Looking forward

The weather has been gorgeous lately, and this first weekend after the spring show has brought with it some free time to recover before the next set of challenges that lie ahead. Maybe it’s not entirely satisfying, but it sure is relaxing to take three naps on a lazy Saturday afternoon. It’s probably for the best to catch up on sleep and prepare for the weekend of craziness (read: vegas) up ahead.

Saw the movie First Position with some friends, and it was kind of odd/nice that of the dozen people in the theater, half of them were familiar adult students. And Mountain View to San Jose isn’t that close. I suppose a ballet documentary is a niche film. Anyway, the movie was unexpectedly hilarious. Holy crap, Miko’s mom totally stole the show. She’s not just a stage mom, she’s an Asian stage mom. Total insanity. I think the documentary overall was rather well done, and did show the diversity of backgrounds from which these kids grew up. It does make me wonder, though, how some people are able to have this singular passion and focus so early in life.

My expat friend who’s living in Singapore came to visit the bay area on Friday last week. He proposed a rather epic food trip, of which we only managed to hit four locations, which isn’t that bad considering all this was before dinnertime: Tartine (breakfast pastries, SF), Bakesale Betty (Fried Chicken Sandwich, Oakland), Top Dog (hot dogs, Berkeley), and Arinell Pizza (Berkeley). We went for a walk through Berkeley campus as well. It really made me miss the Oakland/Berkeley area. But for the commute, I wouldn’t mind living there again.

Spending so much time within a 3-mile radius is really starting to make me feel claustrophobic. It sounds strange to say it, but I’m beginning to feel that I need to have a longer commute, to live a little farther away from work. Having a bigger place to live would be nice, too. My current living room is essentially dead space, so it feels like I’m trapped in a one-bedroom place. It’s a bit unfortunate that I won’t be able to find a house before my current lease is up. On the other hand, thinking about purchasing a place right now might be too big a distraction on the other things in life I should be focusing on.

The main point of this post, though, was to share the sentiments of my friend’s heartfelt email, which said that it doesn’t really matter where we are or what we do so much as we cultivate our friendships and relationships. I’ll admit that I cried a little when I read his email. Maybe I still have a long way to go before I can be at that stage where I can live for others and not for myself, but I’m trying.