About Surfacing
Hi, my name is Mikki. Surfacing is a newsletter about things I see and hear.
What kinds of things? The weirdly erotic sounds puffins make. A 70s lesbian music collective defending their trans sisters. What everyone (except me) gets wrong about Velvet Goldmine. A bit of joyful audio from township residents reading an African National Congress zine in 1970. Things that piss me off, things that make me laugh, things I’m bringing to the surface for you.
You can subscribe to Surfacing here.
The format of Surfacing, at least to start, is going to be an essay every Friday and a link roundup with a few pithy one-liners every Wednesday. At the end of each essay I’ll have a section with links to learn more about whatever the topic is. No one is expected to be an expert in anything. I almost called it Chill Vibes, that’s how chill it will be.
“Surfacing” also applies to me coming up for air. I’ve been to some deep and dark places over the past five years—and the years before those five weren’t always the best either, tbh. Thank you to those who who have been there with me. I’ll probably touch on this from time to time, and on some other personal things, by which I mean there will absolutely be cat content.
We’ll have laughs! Also some cries! I’ll do my best, and all I need in return is a tidal wave of positive feedback, everyone telling their friends about Surfacing, and lots of paid subscriptions. Just kidding. Mostly. If you just read and aren’t mean that’s great.
Some of you know me from an activism newsletter I had a few years back. I’m very grateful for everyone who subscribed, wrote in, and who went out and made changes in the world around them. I’ll still talk about a lot of the things that were in that newsletter, but this isn’t about activism, per se. If you are looking for thoughts on how to lead a more value-driven life, I’ll direct you to this, which might be a good starting place. Occasionally I’ll do an open thread where we can talk about this kind of stuff more, but I want to stress I’m not here to give advice or tell anyone how to live their life other than subscribing to the newsletter.
About subscriptions
Look, I am not going to act like I don’t need money. I really do, but I won’t bore you with my sob story. If you can subscribe at any level, it would help me regain some financial stability and continue to manage my mental and physical health. If 1000 people subscribe it would literally—like, I can’t even imagine what that would be like but that’s what I’m hoping for. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Right now there is no paywall, and I’m hoping to never have one. If I do put one in, subs will be free for anyone incarcerated, or who writes to tell me they want to read but can’t afford it.
About me
I work in media.
My portfolio site
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About Substack
A word about Substack: Whew! My old newsletter was on TinyLetter, and just as I was bumping up against their subscriber limit, Substack reached out to me to say they were launching and I should check them out, etc. I moved over for better tools and then their Big Money for Big Bigots program rolled out before I got any further. I stopped publishing at all—partly because of this but mostly because of the not wanting to live vibes I mentioned above.
Right now I’m making the decision to be on Substack. One of the things about existence in a world of white supremacy, especially for white people, is that there is no purity available to us. We can’t have pure motives, or act truly selflessly, because we are always already benefitting from violence and suppression. That doesn’t mean we throw up our hands and say, “Well why even try?” but it does mean that part of our work involves looking for a solution that’s the least harmful and the most helpful, and being open to realizing you made the wrong choice. I’ll be reevaluating from time to time, and listening to what others have to say, but that’s where I am now.
