This is the first time I will share the whole thing I wrote today. It’s part of a larger section I’ve been working on since January and I don’t feel splitting it up serves the piece.
“A List of Things I Miss: (Not exhaustive)
- Having a monthly pass for public transit.
- Rainy days when there’s still something to do.
- Vanilla lattes and cigarettes for breakfast.
- Drinks after work with former co-workers.
- Mid-20th-century artist exhibits.
- Not having to walk more than a block to find a fresh-brewed coffee.
- Sunday morning walks of shame.
- Playoff hockey.
- Internet forum sites and IRC channels.
- Getting manicures.
- Flying in airplanes.
- Having hopes and dreams not centered around basic survival.
- Being able to stay up past 1 a.m. two nights in a row.
- Travelling by train.
- Mimosas on a Saturday morning.
- Tea and terrible television with friends.
- Good tacos.
- Being able to make plans without accounting for how much sleep I got last night, how much protein I ate this morning, and how much time I will have to stand or walk around.
- Feeling sexy.
- High-heeled shoes and boots.
- Kissing someone I just met.
- Getting two orders of sushi for take-out. One for tonight’s dinner, the other for breakfast tomorrow.
- Walking to the corner store in my pyjamas.
- Running into old friends by surprise on a city street.
- Bonus points if it’s a street in a town where neither of us lives.
- Making plans to visit.
- Making plans for brunch.
- Cab rides at 3 a.m. with shoes in hand.
- Getting pedicures.
- DJs that start their set with a backwards spinning record.
- Meeting B-List celebrities in Starbucks.
- Writing longhand at a table in front of a sunny window, sipping tea or wine.
- Going to a new city and travelling by public transportation to find out where lines and routes go.
- Making notes about stops, shops and destinations along the way.
- Walking in the rain with my hood up.
- Spending time in record and book shops.
- Going to the independent video store to rent films.
- Eating cheese and crackers on Christmas day while watching the Godfather Trilogy.
- The smell of salt air.
- Rocky “beaches”.
- Star-filled evening skies.
- The smell of Labatt’s Blue and burning Canadian cigarette smoke.
- The smell of rising bread dough and baked beans cooking.
- Grapefruit and champagne gelato.
- Hosting dance parties.
- Having a TV-watching spot on the sofa with a TV-watching pillow and blanket.
- Cherry blossoms as far as the eye can see.
- Spending lunch breaks in art supply shops or chain bookstores.
- Fresh squeezed grapefruit margaritas.
- Cosmetics shopping.
- Spending $50 at the dollar store on weird notebooks, weird nail polish colours, colouring books, jigsaw puzzles, and pens I don’t care if I lose or people steal.
- Spending time with partisan hacks.
- Reading in bed on a Sunday morning.
- Watching movies on a Friday night.
- Prince.
- Being able to remember things from the past without them being traumatic or painful.
- Wine o’clock with woman friends.
- Summer dresses.
- Grocery shopping for one or two days on my way home from work.
- The smell of wood-fire smoke in a clean, Bounce sheet-dried plaid cotton jacket.
- Sandy Beach, where the water is Caribbean blue and the bottom is soft clay.”