#might buy myself a nice iced black coffee to substitute food

[no-one-hears-me]

the light and joy I mentioned having an hour ago? no longer present

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette Drabble Nineteen: Ice Cream

Coffee was extended into a walk down to the Seine, and as Adrien and Elise strolled, talking animatedly, they heard the iconic cry of André the ice cream man.

Elise visibly perked up, gaining another inch so that she almost stood as tall as Adrien.

“You want ice cream? After that grande vanilla bean frappuccino you just drank?” Adrien snickered. “Aren’t you worried about your girlish figure?”

“Stuff it. Curves are sexy, Candy Floss,” Elise snorted, grabbing his arm and tugging him towards the ice cream cart.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Adrien chuckled, deigning to be led.

André greeted them warmly and asked for their order.

“Surprise us,” Elise decreed, as excited as a wriggling child as she watched André scoop out three different flavors: cookies and cream, birthday cake, and cookie dough.

“For a sweet girl who deserves a sweet sweetheart,” André announced.

Elise gave a squeal of delight as she accepted her cone.

“He’s got your number,” Adrien teased.

“Leave my sweet tooth alone, Agreste.” Elise playfully stuck out her tongue at Adrien before putting it to work on the ice cream.

“And for the young gentleman?” André prompted.

Adrien shook his head. “You know best, André.” He fully expected to be given his usual.

André nodded. “Right now, it seems to me that you need this: lemon for his hair, mint for his eyes, and cherry for his lips.”

Adrien blinked owlishly as he exchanged the money in his hand for the ice cream cone. “Uhh…Thank you?”

“Be well,” André responded before turning to the next person in line.

Adrien and Elise took their ice cream and went to sit down with their feet dangling over the edge of the embankment with the river down below them.

“That was odd,” Adrien remarked. “Typically, I get Marinette-themed ice cream, but today…my true love is apparently a man with blonde hair, green eyes, and cherry lips.”

“Sounds like a hunk,” Elise giggled, happily lapping at her own sugar bomb. “I wouldn’t be complaining.”

Adrien shrugged. “Actually, I could definitely go for a Prince Charming right about now,” he sighed. “I wouldn’t mind if some hot guy wanted to sweep me off my feet and kiss it all better.”

Elise nearly choked on a cookies and cream chunk when she realized that Adrien was serious. “O-Oh?”

Elise’s brain conjured up the first green-eyed blonde male it could think of, and Elise had to admit that the image of Chat Noir kissing Adrien better was…not bad, to say the least.

“Actually working to rescue yourself from depression is hard,” Adrien continued obliviously. “If someone else could do the heavy lifting for me…I wouldn’t say no. Somehow, I don’t think that’s how this works, though.”

Adrien frowned, staring at his ice cream intently. “I typically like people with black hair and blue eyes. I don’t know what this is all about.” He gestured vaguely to the cone.

Elise squinted, studying the treat and looking back and forth between the cone and Adrien until it suddenly clicked. “Oh, Candy Floss. It’s you.”

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. “What?”

“It’s you,” Elise reiterated. “Your hair, your eyes, your lips… I think André was trying to tell you that you need to love yourself right now.”

Adrien stared at the ice cream pensively. It really was a distorted reflection of himself.

“Weeping angels,” he cursed softly. “I don’t want to have to love myself. I want someone else to do that for me.”

“I know you’re partially joking,” Elise hummed, voice low and reassuring. “but be serious with me for a minute?”

“Sure.” Adrien took a bite of the lemon ice cream on top.

“How is someone else going to love you if not even you love you?” she prompted.

“What is there to love?” Adrien asked in earnest. “But if anyone could do it, it would be Marinette.”

Elise rolled her eyes. “Okay. Yeah. Marinette is a beast at everything she sets her mind to, but…come on. How is that fair?”

Adrien didn’t answer.

Elise let it go, seeing that she had made her point.

“…What does that even mean ‘love yourself’?” Adrien mumbled into his ice cream. “How do you ‘love yourself’? I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen that in real life before.”

“First off, you need to start being nicer to Adrien,” Elise announced, sending him a disappointed pout. “You’re such a jerk to him.”

