I am generally not inclined to document my days, action-wise, but I feel like today should be an exception.
It was honestly just a great day.
I had the day off due to the July 4th holiday, so I woke up at 8:30 am instead of 6. And the sun was shining. It was one of those corny indicators that the day would be good, waking up well-rested and anticipating great weather.
Normally, there might be a caveat to this. "Yeah, it started out great, but then _____ happened." But nope.
First, I enjoyed a refreshing cup of iced Peet's coffee as I drove into San Francisco to meet up with a friend. Yes, that Peet's coffee is indeed part of the greatness that is today. My friend and I met up at the
Chinatown Kite Shop in order to satisfy a not-so-secret desire that we both have had for some time--to fly (which means that we needed to buy) a kite. And the mission--at least, the first part of it--was accomplished!
A yummy lunch at a Chinese eatery followed, and then I made my way from San Francisco to San Jose to take care of some business at the 2009 North American Bengali Conference. Though I started out incredibly nervous and slightly afraid because this is the first time I am working on a piece individually for my internship, I am happy to report that things went well, and I can't wait to work on the material that I gathered. I just hope I can make something of it!
From San Jose, I drove back home, where I had a three-way phone conversation with my brother and my grandmother over Skype. Well, my grandmother was on her landline, but the fact that we had a three-way conversation was really nice, because my brother is actually in Rome right now. It made me hopeful of keeping in contact with my family in the future. And the conversation itself was just hilarious.
Then, I cleaned my car. I feel compelled to add that the sun was still shining, because this made cleaning a much nicer activity for me--I got to be out in the sun again! And having my car spick and span again is great. I am not much for dirt, but it had been piling up for a while simply because I have been so busy. So, the greater implication here is that I have time, which (speaking from the perspective of never having enough time) is amazing.
From there, my sister drove my dad and me to
Tilden Park so that we could have a breather out in nature. I hadn't been to Tilden in years, and neither had my father. Needless to say, we had a great time walking and hiking along the paths. I wish I had my recording equipment with me then because the sounds of nature, from the trees creaking to the deer we saw hopping, were quite amazing.
After Tilden, the three of us did a bit of grocery shopping at Raley's. This is going to sound terrible, but I honestly haven't been in a grocery store in months. I think I have gone once in all the time I have been living at home. And let me tell you, when you look at a grocery store with fresh eyes, everything about it--from the items the store sells to its employees to just its very concept--is kind of mind-blowing.
So after this exciting (for me) trip to the grocery store, we came home. I finally ate my dinner, and then I watched a terrible, but appropriate, movie with my family:
Bride Wars. I call it appropriate because my parents are obsessed with marriage, and my sister wants to be a bride. And as that kind of terribly appropriate movie, it was not so bad.
And then, while chillin up in my room, I skyped with my two friends who are in Mumbai right now. Due to poor connectivity, they sounded pretty robotic, but it was good enough for me. And they had their camera on, which made the call a lot more fun. There is this thing about the Indian head nod, and at one point, they both did it. Seeing the two of them shake their heads like that was a definite highlight of my day. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
And that's basically it. Really, if I were to think about this day from a different perspective, it might not seem that special. But it's a good day to me because it incorporated a lot of different things that I care about. And that's why it's something to remember.
Happy 4th of July, friends.