We had an EARTHQUAKE today.

The quake happened just after noon. I was sitting at my desk at work and I thought my chair was wobbling. Then I felt a little dizzy. Suddenly I realized THE FLOOR WAS MOVING! I looked around and heard one of my coworkers say, “Oh, we’re having an earthquake.” They weren’t diving under their desks so I figured it wasn’t anything to worry about, though I was still very scared. I’m not used to earthquakes!

This was totally unexpected and I’m glad I had California natives and long-time transplants nearby. If I’d been alone I’m sure I would have been freaking out!

I was interviewed live on CNN.com. I am an iReporter contributor for CNN, and I was really surprised when they called me to ask me about how I felt about the earthquake.

I spoke with anchorman Reggie Aqui while he was live on the air. Dave heard it at work and said I did great. I was nervous and still a little shaken up from the quake, but I managed to get through. Reggie said a lot of people in Los Angeles didn’t have cell phone or land line phone service so the quake must have knocked out something somewhere. We didn’t lose phones or power.

I can’t imagine what it would have felt like being in LA - it was pretty strong here!

This is the third quake I’ve felt. The first one we were asleep and it woke me up, but I didn’t realize that’s what woke me. The second one I felt the bed shaking and the window rattled a little, so I knew it was an earthquake and I was so scared I started to cry. Dave thought it was funny.

Thanks to Nicole and Veronica at CNN for calling me, and to Reggie for interviewing me. It was awesome. The interview, NOT the earthquake, that is!!

Here’s my original iReport: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-52927

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A map of the earthquake’s epicenter in relation to San Diego (image from CNN.com).

Anchorman Reggie Aqui, who I talked to today, from CNN Live (image from CNN.com).

The original Goths were an Eastern Germanic (Scandinavian) tribe who played an important role in the fall of the western Roman Empire.

In English 17th-century usage, Goth was an equivalent of “vandal”, a savage despoiler with a Germanic heritage.

In some circles, the name “goth” later became derogatory: synonymous with “barbarian” and the uncultured due to the then-contemporary view of the fall of Rome and depictions of the pagan Gothic tribes during and after the process of Christianization of Europe.

The term Gothic, when applied to architecture, has nothing to do with the people called Goths. It was a derogatory term that came to be used as early as the 1530s by Italian architect Giorgio Vasari to describe culture that was considered rude and barbaric. At the time in which Vasari was writing, Italy had experienced a century of building in the Classical architectural vocabulary revived in the Renaissance and seen as the finite evidence of a new Golden Age of learning and refinement.

In other words, he didn’t like Gothic architecture and he let everyone know it. No wonder people hate critics.

In popular culture, the Goth subculture stemmed from post-punk United Kingdom. Goth has become a name, a word used to classify people that enjoy the slightly macabre side of life, or that dress in a certain way (punk, androgynous (i.e., Marilyn Manson), medieval, some Renaissance and Victorian style clothes, or combinations of the above, most often with black attire, makeup and hair).

Goth took off not only in subcultures around the world, but also in music, movies and television. Characters like “The Crow” and the vampire Lestat from Anne Rice’s “Interview With the Vampire” are based on gothic styles.

Unfortunately many believe Goths to be negative, sarcastic and even violent. This is a small majority of those who call themselves Goths. Some blame musicians like Marilyn Manson for encouraging negativity in teens. Having done covers of 80s songs like the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This”) and Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love,” songs that have already been a huge part of popular culture, I can’t see blaming all of Manson’s music for causing negativity in teens. Sometimes just being a teenager is tough enough.

All of us have a need to fit in, especially when we are in our formidable younger years. Finding a group of people, a fashion style, or a type of art or music we enjoy can bring us together with people of similar interests. We seek out those who look and dress like us, that listen to the same music, that have the same styles of hair. People we feel will understand us, people that will accept us simply for who we are.

Goth imagery also brings to mind horror movies, the occult, bad moods and the supernatural. While some enjoy such associations, others find it a little too dark. TV shows like “The Addams Family” and “The Munsters” made Goth fun and campy.

Tim Burton is probably one of the world’s greatest Goths. His movies show a slightly softer side of the Goth persona. Characters in these movies experienced real emotion - love, loss and wonder. Who couldn’t feel for the tragically sweet ”Edward Scissorhands,” left alone by his creator, trapped in a world he didn’t understand and one that certainly didn’t understand him? Who couldn’t feel the wonder Jack Skellington felt when he discovered Christmas Town’s beauty, how Sally the Rag Doll pines for Jack’s affections, and the residents of Halloween Town learn there is more to life than just scaring people in “The Nightmare Before Christmas?”

Human nature shows that we all want to be accepted. We all want to find a place we feel safe, with people we can trust. Where we can be our true selves. Goth culture has given many people a creative outlet, a source of friendship and acceptance and a place to call home.

There may be Goths around you. Please be kind to them; they are often just like you; searching for their place in the world and hoping to find connections with people. Life is precious; don’t judge books by their covers, or Goths by their clothing.

You never know when you might find you’re a little Goth yourself. I know I am!

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This Duomo (cathedral church) is located in Italy. It displays classic Gothic architecture.

Another Gothic architecture feature: the flying buttress, like this one on a cathedral in France. If nothing else it’s fun to say “buttress.”

