Maybe,

just maybe, if I drink just enough every day to where the words flow freely yet still make some sort of sense, my new year's intention of blogging more will be fulfilled.

Speaking of alcohol, I seem to have a lower tolerance now, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make for a more sloppy night out on those nights that I do actually venture out. I'm just finishing up glass el numero dos.

Oh! Another intention. Dance more. I've got a recently single friend who is itching to go out and dance more now that he's not committed to anyone. I told him I'd be his wing-woman, mostly because I love dancing and want an excuse to go out. Not sure how successful I'd be at winging (what is the verb here). The trouble is finding the right club that's not too young and gross. Or too gay (which is fine for me, but maybe not for my hetero-male-looking-to-meet-chicks-friend). Cat Club might be our only choice, though I'm totally fine with that. I think the problem is that when I go out dancing, I really just want to dance. And when a lot of guys go out dancing (I'm generalizing here), it's because they want to meet/find/hookup with women and they think dancing is the way to do it. Different goals.

Let's see what else... there was an earthquake last night, around 2:30am. A 4.4. I was half awake when it hit, as I woke up a bit dehydrated from all the wine I had. Whenever there's a quake, the series of thoughts go through my head:

1. Is that a truck passing by?
2. Nope, that's an earthquake! Listen to that rumble!
3. Is it ending?
4. Nope, still going?!
5. Is it getting stronger?
6. Should I try to find cover? WHERE?!
7. I'm just gonna stay here. I'll be fine.
8. Okay, cool, it's over.
9. Or is it? No, that's just my adenaline-pounding-heart shaking me.
10. But when is the big one going to hit?

I didn't fall back asleep until 4am, so, like everyone else wide awake, I hit up twitter for a bit and relived all the excitement through people's tweets.

And today? Tired again. And still have a lingering cough. I have no recollection of what it's like to feel completely healthy. (I know, I know, the drinking isn't helping. BUT TRUST ME, IT DOES.)

Shake, rattle and roll

Early yesterday morning, a little before 3:30am, there was quite an earthquake. Measuring in at 6.0 on the Richter scale, and going for well over 10 seconds. 

It woke me up. I had my usual thoughts during an earthquake:

- what's going on?- oh, an earthquake!- should I "duck and cover"? wait, i don't even have a table to duck under.- nahhhhh

but then:

- wait, this is lasting a long time- is it going to get stronger?- why is it still going?- shit, this is crazy.- Yoshi! I need to get to her.

Those thoughts ran through my head in about 5 seconds. I dash over to Yoshi's room (just steps away) just as she shrieks from fright. I wrap myself around her to protect her in case the quake intensified and anything were to fall (I think breaking windows would be only thing that could do much damage in her room).

She cries, "What's happening?!! Is the world ending?! ARE WE GOING TO DIE?!!!!"

Poor baby! I hug her even tighter. "Shhhh....No, baby, it's an earthquake. It'll end soon."

And it does. And both our hearts race. After a few minutes, I take her back to my bed and we talk about it: how it feels to have the building move; that loud, yet low rumble you can hear when the ground is shaking. 

We check out twitter to see it all aflutter that rivals the seismic activity that just occurred. 

Her dad texts to check on her. Everything is okay. Just shaken up a bit. (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.)

She asks for me to tell her about the Loma Prieta earthquake again, which she's heard before, but now she can relate better having just experienced a largish quake. It happened 25 years ago and I was in 6th grade, like Yoshi, when it happened. But that earthquake was like 10 times as big as the one that just happened and the damage was massive. (nerd data: 7.9 times bigger seismographically, 22.3 times as strong in terms of energy release, according to this fun calculator).

We check on the swimming pool, to see if there's any movement of the water. Yup! She likes that.

Eventually, Yoshi falls back asleep. I doze off an hour or two later. 

She's worried that there will an even bigger one, which eventually there will be (I don't tell her this), but there's nothing we can do to prevent it. We just have do our best to prepare. I ordered some extra supplies online for our emergency kit and we went over what to do in an earthquake, which reassured her. 

Generally speaking, I like earthquakes. When they're small, say 5.0 or less, it's kinda fun to feel the ground shake. But this earthquake definitely sent me back to being 11 and remembering how I felt as I saw the street roll in waves and sent trucks bouncing on two wheels and all but my losing my balance as I ran for cover. Now that was a crazy time that I'd rather not repeat.

5:04 pm

20 years ago was the Loma Prieta earthquake. It's an event I'll always remember. I was 11 years old. The general rule at that age was that I wasn't allowed to have any friends over in my house until I finished all my homework, so my best friend Kari would sit on the porch outside my front door while I sat on the otherside of the door and we did our homework together. When we finished we could play.

At 5:04 that evening, my brother had just gotten out of the bath and ready to watch the Giants and the A's play in the World Series on the TV. Kari and I were separated by the screen door at the front while we did homework. Then I heard that low, basal earthquake rumbling sound and saw that the road moving in large waves like a ribbon. Kari's Dad's 4x4 across the street was bouncing on two wheels, from one side to the other. I heard our lamp fall, then our glass shelf crash. I realized it was a big one. Kari was struggling to get the tricky screen door open from the outside (if you've ever been to my house you know the opening to the screen door doesn't always work so well). In a blur, I opened the door and then dove under the dining room table and waited.

15 seconds later, the earthquake is over. I remember Kari's dad bounding across to street to make sure his daughter was okay. The three of us went over to her house, and there we saw that her aquarium was knocked over on the family room floor. But we were in awe of seeing the swimming pool in the backyard swashing about, water all over the place. I think it took almost an hour for the water to fully settle down.

There were tons of aftershocks. I think those startled me more because there were so many of them and I never knew how big they would be or how long they would last. We walked around the neighborhood, saw hospital procedures being performed out in their parking lot, other neighbors walking around. It was a somber, sobering feeling, and yet as a kid it was exciting because it was so different.

I was so lucky that we only lost a few things, but nothing of incredible monetary or sentimental value. We didn't get hurt, our house was fine. I enjoyed eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches under the table. I was jealous that Kari's family got to use all their camping equipment like their stove. Fun! My family never went camping so we didn't have that stuff.

On our radio we listened to the devastation that hit SF and Oakland, namely the Marina fires, the Bay Bridge collapse, and the Cypress Structure collapse. And once we got power and saw all the images and videos it was really overwhelming. I could go on and on about those events, but they were covered extensively and you can read about that online.

I'm very grateful that no one close to me was hurt seriously (although Tom's sister was burned by a vat of hot oil while working her shift at Kentucky Fried Chicken). And as much as it pains me to read about those who died or almost died, I am reminded by the incredible act of humanity where true heroes emerge, strangers saving strangers.

Read SFGate's article.