Adrien gawked at his companion. “I don’t understand. I am Adrien.”

“And you’re a first-class jerk to Adrien,” Elise confirmed with a sage nod. “Think of it like this. Pretend that you’re two different people.”

“Done,” Adrien snickered.

“Okay. Would you ever tell another person ‘what is there to love about you’?” she inquired, leaving Adrien floored. “Would you say something like that to me?”

“No!” Adrien’s cheeks burst into flame. “No, absolutely not.”

“Then why is it okay for you to say things like that about yourself?” Elise challenged.

Adrien’s mind went blank. All he could come up with was “because it’s true”, but he didn’t think Elise would like that answer.

“You can’t think of a good reason, can you?” Elise nodded knowingly. “So watch what you think and say about yourself. Think of you as a person separate from yourself and be nicer. That will be your first assignment. After that…how do you express your love for others—romantic love or otherwise?”

Adrien thought for a moment. “Well, these past four months I’m doing a pretty lousy job, but…when you love someone, you buy them gifts and spend time with them. You tell them you love them. Is that what you mean?”

Elise nodded encouragingly. “Yes. That’s exactly it. You compliment the other person and you help take care of them. You do them favors and do thoughtful things for them just because. Those are the kinds of things you need to start doing for yourself, Adrien. That’s how you love yourself…and if you start loving yourself, maybe you’ll slowly come to like yourself too.”

Adrien scoffed reflexively. “Somehow, I doubt it. I’ve sort of become the kind of guy who deserves to be taken out back and shot recently. I don’t think it will be so easy to like me.”

Elise gave Adrien’s leg a swat. “Be nice. There you go again. You would never say something like that about another person.”

“But it’s true!” Adrien whined. “I’m kind of disgusted with myself as of late.”

“Okay,” Elise sighed, gathering her patience. She wished Marinette was there to explain this to him. She would be able to get through to him. “Here’s an example. If you thought someone was fat, would you say that out loud?”

“No.” Adrien scrunched up his nose.

“And what if I was a skank? What if I really was? Would you call me a skank to my face?” she demanded.

“…No.” Slowly the pieces were beginning to come together.

“Why not, if it’s the truth?” she pressed.

“Because you just don’t say things like that about other people,” Adrien muttered, realization dawning upon him. “Oh.”

“Yes!” Elise stressed in excitement for the breakthrough.

“So…I shouldn’t talk that way about myself either,” Adrien concluded.

“Yes,” Elise confirmed. “Be nice to yourself.”

“That…might take some practice,” Adrien murmured into his ice cream, licking up the side to keep it from dripping.

“I mean, you have time,” Elise informed.

Adrien nodded. “…Thanks…. How do you know this? Is this something they teach you somewhere, and I just missed out on the lesson because I was homeschooled, or…?”

Elise laughed, smiling sadly. “It’s something I had to learn myself. This one guy I was dating really messed me up. I wasn’t even in love with him or anything. I just…I had unrealistic expectations of relationships in general, and I ended up relying on him for my self-worth. It didn’t end well, and I kind of had to build myself back up from the ground level. It’s like what you’re doing. Marinette can’t be your everything. She may secretly be Superman, but she can’t support you in your entirety. You have to find your own happiness apart from her, your own value separate from being with her. You have to be able to be okay without her in order to be okay with her.”

Elise looked up with a bashful smile. “Sorry. Do I sound too preachy? It’s just…this is something I had to do for myself too, so I can’t help but see myself in you.”

“No.” Adrien shook his head vigorously. “Thank you. I think I really needed to hear that.”

Elise nodded, looking back out at the Ile de la Cité. “Good. I’m glad you think what I said was helpful. I know everyone’s case is different, so yours won’t work out in exactly the same way that mine did, but…I hope you eventually get there, Candy Floss. You’re a sweet kid, and I want you to be happy.”

“Thank you,” Adrien whispered. “…You’re really awesome…especially after how I messed up with you.”

Elise shrugged. “You’re young. Youth is a time to make mistakes, and at least you apologized for yours.”

“You say that like you’re not young anymore,” Adrien observed.

