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Hey Reader,

How many questions is too many questions? This is not rhetorical — I actually need to know, because getting it wrong has painful consequences.

In conversation, we’re supposed to ask questions. We’re supposed to be interested in other people. I know this because I’ve been told many, many times over the years.

And honestly, this isn’t a hardship for me because other people are endlessly fascinating to me. I’d like to cut open your neurotypical brains and study them under a microscope but I’m not allowed to do that, so I’ll settle for questions.

Which should be simple, but in fact is not. Because too many questions is weird. And sometimes threatening.

Just ask Aaron from The Traitors series 1. Aaron has ADHD and is a truly lovely human. He was chatting to John the masseur about John’s profession, and asking lots of questions, at which point John lost his shit and yelled at Aaron.

Later that day, he bullied Aaron so badly that Aaron had a panic attack and had to leave the Round Table.

Aaron was different. Aaron asked Too Many Questions.

But how many is too many?

It’s happened to me a thousand times. I ask a lot of questions because I’m interested, or because I want clarity, but it’s toooo much.

So now I spend every conversation counting. How many questions is my allotted number and how many have I used up? Is it five? Am I allowed five questions before I’m classed as “weird”?

Does “How are you?” count?

How about “Where’s the bathroom?”

[keep reading on my other newsletter, Late to the Party, all about navigating the world with autism and also being funny haha as well as funny weird]

I’m fully delighted with how my January Uncaged challenge went and I’ve had the most wonderful feedback from people. I’ll be running it again in April, so stay alert if you’d like to join!

Clair said:

This is exactly what I wanted it to be.

And this is what I aim to make working with me like.

I have three spots for one-off 90-minute coaching sessions to get your book started in February. If you’d like one of them, or you want more information, reply to this email.

And now for the Friday Goodie Bag. You ready? Here’s what I’ve gathered for you!

Screaming gymnastics

Honestly I have no context nor reason for sharing this other than it sums up how I feel when looking around at the world while simultaneously making me laugh until I need to pee, which I think is a healthy outlook tbh. I plan to bring this energy to my next gymnastics class. Enjoy!

The kidnapping of Patty Hearst only drunk

Ever heard of Patty Hearst? I hadn’t. She was the daughter of a super rich media mogul who got kidnapped by a gang of… I dunno. Hippies? Anti-capitalists? Anyway, this is her story presented by Drunk History. It contains Terry Crews, so I’m here for it.

(p.s. the takeaway is that there are many, many, MANY ways to tell a story and present information, including comedy skits by drunk people)

This article I need you to read because this woman is all of us

​This is why we tell our stories. This is why we speak up. So that, in a climate of the government and the billionaires seeking to control every media outlet, we get to speak our truths. This is what is happening. This is our world.

This will happen in the UK too if we let it. If we continue to say, “But that’s over there, it could never happen here,” it will happen here. Because Americans said that, too. So did Germans in the 1930s. They said, “It could never happen here,” and it did and it is.

In the UK, I’ve had people say to me, “Roe vs Wade won’t get overturned over there. Brexit won’t happen. We won’t lose reproductive rights in the UK.” It’s already happening, quietly, behind the scenes, with Christian Nationalist money funnelling into Reform. I’m sick and tired of being right and being dismissed.

Read this article. Hear it. Understand it. Then stand up and do something.

These droodles by Roger Price

​Doodles and riddles by cartoonist Roger Price because he had a weird way of looking at the world and then he drew it.

Good news! Ireland supports its artists!

From this year, Ireland is making a universal basic income available for artists and I am here for it. The arts are integral to a country make progress in science, engineering, and every other area because nothing exists in isolation.

The arts are also, of course, essential for joy, personal growth, critical thinking, and other such things that those in power would rather we did not have.

​Check this out and rejoice!

What I’m reading

​The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr. What a ride. I am staggered by what she and her sister endured at the hands of her parents, who had their own struggles and little support. I’m staggered at how neighbours will stand by and watch adults destroy themselves and their children and do nothing because “it’s not our business.” I’m also blown away by Karr’s writing and storytelling because this book is a wonder.

What I’m writing

I’m making my next Zine. I meant to do it over Christmas, but… I didn’t. Now I am. I’m lettering, writing, drawing, and sticking, and loving it. If you’re on the Zine list, it’ll be with you in the next couple of weeks.

Word of the week

morbs (n. sl.)

“Got the morbs” is Victorian slang for feeling temporarily sad or depressed.

From the Latin morbidus meaning sickly, diseased or unwholesome and probably from morbus meaning sorrow, grief, or distress of the mind.

Let’s stab the morbs in the eye and find the joy instead.

Quote of the week

Yeah I’m quoting myself, what of it?

Okay, you can have another one too.

TTFN,

Vicky 🫡

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