What ever you need

May you get a bit of it, today.

May 11, 2025

Hello all, long time no chat for some of you. Nice to be back in your inboxes. Wishing you all a Mother’s Day that’s part family, part self, part eating, part relaxing, part cuddles, part tears (if thats what you need), part watching, part sitting-in-the sun and part reading (this long list of good things).

And if all else fails maybe just find Jessica Ulrich and soak up some of her poetry.

S xxxxx

Podcast playlist

Without a doubt this is the best story I have listened to in a long while. I need to get this guy on our podcast - and hooray for what he’s doing, against all odds.

In celebration of a bookshelf perve.

“If I visit your house, I’m 100% having a furtive perve at what’s on your bookshelves. Everything I want and need to know can be answered fi I see the pile on your bedside table. Forget dating app’s if you want a connection provide a recommended reading list. If I saw this book on someone’s bookshelf I’d know there were someone I wanted to talk to.” Micheal Williams, Read This host.

Have also been giving this podcast a bit of a run, its light and a bit of fun. It’s a chat style pod, hosted by two young rural-ites Bella and Toni.

And then also, there’s Galah’s podcast: it’s a delight, of course it is. Fave so far is defs Mushroom Man: a had like a million thought bubbles and takeaways from this one ie ladies, it’s not just about mushrooms, but about life with a bit of AI thrown in for good measure.

Lay your eyes on these Instagram accounts

@waggleandround || @freyasimonne || @_ju_et_cie_

This pile of things to read

The NY Magazine has a daily newsletter on Substack.

This is a delightful read - its the story of a once dwindling tiny town in New Zealand’s south island where locals, inspired by Wigtown, a Scottish ‘Booktown’ - have reinvented Featherson to also become a town that’s all about books. They have a festival and three bookshops. Via Shepherdess.

“Ten years ago, the perception of Featherston was not good. A number of things had happened, including a couple of brutal murders. The town was totally demoralised and feeling quite hopeless because a lot of things were happening to it from the outside.”

No subscriptions, no problems. An ABC pile-up of free things to watch in April. TBH any watch list is a good list.

How many notebooks do you have in operation at any one time? Ah, about a kajillion. Loved this on notebook ‘systems’

Thank you to whoever introduced me to

Jessica Stanley

’s newsletter READ.LOOK.THINK - it’s a bit like this one in that it got lots of on-trend and also left of center recco’s from life.

This, made me think. It’s about fun and experiences. Some experiences have lots of inconvenience rolled up in them ir waiting in line for the concert and others ie playing a game online have zero inconvenience and may be fun but they are not etched in your mind. Not sure if this is making sense - maybe just read it to see what the. I’m talking about!

“But atomization encourages us to reduce multivariate experiences, often the most important parts of life, to their single most obvious element: Biking is about exercise, and scheduling with friends and planning a route and inflating your tires all get in the way of that. Eating is about sustenance, and inviting friends and getting groceries and cooking all get in the way of that. Relationships are about talking, and meeting up in person and leaving the house and scheduling are all inconveniences. Work is about checking off tasks, so spending time commuting to an office where you might goof off and socialize all get in the way of that.”

I’ve told you before but I bluddy love Bri Lee’s newsletter

News & Reviews by Bri Lee

- the paying part of this week’s edition riff’s on Graydon Carter’s new book about the publishing world (will be adding to the pile) and laments the Australian magazine scene. Main point is: what wrong? I could be editors with no strong pov, no strong difference and therefore nothing to get behind. A being all things to all people kind of argument.