i don't usually get sad about celebrity deaths, but when i read about celia cruz this morning, i was definitely bummed. i remember seeing her years ago at victor's on 52nd street, a cuban restaurant in manhattan. she and someone who seemed to be an interviewer sat at a large booth. she and her voluminous coiffe and dress took up most of it. she had a huge smile on her face and just looked like that was the happiest moment of her life. i think that was it, though. i, for some reason, just got this impression that it could very well be, and that every moment was lived as if it were the happiest.

i don't remember the last time i've felt this kind of anticipation for a weekend. i'm really searching my memories now ... maybe i'm just getting old and can't remember as much anymore. i'm going to assume that this is not the case and that i am genuinely really full of sincere and unabated anticipation for this weekend.

so, i'm going down to san diego. i'm going to surf. i'm going to see an old boyfriend who has lots of fun things planned for us to do. even if we didn't do any of them, i know we'll have fun. we just have that kind of rapport with each other.

i'm excited to get away for an entire weekend. i'm excited to not be in front of a computer all weekend. i'm excited to be taken care of. i'm excited to not have planned anything for us to do. this last bit, especially, is new territory for me.

i've realized that my planning tendencies can be somewhat overwhelming. i remember when i was in high school used to plan things in 15 minute increments -- this is an extreme case of course, like when i was studying for exams. however, i still generally like to plan things. i like to take opportunities when i find them interesting. this often makes my life busy, but i sort of like it like that.

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tonight, in between work and laundry, i hit an art show with mike, rosanna, and alegria (their daughter). we went to start soma. it was in a beautiful space, unexpectedly located on 14th street and mission. a lot of the artists were there to accompany their work. i saw lots of great pieces by sam flores, marco almera, and nate van dyke, among others. sam flores had a piece called 'viola', which i would have wanted had it been a violin and had it not been $1000. oh well.

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i have to pack.

last night i decided to go down to san diego this weekend to surf again. although i had originally planned to go down with some girls, i will do it alone this time to visit a friend who's down there. i'll do the girls' surf thing later.

last night i went to ceramics and spent over two hours just trimming the three pieces that i threw the previous week. two of the pieces are gifts. i personalized them with short messages on the bottoms. the third piece, a bowl, was just something i made. as i signed and dated it, i realized that it was much less satisfying than the first two.

ok, so i have to be honest. i'm going down to sd to see an exboyfriend. the surfing's just a fringe benefit. it's against my better judgement, but i have to say that since i decided that i was going, i have been really, really happy. sometimes you just have to go with your instincts (although mine don't have a great track record).

i just got in from surfing (check later for pics) in santa cruz with jane, caroline, and ami. it was sooo much fun. i'm all excited about it now. i want to get a soft top board and a wetsuit. it's really all i need, besides a rack for the car. i'll have to investigate the options.

after a couple hours out in the water, we got some sun time. we had considered staying out another hour, but i think i did something to my left shoulder during my training session with asanta on friday. it hurt to roll up my window. not good. i think boxing's out for a while.

melissa, sven, and tina met up with us in the water. they're better surfers than us.

melissa and tina mentioned going down to san diego to surf, and that might be fun to do later this summer. i think it'll have to be august.

i have to shower now to get ready for girls night out. we're going to emmy's spaghetti shack and then somewhere for a drink. i think it'll be me, jane, willo, hillary, and kat . good crew.