Elise shrugged. “I’m twenty-one. I feel old at the moment. I’ll feel like a kid again tomorrow. Age ebbs and flows. I think that’s part of growing up. I’ll be young so long as I can enjoy ice cream like this.”

“Until it gives you diabetes,” Adrien snickered with a wink.

Elise poked him with her elbow. “You know, that drives me nuts when people say that. That is NOT how you get diabetes. Diabetes is genetic. Cavities is what I need to be worried about.”

Adrien put up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry,” he chuckled, and she joined in.

The laughter died down, and Adrien bit his lip. “So…I don’t suppose you’re free this evening?”

“I don’t have anything planned. I was just going to put away two weeks’ worth of laundry so that I’m not living out of the laundry hamper. Why?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Do you like Chinese food and anime? Marinette and I usually meet up for Chinese and anime on Saturdays, but…and I kind of miss that,” Adrien confessed. “I was wondering if you…?”

Elise considered for a moment. She had no problem with Chinese or anime, but…it was probably for the best if she avoided becoming a substitute. “Chinese food isn’t really my favourite, and anime…meh. I’ll tell you what, though. If you want to get sushi and show me a couple episodes of that Doctor Who show you were talking about, I thought that sounded interesting. How does that sound?”

Adrien’s face lit up. “That sounds awesome! Let me call my dad and make sure it’s okay for you to come over!”

 Elise left around eight, refusing the offered ride and Adrien’s attempts to walk her home.

“I’ll text you in twenty minutes once I get there,” she chuckled, mussing his hair as she turned to go.

“Can I call you sometime?” he called after her at the gate.

She looked back at him with a puzzled expression. “You mean to hang out again?”

He nodded tentatively.

“Sure. I’ll get coffee and ogle David Tennant with you anytime!” she chuckled. “You can help me memorize all the internal organs for my exam too.”

“Deal!” he agreed enthusiastically.

Gabriel poked his head out of his office as Adrien shut the front door. “That was your ex-girlfriend?”

Adrien nodded. “Elise O’Leary. She’s great. She really helped out today. I had a lot of fun.”

Gabriel frowned. “Great…in a romantic way?”

Adrien laughed and shook his head. “Great in the sense that she’s a good friend. Completely platonic.”

Gabriel hummed. “Then I don’t have to be concerned about leaving you two alone in your room?”

“Nope,” Adrien confirmed. “The remaining shreds of my virtue are safe with Elise.”

Gabriel frowned even more deeply at the self-deprecating jest.

“Don’t make that face,” Adrien sighed. “I’m kidding. I haven’t slept with anyone, and I’m not going to. I’m only interested in Marinette.”

Gabriel pursed his lips. “You’re not considering dating anyone else?” he sought to confirm.

“No, Dad. I’m finished dating. I’m just spending time with friends now. I’m okay,” he assured.

Gabriel nodded slowly. “All right. That’s good to hear. You look okay.”

Adrien laughed. “Thanks. You look okay too. Goodnight, Dad. I love you.”

Gabriel smiled tentatively. “I love you too, Son.”

 Adrien toweled off and pulled on his pajamas, padding across the expansive bathroom on his way to turn in early. He caught sight of his reflection in the massive mirror and stopped to consider himself.

He cleared his throat. “So…”

Compliments. He did this all the time. Why was this suddenly so hard?

“Just…be Chat Noir,” he coached. “…and talk to Adrien.”

He took a deep breath, let it out, and settled into character.

“Hey there, Handsome,” Chat purred, giving Adrien an appreciative once over.

Adrien frowned. “Handsome…isn’t really the best nickname.”

“Well, what do you want me to call you?” Chat sighed. “Beautiful? Hot Stuff? Beau Gosse?”

Adrien winced at the pet name Marinette usually used when she was in a teasing mood.

“How about Sweetheart? Does that sound sleazy?” Chat tried. “Hey there, Sweetheart. What’s a guy like you doing in a mansion like this?”

Adrien looked unimpressed and uncomfortable.

Chat frowned. “Sweet Prince?”

Adrien chuckled. “Like what Horatio calls Hamlet? ‘Goodnight, Sweet Prince’.”

