It hit while I was working away at my kitchen table. My building, which dates back to the 1920s, is 14 stories tall, with a brick exterior and 18-inch concrete floors. Yes, it shook. It kept shaking. I stood in the doorway between kitchen and living room and thought, geez, these concrete floors mean I never hear my neighbors, but there are 11 stories of them above me. I hope they stay there.
Everything held, except for one overloaded shelf which shook itself loose and dropped onto the stuff below.
I’d had this semi-paranoid fear that LA was due for an earthquake and figured that a major one would hit while I was away at grad school in Pittsburgh. If only I’d stayed for the full 3 years, instead of finishing in 2, I would have been right.
I was going to upload my pics from the Northridge quake but I need a scanner to do it. Got any economical scanner recommendations? Got a mac-compatible one you’re not using and feel like offloading? All scanner contributions accepted.
I will not store my scanner below overloaded shelves.
At Jacket Copy, we’re talking about Denis Johnson’s serial Nobody Move again; the second installment appears in the new Playboy.
And Sunday I went to see Mark read (wonderfully, BTW) at Tongue & Groove and shot this video there, asking attendees what books they’re reading.
