Samantha de Vaux

Who am I reading? Reading about working at Meta and the book that became the TV show Murderbot) I finished Juice and some people are reading my cast (I broke my hand / wrist in a Me v Guéliz roadworks fail) Thank me for my service 😂🫡 #amreading

Myself and female friends say in my living room in marrakech during a film night

News report of a 4:5 earthquake in marrakech

The same photo of Myself and female friends say in my living room in marrakech during a film night with another image of the breaking bad publicity poster with actors in similar poses. The title reads “mum rn starring in her own Netflix show”

Cover of the book juice by Tim Winton. Orange black and pink graphics

In the same week as reading Juice, I hosted a “film club” night here in Marrakech. We watched Don’t Look Up so the #climatecrisis theme continued. We feel it here after seven years of drought and then flash floods recently. In other news got gently trolled 😂 and we had another earthquake

Book cover. Orange, black and pink graphics. Title of novel is juice. Authors name is Tim Winton.

Finished this book - a great listen on audible. Post apocalyptic Australia #climatecrisis #novel now started one if his previous novels: “breathe”

Why do my fellow British people say “… as a matter of interest”.when asking a question? I am now doubting their interest at all other times

A dusty, ochre coloured mountain road near Marrakech, Morocco with a pale blue sky

A toad with a view of the Atlas Mountains in Marrakech

A police road stop on a mountain road near Ouikemden, Morocco as seen through a car side mirror

Marrakech airport sushi bar, a bowl of sashimi and avocado salad and a book called Writing the Pilot last week when travelling to London

As you all know, the United Kingdom is grey, damp & chilly in January. Missing home and the Storytellers Festival in Marrakech this month. But… #amworking

The message that comes up on users phones announcing TikTok isn’t available but president (elect) Trump has indicated he will reinstate it

It’s fashionable to delete X but I dumped TikTok as in England, with no VPN, the algorithm pushes non-stop far right reels and fake videos. I see too much of Reform & Farage but no doubt lots of people will buy in. X feels irrelevant but TikTok’s effluence may prove credibly influential. #tiktok

January watch list included the Phoenix Brown doc on Nepo Babies - a reassuringly predictable outcome to her experiment. She should pursue filmmaking despite the irony. I started the Lockerbie drama, stoic, harrowing, set to make us all mad AH with our governments but overall simply very moving.

…maybe we shouldn’t, maybe we’ll enjoy the consequences of their flaws or love to hate them. Or redeem them only to send them back to their dark core. An anti-hero’s journey. Maybe they’ll tell us something relatable we don’t want to hear. Life’s shits can be useful, I take notes. 2/2

Some people you meet turn out to be deeply disappointing, flawed & often unhappy human beings. I’m not talking romantic partners but colleagues, friends, randoms. Happenstance means they can provide inspo for characters. Often drama development peeps ask “but why will we like ‘them’?” Well… 1/2

Yes, details like the “hit choreography” and engraved bullets are like a film plot. So it feels more like entertainment than real life and keeps us hooked. Everything is copy has become everything is a podcast. (Or true crime documentary).

Sadly unsurprising as a dystopian sci-fi plot twist but my fear is that Sarah Connor won’t be able to fix it, this time.

We get an abridged version on Brit news (even less here in Marrakech) A healthcare debate appears much needed but one feels for the family of the victim because of the media coverage, speculation and subtext of victim blaming for what is a corporate and political ideology.

The NHS was underfunded for years by a government who ideologically opposed it. They wanted a private healthcare system and used Covid and NHS inefficiency as an excuse as private healthcare companies circled. The Brits feel strongly about keeping it and a new labour leader may save it, we hope.

In the UK, we assume Americans with healthcare receive immediate state of the art treatment. We assume Obamacare improved things for those who cannot afford expensive insurance. We know insurance companies say no to maximise profits but when it’s people’s lives - wow, it’s morally bankrupt.

Yes, it’s shocking given the amount people pay for health insurance. Are those deaths due to people not getting treatment as they’re uninsured or a result of inferior treatment pathways in ‘free’ public hospitals compared to private healthcare, I wonder ? It’s a scandal.

No, really? I thought our cancer survival stats in particular were terrible due to the NHS waiting list.

Makes Brits grateful for the NHS, free for all at the point of need, although it’s woefully underfunded. Huge waiting lists, people lose loved ones for that reason. American healthcare seems, medically at least, superior.

Ah I see, so there’s a fair bit of public disgruntlement. I’m all for free speech but agree, poor taste considering a family lost a loved one in awful circumstances. Then again social media is hardly a bastion of empathy.

But guys, my spare bitcoin jar is full, I’m worried the bottom will fall out of it.

I’m seeing jokes about the CEO who was shot dead in NYC. I don’t much about the victim other than his well paid job. I see from the comments and speculation that there is a generalised dissatisfaction with health insurance but the memes - what is that, simply the politics of envy?

😀 Immediately googles kei truck and decide I need one to hold a mini parade with mini floats. Theme yet to be decided.

I had a mother-in-law like this once.

It is. Is this mushroom a guest at a wedding?

Some #womenofacertainage quickly become women of an UNcertain age because of age discrimination and social ridicule. Gregg Wallace recently started a public awareness campaign about that. Let’s thank him for his service 🫡

So a male, middle-class, middle-aged Chef & TV presenter in the UK, suggests 13 people’s allegations of his sexually inappropriate conduct at work are without merit because they were made by “a handful” of middle-class women “of a certain age”.

Maybe I can’t do the maths here because I’m a girl.

I’ve been reading about British #photographer Lizzie Hatton, who died aged 17 from a rare cancer. She pursued a #photography bucket list. An exhibition of her work was staged by British Land / Getty. The pursuit of her dream this year in her final chapter is the story of 2024: a lesson in living.

Yes Jade that’s so true, it is about tone and friendliness. I find myself signalling that something light hearted. For fear of being misread, or of offending, when the tone may be pretty obvious.

Interesting, I think having a clear outline as a roadmap is always helpful but if one has an idea for a scene/sequence then write it and slot it in later.

I can confirm that this is awesome progress 🙌🏼 🙏

I managed that whole paragraph here without an exclamation point. Or a laughing emoji. This must be what they call personal growth. #itjm