may favorites
May has been interesting. A month of having time to work on personal projects before going back to a full time job in June. A month of not using that time wisely. A month of lots of clubbing and dancing and crying. A month of reflection and wanting to grow better, for myself. A month of getting to know myself again after coming out of a long relationship, and little baby steps towards finding back to me. I think I have a long journey ahead of me. Well, it´s been a rough month. But I did some listening and reading and cooking and obsessed over things I wanted to share.
✶ I´ve written this on the 8th of June, but somehow never published it until now, probably because I kept putting off the photos and forgot about everything altogether after a while - also, everything has been a bit hectic because of my new job, so that´s that.
Ain´t it Tragic by Dead Sara is a record that has been on repeat the past two months. It´s no big surprise I have a huge crush on the singer, Emily, therefore I am very obsessed with their music. She´s also the lead singer of Linkin Park, that´s what many people know her for. But besides my long ongoing crush, I also love Dead Sara´s music. I was a fan of this record for a while, haven´t listened to it for about a year just to rediscover it and obsess all over again.
In my humble opinion, it´s their best album, when I listen to it I´m immediately in a good mood.
Lover Stay Wild for example is a song I love to listen to to feel free and alive. The part Wanna stay Alive, Wanna keep Living (01:59) gets me every time, it´s what makes the song perfect in my opinion. Being in the back of a motorcycle, wind in my hair, surrounded by city lights (as I did a lot when I was in Mumbai earlier this year).
Starry Eyed is a song I have connected to a very specific memory, this was about a year ago, I was on the couch in my ex boyfriends apartment, he was in the shower, I was listening to Starry Eyed on my mp3 player and slowly disconnected from reality, loosing myself completely in a song, everything and nothing on my mind. Well, this is a bit random, but that´s what I think about when I listen to Starry Eyed.
When I listen to Heroes, I´m grateful that some of my heroes (Patti Smith and Lady Gaga) are still alive, even though most of my heroes have passed long ago.
I just think it´s a very great record (obviously, otherwise it wouldn´t be on repeat) and I keep finding my way back to it from time to time.
Another CD I loved in May was the Almost Famous soundtrack which is kinda random - I watched Almost Famous years ago, and happened to stumble across the soundtrack for 3€ in a second hand record store a few weeks ago. There are many great songs such as “America" by Simon & Garfunkel or Led Zeppelin´s "That's The Way".
In May, I also went on tour for the very first time, documenting my friends´ journey with my camera - it was just for a few days, but after romanticizing and dreaming about this for a very long time, the Almost Famous soundtrack was perfect to listen to on long car rides in between concerts. This is something I´m very proud of, something great I´ve accomplished in May.
A book I finally started reading is Bombay Stories by Manto which I purchased in a small bookstore in Mumbai. It has been sitting on my bookshelf ever since, it was supposed to be my read on my flight back home to Berlin, but after a massive argument with my now ex on the phone right before boarding the plane I didn´t feel like reading at all because I was so angry.
Anyways, it´s a collection of short stories around the 1930s from everyday people and everyday life in Bombay (now Mumbai).
For me, it was such a good read which is probably linked to my personal love to India and especially Mumbai.
But even without a connection to India, I would recommend it because sometimes, the best books don´t have the most thrilling plots, instead they capture everyday lives of a time in a place I would otherwise have no idea about.
Also, talking about Mumbai, in May I finally sat down to edit two videos I filmed when I was in Mumbai, and I felt like sharing them with you.
This is one of my favorite videos I ever edited because I feel like it portrays how Mumbai feels at night so well, and I think I did a good job in visualizing said feeling.
The feeling of being on a motorbike in the middle of the night, surrounded by blurry city lights, the wind in my hair. When I watch this, I can feel the freedom, the wanderlust and the urge to adventure, I feel like I´m back in Mumbai. Plus, I always listened to that song.
One day, I floated around Mumbai with a camera and no plan and that´s what I got - a multimedia entry with the intention of capturing this city that I love deeply. It took me a while to finish because I had no idea where I was going with the random footage I filmed, but am quite proud of the result.
A meal I obsessed (like, really obsessed over) was Palak Tofu, which is inspired by the Indian dish Palak Paneer. Palak translates to Spinach and Paneer is cheese. Instead of Paneer, I use tofu, first of all, because I don´t eat dairy products and second of all, because it´s a little difficult to find in Germany unless going to the Indian grocery store (which, by the way, I looooove doing).
I think being obsessed is an understatement, I wanted to eat it every day because it´s so good (or maybe, because I´m highly iron deficient, and my body is desperately looking for iron).
When my Mum visited me in Berlin a few days ago, I cooked it for her and she loved it as well.
One day, I put a fried egg on top which made everything even better - I don´t know, there is just something about cooked spinach and fried egg that is just perfect. Definitely Germanized (is that even a word?) this otherwise Indian inspired dish with the fried egg, but it is what it is. I´m not sure if it´s a popular dish in other countries as well, but one childhood staple dish my Mum would always cook was potatoes with spinach and a fried egg.
Anyways, just writing about Palak Tofu makes me wanna cook it for dinner tonight - and honestly, who´s stopping me? I guess that´s a win when being single - I can do whatever the fuck I want.
Update: ✶ I made Palak Spinach for dinner and loved every second of it
As always, feel free to share your current obsessions down below, I´m curious to read them all.
Take care, and I´ll talk to you soon.