Chat’s frown deepened in exasperation. “God, you’re difficult. How am I supposed to flirt with you if we can’t even get past pet names?”

“Were you supposed to be flirting with me?” Adrien wondered. “You’re supposed to be complimenting me.”

Chat shrugged dismissively. “Same thing. I’m supposed to be loving you—which you are making extremely hard. You know, I have a feeling that normal people don’t have to put this much effort into giving themselves compliments.”

Adrien averted his gaze. “God, I suck at this.”

Chat was silent for a minute or so as Adrien collected his thoughts.

“Hey,” Chat called softly. “Dri.”

It was an old nickname his mother and brother had used for him. El, Em, Fé, and Dri. Only Bridgette and Noëlle called him that now.

Adrien looked up.

“You have beautiful eyes,” Chat whispered. “Like verdant fields of young wheat. Your eyes are like spring, full of the promise of rich abundance, waiting to burst into bloom…. I’d like to be the one to make you bloom,” Chat added, voice low and silky and inviting.

Adrien giggled. “Chat Noir, you’d have to take me to dinner first. I’m not that easy.”

Chat rolled his eyes. “You play hard to get, but I know where all your buttons are.”

Adrien rolled his eyes in return. “What was the point of this exercise again? Were you supposed to be trying to get me into bed with you?”

Chat pursed his lips. “…No. Sorry. It’s just…it’s hard to give compliments without flirting, and I know I can push you harder than anyone without crossing a line when it comes to being suggestive, so…”

“It’s okay,” Adrien sighed. “So…I have beautiful eyes…. Try again?”

“Sure,” Chat easily agreed but then failed to continue.

“Well?” Adrien prompted.

“I’m thinking. This is hard,” Chat whined. “I mean…yeah. You look great. Plenty of people want to throw you down on a bed and use you up, but is that really a compliment? Does the fact that you’re sexually attractive give you self-worth? Doesn’t that just make you feel objectified?”

Adrien sighed. “I figuratively suck at this. I can’t even do positive self-talk right. Is it really so hard to say ‘Gosh, Adrien. You’re a really nice person. I like you.’?”

“You don’t think you’re a nice person,” Chat mumbled ruefully. “And I think that telling yourself that you suck is counterproductive.”

Adrien had no words with which to respond.

“Adrien?” Chat called, attempting to get them back on topic.

Adrien met Chat’s gaze in the mirror.

“I love you,” Chat whispered tenderly.

Adrien let out a weary laugh. “Liar,” he accused without heat.

Chat fell silent, a wounded expression casting a shadow over his face.

A stab of guilt got Adrien in the gut. Chat was trying. Adrien was not.

Adrien cleared his throat. “I…I like your jokes. You’re really funny.”

Chat looked up tentatively.

“I like that about you,” Adrien continued. “You make me laugh. I like that you’re goofy.”

Chat leaned in closer in interest. “Go on,” he purred.

“And you’re brave,” Adrien continued. “You’re always willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of Paris. That’s really noble.”

Chat chuckled ironically. “We both know whom I’m really sacrificing myself for, and it has nothing to do with Paris.”

“Still,” Adrien argued. “Your dedication and willingness to take those hits is admirable. You are brave, regardless of your motivation. I like your bravery. You’re cool, and you do a good job of being a superhero. It’s not easy fitting in time to save Paris what with everything else going on in your life, so it’s actually super impressive that you make the effort to show up every time. I like your dedication.”

“I’m not the only one who’s dedicated, you know,” Chat softly reminded. “Mr. Fencing-Chinese-Piano-Basketball-Model-Superhero. You’re pretty impressive yourself.”

Adrien scoffed. “Yeah. Way to go me and my time management skills. Big deal,” he whispered sarcastically. “Especially when Nathalie does all the hard work of making the schedule.”

“Okay, but still. Maybe it is a big deal,” Chat reasoned. “I mean…not only do you do those things, but you’re actually pretty good at them too. Except maybe basketball. Because you’re so short.”

“I’m five-nine in shoes,” Adrien retorted. “That is a respectable height. I’m average height for a French male.”

