Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On

I admit to a fascination with earthquakes. For the life of me, I don't think I can dive under a desk or doorway when the shaking starts. I'm far too seized with wonder at the planet rolling around and lurching beneath me. When I was developing my Frank Lloyd Wright one-man play I once gave a reading of the script to a group of architects in an up-scale Brentwood home. Just when I got to the part where Wright says there's no such thing as a natural disaster, only forces of change, like earthquakes, the house started shaking. After several seconds, during which the assembled remained frozen in place, I ad libbed, "that effect cost plenty, believe me!"