We were waiting for you, originally uploaded by yaznotjaz.
TODAY:
one. Went to the post office, and was surprised – in a delighted way – that the smile on the man at the post office reminds me of my friend A‘s.
two. When it came time to pick up my drink order, the guy at the coffeeshop called me out by name, even though I’ve been there only once before in my life.
three. Also at the coffeeshop this afternoon, I made new friends with a woman who was working on a drawing. The conversation meandered through a series of topics that included bookstores, drawing and photography, theater, earrings, and our respective love-hate relationships with email and phone. I haven’t taken an art class or drawn anything in eight years, and yet, once upon a time, I wanted to be an illustrator of books. I’m grateful to that woman for inspiring me to sign up for a drawing class sometime soon.
four. Saw the full moon hanging breathtakingly large and low in the sky this evening, and was reminded of my rockstar buddy S, and how he once texted me with, “Look at the moon tonight. It looks hella beautiful.”
five. Composed a long, ramblingmonologue-style email to a friend who “listens well,” and felt so relaxed and happy after I pressed the Send button.
six. Emailed H about her friend who teaches swimming. This was supposed to be the summer I learned how to swim, but somehow that didn’t happen. (Even the yellow post-it on my laptop’s Dashboard says, in all-caps: LEARN HOW TO SWIM THIS YEAR. This is how strongly I felt about this goal, back in February.) It’s fall already now, but there’s still some sunshine I could make good use of. H, in turn, emailed her friend and cc:ed me on the note; I’m excited to see what comes of this. Finally, I will learn how to swim! And maybe dance! And cartwheel while fully extending my legs! [That video is finally up on facebook, for those of you who need to know such things.]
seven. The sister sent over a beautiful email that cheered me up so much and pretty much made my day.
eight. A tall stranger at the grocery store noticed me balefully eyeing boxes of cereal stacked all the way up on the top shelf. As I placed a foot on the bottom shelf and stretched up my arm, he reached up easily and pulled down a box for me. I laughed and thanked him, and thought to myself about how rocking it would be to have a tall personal assistant follow me around all day and pick up things that are placed above my eye-level.
yay :)
thanks yasmine. i can now enjoy your posts AND not miss your lovely pictures!
I can’t ever remember names for the life of me, I follow a dunce tradition and call everyone ‘Matey’ instead.
Looks like you had a Grand day, and I second the art classes, I’ve never managed to keep up with them and envy people that do lol.
[the teal and orange wall reminds me of a peice of Grafiti Art under the railway bridge across the way, nice shot, America seems very vibrant, Londons pretty bland aside from the occasional red bus zooming past :P)
For a second I thought Flickr had been unblocked in UAE. I reason I didn’t comment was because it always felt like I got half the meaning of the post without the pictures. It’s great to be able to see the pictures :)
I *always* end up relying on the kindness of tall strangers for getting things on high shelves. I’m scared of climbing the shelves, but dangit, they never put things where I can reach them! Very unfair. When I lived alone, I had this looong pair of barbecue tongs that I’d use to grab things in my cabinets at him. It looked ridiculous, but it worked!
Um, this is why I should never simutaneously talk and type before I’ve had my coffee. “At him” should be “up high.” Ridiculous, indeed! lol :)
I love it when people I don’t really know remember my name. And say it correctly. ;)
I’m glad you liked the email (and the song…yay, it mad it to your title! I’m listening to it right now too!).
Re. the tall stranger – I REALLY want to make a comment, but I think I’ll just save it for gchat. haha
mona,
so, it worked! i’m so glad =) there’s a little bit of an extra step involved, and sometimes wordpress doesn’t want to cooperate in uploading the pics, but i shall make this happen.
may,
i do pretty much the same thing – i just go around calling everyone ‘buddy’! and you may not be keeping up with art classes, but looks like you’ve got some rocking creativity (including drawings) going on on the side. i lack discipline, though, so i’d need a class to give me a proper shove. =/
oh, and if you like this wall, you might like this and this photo of the same cafe (it’s in berkeley).
extiinct,
aw buddy, the pictures don’t always go with the stories (okay, most of the time they do, because i like it when things coordinate properly =)). i’m curious, what did you all see before? big, blank white box? or just nothing? anyway, am going ti try to upload the photos this way from now on, so you should be good to go!
freckles,
i hate asking for help, so i always do stupid things like climb up on counters (at home) or try to climb shelves (at the store). haha. i’m glad the tall dude came along at an opportune moment, or i probably would have knocked down half the items on the shelf in my attempt to practice wall-climbing. ;)
faiqa,
dude, i feel bad when people i don’t really know remember my name – because i can never remember theirs. =/ as i’ve been telling friends recently, when i am dictator of the world, EVERYONE’S going to wear NAMETAGS. all the time. that is all.
bean,
the song was totally fun, and i know i’ve heard it before, but i didn’t have a copy of it. thanks! as for tall strangers, i think i know what you want to say, so esstopit!
two: One of my pharmacists knows my name and remembers my birthday and is just generally so nice it’s such a pleasant experience to get a prescription refilled. The other one is quick and efficient, but I prefer the guy who makes an effort to remember me.
four: Love the moon when it is so large and low like that… like it could single-handedly light your way home.
six: When you learn, send tips please. :-)
Somehow I always like your post which are categorized by numbers…
(hmm..I think that’s why i really like Obama too.)
You totally made me smile yaara..and and who is this friend of H…and where does she teach swimming? Please let me know…when you get hear from her. I might be interested in joining you.
It is part of the tall stranger code. We should ALWAYS help in such situations. Or, you know, steal someone’s hat and make them jump for it.
For some reason when you mentioned the tall man helping you, it reminded of the Harlem Globe Trotters on the Scooby Doo, ala 1970s, palming basketballs.
Wow, your blog is absolutely awesome. I shall have to drop by more often. Hope you’re having a fulfilling weekend.
I can’t help you in the tall PA department, but I can teach you how to swim whenever, just come by.
I HAVE BEEN WHISTLING THAT DAMN SONG ALL DAY AND I WAS JUST ABLE TO STOP. thanks for ruining it. dammit.
AWESOME! :) I love it, made me smile:
Regarding number 2, well I’m not surprised, you’re pretty unforgettable! :)