06-28-04 - 10:34 p.m.

Last night I experienced my very first earthquake! I survived. Now I know what a 4.1 on the Richter scale feels like. The walls of the house shook, like, well, like someone was shaking them. They rumbled for a few seconds, and then they did it again a few seconds later, but less insistently. At first I thought maybe my housemate had woken up and was getting agitated for some odd reason and pounding on the walls, but I don't think he could have shaken the house that much. Plus I didn't hear him moving around. Then I thought maybe something heavy was moving around outside. Annoying trucks and things are always driving around in the middle of the night here. Then I thought maybe it was an earthquake because I vaguely remembered that Illinois gets them occasionally. I also thought maybe it was thunder because it was a little rainy that night, but I didn't hear thunder, just felt the walls shake. Then today I was in my car to get lunch and heard a short blurb on the news about an earthquake in northern Illinois! I was so excited. I want more of them! :D Not every day, but maybe once a month. And not too strong, of course. But maybe they could last a little longer, like a minute instead of three seconds.

My friend John has a girlfriend named Lisa who he started dating in January, I think. They're flying out to visit some of her relatives, and they have an hour layover in Chicago, so I'm going to try to go meet them at the airport. I've never met her, so it should be fun. From what John's friends have heard of her, we think she sounds like a female version of him. Her birthday just happened, so I sent her an e-card. :)

I have my alarm clock radio set to WFMT, Chicago's classical radio station. This morning I woke up to a harmonica and strings playing these achingly beautiful melodies. It was one of those rare times I had to actually stay awake and not hit the snooze button so I could find out what the music was. Well, in characteristic classical music announcer fashion, the announcer's voice rose and fell dramatically in volume, and it fell just out of my range of hearing right when he said the composer's name, so I was mad. But I caught enough of the information to do a Google search, and I found it despite the crummy radio host. It was from this CD. Tommy Reilly was the harmonica player (harmonicist?), and the composer was Gordon Jacob. Reilly was playing "Caprice," "Russian Dance," and one of the others. That one is definitely going on my to-buy list, and I've added both the composer and the performer to my mental list of favorites. Concert harmonica does take a little getting used to, but it is impressive to hear Reilly play. I never thought a harmonica could be performed so ... deftly. Right now I'm listening to British Folksongs with harmonica and harp.

Also I'm getting used to the idea of working at Livingstone. It has its advantages. So now I'm just waiting for them to call me so we can make it official. Then I can get the rest of my life moving.