Summer is inevitably coming to an end. The seasons are changing and weeks earlier, I’d already been able to feel the days shorten. This summer felt different from others. Overall, less blurred, more crystal clear and everything that happened, from travel to camp to daily life appears to be more distinct and separate in my mind. Perhaps this is due to my regimented lifestyle this summer…I woke up at 6:22 just about everyday, I walked to town for lunch everyday on the weekdays, played tennis after dinner with the ball machine, and started each morning reading a book with my breakfast. I believe this order, this schedule, has enabled me to store each detail of this summer in my head. It’s one of the those summers where someone asks me what did you do? and I can give them a concise, confident, and to-the-point answer.
Maybe it’s also a signifier that I didn’t do enough. That I didn’t vary my schedule enough, that I didn’t go out and do something spontaneous. I’m not one who likes to be reminiscent, and when I look back, I don’t think there was much I could’ve done differently. I could’ve gone to the city more often, or taken longer walks to Harvard Square, but I think the weather this summer was keeping me back.
Last summer, I wrote a Summer 2017 Wrap Up. Looking back on it, some of the habits or interests that I picked up such as wearing visors, listening to Planet Money, tennis, and walks to town and back for lunch. These habits were developed last summer and it intrigues me to see how they play a role in my life today. This has encouraged me to continue this “Summer X Wrap Up” post. Here’s 2018.
Reading
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- Beneath the Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
- Educated by Tara Westover
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
- Greek Mythology series that I got in Greece!
- Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
This summer’s selection of reading definitely peaked my interest in autobiographies and memoirs which is hopefully a genre I will continue to read in the future.
What I Watched
- American Psycho
- Scarlet Heart Ryeo
- Primal Fear
- The Murder on the Orient Express
- Gone Girl
- Crazy Rich Asians
By far the best of these movies that I watched was American Psycho, a true classic in both literature and Hollywood.
What I Listened to
- Beautiful by Bazzi
- High on Life by Martin Garrix
- Don’t Leave Me Alone by David Guetta
- Illenium music
- Moon River
- Careless Whisper
- Jazz radios
Miscellaneous
- I discovered the brand Jack Rogers which I wore pretty much every day. They’re comfortable and I found they were easy to dress up and dress down. Different from last year, where I wore boat shoes as my t
- Became addicted to Starbucks. Went most days of the week and ordered the same thing every time. The guy at the cashier knew my order by the end of summer.
- Went to Harvard Debate Camp and learned some pretty useful debate tricks that I’ve found applicable in arguments
- Walk to town (same as last summer)
- Tennis after dinner which I’ve found helps me sleep better (same as last summer)
- Tried volleyball which I don’t think I will ever do again. It’s a difficult sport and the pain is an accustomed feel that I found I don’t want to invest the time to feel accustomed to.
- Nails. I became obsessed with nail colors as I find it oddly therapeutic to paint them. I have become an oddball who buys multiple shades of pinks that are unnoticeably different from each other.
I don’t want to describe this summer as uneventful, but I don’t think it particularly stood out. I certainly got some much needed rest, but besides that, I think my life was fairly consistent from day to day. Tomorrow is moving in day for returning students. I was in Boston with my friend yesterday and we were discussing our outlooks on the year. She describes it as “hopeful”. I think I will describe it as “coming-with-optimism”.
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