Creatively Drained and Shaken

My current job, despite its perks, (weekly massages being the most notable), is creatively draining. I have a ton of unfinished projects I have piling up at my feet and I can't muster together a well formed sentence vocally, much less written. Not to mention the picture I saw the other day that made me want to draw it and frame it immediately. AND not to mention the music video I've been working on for almost an entire year (!!!) and can't seem to finish.

But the point of this post was to most eloquently describe the insane thing that I experienced yesterday. An earthquake. Yes, I'm sure you've heard. Well I felt it. Big time. As I wrote about here, I experienced my first earthquake last year. Well this time was different.

Backing up a little bit first, earthquakes have been on my mind big time lately. I can't explain it, but I've even mentioned it to a few friends lately. For starters, a friend had mentioned last year when the little one happened that she left her toilet seat up when she went to work so that if anything happened and she couldn't get home, her dog could get water. Well I never do that, mainly because my pup will and does drink freely from the toilet when I'm not looking. And I try to discourage her behavior by keeping it closed. Anyway, both Monday and Tuesday I inexplicably started thinking "Big One" and left the toilet seat up.

I also had friends in town this weekend and was telling them about my earthquake kit after seeing someone at a grocery store buying a gallon of water.

I left for work yesterday thinking about maybe taking my framed picture in the den off of the wall. No kidding. But I didn't, as I don't like to play into my own paranoia, or now should I say, physic senses.

Needless to say, when I realized I was experiencing an earthquake yesterday, I was shocked. It wasn't like last time. It came on slowly, at first sounding and feeling like someone was running down the hall, or a big truck was coming by. Slowly, or as slow as a 20 second total experience could be, it built until everything on my desk was shaking and the door the my office was unhappy on its hinges. I heard people outside in the hall and whipped open my door, immediately taking refuge in my doorway. "Earthquake!" people were yelling, and there were natives smiling a bit as people like me stood stricken in a doorway. When it seemed over, everyone was heading outside. I followed, still shaking, but no longer from the earth.

I spent the rest of my day waiting for the aftershocks. When I went home to check on my pup, my picture was still hanging strong.

But just another reminder of the thing that lurks on most SoCal residents minds: The Big One.

I'll be stocking up on even more earthquake kit items this weekend.

If You Honk One More Time......!

Two mornings in a row my peaceful reverie of dreams and fairydust has been rudely interrupted at 8:30 in the morning by a car horn that knows no limits. It's not one or two honks, or even an alarm of some sort. It is the unrhythmatic NOISE, constant honks, one after another for a period of up to six or seven minutes. I lay there for a few minutes, hoping the person will come to their senses and stop the madness. This morning, I clumsily jumped out of bed after five minutes of the disruption; my aim? Nothing short of throwing a chair off of my balcony or a verbal lashing not suitable for my babybook. The second, and I mean second, I stepped onto my front porch it stopped, and no cars with annoyed drivers in sight. I check all the driveways, parked cars, even garages in my line of vision, and nothing. Not even an echo that could direct me in the general vicinity. Across the street, my neighbor also had enough, and was storming to the street at the same moment I stepped out. We both scoured the streets, both coming up empty handed.

The honking bandit had made a clean escape. But tomorrow I will be ready. I will sleep in full garb as to not waste time when I wake up and storm to the street. At the first honk, my feet will hit the floor. I have an anger inside of me that needs to be let out, and thus far, I've been successful at not misdirecting it towards an innocent bystander. Tomorrow, my fury knows no bounds and the honking bandit will be sorry.

The paranoid side of me wonders who I pissed off enough to do such a meanspirited thing. Well maybe I'll have answers for you tomorrow.

I'm back in LA with my brother and so far it's been nice. It's been fun hanging out with him and we've been having a good time relaxing and pretending like we are on summer break. Because I'm currently without job, long story, but I know in a week and a half, I'll be back to the grind of 6 to 3. Pm to am.

In other news, a friend of mine wrote a blog entry about the earthquake I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd link it here cause as always, his way with words astounds me.

Shake-N-Bake

My First Earthquake!

I have waited anxiously for this day. (And not in the good way.)

Tonight, as I leaned against the wall casually, laughing at something my co-worker had said, I felt it. It was louder than I thought it would be and it was one of the most unsettling things I've ever experienced. We shook for a second, and the building seemed to sway a bit, and then there was quiet.

I was waiting the next big shake, as I stood looking wide-eyed to my co-worker who seemed to find a little bit of amusement in my expression. I asked if it was over, and he said yes, but I couldn't get my land legs back. I felt like I had been at sea for a while, and my entire body kept trying to catch up.

It was strange, and a little scary. And it was a relatively small one, as we surely just got the edge of the quake in the article below. But it was enough to convince me: I hate earthquakes. They are as unpredictable as tornados, and I hate the unpredicable.

But there we go. I finally experienced an earthquake. Whew.


Earthquake Article