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Hey Reader,

There’s this podcast called What Did You Do Yesterday? with Max Rushden and David O’Doherty and the premise is splendid.

They ask each guest “what did you do yesterday?”

Not last week or on their last birthday. Not the greatest and most important day of their life. Yesterday. No matter how dull yesterday might have been.

And then they talk about it, from the moment the guest wakes up to the moment they fall asleep.

The question is just a way to frame a conversation and find out lots about a person. In recounting their day, the guest reveals a lot about who they are and each snippet sparks a conversation between the hosts and their guest, and sometimes they go off on wild conversational adventures.

So I thought I’d send you a little writing prompt in this morning’s email:

From the moment you woke up to the moment you fell asleep, go through in minute detail. The decisions you made, the things you did, the food you ate, the conversations you had, the plans that changed, the surprises that happened, the things that went wrong.

See what it prompts you to think about further.

And I fully recommend listening to the podcast, it’s very funny.

Okay, onto this week’s Friday Goodie Bag, it being Friday and all. You ready?

These absolute hairy hippies I found in my neighbour’s garden

Look at them. LOOK AT THEM. Aren’t they brill?

My challenge to you: go and find the weirdest thing in nature possible, and take a pic. Then maybe write something about it?

The World Snail Racing Championships

In Norfolk, England, in the height of summer, the village of Congham hosted the World Snail Racing Championships. There were 281 entries and Bilbo Sluggins won in 3 minutes 13 seconds. They were closely followed by Snailor Swift at 2 minutes 11 seconds. This makes me happy.

Thanks to The Idler for sharing this.

Banksy’s great big rescue boat

While the super rich and overprivileged are literally setting fire to the Earth, destroying humanity with runaway AI, and abusing women and children, Banksy is using a big pile of his cash to renovate a former French Navy ship and fit it out as a rescue boat. They pick up anyone in trouble, including human beings fleeing persecution and warzones in small rubber boats, because they believe — and I can’t believe this is a radical thing to say — that every single human deserves to be rescued if they’re in danger of drowning.

Imagine what could be accomplished if people with enormous amounts of money decided to use it to help humanity.

Mrs Beeton’s freakiness

Ever heard of Mrs Beeton? Her cookbooks and “home management” books were a staple in war-time women’s and boomer kitchens. What I didn’t realise was what a little weirdo she was. And not honestly in a good way…

Advocating that people boil pasta for ONE HOUR AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES is absolutely diabolical.

She also regarded potatoes as “suspicious.” Well, Mrs Beeton, YOU’RE suspicious.

One page for your goals? Even big ones?

Yep! I had the pleasure of being introduced to Sarah Glova this week and immediately went on a bit of a benign internet stalk, and discovered her TED Talk. It’s really good. Then I immediately did her “one page goal” exercise and BLOODY HELL. It’s so simple it’s ridiculous, but the best things often are.

Watch this space and if you’re a curious person, you might want to stick a bookmark in your calendar for January 21, 2027, in London. It’ll be fancy and wonderful. And for now, it’s top secret.

What I’m reading

I’ve just started The Tunnels by Ian Watson and so far I’m mostly confused. It feels like he wants to be Douglas Adams and he’s not really. Not that he’s a terrible writer; he’s not, and I’ve chuckled a few times. Just… I’m not sure this is for me. But I shall persevere because I like a weird story.

What I’m writing

My comedy set for the Birmingham Comedy Festival in a couple of weeks. Well, I’m tweaking my existing set. Well, I’m thinking about tweaking my existing set. Look, just shut up would you please? LOOK OVER THERE!

Word of the week

epistemic

It means: having to do with knowledge, understanding, or what we think we know.

And honestly I can’t really work out how to use this in a sentence, so if you can, I’d love to see it.

Quote of the week

I wish you a good day and a splendid weekend.

And if you’d like to work with me to write your book, there are a few options below my signature!

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

p.s. Know someone who might enjoy this email? Please forward it to them and get them to sign up here.