“How tall are you without the shoes?” Chat snickered.

“Average height,” Adrien repeated defencively. “And I am good at basketball because I’m fast and I can jump. Aren’t you supposed to be making me feel good?”

Chat smirked hungrily. “If you want me to make you feel good, we’ll need to take this next door into your bedroom. I’m not opposed to doing this standing up, but…”

Adrien stared at Chat in disbelief. “Are you even serious? What is wrong with you?”

“I’m eighteen,” Chat pouted. “My hormones are maddening. It’s normal to think about sex all the time. Don’t pretend you’re all pure and innocent, Agreste.”

Adrien blushed, muttering down at the granite countertop. “At least have standards.”

“You meet my standards,” Chat teased.

“I don’t think we’re doing this loving ourselves thing right. It’s supposed to be about my self-esteem.” Adrien reached up to rub at the green remains of the bruises on his neck.

“At least you’re trying,” Chat encouraged. “At least you got out of bed today and did something fun. Just…keep trying, okay?”

Adrien took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay. I can do this. I just…have to do the same things I do to show other people I love them.”

He looked up at his reflection and grinned. “Will you go out with me?”

Chat quirked an eyebrow. “Depends. Are you going to treat me better than you’ve treated your posse of girlfriends?”

“Yes,” Adrien promised. “I’m going to be so good to you. I’m going to tell you how wonderful you are and buy you flowers and pain au chocolat and manga. I’m not going to say mean things about you. I’m not going to be judgmental or hyper-critical or demanding. I’m…I’m going to take care of you.”

Chat looked dubious. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to try.” Adrien bit his lip. “Because I desperately want someone to love you. More than anything, I want someone to love you as much as I…” He gulped. “…I want someone to love you, so why not me? Why can’t it be me?”

“You’re the only one who’s stopping you,” Chat whispered.

“No more,” Adrien promised. “So will you go out with me? …I’ve always wanted to date a superhero.”

Chat laughed. “You and me both…. Okay. All right, Adrien Agreste. I’ll go out with you, but I reserve the right to dump you if you don’t keep your word.”

“Deal,” Adrien assured, leaning in to brush his lips to Chat’s.

The mirror was cold and unyielding against his mouth.

Adrien blinked, pulling back. He scrunched up his nose. “This is really, really silly,” he sighed.

“Yeah, but did it seem to help? Did it make you feel better?” his inner voice prompted.

“A little?” Adrien ran a hand through his still-damp hair.

“Then maybe you should keep doing it.”

“What? Talking to myself like a crazy person?” Adrien snorted.

“Talking to yourself like you are a person.”

Adrien studied his reflection, considering this for a moment.

Without replying, Adrien turned and headed into his bedroom. He needed to go for a run to clear his head. There hadn’t been an akuma attack in about a month, and Chat was itching to stretch his legs.

[twistednuns]

December 2018

Iglo Veggie love with broccoli, buckwheat and black beans. Quick and easy.

The TEDxTUM event was pretty inspiring. I loved how they organised it and some of the speakers were amazing. Seeing all the cool stuff other people are working on actually motivated me to try and achieve great things myself. I'd like to learn about something new, start a project or volunteer.

Pick Up Limes videos.

The way Cher sings the word Memphis in her cover song.

Seeing Frank for the first time in four months. Having a good time at the Uncle Acid concert, getting a beer at Flex. Even though meeting him always causes some kind of emotional turmoil it might actually help to solve a few things I've been stressing over this time, for example that whole deal with Claudia.

Spending two hours in the kitchen on a Sunday morning. Preparing a summer and a winter curry. Pre-cutting salad. Listening to Tai Chi music. Baking these divine buckwheat chocolate cookies - absolutely delicious even though I forgot to add salt. Kinda healthy, too! It's grain-free (I even used groats) and I substituted part of the sugar with honey.

Gift ideas for rock collectors and mycophiles.

A spotted woodpecker in our backyard.

Dalmatian Jasper. Such a pretty stone.

Blinded by the Light. And a trip down musical memory lane. Making a nostalgia mixtape. Singing, enjoying the sound of my voice (as long as I hit the right vocal range).

