How Being in San Diego is Affecting My Thinking
Posted on July 5, 2011 Posted by John Scalzi 30 Comments
I say to myself, hey, I wonder what’s going on in the rest of the world.
Then I look around me and go, why the fuck should I care what’s going on in the rest of the world?
Then I reach for my ukulele.
Well, I had taco bell last night. I think right now my fiancee and I can generally agree that wasn’t the best choice. If I was sitting next to an alien ambassador, I would probably be saying something offensive.
Cheers from STL.
Tulio understands.
And then Scalzi sings this song. Exactly like this.
Don’t worry, after the first decade or so you get back some small level of interest in the rest of the world. You find yourself wondering in an idle moment if there might be someplace else on the planet worth visiting for a day or two.
I’m not sure if the decade is cumulative or consecutive, if it’s the former then you’ll never build up immunity staying only two weeks at a time!
Now I want to record a ukulele cover of “That’s When I Reach For My Revolver”.
Yep, San Diego is the best place on earth. Welcome back John.
san diego brings up an entirely different reaction for me.
one place where I got ‘lost’ like that was in the ruins covered by Mt Vesuvius. my god…
That’s why San Diego was a great town to grow up in. =)
I used to feel like that too, which was not good as UCSD was my alma matar.
It was pretty awesome yesterday wasn’t it? The weather here doesn’t disappoint. Glad to share it with you, even just for a little while.
Lived there for 10 glorious years during my Navy career- a fantastic place!
Being in a big country might make a difference. I live in a great city (Melbourne) in a country which is territorially as big as the (continental) US but there are only 22.6 million of us, and so we tend to have more small country nervousness about the rest of the world.
I guess you’ve already been there too long. Very Eddie Vedder of you to go all ukelele after four days there…
Never travel without your ukulele. That’s my motto.
Ah, the California Coast Effect. Here, have another lotus.
(I was pretty impressed with San Diego until I spent an hour in their sorry excuse for an airport.)
I lived there for a while in the Navy and San Diego is awesome. My favorite part of California.
Did you try a Berto’s variation yet? Carne Asada chips. Yep, I know where the Freshman Fifty came from at UCSD. Totally worth it!
And enjoy the architecture and the Stuart Collection. My faves were the talking eucalyptus (especially on a foggy drunken walk), the shroom room in Mandeville, the Sun God and the TV/Statues in Third/Marshall College.
Totally jealous.
Trust me, you don’t need to be in San Diego to feel that effect although I have to admit it probably helps. I can get to that state of mind right where I am with laughable ease. But a lot of that is because BC is like CA but without (most of) the crazies.
What’s going on in the world? O. J. Simpson and Casey Anthony are going out on a date. Then they’ll redouble the search for the real killers.
Darn it, I wasn’t the first person to think of a cover or Filk of “That’s when I reach for my Revolver”
Wow, at least 3 UCSD alums here. Not surprising, I guess. It’s a very sfnal campus. Greg Benford, Kim Stanley Robinson, and David Brin all got degrees there (and I met the latter 2 while I was there) and Benford set a novel there and KSR one in the area. And, of course, the Geisel library has been in lots of SF films.
Indeed, San Diego may have the best weather weather in the world. I imagine southern Italy or Greece may be similar, not sure. The crazy part is that the weather you are experiencing now will also be the same during winter. Maybe slightly colder. I had to wear a light jacket at night sometimes. Another interesting perk is that there is no pollen. It is too dry for grass and trees to naturally grow there.
Still, after 5 years of living there, it never felt like home. I guess I need snowy winters and growing things in the spring and summer to feel normal.
Vernor Vinge set Rainbows End at UCSD, too.
I’m in Philadelphia and I feel the same way. Must be the heat.
Dude. KPBS, 89.5 FM or http://www.kpbs.org/radio. Get back in touch.
Oh, and thanks for bringing the humidity with you. We’d been missing that.
Have fun.
San Diego works on your systems faster than a SciFi movie virus. You are now one of us! Going to try to get to M/G tonight.
You stay classy, Mr. Scalzi
Yeah, San Diego does that to people. I lived there for nearly a decade, and if it wasn’t for a dream opportunity elsewhere, I would probably be looking to stay there.
Moving here had the same effect on me. I’m four years in and make myself care about world events because I know it’s the responsible thing to do…but do I really care? *Looks out window to see beaches, mountains, and cloud free sunshine* Not in the slightest!
That’s not San Diego. That’s the power of the ukulele.
And possibly, in my case, partially the influence of Portland, Oregon plus ukulele.