AliceFraser

New Tea With Alice Podcast: Baratunde Thurston

Oh man, I’m so excited to have Baratunde on the podcast. I asked him years ago, and assume he thought I was just some punter. Then I was on the Bugle with him, (thereby proving exactly what kind of punter I am).

This was such a great conversation; Baratunde’s been a professional communicator on complex issues for so long I was worried I wasn’t going to get into the wiggly worries or cracks of anything Tea-With-Alice-ey, but he was so open to orthogonal rambly twists in t...

Writers Meeting

Topic: Writers Meeting + Workshop

Time: Feb 13, 2023 08:30 AM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Link to Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89380072615

Some time conversions

Writers Meeting + Workshop

Hallo!

This week’s writers meeting will be tomorrow at 8.30am Sydney Time. Which will be Sunday Arvo/eve for the U.K. & US people.

I’ll be running the normal writers meeting for an hour followed by an hour of workshop, where we will drill in specifically to what people are working on.

You’re welcome to come just for the first hour, or to ...

Salon Link

Alice Rebekah Fraser is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Tea With Alice Salon 95

Time: Feb 9, 2023 11:00 AM Auckland, Wellington

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89236818842

Meeting ID: 892 3681 8842

One tap mobile

+13092053325,,89236818842# US

+13126266799,,89236818842# US (Chicago)

Dial by y...

Salon and writers meeting this week.

Feeling a lot like this year so far has been strangely long and full of one thing after the other.

Trying to carve out the time to write my solo show, Twist is proving trickier than I’d like it to be, but tickets for Adelaide and Melbourne are now on sale, and I’m bouncing emails back and forth to sort out my edinburgh venue (and accommodation oh god what a nightmare) as we speak. I have the bones of what I want to say, I just haven’t been on stage since doing JFL at the Opera Ho...

Writers meeting

Patreon Writers Meeting

Time: Jan 29, 2023 08:00 AM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84263925830?pwd=VXpiMTMyOWRnYkNPRm54KzZ2cXdJdz09

Salon Link for Today

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85608440135

Salon tomorrow, Writers Meeting Sunday

Hallo, it’s been a week of family funeral festivities and squishing work in round, and/so I’ve come down with some sort of throat. Which is why I’ve put scheduling this week’s salon off until the last minute, and also the first available minute of this week.

Salon is tomorrow morning Saturday 8am Sydney time,

Writers Meeting is 8am Sunday

...

Alice Last Week

This update brought to you by my new plan of getting people to help me keep my shit together. Thanks due to Amy Carver.

Also, as the ole social media platforms have a tizzy, it’s nice to have this be a place where I can keep you updated on what I’m up to. I’ll probably update on Thursdays or Fridays going forward, but here’s the update from last week.

The Bugle Episode 4,249.

Flippin’ Tech – with Andy Zaltzman and Ian Smith: on 2023-01-24 02:46:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Link for writers meeting

Meeting link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89735313703

The Dream Where Your Teeth Fall Out Is About Mortality

If you’ve ever wished me pain, you might want to know that last evening playing with her cousins, my baby stacked it down some stairs (overexcited, running with a book) and knocked her little tooth out.

I’ve experienced some real proper shame and guilt in my life before, but seeing her little tic-tac-tooth lying on her tongue in a pool of blood while she screamed at me with panicked eyes is right up there with the most dread-filled moments of my life. I’m aware that this is entry...

Salon Link

Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81977337255

Tea With Alice: Amy Carver, plus salons and consultations.

Episode 1, Season 2 of Tea With Alice is now out, with guest, screenwriter, director and new TWA producer, Amy Brown Carver.

We talked about divorce parties, sticking by your principles or letting your principles change with you, and how to figure out what makes you happy.

Link is here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/tea-with-alice/id789603540

Non-iTunes link to ...

Birthday Weekend: “Big” Launch

I had a lovely chill birthday weekend, and my twin is here for a few days, which is a lovely thing.

I have also got a big announcement to make, for a certain quantity of big, and which won’t be an announcement if you’re a Salon regular, and that’s Tea With Alice Season Two has launched!

I am excited to get back on the tea horse and keep bringing you interesting and tricky conversations full of care and thought that open up new chambers of headspace and as ever, no easy answ...

Salon Link for today and Thursday

As always:

• Any topics you want to open up, let me know in the comments here or via DM, or of course you can bring them up during the salon!
• If you are shy, feel free to keep your camera off and be the audience in the dark at the back of the room. I won’t call on you unless you stick your hand up.
• Tea is compulsory, but we have a very broad definition of what tea is, that includes many things ‘normal’ people would call “not tea”, “absolutely ...
  2023-01-03 19:20:03 +0000 UTC View Post

New Year New New

Happy new year, if you’re the kind of person who believes in happiness!

