Here in Cali

Sorry to double-post, but otherwise I'll never catch up. I'm in San Francisco right now, well actually Palo Alto, where I'm staying with a family my brother knows. Yesterday I drove from Portland down to Sacramento, where I had an interview with the class of '95 valedictorian, a lovely woman who is now a stay-at-home mom, and happens to be the kind of person who agrees to house you after a long drive for only the price of an interview. Deal.

Then this morning I stopped in Santa Rosa to interview an artist in his studio, and I ended up hanging out with him for several hours. He had all kinds of good stories and interesting theories about art, plus a backyard full of wildlife. I mean seriously, what else is there? Wine country was beautiful—I just love seeing all those plants in perfect alignment. Tell me that doesn't appeal to everyone's inner perfectionist! And yes, Dad, I said hi to Dennis Quaid. Anyone who doesn't get that can email me off-blog, because I don't want to embarrass my dad by revealing that his favorite movie is the new Parent Trap—the one with Lindsay Lohan. Oh, oops! :)

Then this afternoon I drove down to Oakland to talk with a superior court judge. He had some good prank stories, my favorite of which was sliding a manila envelope full of shaving cream under someone's door, open-side in, then you step on the envelope and all the shaving cream squirts out into the room. A great way to get someone, even if he locks his door. He was also fortuitously saved from being drafted despite having the number 26 and being classified as 1A due to the fact that he went to Notre Dame. You'll have to wait for the podcast to hear that one.

Now I'm in Palo Alto, and we just had an earthquake—my first earthquake ever! (Is there a "Baby's First Earthquake" or something out there?) Apparently it was a 5.6, but it didn't seem that bad. Not that I really have a point of reference. We all just kind of looked at each other and then it passed after about 15 seconds, no big deal. No one else made a move to do anything, so I didn't make a move either, not actually knowing what one is supposed to do. Acting nonchalant, while good in a nonchalant sort of way, probably isn't the way to go in the future, but there doesn't seem to be a clear consensus about what to do. Some say go outside, others say then the building might fall on you, but won't it fall on you for certain if you're indoors, etc. So I'm kind of just hoping I won't have to confront that issue again while I'm here. Now I'm going to bed for some hopefully quake-free rest.

Oh, and one more thing (shout out to Clare Burgess): When you're winding through the mountains going 75 mph, and you start to get kind of hungry, wouldn't you think that a minibox of Rice Krispies would be an ideal snack? Trust me, it's not.