Serenity at Santa Cruz (ii), originally uploaded by yaznotjaz.
Some friends and I are going to be in Santa Cruz this Sunday, hanging out in the sunshine (and there damn well had better be sunshine, or I shall be pissed). I sent out a reminder email a few days ago with the following Highly Important Questions:
WHO’S IN?!
and:
WHAT CAN YOU BRING TO EAT?!
K has already promised to bring me homemade boulani, which makes me giddy like you wouldn’t believe.
A couple of years ago, I wrote:
That’s it. When spring is here for sure and the weather stays consistently warm, I’m heading down to Santa Cruz for some sunshine and sand.
It’s that time of the year again, and I know I must have been in Santa Cruz a couple of times since then, but I can’t recall – which is as good enough a reason as any to go back to play on the beach. And I just bought two new memory cards this evening (that brings the grand total to six now, I believe, which seems kinda ridiculous), which means I shall spend the next few days taking photos again, too. It’s been a while. (Note: It’s never a good idea to go to any electronics store the day after you’ve been paid. Flush with money, it’s so hard to resist the lure of those sleek and gorgeous dSLRs, and their solid weight in your small hands. Maybe if you stop spending all your money on boulani and gelato, you, too, could be the proud rockstar owner of a fancy-schmancy digicam. Something to think about.)
What are the rest of you rockstars doing this weekend?
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The original caption on this photograph, when it was posted to flickr over 2.5 years ago, in August 2006:
This photo (and the previous one I posted from the same day) makes me so happy.
Today I:
1. whined all morning about how hungry I was
2. asked my "fake internet friend" in Toronto about Bob Marley recommendations for Hashim
3. decided my TO friend was awesome because he never fails to pass along advice and recommendations (and so good-naturedly, too: "Anything for a Pathan girl from the West Coast I’ve never met" – who wouldn’t want to be friends with this kid?)
4. whined to my TO friend about how hungry I was, which resulted in him sending me Zabihah.com links for Silicon Valley and suggestions like, "Cheese pizza? Grilled cheese sandwich? [*looking at the Zabihah.com link*] You could go to Red Kwali, that new Malaysian/Thai place that opened up."
5. went to lunch, chauffeured by my buddy, Z, in his spiffy brand-new car with the new-car smell
6. sat around and ate lunch and talked about our lives and watched the co-workers make chai and refused all offers of chai (Z: "You could just smell mine") and pretended to get back to work, and agreed when Z said, "I wish I could just do this for the rest of my life."
7. got off work at 3.30pm! and drove all the way home with the sunroof open, because it was such a beautiful day
8. stopped by the bank, and laughed when the teller asked me, "Do you know Asad? He has the same last name as you do, and he comes in here all the time." [Clearly, she doesn’t understand what a common last name I have.]
"No, but I wish I had enough money, that I could afford to come in here all the time!"
9. had two women curiously ask me, during two separate occasions, how I tie my headwrap, and I had to explain and gesture with one hand because (both times) the other hand was full.
10. stopped by the 7-Eleven I used to frequent as a child (for cherry slurpees) and as a college student (for energy drinks and Pringles, right before hitting the road to commute to suckool), because I wanted to see if – miracle of miracles – they had blue raspberry slurpees in stock. But they didn’t, damn it! How difficult could it BE?! Freakin’ hell.
It’s okay, though. Right now, I’m heading out for a dinner with a friend, and an open-mic poetry session in Oakland.
Also, did I mention this photo makes me happy?
My grand weekend plans include….. *drumroll please* recovering from LAST weekend. And seeing what new torture my personal trainer has cooked up. Yay!
And I so feel you on the slurpee reconnaissance mission frustrations. I love the blue and the green ones. Red is aight, but too common and coke flavored is just dumb. I used to always be popping into the three 7-Elevens I biked past on my way home in Boston, looking for a slurpee that was blue/green AND sugar-free. Cuz I’m a grownup now donchaknow. *nods wisely*
And lastly, you make all your friends sound so awesome, I have a crush on like, all of them. You should charge them a commission for talking them up so well. Currencies accepted: boulani, blue slurpees and cupcakes.
There is still a bit of snow on the ground here.
Santa Cruz looks/sounds amazing.
My grand weekend plans include….. *drumroll please* recovering from LAST weekend.
Owl,
you’re such a PARTY ANIMAL. hahaha
also, i’ve always loved you anyway, but now i love you even more to know that you, too, understand the ‘slurpee reconnaissance mission frustrations.’ but wait, there are SUGAR-FREE slurpees?! BLASPHEMY!
as for my friends, i agree – they are totally awesome, and they should pay me in said currencies for saying so.
Peter,
duhuuuude! i know it’s canada and all, but snow on the ground in april?! =/ that’s highly sucky. will send you some santacruz sunshine. there’d better be enough to go around.
Well, this is the one week of the year when the sun does NOT shine in Central Florida because of the rain… unless there’s a hurricane, but I digress. This weekend? I’m unplugging the phone pretending that my husband and daughter are the only people I know in this world. :)
I’m hanging out with you at the beach…and possibly pushing you into the water. HA! ;)
salaams!
where was this poetry session? i always seem to miss out on these things :(
Love the picture. I can’t wait to hit the beaches myself. Ahhh this whole post made me homesick in general. Especially the slurpees. :)
Oh yeah, Symphonid Discord would like to give you the Kreativ Blogger award. Check it out.
I’m so glad you updated. Better start doing it more often. You left me hanging.
– Sana
Nice picture! Come and visit Australian beaches (specifically those on the East coast) – absolutely beautiful!
Boulani again? Blue raspberry slurpees bring back memories.
woman, don’t you get sunshine ALL the time? why do you have to go to santa cruz to get sunshine? just say you’re going there to get *different* beach & sunshine than you get at home. Isn’t there a beach in the bay area??
last weekend I returned from a mini-family vacation to Washington DC, did some cooking, oversaw 10 hours of guys working on our stairs (carpet off, sand & buff wood (FOREVER), stain & finish wood). this weekend I’m hanging out with work friends in NYC all day Saturday. Yay :)