My favorite ... in January
First month of 2025 was largely MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP), the most creative, freeing, summer-camp-like time on campus. Especially for grad students, this is a period of no-classes, all research -- something I rarely get to experience on campus since I’m away every summer. I find it a mindful and intention time for me, as I settle into rituals that guide me into a more sustainable version of the rest of the year.
Travel
I went to Tahoe for a snowboarding trip - not exaggerating, this trip was the only reasons I kept going in many dark, stressful moments last fall. At the same time as when we were planning the trip, I kept getting retreat ads on instagram of beautiful all-female trips in the north of Sweden, surrounded by candles, good food, and beautiful organic cotton sheets (I seriously cannot stop thinking about these sheets, they’ve haunted me since I laid eyes on them but they are also $200). While I can’t deny the influence of my romanticization efforts the entire two months prior, this trip was really the perfect cozy start to the year. I mean, how can one go wrong when you’re cooking almost-too-expensive organic locally-grown produce for dinner, eating $6/dozen eggs for breakfast, and sleeping in a wood cabin with your friends? I think this week temporarily transported me to a different economic class (to be transparent, I would’ve never been able to afford this if my friend’s parents didn’t graciously let us stay there), and I got a glimpse into what it’s like to live with all the creature comforts one could imagine.
Media
No spoilers
During the Tahoe trip, when we were not on the slopes, we needed a ritual as the sun set early in the winter evenings. Severance and hot chocolate (spiked with amaretto) became the show every night, cozied up on an awfully soft couch under as many blankets as there were people. Not only is the plot incredibly relevant and thought-provoking, the acting is nuanced to the point where the audience can start deciphering theories based on microexpressions.
Culminating from three very intensive nights, the S1 finale had everyone out of their seats and yelling at the tiny TV in the cabinet. S2 is out every Friday, as shows should be - this year, I want to step away from binging shows and start anticipating and creating theories in the weekdays in between, as the writers intended! As a slow start to my 30-book reading challenge, I only finished one book in January, but by God it was a great one. To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara was an instant buy when I saw it for sale in Brookline Booksmith after I finished A Little Life by the same author, also known as the most psychologically devastating book known to humankind. It took a little while to get into, as I find her books tend to start straight in the middle of worldbuilding with very little context. Due to this, the story is incredibly rich and complex throughout. Split into three books within, this novel is a journey of love, heritage, identity, and the pursuit and grief of finding one’s purpose. I knew nothing about the book before starting it, and I would highly recommend the same for prospective readers - there was a synergistic beauty between the unknown and the journey.
I’ve really loved roadtrip music and am so happy whatever bug was causing the Spotify Radio option not to appear on my app was finally fixed. I’ve been listening to Role Model in order to manifest myself at Gracie Abrams’s sold-out Boston concert, in particular a little more time.