Autumn is finally here!
September passed without much fanfare—except for the rainstorms that left my basement resembling a swimming pool.
These monthly retrospectives make me reflect on the past weeks, and truth be told, September was uneventful. I wrapped up a few home projects, tackled some overdue cleaning and reorganising, and tried to make sense of how this flat should work going forward.
I spent a lot of time lost in thought. September tends to do that to me. It has this lingering feeling of new beginnings, a habit carried over from the back-to-school days that still sneaks up on me every year.
Memorable reads:
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: This book has been on every favourites list, and I finally gave in. It’s absolutely delightful—a cosy read that feels like wrapping up in a warm blanket with a cuppa tea.
- My Dark Vanessa: This one hit hard, especially since I was in a somewhat similar relationship when I was younger—me at 17, him at 38. Not my teacher, but someone else’s. So many of Jacob Strane’s lines to Vanessa I'd heard verbatim—the gaslighting, the constant guilt trips, his self-preservation above all else. It was unsettling, bringing back memories of a past I’d long since tucked away and forcing me to re-evaluate not just the relationship itself, but the lens through which I had viewed it.
- Midnight Sun: The infamous Twilight retelling from Edward’s perspective. During one of the lockdowns, I got hooked on the Remember Twilight? podcast, loving how Maren and Emily revisited each chapter of the saga. Then in winter 2022, I reread all the books for the first time since their original release. Yes, they’re flawed, but they’re also nostalgic, charming, and oddly comforting. I don't believe in guilty pleasure, so, here it is: I adore these books for as many reasons as I find them problematic. Long story short, Midnight Sun is a wild ride and such a fun and weird read.
Memorable Watches:
- How To Get Away With Murder: I think I watched a few episodes years ago but lost interest pretty quickly. This time, I made it through four-ish seasons. The first season was great, but it slowly went downhill from there.
- The Nanny: Not sure what prompted me to start watching it but, oh boy, I’m glad I did. It's so wholesome and heartfelt; and I've been literally lol-ing every episode.
- The Good Place: I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve rewatched this show. Sometimes I just revisit my favourite episodes, other times it’s on a constant loop in the background. All four seasons are forking fantastic.
- Deadpool & Wolverine: Yes, Marvel fatigue is real, but this was actually a blast!
Some other things:
- Struggled to get back into the groove of my **Daily Drawings**. Funny how something that once felt natural now seems almost impossible to restart once the habit's broken. I managed a few pieces in August, but kept bouncing between different styles, unable to settle on one. Now, I’m stuck in that limbo, unsure if I even want to continue.
- Flooded basement
- Gave away my TV! This is the second one I've offloaded in the past five years. I rarely watch on a big screen, and this last one was used maybe a dozen times over the past two years. It just wasn’t worth the space it occupied in my flat.
- Finally have space for all my books, so I’ve lifted my book-buying ban. Someone may have acquired 20+ new titles over the past few weeks.
- Made friends with the handymen working in my building, and they helped with drilling holes in the bathroom tiles. I’m pretty handy, but drilling into tiles? Not something I wanna do.
- Considering buying an AirFryer, though I wish they weren’t so bulky and ugly. Any recommendations?
- Got a new Filofax and spent many evenings designing, printing, and cutting custom inserts.