A gargoyle on the top of Notre Dame cathedral in France. Gargoyles are also very popular in Gothic architecture. While some are used as water spouts on buildings, diverting water from roofs, they are also used as symbols of protection on churches and other buildings.

(Research information from Wikipedia.)

This article (slightly modified) was published on Associated Content - click here. W00t!

My husband and I watched “I Am Legend” last weekend. It was directed by Francis Lawrence, who also directed Keanu Reeves in “Constantine.”

Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a government scientist who was unable to stop the spread of a terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Neville is immune to the virus and is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world.

For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not completely alone…mutant victims of the plague - The Infected - lurk in the shadows, watching Neville’s every move and waiting for him to make a fatal mistake.

Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered…and quickly running out of time.

I like Will Smith and thought he did an excellent job portraying Robert Neville. Even though it was a serious role, Smith’s personality shone through with some of his humorous lines.

The real scene stealer was Neville’s dog, Sam (Samantha). Entertainment Weekly’s Adam Markovitz wrote:

In the dog-eat-dog world of Hollywood, some aspiring starlets will do whatever it takes to get to the top. Then there’s Abbey. The 3-year-old German shepherd, who plays Will Smith’s best friend in the sci-fi epic “I Am Legend,” took an old-fashioned road to fame: She got discovered. Plucked from a California kennel by Steve Berens, a trainer with 28 years of industry experience, Abbey was exactly the kind of light-colored shepherd that director Francis Lawrence had been looking for. It was a demanding part, and Berens knew it would take more than a few Method classes to get his new protégé ready for the camera. “We were pretty much starting from scratch,” he recalls. “She didn’t even know her own name.”

Three weeks of intensive coaching followed before Abbey was ready to meet her costar. Sparks flew instantly: “Will came walking up, and Abbey barked at him,” recalls Berens. But Smith patiently earned Abbey’s respect, and the two headed to New York City for a grueling six-month shoot for the film, which is based on a 1954 vampire novel of the same name.

A consummate professional on set (she declined fur and makeup and ate a strict diet of kibble and chicken), Abbey balked only when asked to perform a particularly degrading act for one scene. “For whatever reason, she just had no interest in playing fetch,” says Lawrence. “We had to use a backup dog.” But even the occasional diva moment couldn’t diminish the cast and crew’s love for their leading lady. “When we finished her last shot, it was like the whole crew had been dying for six months to pet her,” recalls Lawrence. “Everybody swarmed. She loved it.”

I also read that Smith fell in love with Abbey as well, and wanted to take her home. But Berens had to give him the bad news: Abbey would stay with him.

“I Am Legend” is a sad movie. A man alone in the world, with no one to talk to. Trying to solve the problem mankind created, feeling responsible for the virus breaking out and his disappointment at not being able to find a cure for it. The Infected lost every shred of humanity they once had and became animalistic.

After I read Francis Lawrence directed this movie, I could see the pattern in the lighting he used in “Constantine.” It was a sharp contrast between darkness and light, not only in the actual physical lighting, but in the characters as well: Neville was good, the light. The Infected were evil, the darkness. The scenes were beautifully lit, even when it was approaching darkness. Neville uses the light on his gun with caution when exploring a dark building. It becomes his only way out and a beacon of hope for his survival.

This made me think. It made me wonder what I would do if I was in Robert Neville’s position.

Dave said he would have liked it better if the Infected had been actual people, not computer-generated. He said they were a tad unrealistic at times, having superhuman powers such as moving very quickly, jumping over cars and scaling buildings like insects. I didn’t really think about that until he said it, and I had to agree. I felt bad for them, in a way, as they didn’t have a chance to escape the virus and had no idea what happened to them. But if they had been “real,” I would have identified with them more.

We both agreed it is very worth watching.

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Robert Neville (Will Smith) and his dog, Sam in “I Am Legend.”

Neville and Sam walking through New York.

Neville in the lab, trying to find an antidote for the virus.

The First 48 follows detectives from around the country during these first critical hours as they race against time to find the suspect. For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a case is cut in half if they don’t get a lead in The First 48. Each passing hour gives suspects more time to flee, witnesses more time to forget what they saw, and crucial evidence more time to be lost forever.

Gritty and fast-paced, it takes viewers behind the scenes of real-life investigations with unprecedented access to crime scenes, autopsies, forensic processing, and interrogations.

As soon as the call comes in, the clock starts ticking and the hardworking law enforcement get to work. It’s very real - the cameras are right there with the detectives, suspects, offenders and witnesses. It makes you feel like you’re standing next to the person, or are in the same room, dealing with the emotions that person is dealing with: detectives and officers, victims, victims’ families, suspects and medical examiners. You’re right there when the police arrive, when the suspect is questioned, when the evidence is examined, when decisions are made and lives are changed forever.

Sergeant Caroline Mason of the Memphis, Tennessee police department is one of my favorite people on the show. She is a tough lady, smart and well-spoken, but when a suspect gets caught will do a little dance.

In my opinion, I think this is one of the best true crime shows in many years. You can’t get any more real than this. It’s like it’s all happening in your own backyard.

The First 48 airs on A&E Thursdays at 9 p.m. PST. On the web: The First 48.

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Images and article excertps from A&E.