There have been 323 school shootings recorded in 2024 to date

+ Bel's final chime, going out to anyone who finds this time of year difficult 🥺

Angels! Christmas and the New Year are coming up (HOW???) so I wanted to give you all a special discount to get yourself, or someone you love in your life, a SYSCA subscription to be part of the cutest community on the internet!!

Whether you know someone who’d love it, or whether your New Year’s Resolution is to stay on top of the news a bit more (or to support the media you love) I think this would make a great gift (and I’m not biased in the slightest) xx

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A bittersweet newsy today as we bid farewell (for now, not forever) to one of the most beloved members of the SYSCA universe, Bel!!!! As you know, Bel and I are soul sisters, the two single drunk aunts at the wedding, the most worn-out-women you know, and co-authors of a WHOLE ASS BOOK!!! Meeting Bel has changed my life in more ways than I can explain, but the honest truth of it all is that we both need a goddamn creative BREAK!!!! Turns out, mining your whole life for experiences to put in a book will really drain you, and it felt like time (after a whole 3 YEARS) that we gave her a break. I’ll miss her, I know you’ll miss her, but thanks to the internet, you know where to find her.

BUT, the best way to support her (and us) is to buy our book for yourself or your loved ones xxxx

✿⊰𖡼𖥧𖤣❀ BEL’S FINAL CHIME ❀𖤣𖥧𖡼⊱✿

This section is written by the refreshing-as-a-house-chardonnay-on-a-steamy-day (and co-author of our debut book Make It Make Sense) Bel Hawkins. Each week Bel comes here to chime in about the things she’s been loling at, yearning for, or totally mystified by. Luckily for us, she also writes our Sunday advice column ‘Wait, But What?’ for all our paying supporters who want to make sense of the world!! Upgrade your plan to get her newsy here!

To anyone who finds this time of year difficult

Hello crushes <3

I don't know about you, but each time December ticks over, a low level of anxiety rumbles through me, and it makes me want to skull my aunty's favourite Christmas cocktail (A chanta = half chardonnay, half Fanta, you're welcome), have a nice, long lie down and wait for all of it to be over.

I'm also a chill girl grinch. I hate the overcrowded Christmas markets. I hate the pressure to be put together at the end of an entire year. I hate the unhinged rush to the end. The retail sales. The wishlists. The unrealistic deadlines. The tricky dynamics. The pressure and the places you thought you'd be and the ones you end up in.

(I do love the sparkle, though - I'll give it that! Plus, we had our studio Christmas party last weekend, and I did just really love that <3).

Without sounding like a brand co-opting Christmas to sound empathic and appeal to 'the people' - this Chime is for anyone who finds this time of year difficult. I have friends that have recently miscarried. Or lost someone. Or are nursing a freshly-snapped romantic heart. Are far away from where they want to be (geographically, emotionally, life-ly). Are struggling financially. Are struggling emotionally. Are estranged from their family. Are dreading going home again, single, and being seated at the kids' table only to be asked why no one's picked them yet. Or, are struggling to juggle more than one family over one tiny day. There are so many things! There are so many realities! It's easy to forget that when all you're fed this time of year is roast chicky and gift guides.

Amidst the after-work drinks and the festivities and the pressure to have a shimmery outfit and a warm, put-together life to celebrate and put on display is the reality of it not being a reality for everyone. I hear you! I see you! My advice is to get the hell off the internet during this time and make rituals that feel good to you. What a triumph it is, I think, to take a day that's meant to be a certain way and make it yours. We spend so much of our lives now looking through windows into everyone else's, it's easy to forget we can opt out of things and create different shapes for our own.

Just to make this about me for a second - this is my THIRD Christmas grinch chime, which means it's been nearly THREE years Chiming into your inboxes with my trickle-down therapy and internet philosophy. I want to get earny on main for a second and say I simply j'adore you! For all your support this year for SYSCA, the book (the book!) and my unhinged obsession with coming up with new words to help take over the world. I wouldn't be here without you, and I'm truly so grateful for that <3.

I'm taking some time out of the SYSCA universe next year to regather creatively, work on my new quest and prep for an artist residency in Japan (!!). But, if you need me - you know where to find me. And the meantime, sending all my wishes, whether you like this holiday or not. I feel lucky to know you and lucky to be alive.

Wishes! Bel xo

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ IN THE NEWS⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Everything we know about the Madison, Wisconsin, school shooting

You know it’s not gonna be a good day when you wake up and realise that you’re going to be writing about another school shooting in America. This time it was a tragic shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, which left three people dead, including a teacher, a student, and the 15-year-old female shooter, who was also a student at the school. Six others were injured in the incident, with two in critical condition.

Here’s what else we know:

• Heartbreakingly, it was a second grader (only 7 or 8 years old) who reported the shooting to the police

• Authorities have identified the suspected shooter as a 15-year-old female student, Natalie Rupnow, who went by the name Samantha.

• There have been 323 school shootings recorded in 2024 to date, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. This marks the second-highest number ever documented in a single year, surpassed only by the 349 shootings recorded in 2023

• At the time of the shooting, officers had been training to respond to similar scenarios. “So what began as a training day became an actual thing.”

• Unconfirmed but online I’ve been seeing sources allegedly close to the suspected shooter saying that she wrote a manifesto and posted it online, but forgot to make it accessible to everyone on Google Docs

More updates here x

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A 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit Vanuatu

A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck near Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, causing landslides, crushing vehicles, and flattening several buildings.

While reports of fatalities remain unconfirmed, the full scale of the damage is still unknown, as power and mobile networks across the country are currently down.

Journalist Dan McGarry, who lives in Port Vila, shared that hospital authorities had confirmed at least one death. He also witnessed "several people who were visibly, seriously injured" outside the emergency unit.

Vanuatu is no stranger to earthquakes, but McGarry described this one as feeling like "the biggest... in more than 20 years."

More on this here!

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