Steph finally convinced me to get a pedicure this weekend, my first ever. It was nice, I suppose. Something to do once in a blue moon on a lazy weekend day. But now I have purple toenails, and that makes me think of Jack, who went through a passionate nail-painting phase nearly 20 years ago. I honestly don't remember if he ever painted my nails, although my guess is he did. Either way, men or boys wearing nail polish outside a greater expression of gender fluidity always makes me think of him. So my cis self is enjoying the sparkly bright color and also getting a little twinge every time I take my socks off and look at my feet.
Talked to Linc for a good while on Friday night. It was the first time we'd spoke on the phone since I got back to Pakistan and it was good to check in. Fingers crossed for him in this many-stepped-but-actually-not-all-that-lengthy-when-I-think-about-how-long-it-just-took-me-to-hire-one-person job application he's got going on. Fingers crossed for SRB in her application to the Australian High Commission, too.
Speaking of SRB, we started looking at places to move in together. Her lease is up in March and I'm living month-to-month: my lease ended in November and my landlord hasn't made a fuss about me signing a new one. She first suggested it last year and I resisted, but something recently flipped and now it feels good to be trying to find a space to be in together. My place is nice and cozy and funky but it's also small and dim. Might as well try out a bigger place while I'm still living somewhere I can afford it! Most of the places we've looked at this weekend were kind of eh, but a couple in the fanciest neighborhood are promising. One's a basement but recently renovated and nicely designed. Another is an "upper portion," as they call it here, otherwise known as an apartment that starts on the second floor. We're split on which of the two we like better -- she's into the basement because of the newness and niceness, I'm into the latter because it's spacious, surrounded by green, and full of light. But the one I like really is a bit shabby and the kitchen is cramped and kind of tucked away, which is a bummer. We'll revisit them both at evening prayers, when you get a sense of (1) what it's like with less direct sunlight and (2) how loud the azan (call to prayer) is. Azan volume is critical because the first one is pre-dawn and if it's loud it can wake you up every day. We checked one place out this afternoon from which you could practically read the brand name on the speakers on the minaret. Hard pass.
No urgency there because her housemates have both found other options and if we don't find a place we really like she can move in with me for a little while or vice versa. Her current place is okay but it's enormous; we'd have lots of unused space. Good balcony and garden though.
It's Kashmir Day here, a federal holiday, perfectly timed to coincide with Super BowlSunMonday. So I was up at 4 AM, making coffee and then driving over to a friend of a friend's place to watch the game in the wee hours. SRB stayed asleep until around halftime and then joined. This friend of a friend is an American diplomat so has access to bacon, and our mutual friend made pancakes with chopped up strawberries and bananas on top. Most delicious. Plus the game was outstanding, a real barnstormer featuring the most yards ever gained in a single game in the history of the NFL, and also the first team to gain 600 yards and lose in the history of the NFL, and the team that lost is the team I wanted to lose. Fly Eagles, fly. My fandom feels truly liberated now, in the FreeDarko sense of no longer caring about any one team but only rooting for the games to be entertaining, the players skilled, the narratives compelling. This Super Bowl delivered.
Two short naps and a bunch of reading and apartment visiting later, the sun's going down. SRB is working on her macroeconomics course, I'm writing this post, we'll go for a run some time in the near future. Back to work tomorrow.
Talked to Linc for a good while on Friday night. It was the first time we'd spoke on the phone since I got back to Pakistan and it was good to check in. Fingers crossed for him in this many-stepped-but-actually-not-all-that-lengthy-when-I-think-about-how-long-it-just-took-me-to-hire-one-person job application he's got going on. Fingers crossed for SRB in her application to the Australian High Commission, too.
Speaking of SRB, we started looking at places to move in together. Her lease is up in March and I'm living month-to-month: my lease ended in November and my landlord hasn't made a fuss about me signing a new one. She first suggested it last year and I resisted, but something recently flipped and now it feels good to be trying to find a space to be in together. My place is nice and cozy and funky but it's also small and dim. Might as well try out a bigger place while I'm still living somewhere I can afford it! Most of the places we've looked at this weekend were kind of eh, but a couple in the fanciest neighborhood are promising. One's a basement but recently renovated and nicely designed. Another is an "upper portion," as they call it here, otherwise known as an apartment that starts on the second floor. We're split on which of the two we like better -- she's into the basement because of the newness and niceness, I'm into the latter because it's spacious, surrounded by green, and full of light. But the one I like really is a bit shabby and the kitchen is cramped and kind of tucked away, which is a bummer. We'll revisit them both at evening prayers, when you get a sense of (1) what it's like with less direct sunlight and (2) how loud the azan (call to prayer) is. Azan volume is critical because the first one is pre-dawn and if it's loud it can wake you up every day. We checked one place out this afternoon from which you could practically read the brand name on the speakers on the minaret. Hard pass.
No urgency there because her housemates have both found other options and if we don't find a place we really like she can move in with me for a little while or vice versa. Her current place is okay but it's enormous; we'd have lots of unused space. Good balcony and garden though.
It's Kashmir Day here, a federal holiday, perfectly timed to coincide with Super Bowl
Two short naps and a bunch of reading and apartment visiting later, the sun's going down. SRB is working on her macroeconomics course, I'm writing this post, we'll go for a run some time in the near future. Back to work tomorrow.
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