Hello my loves. So it looks like I've not done one of these tiny newsletters since about 2022, back before TinyLetter was still in existence*

* (you may notice I've switched you all to buttondown. I wanted to avoid something like Substack because they act like a bunch of rotters).

Lookie here, there's nothing like the New Year to make you feel pressured to do some reflection. But that’s not the direction I’m going here, not really, even if year-end is the prompt that made me think about writing at all. I present to you: a bunch of cool and useful shit I’ve been into lately.

Small joys

Making elaborate meals.

Love in a fucked up world.

Good charity shop finds.

New rugs to keep our feet warm.

Kendra Gaylord’s youtube videos about architecture in pop culture.

Sky seeming to be happier than ever.

My hot chocolate maker. I’m not drinking alcohol atm so I’ve stocked up on fancy hot chocolates and herbal teas instead for a treat.

Keeping the fairy lights up all winter.

Hyperfocusing on a useful project.

Re-watching Twin Peaks.

Fave 2025 film watches: Nowhere, Wolf Walkers, BloodSisters, Blue Jean, Song of the Sea, Grandma, Totally Fucked Up, Queer, Minari, Perfect Days, The Apartment.

Fave 2025 reads

• The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions - I still don’t know how to really describe this book except wonderfully queer. The person who produced the stage show bought a copy of the book off me last year, that was pretty cool?

• The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by
  Naomi Klein - read this after loving Doppelganger last year, and even after 20 years it explained out political landscape so much.

• Private Rites by Julia Armfield - how does she manage to keep making water so beautifully creepy? (Salt Slow was also a great read this year)

• Girlhood by Melissa Febos - I am obsessed with Melissa Febos’ writing and this one hits you in the gut exploring so eloquently the absolute trauma that comes from growing up a girl.

• Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - my favourite book club read of the year, oh the angst and gay shame! I want to read everything he’s done.

• Rebel Girl by Kathleen Hanna - probably only appealing to anyone who went through a Riot Grrrl phase but damn Kathleen Hanna went through some shit to make punk music.

• How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm - the argument for/against violent direct action over the climate crisis which does make you wonder why we aren’t we blowing up pipelines?!

• Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told by Jeremy Atherton Lin - meandering memoir and queer history, much like his previous book Gay Bar (which I also loved), except this one looks at both the changes of law around homosexuality and the policing of borders over time, and how the 2 intertwine.

• How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS by David France - the longest book I tackled this year (thankfully on audiobook), there is so much to the research and activism of the HIV/AIDs crisis which sounds like it’s hard to fully comprehend if you didn’t live it, I felt like I learnt so much from this one.

• special mentions to: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, All Fours by Miranda July, Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt (so, so gross).

Also, fuck streaming services

A few years ago I cancelled my Spotify account - around the time folks were talking a lot about how little musicians make from streams. I bought myself a new MP3 player and resurrected my collection, re-downloaded WinAmp (yep it’s still going). Now the Spotify CEO invests in AI weapons there’s no better time to cancel your subscription.

TV/film streaming is spread over so many different platforms, they can pull your favourite show or movie at any point, while now forcing you to pay for the privilege of sitting through ads or paying through the nose to remove them. I’m sick of renting everything, aren’t you? Especially when it seems like it’s only tech bros getting to financially benefit.

So, with that in mind, some things I’ve been enjoying or finding useful lately:

• Buying physical records and buying music from Bandcamp when I can. Getting DVDs of films I really like.

• Listening to KEXP. They rarely play a song I dislike, ads are unobtrusive, and DJs have freedom over what they play so you don’t get the same songs repeated all day. Their app is also really good, like you can bookmark songs you like that they play.

  Some of my favourite shows are Drive Time with Evie Stokes (variety), Sounds of Survivance (global indigenous music), The Roadhouse (blues), and Pacific Notions (neo-classical and ambient. Btw did you know that lots of those chill-out/ambient/concentration/jazz playlists on Spotify are filled with music by ‘ghost artists’ that they don’t have to pay as much?)

• When I’m on my PC, streaming on Youtube with an adblocker extension on.

• Returning to piracy. Back when I was a teen nearly everyone who knew how to operate a computer did it. And even for those who didn’t, everyone’s parents knew a guy who could sort you out with chipping your Playstation or getting your some fake CDs for a few quid right? Anyway, Soulseek and reddit piracy boards are your friend.

• VPNs. The UK government brought in more age-restrictions for the internet this year, but there’s no way I’m handing over my ID details to social media so I can read my DMs or read a 18+ Discord server. Especially when companies can’t keep this info secure. Use a VPN instead. I use Proton VPN for my PC, and on my phone I use Opera as my browser which has a built in VPN and adblocker.

• Blocking Instagram reels on my phone. I managed to kick TikTok when I realised how addictive I was finding it, but reels have been harder when they’re embedded into an app I still want to use sometimes. I got an app called ScreenZen which lets you limit or block them completely (and I also use it to limit social media use more generally).

This was fun, I might do it more (but shorter). Feel free to message me about anything, I’m enjoying being less on social media and taking things slower + hopefully connecting to people better. Hope 2026 is beautiful and kind to you. Vicky x