“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” —Helen Keller.

Last night after my gig, while watching “The Aviator” with my family, we heard some yelling outside our house, just up the street. When I got home just an hour before, I noticed all the cars parked everywhere, and right away I knew there was a huge party nearby.

So, suddenly we heard sirens coming toward our neighborhood, and then there was a police helicopter above us flashing a bright beam of light all around, flooding our home once or twice with this intense white light.

I look right outside my living room window and we see several cars, stopped by the police, and some young people being questioned. More and more police cars come speeding into the neighborhood with sirens blasting away, beams of light flashing everywhere as if looking for an escaped convict.

I noticed four police cars speeding quickly up our street doing probably 50 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour residential zone. I noticed they had formed some sort of blockade, as if preventing certain cars from escaping.

A fire truck moves into position, its emergency lights flashing. And then an ambulance pulls in and heads quickly up the street. I see young adults (college students?) walking around aimlessly. And neighbors had to walk to their homes, the police made them leave their cars outside this blockade, at the entrance of our neighborhood which has no other way in.

Many people were being questioned outside our house. And one girl knocked on our door asking us if she could use our bathroom. We were reluctant at first because we still were rather confused about what was going on. An older woman who was escorting the young lady had said it was okay. They were questioning people and they were sitting on the curb.

So, opening my window I overheard people talking about someone getting stabbed, and that this party had gotten out of hand and there was a big fight.

Anyways, we live in a very quiet community, mostly families. So, this incident was definitely out-of-the-ordinary, and it was the first time something like this had ever happened in our neighborhood.

After a while, things started settling down. And I got back to watching “The Aviator”, still somewhat shell-shocked, however, from the experience.

Tonight: band rehearsal. Tomorrow Morning: I take my son to have his wisdom teeth removed. Tomorrow Night: private party in Camp Pendleton. Saturday Afternoon: Smooth Jazz Festival. Saturday Evening: wedding reception at the Marine Base (MCRD). Sunday Evening: another wedding reception - La Costa Resort… all drumming gigs so, I guess I’ll get my exercise!

Practiced The Nearness of You on piano today.

Aein’s new modeling portfolio rocks! You did an excellent job on it, Aein. And the photos look great! It makes me feel like I want to create a portfolio too, but gosh-darn-it, I’m just not photogenic enough (nor pretty enough). Maybe I’ll go to a glamour shots place and test myself out first. ;)

We arrived back home around 7:00pm, from San Francisco! It was a lot of fun celebrating my niece’s graduation at UC Berkeley, and going all over-the-place in SF. But, gosh-darn-it, the trip back home through Fresno and Bakersfield was a total snooze-fest. One straight line for miles and miles. zzZZzZzzzZZZzzZZZZ!!! :)

Anyways, I was doing some random searches and found out that a cousin of my niece has been touring the country starring in a musical… Thoroughly Modern Millie. Awesome! I remember when he visited our house once, but he was a young kid, and now he’s doing musicals!

i’m in a hotel room in berkeley, california. just got back from niece’s grad ceremony, and now i have to go to another graduation dinner. i’m super wiped-out and have partied twice, and i’m now on my way to SF across the bay for another graduation party. having fun, but am super tired right now! i’ll try to do a better update when i get back from SF later tonight.

we are
like children, only
a bit older… and a bit wiser
but still needing to hold someone’s hand
as we cross the street that is life…

© 2005 Carlos Rull