Drawing owls. For hours. Using my Polychromos coloured pencils. I'm currerntly working on two owl-related projects, designing a logo for coffee roasters and making my friends' wedding invitation. Drawing owls like lovebirds is such a satisfying thing to do. Also: making my students come up with new ideas! Some actually drew some owl logos, too!

Tetris.

Reading books I don't understand. By people who are smarter than me. A very humbling experience. There is so much more to learn, experience and achieve.

Franzi's elegant coat and her ice crystal earrings. She's pregnant but she is skinnier than before and looks great. We cuddled up on a rooftop and had Kinderpunsch.

Practising The Pogues' Fairytale of New York for for karaoke night. I never hit the NYPD choir note quite right. My neighbours must hate me.

Taking a mental health day. Starting the day with baking cookies, making vegan sushi rolls. Reading, taking a nap. Yoga in the evening. Feeling really happy and relaxed. One of those rare inspired days when everything just falls into place. I kept revisiting beautiful places and memories during Shavasana. And I LOVE my yoga teacher more and more each week. So sad she is leaving the studio.

Taming your temper - tips for anger management.

Another coincidence. I wondered when the next Bilderbuch record will be released when I was looking at Mavi Phoenix at her concert - that girl is the female version of Maurice Ernst. A few hours later I found out that Bilderbuch actually had released a new album one day ago. WHAT.

Mirror tape.

Being a fluffy little red cat's human of choice. We sat in a cat café, no animals in sight. After a while a cat walked up straight towards me, sat down on my yellow scarf and kneaded it. Later she demanded attention and purred while I scratched her jaw. Apparently this was quite a rare occurence because she is said to be really shy and hard to handle. Weirdos unite!

Making Bhindi Masala, a vegan okra curry. Spicy and intense - delicious! Oh, and sushi rolls filled with avocado, veggies and fancy tofu/tempeh. Now I have a whole container waiting for me in the fridge.

Practising yoga for 20min on a gloomy Monday morning. Lighting a candle, drinking a cup of Ayurvedic Kapha tea with honey and lemon.

Tom, who inspired me to learn more about Ayurveda. And to rewatch The Darjeeling Limited because let's face it - Wes Anderson really knows how to make one of the poorest countries in the world look gorgeous.

We become what we think about. It's impossible to be successful without having a destination.

Quotations from Siri Hustvedt's The Blazing World: 1 / 2

"Smelling you almost makes me cum."

Running around with a fake septum piercing. I kinda like the look. I'm actually considering getting a real one but so far I'm fine with the clip-ons. The good thing is that you can't see the ring's ends anyway in that kind of piercing.

Spending time with the old friends. The best ones. The ones you don't have to speak to and it's still not uncomfortable. The ones you can be super weird around and they embrace it. The ones you can tell your strangest ideas and stories.

There is a new Turkish supermarket right around the corner! Fresh cilantro whenever I want! YES!!!

Heavy snowfall. It does look kinda pretty, I admit.

Many questions, not enough answers at the ESO Supernova exhibition/planetarium. / Making another cat friend over breakfast. / Seeing my foxy ginger lady Anika again after such a long time! / Orange marzipan lebkuchen and roasted coconut almonds (they taste like Raffaello). / Finding the perfect earrings and a beautiful head band at EDITED - The Label. / Performing Fairytale of New York live on stage with Manu. Being able to curse at somebody through song is perfect, I had a lot of fun. Also, he promised me his art teacher sweater as a Christmas present.

A knitting project with rainbow wool.

Making a clay sculpture for my mum. Taking it out of the oven at 80 degrees, wrapped in a dish towel like a baby.

The honey marzipan nougat bar from dm bio.

Meeting Manu at his office. Receiving the most awesome paint palette sweater as a Christmas present! And he let me spend a full hour in virtual reality! He has such an amazing programme which lets you draw in 3D and float around in space (with VR goggles). I'm absolutely fascinated and intrigued. Gotta visit him more often.

Meeting Tobi, Maike, Lena and Christian at Märchenbasar. Being drunk after some Feuerzangenbowle with rum (Pfeffi in Manu's case) and white mulled wine. Taking the long way home.