I had intended to make some resolutions, but time got away from me. Generally, I’ve now sorted out childcare enough that taking time to go for some walks or runs is probably back on the table, and that’s a good thing. Also I should get a haircut, but failing to get a haircut for a year or so is pretty traditional in the Alice Fraser household, so I can’t blame that on the baby. Does “get a haircut” coun...

One-on-Ones

ETA: family emergency, no salon today

I’m now offering one on ones again, this time as paid one offs. One-on-one-one-offs. As you might know, I loved having regular individual conversations with Patreonites as one of the level perks, but it got to be too much time to manage with my other commitments, so I replaced them with the weekly Salons and writers meetings.

Obviously, the group scenario can’t work as well for some people, particularly those who have anxiety ...

Half-step

You know that feeling where you think there’s another step, but you have hit the level ground, so for one stride, you’re trying to walk through the ground?

Yesterday I sent through some ideas for this week’s gargle stories through to the Gargle WhatsApp Group (me, Good Luck Christopher and Ped the editor), and got a “this week’s off” response, and then we swapped a bunch of Christmas pictures of their adorable children and mine and then I was like… wow. How did I...

Christmas missive

In the bleak midwinter, Yule / Christmas / light festivals / Hanukkah (I’ll use Christmas as a shorthand for winter solstice fest) serves as a guide-light/lamp-post* to draw our anticipation and hope for the future towards the black hole of the year and through into the second half of the gloom with its dawn on the horizon and the possibility of new possibilities. So it’s more obvious in winter that the forced cheer of Christmas is our communal defence against the dark.

(*I was goi...

Xmas Day/Boxing Day writers meeting

ETA: Sorry for the late start, thank-you all for coming! It's still running for about another 40 mins. 

I’ll have a loose relaxed writers meeting at 9am on Monday, Sydney time, which will be Christmas Day evening U.K. and US time for anyone who wants to take an hour out of their day or put an hour into their day for writing and chilling in what might loosely be called company.

Turn your camera on, leave it off and lurk, drop in for 5 mins just to say hi....

Salon 89 tonight and 90 tomorrow morning.

Hallo!

Tea With Alice Salon 89

Time: Dec 20, 2022 08:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Link

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88933297074

Tea With Alice Salon 90

Time: Dec 21, 2022 10:00 AM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Link:

2022-12-20 07:23:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Favourite Things

I’m always a bit nonplussed when people ask what my favourite thing is. Favourite colour, book, song. I mean, probably my reaction ought to be to think it’s not that deep and just pick one I like. But instead it induces a mildly resentful identity spiral.

I assume that by asking, you think that my answer will be meaningful; that it will say something about me and I cringe away from being understood-by-proxy in that way. I’d rather be the one who says things abou...

Writers meeting

Hallo!

Slightly awkwardly placed for a writers meeting this weekend, so I’m going to cut the cake to make it 7.30 Monday morning Sydney time, which is still Sunday for ye U.K. and U.S writers.

The link is here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89284517951

Salon Links

Hallo! This week’s salons and time-zone conversions are below. All levels welcome.

As always

Salon Things

• If you are shy, feel free to keep your camera off and be the audience in the dark at the back of the room. I won’t call on you.
• Any topics you want to open up, let me know in the comments here or via DM, or of course you can bring them up during the chat!
• Tea is compulsory, but we have a very broad definition of ...
  2022-12-15 01:10:39 +0000 UTC View Post

Update: Salons This Week

Christmas is approaching, and for me this is the season of wondering how much to bother about Christmas.

I wonder how much other people have this question; I imagine if you’re from a family for whom Christmas is a big deal, you probably have a normal version of Christmas.

As a bit of a Christmas outsider (perhaps the TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS) I categorise the christmases I have witnessed into the following:

• secular food and family based Xmas;
• religious Ch...
  2022-12-14 04:44:15 +0000 UTC View Post

The Other Salon Link for today

Or Salon B, or the Night Salon…

Tea With Alice Salon 86

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89189763154

Salon Link

This morning’s salon (in 40 mins) will be here

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83792629245

and will be open to all levels!

Xx

A

Lighthouse times

I had almost hit my limit, and so decided to night-wean LaserFraser. So as well as not juicing myself three or four times in the middle of the night I’m also not waking up three or four times in the middle of the night.

I feel incredible. I’ve now had four straight nights of eight hours of sleep, after 13 months of never getting more than 3.5 hours at a stretch (I have an app with this data!) and now, well slept me is full of juice and ambition. Chambers of brain function are unfol...

Dusting myself off.

I saw a really interesting blog by somebody replying to a subscriber of theirs who felt disillusioned that they hadn’t been sharing as much of their life as usual during a stressful/traumatic time.

I thought that was really interesting, because negotiating how much we’re willing to share with the world when things are good and when things are bad is an ongoing and complicated equation. It has to do with

• How much you usually share
• Whether sharing hard times light...
  2022-12-05 01:41:40 +0000 UTC View Post

Writers Meeting

Hey all.

Writer’s meeting for this week will be at 9.30am Monday, Sydney time.

The Link is:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84059124180