GREETINGS FROM THE EARTHQUAKE STATE. On the plane to California, I had ample time to sit back and reflect. This picture captures me in one of those introspective moments of quiet contemplation. Actually, it captures me capturing me in a moment of semi-quiet introspection, since half of me was introspecting and the other half was concentrating on taking the picture. It took only moments of such quasi-introspectation for me to ask the question “What the fuck am I doing?!!” This trip is at best a fantastic adventure and at worst a foolhardy foray into never-never land. And it is absolutely a giant leap of faith. While I’m immensely grateful for this opportunity, I’m also a tad scared. When my mind starts working overtime, asking too many stupid questions over and over again, knowing that the answers will reveal themselves in time, I can drive myself nuts. Luckily, I didn’t do too much of that on the plane. Instead, I chatted up a blond from Buffalo and promised to call her if I ever came to Niagra Falls. She’s a science teacher in an elementary school. We discussed everything from the weather to astronomy to making paper mache volcanoes and filling them with vinegar and baking soda. The plane ride went quickly and before I knew it I was at LAX helping two deaf people find their rental car company (no joke). In fact, after that, I must have exuded some sort of all-knowing-guru-mysticism, because two more people asked me for directions and one person asked me if I knew the average cubic atomic density of isotopic Uranium 238. Not wanting to disappoint, I gave the two people directions even though I had no idea where I was sending them. CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN’
This is Cheryl from Buffalo.  As luck would have it, when the Mexican family across the isle realized they weren’t all sitting together, Cheryl magnanimously volunteered her seat to them, which made her sit right next to me.  I thanked God I showered before I left, said hello, and did my best not to make a complete jackass of myself for the next 6 hours.