to us all.
Last time we met, we were swooning over how much we think being single for periods of time in our lives has been a gift. So naturally, I thought I’d write about it for you here. I hope this lands perfectly for anyone stuck in a shitty winter at the moment disillusioned with dating or in the midst of the northern hemispherian summer not feeling quite right.
So, my hot take:
Some of the best moments of my life have happened when single. I fled NZ for a season and taught in India. I published a book. I helped make a documentary. I walked across a country. I met strangers who turned out to change the course of my life. I say none of this as a flex (from my own tiny, imperfect life) but as deep encouragement to relish in the time you have when you can do whatever the fuck you want.
Of course, it can be expensive. And shitty. And sometimes lonely and hard. And confusing for couples to watch because they’ve often forgotten what it's like to be alone. Or how much of a physics degree you need to calculate how to do a supermarket shop for one and make everything last but not go off. Or what it’s like to step into a party knowing no one except the drink in your hand. Or to be at the airport needing to pee but also not wanting to abandon your luggage.
But also, life, in general, is just like that sometimes, no?
To know yourself alone, I think, is the greatest gift. Always changing, always shifting. To be able to dedicate pure time to yourself, to see these moments in between things as gifts - as opportunities to be better, try random things, make mistakes and forge friendships — that’s one of the true secrets of life. Thank you. Sheryl Sandberg. Lean in. Over and out.
Remember when I had my pre-sleep thought about how we don’t appreciate the people who built/ maintain the sewer systems enough??
Well, I’m still thinking about them, because newsy reader Caroline alerted me to Fatbergs. Have you ever heard of these?? Here’s a lil explanashe of a fatberg in London:
“There is a monster beneath the streets of London, menacing the East End underworld.
What has been named the Whitechapel fatberg is a rock-solid agglomeration of fat, disposable wipes, diapers, condoms and tampons. It was discovered to the east of the city’s financial district, occupying a sixth of a mile of sewer under Whitechapel Road, between one of London’s largest mosques and a pub called the Blind Beggar, where walking tours are taken to reminisce about a notorious gangland murder.”
And how did they deal with this fatberg? Well, an eight-member team had to go in and manually break it up.
“It’s a total monster and taking a lot of manpower and machinery to remove,” said Thames Water’s head of waste networks, Matt Rimmer. “It’s basically like trying to break up concrete.”
Honestly, we owe these people the world.
Fatbergs are an accumulation of things like disposable wipes and diapers (even things that say they are flushable are problems) which basically “mate with oil and grease to create fatbergs big enough to block tunnels that are six feet tall.” So, the old sewer systems in a lot of places simply can’t handle it.
Anyway, more on fatbergs here, but please, stop flushing ur disposable wipes, for the sake of these wonderful workers.
And while we're on the topic - shoutout to Louise's Grandad!
"Your sewer system story made me want to tell you about my Granddad! He was an engineer by trade and when Pope John Paul II came to visit Ireland in 1979 he (the Pope) was going to make an address (say a mass🤷🏼♀️) in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Everyone knew that this event was going to be huge but there are no toilets in Phonix Park (if my memory serves me correctly). So what do you do with thousands of people who will inevitably need the loo? Well, my Granddad was part of the team that designed and installed the underground sewer system for the Pope's visit to Phoenix Park! It was supposed to be a temporary installation with porta-loos above ground, and they were removed, but the sewer system below ground is still there! I can't remember the exact reason why they didn't remove it, but I'm sure if my Granddad could tell the story again it would be a hilarious ending or that they all just weren't arsed!
I love telling this story any chance I get because it's like my Granddads claim to fame 😅 I know he was involved in other important designs but this one always fascinated me and made me giggle, because nobody thinks of the sewers or the human need to go! And when the Pope comes to Ireland it's definitely not what people remember of his visit!"
✨Where politics meets the group chat✨
Right now learning about American politics can feel like a drag - believe me, I know. But whether we like it or not, the state of the states (lol) affects us all - so you better believe I’m about to put you on to a newsletter that will teach you everything you need to know, without making you feel like the world is ending - the Betches Sup newsletter.
Rubes and I have been subscribed to this daily newsy for years now - it’s written by women, it isn’t going to bore you, and it kinda feels like when politics meets the group chat.
If you want to keep up without getting worn down, then Betches Sup is 100% for you!!
Just a lil note from me!!
If you love what we do here at SYSCA, then please consider becoming a ✨SYSCA Supporter✨ It means so much to us when we see you supporting the media you love, and to be completely honest - it keeps us all employed!!
Not only that, but every ✨SYSCA Supporter✨ gets access to our bumper book list as soon as you sign up, and if youre a monthly or annual ✨SYSCA Supporter✨ then we are opening up our souls to you and gifting you some 🎶playlists🎶
We also have a new secret bonus that we're about to launch for our monthly and annual supporters, and trust me - you do not want to miss out on it 👀
Become a supporter to get access to all of these perks🥺
‘My Abortion Saved My Life’: Halsey on the End of Roe v. Wade
Content warning: miscarriage.
I read this piece, written by Halsey for Vogue the other day, and I just really want to share it with you. Halsey talks about how they had three miscarriages before the age of 24, and also had to have a life-saving abortion - a right that has been taken away for so many others who will need it in America. I’m going to share quite a bit of it here (I think it’s really important) but I encourage you to go and read the full piece.
“I gave birth to my son on July 14, 2021. It was a beautiful labor. I sat back, knees apart, with my partner by my side and laughed my way through delivering him. I was puzzled by the absence of tears; the hysterical euphoria was not what I had anticipated.
I had been flanked by nurses and doctors in a bed like this before, heaving through sobs and feeling blood trickle down my thighs like tiny spiders under my skin. I miscarried three times before my 24th birthday. It seemed a cruel irony that I could get pregnant with ease but struggled to maintain a pregnancy. One of my miscarriages required “aftercare,” a gentle way of saying that I would need an abortion, because my body could not terminate the pregnancy completely on its own and I would risk going into sepsis without medical intervention. During this procedure, I cried. I was afraid for myself and I was helpless. I was desperate to end the pregnancy that was threatening my life.
I rewrote my will during the third trimester of my pregnancy. After my past experiences, I was prepared for the worst. I gave detailed instructions regarding the donation of my organs should I die or be declared brain-dead, meaning if my heart beat on but my brain wasn’t functioning, the state would have permission to cut into my warm and still flush flesh and take my organs to save other lives. How funny that while my own heart would amount to nothing more than a series of involuntary movements on an operating table, a beating heart in my womb could mean I couldn’t consent to saving my own life.”
Do you like minions?
Honestly, I really don't (and do you know who really hates minions? Squish.) I thought that this was quite a popular opinion, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw THIS:
The final results were:
52% of you like them
47% of you don't
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A EULOGY FOR THE CAPTCHA (Gawker)
A million-strong troll army is targeting Iran’s #MeToo activists on Instagram (Rest of World)
We Asked An Evolutionary Biologist What the Hell Minions Actually Are (Vice)
R.Kelly's Crimes: Explained (Culture Vulture)
Our Love Island Debrief (Culture Vulture)
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