Its Supernatural Day!!

Today while scrolling instagram, I saw that it’s been 17 years – SEVENTEEN YEARS – since Supernatural aired it’s first episode and oh, what a journey it’s been. I discovered Supernatural somewhere in late 2009 and religiously loved it till it ended in 2020. For years there was never a time I didn’t have Supernatural and never a time when I didn’t whole-heartedly recommend it to everyone around me.

My brother and I would always watch Supernatural together – weirdly fitting that we were watching two brothers together fighting monsters and dealing with related things. Supernatural was the first thing that I’d watched that would air weekly and that would make me wait MONTHS for new episodes when it went on breaks. It was both exciting and excruciating. When they announced that Supernatural would end part of me thought, ‘oh wow, finally!’ : it had, after all, been very long 14 years since it aired. But a major part of me couldn’t think about how different it would be to not have Supernatural to look forward to after every major vacation.

I remember reading somewhere that Supernatural started as the story of two brothers hoping to do little bit good and would end with them having done a ton of good. How bizarre that they didn’t just do good in there, on screen, but so much outside it too. Supernatural filled so many lives and gave so much happiness. It is always mesmerizing to me that fictional writing can provide things that multiple real things in life cannot and for that, I can never stop thanking the universe for the day I stumbled upon Supernatural.

Happy Supernatural Day to the happiest and saddest fictional tv show about monsters, death, family, and so much love.

Book review: Think of a Number – John Verdon

I dove into Think of a Number with massive high hopes. The story follows Dave Gurney, a retired NYPD detective who’s had a very tough time keeping his job separate from his life. Gurney gets a call from a college classmate that he hasn’t spoken to in well over 25 years and one call sets into motion a long almost 500 page haul into weird and senseless murders.

The premise of this book is so good and the execution ends up falling so flat. Dave Gurney gets dragged into a major investigation when his old college classmate Mark Mellery gets stabbed outside his home after receiving multiple threatening letters and poems. Dave assumes it is his responsibility to get the killer and thus sets out on a mission majorly upsetting his wife in the whole process.

Think of a Number is fashioned as a crime thriller, but it is so ridiculously random that it gets frustrating. Usually, it is exciting to have many puzzles to solve within one story and to read along with the narrator as the mystery slowly unravels. But here, everything is pointless. The clues are too many but useless, the poems are depressingly creepy and the personalities of every single character makes you want to slap them hard for all their decisions.

There was nothing I enjoyed about this book. I thought the murderer reveal would at least redeem this reading experience in some way but alas: even that was disappointing, to say the least. The murderer wasn’t clever (like they wanted him to be), the backstory wasn’t heart-wrenching and the final conclusion made you breath a huge sigh of relief because finally you could get out of this senseless story. Think of a Number totally leaning towards my worst read of the year.

Happy 12 years!

Woke up today morning to WordPress wishing me a happy anniversary because I registered here twelve years ago!

Among super, super hectic weekdays and weekends, it’s been weirdly difficult to find small things to get simple pleasure from but knowing that I’ve been here and writing and posting ridiculous lists for over 10 years is a crazy good feeling.

I love reading my own blog over and over again and going through everything that has happened to me, for me and everything that I’ve recorded here. It is surprisingly comforting to have some totally random pieces of my life here; if for nothing else then at least to confirm that things did happen and they made me write stuff.

I am also crazy proud of myself for somehow managing to keep this up for such a long time – so many things have changed and it would’ve have been so easy to stop this and yet, I did not. Kudos to me! Happy Anniversary Shivani :’)

Mid year life update:

Hello, its been a while since I’ve posted because I have been so caught up with work. It got way too hectic for a bit and I disliked it but we are enduring. Anyway, since more than half of 2022 is over (WHAT!?), I thought it would be a good idea to look at what I’ve been up to throughout the months that have gone by in this year –

  1. January, 2022: Turning 25 this year was overshadowed by us moving from one city to another. A taxing and stressful job because we have way too much stuff and setting up all over again takes much effort. Somehow we managed and by the time it reached our birthday, we were 90% set up.
  2. February, 2022: My aunt’s wedding was the highlight of this month – we went to a nice heritage hotel near Jodhpur, Rajasthan and got a good break. Of course I got tons of pictures in all my outfits and we managed to eat some good food too. I also attended my school friend’s engagement towards the end of the month and met one internet friend IN PERSON. Overall, a wholesome month.
  3. March, 2022: I began going to office physically and had a total love/hate relationship with it. Its too far and I dislike the traffic + the office would be so empty that you never felt like working at all. Its gotten a bit better now, but really not much better. I did catch up with a few friends as well so that was fun.
  4. April, 2022: We went and watched one IPL match and honestly, no matter how many times you’ve watched cricket live, it is always a treat to watch. I loved watching my team win and cheering to my heart’s content. It was also mom’s birthday month so we went shopping, ate out and celebrated at home with cutesy decorations.
  5. May, 2022: My sister’s wedding was the highlight of this month. We traveled to Jaipur, Rajasthan amidst soaring temperatures (45 degrees Celsius+) and over a week attended multiple functions, met some friends and ate much food. Again, we got good pictures but dealt with way too much family drama. Somehow, we endured.
  6. June, 2022: Our second round of shifting – from one house to another. This was not as much effort as our January shifting but still too much. Our fridge couldn’t fit into the house and after multiple rounds of the carpenter, packers, my dad, my brother, the watchman and anyone else who could assist, somehow we have our fridge where its supposed to be. Towards the end of the month, I went for my college friend’s engagement and it was emotional, fun and wholesome max.
  7. July, 2022: My grandparents arrived and will be here for a while. Work got super hectic towards the end of this month but as always, we had to endure. I also went on a mini weekend break for my friend’s bachelorette and we got many cute pictures, drank and ate good stuff and really enjoyed the break. Beginning of July gave us Mumbai rains but since then they’ve disappeared so the weather is totally weird.

