Welcome to the very first issue of Mike’s Minute. No don’t hit spam just yet, it’s not Hosking. It’s me, Michael Gray. I’m not really anyone special. I live in Wellington, New Zealand and fancy myself a bit of a writer, even if my main claim to fame is family birthday cards.
So why a newsletter? Doesn’t that feel like going backwards what with podcasts, Twitter and the “pivot to video”? Since the demise of RSS catchers, blogs have been harder to access and so email has made a comeback (not that it went anywhere). Tiny Letter is one such company leading the charge, promoting substance over flashy graphics. And so begins my newsletter. I will aim to send this out weekly, or fortnightly if I get busy, I am a new parent after all.
It would only be right to mention the folks who inspired me to start this here newsletter. Not that they know it but three such people are Maureen Crisp, Uther Dean & David Chen. Go check out their delightful newsletters. Maureen Crisp is from New Zealand and writes children’s books and for school journals. In her newsletter, she speaks to her life as a writer and sources useful links about writing and book marketing. Uther Dean, also from New Zealand, writes for theatre & occasionally Shortland Street. Read his newsletter for haiku, fun lists and links to cool stuff. David Chen, I’ve been following for a while, lives in Seattle and hosts a number of my favourite podcasts including The /Filmcast and Write Along. He’s got invaluable insights into the film world and developments in all things media.
Short Story
Scar
She traced the line across her abdomen. It was still prickly to the touch, the stitches not yet dissolved. This was the price she paid. Although it hurt now she had to remind herself of that.
Sure most women have a “normal” childbirth. They get in touch with their primal self and yell to mother nature through quick breaths as they strain to push their newborn out.
She just lay there on the operating table in a cold sweat, feeling not much of anything, the epidural rendering her numb for the entire ordeal. It was something that happened to her, not something she had agency over.
Across the room she gazed at the creature that had exited through her scar, now sleeping peacefully in the bassinet. It lay tucked up to its chin, securely swaddled with its mouth open, occasionally stirring and emitting a squeak. For now, there was quiet.
Some days were better than others. Today was one of those lucky few. For the rest she would find herself in bed with her knees up to her chest, much like the creature that used to be inside her, sobbing uncontrollably. Was she a bad mother for taking the “easy” way out? It didn’t matter whether these questions were unfounded. That wasn’t the point. The point was she should feel guilty. If she couldn’t get something as critical as birthing right, how was she supposed to parent this creature into a healthy, independent adult?
Like any old tattoo worth its salt, her scar had a story behind it. Although it wasn’t as artsy as a rose losing a single red petal, or God forbid, a lion’s gape locked in a perpetual roar (especially its placement so far south), today she wouldn’t change it for anything. This scar had a purpose.
Review
Linkies
- Alison Mau’s #metooNZ investigation, one year on. Needless to say, sexual assault is rife in this country and more often than not, swept under the rug.
- Aych McArdle is raising money to represent New Zealand’s non-binary community at the UN.
- Nat Dudley wrote a useful primer on the proposed changes to New Zealand’s Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration (BDMRR) Bill for self-identification. Holding up the bill only hurts our trans, non-binary and intersex communities.
- I watched the Oscars on Monday and without a host the programme was a breezy three hours. The Academy even handed out some awards I was happy with, like best animated film to Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. That was until the best film award went to Green Book*. The Daily did an episode on what Hollywood keeps getting wrong about race if you want to know why the Internet is so mad. *I haven’t seen Green Book.
If you enjoyed this newsletter please tell a friend. If you didn’t, please don’t tell anyone.
*hugs*
Michael
