- My afternoon in Hampstead Heath with a great view over London. Sitting in the sun next to the Kenwood Ladies' Pond. I've always wanted to see that place since I've read about it so much. I have to admit, I didn't dare to go in even though I brought a bathing suit and goggles, it was just too cold. Next time.
- Walking through Camden Lock Market, seeing a First Aid Kit show in Brixton. Lebanese breakfast in South Kensington before finally seeing the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the V&A.
- The Harry Potter Studio tour was pretty good. I loved seeing the original props, sketches, scenery. However, amazing as it was, it kinda demystified everything a little bit.
- The British Library. And the bookshop there. I'm obsessed with books at the moment. I went to Blackwell's twice in Edinburgh.
- Brazil nuts.
- Coming home from the UK. Snuggling up in my own bed with a hot water bottle, under real blankets, with more than one pillow. Watching Harry Potter movies. Eating buttered pretzels. This time I was kinda happy to come home because the British food made my stomach hurt and sleeping in hostels isn't my favourite thing either. So glad I can sleep in a proper bed and eat healthy food again.
- My dark green velvet jacket. I feel like a posh sofa when I'm wearing it. Or maybe a stylish Slytherin.
- Watching The Bisexual at HFF Seriencamp. I need to track down the rest of the series, I kinda enjoyed it.
- Jonagold apples. Incredibly delicious. I can't stop eating them and will even hurry to the supermarket in the evening right before closing time if I don't have any left for breakfast.
- Going back to the swimming pool on Monday mornings. I've become very lazy since the summer holidays.
- Leere Herzen by Juli Zeh. I love her writing style. Very clean, no dispensable sentences. And great ideas.
- Superorganism live in concert. I've never seen a freakier concert. They burnt incense, had a triangle and tambourines, glitter capes, dancing prawns. Weirdly enjoyable.
- Playing Cards Against Humanity with Manu, Bibi and Bosse. Cosy evening.
- A Saturday morning at the racing track flea market in eastern Munich. Wearing my foxy hat (a toffee-coloured woolly had with stitched foxes, I bought it in Edinburgh) and sunglasses to face both the cold and the morning sun. Lunch at a traditional Bavarian restaurant in Trudering. Eating a huge dumpling covered in creamy mushroom sauce.
- Finally getting a hair cut. My hair had already been so damaged that the ends stuck together and I could hardly brush them.
- A genius idea: preparing the veggies for my thai curry in the oven (I usually have a hard time fitting everything in a pan).
- Very dark chocolate and some fresh raspberries. Ripe, creamy gorgonzola. Luxurious treats.
- Reading Paul Auster's Winter Journal in the train in the morning. Falling in love with the author's description of his time in rural France. Vowing to go back there and volunteer at an organic farm during my sabbatical. That morning my life felt very unglamorous. Wet, cold, dark, functional - quintessentially German.
- Waking up from a haunting nightmare (a moldy, messy apartment filled with debris and dead animals I had forgotten about). / A daydream about childhood memories. Unwrapping shiny Christmas presents in a festive mood.
- Watching someone working on the garage roof opposite my living room window. Standing up there with a huge blow torch, bluish flames in sharp contrast against the twilight.
- The new tube driver with the heavy American accent.
- Instead of letting a binge eating attack ruin my night by punishing myself, getting rid of the evidence and hiding in bed I decided to "get clean" by taking a long bath. Pampering myself, using a face and hair mask, painting my nails. Even flossing my teeth. Only after I had cleaned and tidied the whole apartment. Even changed the bedlinnen. So much better. Gotta take a long walk instead to get rid of the calories.
- Talking with a student about his time in South Africa. Nerding out with another one about Harry Potter.
- Reading the two Fantastic Beasts screenplays in one sitting. Coincidentally the next book I opened was Stephen Hawking's Brief Answers to the Big Questions with an introduction by Eddie Redmayne (who played Hawking in his biopic) - he really is a truly empathic Hufflepuff.
- When I started reading The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt it took quite a while until I realised that this book actually is a work of fiction. It is so incredibly clever and convincing - it's hard to believe that Harriet Burden doesn't really exist.
- Falling asleep next to a long-haired, bearded dude with pale blue eyes. Who loves braiding my hair and stroking my back. Who gives me embarrassingly cute names and is a passionate kisser. Who says I smell evil (apparently cedar wood is not a typically girly scent). Who walked to the subway with me in the morning, holding hands amidst the commuters, head on my shoulder, eyes closed. I watched our reflection in the train window in front of us. Very peaceful.
nov 5 2018 ∞
dec 1 2018 +