April is always a month of transitions– the weather slowly slipping from cold to maybe almost warm, and my birthday ushering me personally from one age to another. This April didn’t disappoint, with blooming flowers and mild weather and a lot of celebrations.
Best Of The Month
I started off April in Paris, and while all of Paris was splendid, the best part was the food! A particular highlight was Kodawari, a fish ramen restaurant that’s designed to look and feel like a Tokyo fish market and whose line stretched out for nearly an hour on a Monday. We waited in that line and it was worth it, the food was divine.
This was my first birthday since 2019 that wasn’t locked-in, and I wanted to have a celebration without the hassle of planning a party. Luckily, my friend Burak offered to open his cocktail bar just for me and my friends on the Monday of my birthday! It was perfectly lovely and low-key, Burak made special bloody marys, and I got to spend time with some of the beautiful people in my life… an ideal birthday celebration.
And sort of related, parties are back with a vengeance! It felt like everyone was throwing parties this month, for Easter or birthdays or maybe just for the hell of it, and I am here for it.
Worst Of The Month
The cold weather lingered, and the week I spent in Paris was one of the coldest– it was still winter jacket weather while Istanbul was springtime. It even snowed on my first day in France! I was very done with heavy coats and cold weather by the end of the month.
What I’m Loving
Reads: I devoured the book The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which delved into all aspects of the wonder of genes– from their history to their future. Totally fascinating stuff.
Music: I loved “Keep It Up” by Hovvdy, and “It’s Over If We Run Out Of Love” by David Holmes and Raven Violet.
Movie/TV: April was the month of the Istanbul Film Festival, and I took advantage of their Sergio Leone retrospective to have a week of spaghetti westerns. And they were fantastic! My two favorites were A Fistful of Dollars, which is an utter delight, and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, which is a classic for good reason. Also I’m obsessed with Ennio Morricone’s music now.
Podcasts: You Must Remember This returned with a brand-new season called Erotic 80’s, and it’s unsurprisingly terrific– this is the podcast that got me into podcasts, and it’s still the best.
The Film Files
I bought some disposable cameras to document my little birthday bar gathering, and they were super underexposed and old but still fun!
Ephemera
I went on a little reporting trip to the south of Turkey, and it reminded me how splendid April is in the south– the weather is mild but sometimes still warm enough to swim, and the wildflowers are blooming everywhere. What a treat!
Upcoming
I’m writing this so late that the “upcoming” has already come up, but May includes visits to Tbilisi AND the US, making it my most international-travel-y month since pre-pandemic.
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