So there goes my mini rundown of what 2022 has been; I already know that the remaining months will be hectic as well (both professionally, and personally) – but somehow I will make it to 2023.

Very happy, rainy trekking

Last weekend, work friends and I bounced off and went to a national park in Mumbai for a trek. The weather supported us too by not being toooooo rainy and being just the correct amount of pleasant. We trekked for over 5 hours and for a total of almost 15 kms and had a really, really good day. We also ate appropriate amount of yummy fried food and even though we were dead tired by the end of it, we were satisfied. Here are some happy pictures for a very productive Saturday:

July hopefuls:

Its the seventh month of 2022!? It’s been a fast-paced year already and I’m finding it ridiculously hard to believe that half of it is over. Time seems to be going slow and fast, both, at the same time and its confusing the hell out of 25.5 year old me.

SO, SO much has happened to me, around me and just generally in the world. The second half of the year looks to be equally, if not more, exciting and taxing. We the happy thoughts of a rain-filled July in Mumbai, here’s a list of my hopeful and tentative plans for the upcoming month. I hope to come near to achieving them all while continuing the ruining of my sleep cycle!

  1. Read Christie 2022 prompt: I have been successfully keeping up with the Read Christie prompts and I have not (yet) fallen behind. For this month, I plan to re- read At Betram’s Hotel, a Marple novel and continue my dedication to the Queen of Crime!
  2. Weekly Thai BLs: LOL, what month of mine is complete without weekly Thai content? For July, I have three shows to be watched weekly – two which are ongoing and one begins on July 16th. Needless to say, this is a goal I will NEVER not achieve.
  3. Bachelorette weekend: One of my closest school friend gets married early 2023 and we’ve planned a mini weekend Bachelorette to a themed resort at Lonavala. Though it sounds quite stupid, I plan on getting super cute accessories and consuming much alcohol.
  4. Catching up: I am very, very overdue on catching up with tons of friends; some because I get no time, some because I don’t WANT to make time and some just because Mumbai is huge and none of us wants to travel. However, I do plan to accomplish a few plans this month and fulfil my friendship duties.
  5. Decorating my room: We shifted to a new house half-way through June and though 90% of my room has been set-up logistically, I would really like to put pictures, quotes and other random things I enjoy placing on my bookshelves or on the walls. I can’t seem to find time to do any of it and I really want to this month.

With tons of other things I want to read, watch and just generally do, I am hoping for a good 31 days and waiting to see how super fast this month goes.

Good crying material: Move to Heaven (2021)

I randomly stumbled upon Netflix’s Move to Heaven – an original South Korean drama series, while I was busy wasting time on youtube. Move to Heaven has 10 episodes, runs for around 40-50 minutes per episode and makes you bawl your eyes out for the entire duration. (I have it on good authority that people even cried while watching the trailer).

Move to Heaven follows the story of Han Geu-ru and his uncle Cho Sang-gu working as trauma cleaners where they go to houses after someone has died and help with cleaning up the things they left behind. With the premise being emotional, it was no surprise that the show would be as well – but how emotional Move to Heaven ends up being is the real charm. Every episode will have our trauma cleaners dealing with a new ‘request’ and if you’re sitting to watch this thinking you won’t be a royal mess, you are very wrong.

Along with cleaning up lives, Han Geu-ru and Cho Sang-gu work relentlessly to deliver messages to loved ones, find meanings in things left behind and most importantly, narrate a story of love, heartbreak, dreams, hopes and many, many regrets. Every episode will make you cry. Every story will surprise you; and every last message will most definitely make you bawl into the night.

Move to Heaven is brilliant. I’ve never been a watcher of K-dramas solely for the runtime but Move to Heaven is so unique and runs just long enough to ensure that you are hooked. Nothing fails to surprise in this show – the acting, the stories, the art work, the music, the ultimate climatic link-up and that little bit where everything finally makes sense. You will root invariably for Han Geu-ru and Cho Sang-gu and you will cry for everything they’ve lost and everything they could’ve had.

Rating: 10/10 (watch ONLY at night when you can hide under your blanket and cry to your heart’s content, maybe include ice-cream and chips).

Harry’s House

Harry Styles dropped his wholesome album on May 20, 2022 and I’ve had it on repeat pretty much whenever I’ve gotten some free time. Even just listening to As it Was on loop was enough to know that Harry’s House would be perfect. Honestly, it’s been a long while since I’ve found any faults with Harry Styles and his music never disappoints.

My favourite track is Late Night Talking with Grapejuice being a super, super close second: both tracks are upbeat and exciting and very easy to have as continuous background music for any task you’re undertaking – work, ironing clothes, keeping utensils away.

The whole album is in fact worth having as background music for any and all situations but I especially mention the above two songs because I ALWAYS have favourite tracks and I love that about myself!

Other really beautiful tracks with unrealistically good lyrics are Little Freak and Matilda – Harry Styles’ voice is smooth and these are easily my top romantic tracks for this season! Music for a Sushi Restaurant is addictive and the perfect starter song for the album: I also especially enjoy Harry’s voice in this song because of how fast he’s singing (not sure how else to explain this one??).

It’s been a long, long while since Harry gave us new music and I have to say that it was and it always will be worth the wait : GO LISTEN NOW if you haven’t already!

Favourite quotes from Landline by Rainbow Rowell

I finished reading Landline at the beginning of this month and absolutely adored it! The story is fresh and addictive and Rainbow Rowell’s writing is something I’ve loved since I discovered Carry On in 2016. Here are some of my favourite quotes from this book and just a glimpse of how beautiful her writing is throughout the story: