- Destroy what you know.
- Bonding with Margit over a 90s nostalgia attack triggered by a plastic pacifier necklace I'd seen. Thinking about going wild at a toy store spending a fixed budget on silly toys and gummy snakes.
- Iced green tea flavoured with lemon and prickly pear.
- Sending lenghty, image-heavy text messages to my mum (they're basically personal essays) after not talking for 5 weeks.
- Buying a Lindt chocolate bunny as a treat for myself, just because it comes with a pink ribbon now instead of a red one. It's white strawberry chocolate and yes, I am indeed a marketing victim.
- Instead of crossing things off a list I highlighted completed tasks with my new "magic" colour-changing pencil. And it was beautiful. But I'm one step ahead already; I should have mentioned writing with my favourite black ink pen on crips white paper (I was just about to write that I love extreme contrasts - thinking of black on white paper and nice black and white patterns on clothes - but in fact this really applies to my whole life. Living in extreme duality, having a hard time finding balance...)
- Dennis remarking on how deliciously polarising he perceived me when I said that I actually went to the butcher's last week (as a vegetarian) but only bought a Capri Sun and explained how I thought artificial cherry flavour was far superior to the actual fruit.
- Anastasia made a green bunny ring for me out of paper! Kawaii!
- Exaggerated morning reunions with Becky.
- Patterns combining royal blue and pink. I finally need to find the right dress to make up for the one I found in that Mexican outlet mall I didn't buy.
- Olivie Blake! The Atlas Six has everything I want in a book: dark academia spiked with magic; mysterious libraries, undiscovered power, interesting characters and very insightful dialogue (I highlighted so many quotes - I feel seen in some of the character's observations and descriptions). The Secret History meets the Umbrella Academy - I could hardly put it down. And there is a sequel coming in October! I'm psyched!
- Shopping my closet: I pulled out the Monet dress again and wore it immediately. It looks like a close-up of one of Monet's Nymphea paintings. Dark, lush greens and fresh pink for the petals.
- An Easter surprise from my mum: Chocolates, a labradorite egg and some money in a pretty confetti box.
- About compulsive habits.
- The last day of school. Little presents from the kids, hiding Easter chocolates, watching an English movie, helping them draw bunnies. Bonding with Doris helping each other with some unfinished business, talking about her upcoming trip to Mexico. She even gave me a soda and drove me to the bus station! Later: A celebratory massage. Dinner with Helga at the Chinese hotpot restaurant. Then I hung out with Manu. Deep talk, play fights. We work so well together. He's one of the few people I can actually talk about emotions with.
- The first real concert in over two years. I saw Bilderbuch at HP8 the other night and damn, Maurice is still hot AF. But it was very weird to see thousands of people together, not even wearing a mask. I kept mine on because I didn't want to risk my trip to Seoul but I still felt a little anxious.
- I didn't have to pay for my PCR test and the (negative) result came after only 3 hours! Highly appreciated.
- My trip to Korea was fantastic. I booked it on a whim (as I usually do) when I saw that South Korea accepted foreign vaccination certificates starting 1 April. I got major Japan vibes - sakura season, the food and the behaviour of the people, lots of cultural affinities like karaoke, binge drinking or cute things. And people are all so (uniformly) stylish. But they don't really warm up to foreigners so that was a bit of a challenge. A few things and moments I loved: a Korean crash course with GJ - I think I frustrated her when she wanted to teach me vocabulary but all I was interested in was the structure of the language and the logic behind the letters and signs / meeting Eléa and Emma on the plane - we spent a few days together in Seoul; Eléa is basically my astrological twin! / a fun evening with Korean BBQ, somacs, a photobooth and renting a karaoke box together / riding the Namsan cablecar together with the Frenchies (incl. Léa) / the amazing folk art museum in Seoul - I learned so much; they recreated an old Korean village in the gardens and had an exhibition about Korean customs, holidays and beliefs - so interesting / Iceland poppy! / walking through Bukchon village, entering a tiny lille museum where Mi-Yeong the curator sat down on the floor with me and taught me how to play Gonggi, a Korean children's game - on my last day in Seoul I invited her for lunch at a vegan temple food restaurant near Jogyesa temple - we had a four course meal in a private booth! / art in public toilets; public toilets in general - so clean! / taking a flight to Jeju island - choosing a guesthouse with a resident cat (Laksumu) / beautiful walks, waterfalls, flowers everywhere, smelling the ocean / an island tour with two guys from Singapore - lava cave, climbing a mountain, getting our jeans (very) wet when we walked into the water barefoot, a very weird communal foot bath experience - my higlight was learning about the Hanyeo (the women divers on Jeju) / a day in Seogwipo, a beautiful seaside town with lovely vibes / a Jeju orange and strawberries for breakfast / solving an entire NY Times crossword puzzle in the sunshine, lying somewhere in a park with an iced coffee / visiting a Korean bathhouse, spooking the ladies there with my foreignness / roasted corn chips / cute pet cafes with Benjy - the merkats were my favourite / an otherworldly tasty mushroom burger at Shake Shack / and oh, the SHOPPING.
- Making summer rolls with Manu.
- McCain Golden Longs - the perfect fries.
- My annual Girls' Day tour with Jonathan. I love that day because I get to learn about interesting jobs and I find it very inspiring to be able to look behind the scenes. I always engage in deep talk with Jonathan too. A lovely, sunny day. I especially loved the wood printing company we visited. The boss, Malte, is a physicist who is not a full-time artist. If he'd offered me a job I would have immediately said yes.
- Lebanese Friday lunch at BeirutBeirut with Doris. Who is my friend now. I'm still struggling with her change of mind. We looked at old photos afterwards and looked for wigs and sunglasses in the cellar.
- Flea market at Theresienwiese with Lena! Trying on all the flashy glitter jackets. Buying little treasures and a beautiful leather jacket in a rusty red. Lunch at Café Mariandl. Creamy mushroom dumplings!
- Ostentatio Genitalium in Renaissance art.
- Learning that the origin of my name, Katharina, might very well be the ancient Greek goddess Hekate, who is "variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, night, light, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery." How cool is that.
mar 31 2022 ∞
jun 7 2022 +