Pop! There goes my cherry!
Ladies and gentlemen, last night something AMAZING happened to me. Something people try to describe to you, but that you don't really understand completely until it's happened to you. Something some people have gotten so used to that it barely even registers anymore.
That's right. Last night, I lost my earthquake virginity.
It hit about 1 a.m. It wasn't huge -- about 4.5 -- but it was big enough to be felt all through the city. It roused me out of REM sleep, I think, because it felt to me like there were two earthquakes -- a big one and a small one -- when I think what actually happened is, in my dream there was an earthquake, and then I woke up to the real one that was causing my dream (though it felt like it was much later). The first thing I remember is praying like crazy that my ceiling wouldn't cave in. My heart didn't stop pounding for a full ten minutes afterwards. I realized right away that it was an earthquake, but by the time it was over, the adrenaline had already kicked in and I couldn't get back to sleep. Then, randomly, I was obsessed with the conviction that someone was IN my apartment, and I lay in bed in an incredibly uncomfortable position for a full fifteen minutes before moving, absolutely convinced that if I made a sound the stranger in the living room would hear it and come into my room and kill me. Interesting what a minor traumatic event in the middle of a deep sleep can do to a person.
I think they've been saying for about fifty years now that The Big One is about to hit. Presumably they mean the One that will turn Los Angeles into an autonomous collective off the coast of Baker. I'm actually okay with that. Assuming I survive the initial quake, I'm totally cool with separating my city's own particular brand of crazy from the different kind of crazy that inhabits the rest of the country. Ooo, and I bet there are more fish farther out in the Pacific. Which means more sushi. Mmmmmmmm sushi...
Labels: Travel
posted by Law Fairy @ 9:58 PM
17 comments
17 Comments:
I felt it, too! I thought I was the only one who knew about it because I was awake at the time. At first I thought it was the people upstairs having sex. Again. But I could tell it wasn't because they usually don't do it twice in one night, at least not three hours apart, and they had finished their round of relations around 10:30 that night. Also, the movement doesn't shake my bed; it makes insistent thumping noises right above my head, but nothing strong enough to move my furniture. So then I thought it was a heavy truck rolling along the street. But I didn't hear any truck noises.
After I finished my third blog post of the night, I looked up recent earthquakes on usgs.gov, and it said there had been a 4.6 one near Chatsworth. I was all, That was it! Yet I didn't say anything to anyone. I was tired, and I also didn't want to keep harassing people after sending two MySpace bulletins. It didn't stop me from bugging you, though. :)
How long have you been here in LA, LF?
I am glad you are okay - that would have scared the crap out of me.
I have to tell you that (because I have a habit of skimming things before reading them) that I totally misunderstood your post initially and was laughing out loud when I realized my mistake. I am such a dork sometimes. Anyway, I hope that next time the experience isn't as moving for you.
congratulations,lawfairy!
you are now a real southern california gal.
i didnt feel nothin,
but then, i also slept through the sylmar quake of 71.
Bianca, that's hilarious! It would have been pretty funny if they actually were having sex at the time... the earth actually moved for them ;)
I've been here for about 2 years now. Plus about 11 months right after I was born, and the summer between my second and third years of law school.
Michele, hehehehehehe. That's what I get for writing double entendre post titles!
Gino, wow. That would be quite a thing to sleep through.
Welcome to the West Coast. Glad to see you have such a healthy attitude toward our particular brand of natural disaster.
Having moved back here from Hurricane Territory, I infinitely prefer the possibility of the Big One to another hurricane season like 2005.
Earthquakes are odd -- I've been in a couple, including LA. (Do the car alarms all still go off at once?) I mean, when the EARTH is moving, what can you do? I'm not in California, but I do live in an area where a major earthquake is an eventual inevitability (geology being what it is, that's anywhere from *right now* to 865,000 years from now). I have to say, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it. If it has to happen, I hope we have a Democrat in the White House who will come rescue me.
Mmm... Obama pulling me from the wreckage...
Quinn, I am SO stealing your fantasy ;)
We had a pretty significant earthquake up here in Seattle in February 2001 (it was at least above a 6), but the epicenter was so deep that it didn't cause nearly the damage it could have.
Feeling the building I was in wobble was a little unnerving once I realized what was going on.
Visiting via Quinn. So, you felt the Earth move?
I hope we have a Democrat in the White House who will come rescue me.
I have a feeling President Edwards wouldn't want to mess up his hair.
linnaues, yikes! Yeah, I'm glad I was in my apartment for this one, it's only on the second floor. I'd hate to have been much higher than that!
neel, thanks for visiting! I'm inclined to agree re John Edwards' hair. I imagine he spends more time on it than I spend on mine.
Just be sure to practice safe quake and you'll be fine.
Law Fairy:
linnaues, yikes! Yeah, I'm glad I was in my apartment for this one, it's only on the second floor. I'd hate to have been much higher than that!
I was on the third floor of a four-story building. The post-earthquake safety assessment that the university where I work & study conducted in order to improve campus readiness for earthquakes determined that the building I was in was one of the least safe to be in during an earthquake. It really could have been much worse. Ugh.
dont get so excited ladies.
having a buncha democrats in charge didnt do much for the folks of new orleans.
Erthquakes, how exciting!! I have only experienced one earthquake and that was in europe (probably about 6 or 7 years old). I remember, I was sleeping and felt like something was shaking me violently. For some reason all I could think of was: "When I get up in the morning; I'm going to kill my sister".lol Next thing I was being dragged outside by my mother. Finally, I realized there was something really wrong.
I don't even feel them anymore. I can't remember the last time I actually woke up to an earthquake. lol
Can you believe that, after living there for two years, I never felt one? I'm terrified of what it'll feel like and my reaction to it (when I eventually return, that is).
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