February is so short, but this month felt so full. As I retrace everything I did, it’s sort of shocking that it all fits into one small month! And yet February was also a time for enjoying the comforts of my neighborhood, with a quick escape to the complete opposite side of Turkey.
Best Of The Month
One of the main highlights of this month came at the end, when my article about Fahri Konsolos, the best cocktail bar in Istanbul, finally published! I’m so glad to spread the word about one of my favorite neighborhood spots, and I loved hearing everyone’s reactions to the piece.
I also returned to Mardin this month, about seven and a half years after my first trip. It was lovely, warmer than Istanbul and full of beautiful food– a perfect spontaneous weekend break.
My friend Demetri returned to Istanbul after nearly two years away, which was particularly exciting because he’s the friend that got me through the first month of the pandemic. I hadn’t seen him since those early days and it’s been so wonderful to reconnect again.
Worst Of The Month
One morning, I woke up at 7am to swim my laps and found out that Russia had just invaded Ukraine. It’s been a constant nightmare ever since. I still have friends in Kyiv and other places in Ukraine, and it’s a place I used to visit regularly pre-pandemic– a place I thought I would finally get back to this year. It’s hard to explain how surreal and awful the war has been, and how stressful it is to have people in Ukraine. The worst, the worst.
After a really relentless week (going out every night, swimming most mornings), I hit an ABSOLUTE WALL of exhaustion, and had to finally give in and rest a bit. I know it’s what my body needed but it was such a drag to stop moving when I still wanted to be out and about and having fun.
What I’m Loving
Reads: I read Alibi by Joseph Kanon, a post-WWII suspense novel set in Venice. It was okay, but I kept hoping for a rewarding twist– or that the characters would stop acting so stupid– and it never quite came. Still an enjoyable, disposable read.
I am also reading Krakatoa: The Day The World Exploded by Simon Winchester, which is a terrific book. Besides the fact that the massive 1883 volcano explosion is very interesting, the book makes a really strong point about how the widespread use of the telegraph at that time made it one of the first disasters that people could hear about all over the world almost immediately, and track the results of everywhere. Fascinating stuff.
Music: I went on a real Alice Coltrane kick this month, because she’s a genius and her jazz-future-spiritual mash-up style is just so transcendent. I already loved the song “Govinda Jai Jai”, and “Spiritual Eternal” was this month’s new favorite.
I also spent a lot of time listening to the 2017 Jay-Z album 4.44. It’s great!
TV/Movies: I think the only movie I watched this month was a gloriously mediocre one: Death on the Nile, the Branagh adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel. It was totally goofy but I saw it in a beautiful theater on a cold Monday night, so I had fun! But I wouldn’t go out of your way to watch this movie.
Podcasts: I finally caught up with most of Nice Try, a podcast I started month ago but somehow forgot to wrap up. The episode “The Weight” was a highlight, but I recommend listening to the whole series. I also start the series Suspect, about a murder at a Halloween party in 2008 and the way DNA evidence put an innocent man in jail. It was riveting.
The Film Files
I had a two-part photo shoot with my friend Burak, where we shot a bunch of portraits and then went for a walk by the seaside to shoot the doubles. I messed up some of the exposures but a few of the pictures came out pretty well! I like the idea of doing these double exposure portraits without too much thought, they’re more fun that way.
Ephemera
My Fahri piece wasn’t the only one that was published. A personal essay I wrote ages ago was published the WWF print magazine, which is pretty exciting!
Our very impromptu sketching group has continued, and it’s been nice to come back to that practice. I’ve slowly invited a couple of outsiders to join us once or twice, which has also been pretty interesting.
And in the ultimate “ephemera,” I got a new shoe rack for my front hall and it has brought me an inordinate amount of joy.
Upcoming
March started in Antalya for sunshine and races, and after that… maybe Europe?! Maybe somewhere else in Turkey? Maybe just Istanbul? I honestly don’t know!
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