East Meets West: August 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Bi-Coastal Earthquakes

It has officially been one year since the DC earthquake. Every person in DC remembers where they were and what they were doing when it happened as if it was the most important event of 2011.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on the 8th floor of my office building at work when my desk started slowly shaking. Then the shaking became more violent. My first thought: What the hell? My second thought: Oh my god, a plane is going to run into my building. I'm gonna die. My third thought: Oh hey, this must be an earthquake!

It lasted about 20 seconds and honestly by the end of it I had a smile on my face (that's not what she said). I felt like I went on a roller coaster ride.

Luckily, damage in DC was minimal but for us east coasters the earthquake was a reason to boast. A big "In your face, we can deal with a sudden movement of the earth's crust caused by the release of stress accumulated along geologic faults or by volcanic activity...just like anyone on the west coast!" For west coasters, it was a reason to make fun of east coasters. Which is fine, east coasters defintely deserve to be made fun of but I'd love to see Angelinos deal with a quarter inch of snow. This was one of my favorite articles I read after the great DC earthquake of 2011. My favorite line is definitely:

But can we wimpy East Coasters just have our moment of absolutely shitting ourselves in fear as our non-earthquake-proofed buildings wobble and creak around us? Can we crawl around on our carpets to survey the paltry damage—look, a book fell off a shelf! That could have given someone a serious goose-egg!—without some Californian standing smugly in the doorframe like they learned in grade school, chewing on a PowerBar from the earthquake preparedness kit they carry around in a Lakers fanny pack at all times?

And you know what, in 6+ months I've been here I have only felt one earthquake (a light rumble that woke me up in the morning). So far the DC earthquake is the biggest (and best!) quake I've ever been through.

Monday, August 13, 2012

6 month mark

Wow, I can't believe that it has already been 6 months since I moved to LA! A lot has happened in the last half a year, a lot of things that have made me learn more about myself: my strengths, my flaws and my general character. Life in California has not been without its challenges and these last 6 months have certainly been a transition period for me. Sometimes I feel like that's brought out the best of me and sometimes I feel like that has brought out less than the best of me but overall I'm happy with my move and happy with the person I am becoming.

Being unemployed for two months was an interesting experience and in some ways exactly what I needed. But after a point I started to feel very idle, like I wasn't reaching my potential. I start a new job this week and I think this will be the beginning of the next phase of my life in California. In the next 6 months I hope to discover whether I want to continue my west coast experiment or try something else. Needless to say, I'm excited for what is to come.

My goals for the next 6 months:

See more of LA! I make an effort to leave Playa but its been 6 months and I still haven't really hung out down town or several other neighborhoods. There's lots to see and I want to see it.
Travel around California Now that I feel more settled and like I have my home base, I want to take more day and weekend trips. San Diego, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, San Francisco and Yosemite are all on my list
Go to more comedy shows. LA is a comedy hub, and who doesn't like to laugh?
Spend more time with my family in the area. Life got a bit crazy in the past 6 months, but I've got family in the area and should see them more often.
Spend time with people who want to be around me and who I want to be around. Sometimes you learn this the hard way but life is too short. Foster the friendships that matter, forget about the rest.

A few photo highlights of the last 6 months: