A Very Long List of Favourites Past

August flew by in the most depressive haze I have ever experienced, so apologies for the skipped post. Since then, there has been too much going on for me to write blog-appropriate words, and then there have just been no words at all, but here's to trying. (Fair warning, this is probably the crappiest list of favourites I've ever written and I wouldn't publish it at all but for the fact that the idea of skipping months makes my Type A self uncomfortable. So let's all just move on to December, and 2017, which cannot get here soon enough, and pretend this never happened.)

August

1. That outstandingly brilliant apple I had on the first of August, that made it make sense why an apple was central to Snow White's story- crisp and red and juicy enough that juices ran down my wrist; big enough that it could have been a meal unto itself. 
2. Talking with Marshmallow, and reading Cookie's blog, and being overcome with love and sheer gratitude, realizing that these incredibly intelligent, witty, funny, kind, loyal, opinionated, thoughtful, talented and loving people were my best friends. 
3. Pot roast chicken, and pretty white shoes and a pale pink lace hairband and the scent of books and red velvet cupcakes and a lovely Sunday afternoon with Kinglsey, in what seems to have been another lifetime. 
4. Being a mermaid princess on my birthday, and wallowing in my cheesy chicken bake and banana cupcakes. 
5. Crashing with all of my favourite friends in my favourite city (a preview of what I hope will be a much better October than my last one) and wrapping myself in all their love. 4km early morning walks in lipstick and a skirt and sandals; free breakfast after; talking till 4:00 a.m. because we were enticed into wakefulness by junk food and excellent hosting; winning at Cards Against Humanity (HA); "I see the ocean in his eyes" and scandalous stories and ~ scandalous ~ stories; that famous sambar that I've been hearing about for four years; the beautiful pink necklace surprise and eyeshadow and my favourite new lipstick; The Book of Hugs; all of the Harry Potter merch, including the earwax-flavoured every-flavoured beans; new jeans after five hours of indecisive store-hopping and death threats from my favourites.
6. My very own Kindle! 
7. Nights by the basketball court, basking in the starry breeze and quiet chatter- until that last one, of course. A few moments, up on that rooftop, on my birthday, just us (and a million waiters). Terribly unhealthy food, devoured with what I thought was love. Writing that terrible but cathartic rant- writing, after so, so, so long. This song. 

September 

1. Learning I'd got the internship I'd craved this time last year; that I was going to spend a month in my favourite place on the planet with most of my most favourite people on the planet, just when I needed it the most. The internship itself, and wallowing in the simple pleasure of correcting other people's grammatical errors. 
2. Plavi and the Math Geek. Thank you. Empathy Horse. Thank you. Nyancat and the Mosquito- thank you. Dorothy Parker and variously appropriate internet memes, and that one interview that Jen did for Vanity Fair after she and Brad separated- thank you. 
3. A lovely, lovely birthday treat by Pllvi that served up distraction on a plate.
4. Fish and rice from that one delivery place that has ruined me for fish anywhere else, including fancy restaurants. * insert appropriately heart-eyed emoticon* 
5. Othello, finally. God bless you, Shakespeare. 
6. Watching Sarah Kay and a million other talented poets live, and absorbing every word of every poem, and wrapping it around myself in a giant protective blanket and finally, for those few moments, letting myself weep. The crowd at the slam, the most lovely and positive and inclusive bunch of beautiful strangers I have ever wanted to envelop in a group hug; hanging out with new people and new experiences; excellent kathi rolls and the best cookies and cream ice-cream I've ever had. Note to self: go for events in the distant corners of the city and indulge in cheap amazing food more often.
7. My denim skirt and stripey top and, finally, long layered gold necklace and sling bag (perfect apart from being half an inch too small for my wallet to fit into)! 
8. Old Hindi songs, courtesy the Math Geek again. 
9. Random dinner with Pllvishani and backseat bitching-cuddling sessions. 

October & November 

1. A month with my favourites; experiencing the sheer joy of being able to meet without months of planning, of extended sleepovers and a neverending stream of biryani. The beautiful room with the bed with the cushioned headboard and neat perfect bathroom; Starbucks rendezvouses and family-photographer baby showers; gorgeous haircuts and an overdose of Chicken McSpicy's.  Spaghetti and red velvet cupcakes and wife-ing with Koko; the Pirates of the Caribbean marathon and the time we all met just to nap and sing along to Blue. 
2. Prepping for my exchange at Zurich (god, please let that happen) with all of the coats and boots and winter warmness shopping.
3. Long walks with Doobie, just like first year, except that everything is completely different.
4. Dinner with the Doosh, at my favourite Mexican place, back when we could still spend Rs. 500s and I chose to pay by card instead because those are the kind of brilliant decisions I take under stress. 
5. Cosplaying as my favourite badass literally-man-eating witch Manon Blackbeak for Comic Con- all of the pictures and all of the merchandise. Meeting Kim Possible (!) and embracing my inner evilness. It was so much fun being fierce instead of cute that it didn't even matter than only one person kinda sorta knew who I was.
6. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I don't even know where to begin expressing how I feel about this movie, so I won't.

There are other happy things that happened, but I can't remember them right now, and this has gone on long enough. 

~Sam