the (unplanned) day that was

i've laughed internally several times at the number of surprises this day brought me. all my plans turned futile, for things always tended to have a mind of their own. i'm not complaining but rejoicing, because spontaneity brings a lot of good into my life i've come to find.

i unplanned-ly happened to meet an old friend for lunch. it was a pleasant and peaceful meeting. he told me that i was probably becoming anorexic. i asked if it was perhaps the spring afternoon that had obviated the need for many layers. he said no, that it was anorexia. that was a first :).

after we parted, i unplanned-ly met up with some friends at the asian art museum's free april sunday. the city has never been so splendidly sunny and un-windy, and as i drove up in solitude, i realized with joy that my erstwhile fears of driving to and around the city had vanished. after 8 years of driving in fear, just like that!

almost as soon as i entered, i was overwhelmed by a deep sense of peace. today, i smiled and realized in that moment, i was to discover museums. i had left my camera in the car, but my phone serves me so well these days that i am not embarrassed to share some of my captures from that visit with you. i left my backpack at the coat check, and was floored by the gentleness of the volunteers there. indeed, that minute could have been my entire visit and i'd have had plenty reason to be joyful.

i walked around the varied exhibits and loved everything i saw. the photographs of familiar and home sights were a pleasant surprise. the photographs - in all - were lovely to behold. (i made sure to write a detailed vote of thanks in the guest book.) and when i saw my first chinese vase from more than a hundred years ago, i looked at it with humility and said, "you are way way older than me." there was a little art piece with a veneer of water and pebbles within. imagine my blindness in not realizing that it was an art piece. i thought it was... i don't really know anymore what i thought it was, because i was so in awe of its wondrously smooth exterior. i tried to touch it, and my hand shrank back almost in fear when it realized it was touching water. fear of water? of others seeing me touch an art piece? of others realizing my silliness? god only knows the travails of this mind. i moved on. here are some more pictures:

after the immensely fulfilling museum tour, the five of us drove together to ghirardelli square (can you believe i recommended it? an ice-cream place?). the festive nature of the square never ceases to overwhelm. we shared a banana split - a, s, and i - an utterly pleasant experience, especially for the predictability of the uneven-ness of the sharing :).

a walk down fisherman's wharf followed. we came back up via the cannery and stepped into as many art galleries as s would allow. and there i discovered the joy of appreciating art. i realized how painting was an art so different from photography, although it no doubt oft served similar purpose. i loved that in painting, the artist was not restricted to what he/she saw. anything could be made to look blissful with a dash of a paintbrush, real or not. i loved how sometimes artists got their colors so perfectly right. it was indeed an exercise of stepping out and into the artist's shoes, into his/her pallette, onto his/her canvas. and that brings me to ask - does every act of stepping out lead to the act of falling in love? point to ponder. in the meantime, check this out:

after pleasantly sauntering across that lovely part of town, we headed to eat dinner at the fanciest naan-n-curry we'd seen. dinner was good, the conversation even better. remember to ask me about s's fantastic tea joke next when we meet :). it was so funny that when i laughed, the laughter came straight from the gut!

the drive back from the city could not have been more painless, and when i returned home, i found i had no case of sunday night blues that i had thus far been dreading. a day of unplanned surprises indeed! i'll head to bed now, but perhaps i shouldn't plan for sleep to come :).