Buying Paulaner Spezi for my class. Supermarket trips with the kids before 8am. Schrottwichteln. Watching random goat videos and intros to children's series.

Having a drink at Goldene Bar in Haus der Kunst. Such a gorgeous place. I'm trying to get into a workshop on the museum's architecture at the end of January.

Making random people want to kiss me. Having no desire whatsoever to actually kiss them.

The Harry Potter round (on special request) at the pub quiz.

Reading Stephen Hawking's short answers to some of the big questions. I have to admit, I know nothing about physics or cosmology and at times his explanations were super hard to understand (fine, I probably didn't understand most of it) but I love creating a need to use my brain in uncommon ways.

Vivid dreams. About  dangerous skyscrapers (just different floors stacked loosely on top of each other), a kidnapping in a futuristic car by very glamorous gangsters, lesbians on a scooter trying to save me, travelling through Asia and the US with Sash, a sinking ship (but all the passengers swam back to the surface after a short period of unconsciousness), ATMs, fancy drinks, meeting strangers with beautiful eyelashes at a restaurant.

Discovering the Trouvelot astronomical drawings (1882) on the darkest day of the year, winter solstice. Watching the night fade away ever so slowly in the morning from the kitchen window, squeezing fresh oranges to make juice for breakfast. Bright orange and midnight blue is a great colour combination.

ASMRctica.

An article about a dear friend of mine appeared in Süddeutsche Zeitung! So happy for him.

Spending time with very old friends right before Christmas. Tobi, Sash, Michi, Yanic, Fischi and his wife... Playing MarioKart on SNES with Peter and taking weird selfies together. I had a very nice evening.

Managing to get a look at downtown Chicago during my layover. I uber-ed into the city centre (watching the skyscrapers getting larger and larger), walked around Millenium Park and along Lake Michigan. I spent quite a bit of time at Blick, an amazing art store, before I took the train back to the airport.

Arriving in Mexico in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve. Seeing the city sparkling from above. Watching a bunch of kids beating a pinata well after midnight. Arriving in a beautiful artist's apartment in Condesa.

The Anthropology Museum in CDMX made it on the list of my favourite museums ever. I could have spent days there. I kept sketching some of the funny masks and Maya figurines. There were plenty of creepy tombs and skeletons, depictions of weird Gods, handicrafts and woodcarvings. It was just so interesting, probably because I had never seen a lot of South American / Aztec culture before and I love learning and exploring new things.

Christmas day in CDMX: sunshine, tacky glitter decorations, pointy balloons and spiky pinatas. Dancing, ancient smoke rituals performed by a Mayan community.

Mexican street food, especially the vegetarian street food tour with David. Meeting the Blue Corn Lady (her quesadillas are with cactus and beans and they're incredibly delicious). Flatbread, corn, fruit with chili and lime. Pulque and Mezcal. Finding out that the green salsa is actually worse than the red one. Tacos, Enchiladas, Tamales. If you go to Mexico just for the food you'll still have plenty to explore.

That evening with the pink sunset. Walking through the old used book store in Roma. Reading an interesting take on Lars von Trier's Melancholia. Meeting the resident cat.

Lucha Libre! Watching the luchadores, especially the small people in the second round. Laughing about the Mexican boy next to me swearing at the top of his lungs. Getting a mask as a souvenir.

Climbing the sun and moon pyramid at Teotihuacán. Getting a sunburn. Enjoying the atmosphere. It's a very impressive site.

Diving in Cozumel with Brooke-Anne (a librarian from Las Vegas who was raised by Mormons), Cynthia from Quebec and Lucie from Toulouse. Entering some coral formations underwater. Eating cantaloupe melon and chocolate cookies after the dive. Spending the evening with another Canadian, Jussi from Finland and that other dude from Puerto Rico. And some Indio beers.

What I loved most about Tulum were the ruins (right next to a gorgeous beach) and the health food restaurants (La Hoja Verde and Co.Conamor).

And this year I don't really have a good New Year's Eve story because I fell asleep at quarter past eleven in a little village west of Tulum. All alone. Could be worse though, I had an amazing year.