San Diego Is Rather Far Away

March 10th, 2009Blog0 comments

I keep thinking that it’s an hour away from LA. But it apparently isn’t. Which is good for me because I really like driving — taking that toll road between the 405 and I-5 (hwy 73?) is a surreal experience when you’re the only car for a mile in either direction. At night you feel like a bullet on a ribbon, zipping along in the dark.

This was a good reading. It was at UCSD, which (I might be mistaken) seems to be divided into colleges like Uncle Charley’s Summer Camp (UC Santa Cruz). My hosts were very gracious, and the audience really seemed to like the thing.

In the talkback afterwards there was a young woman who identified herself as Cambodian American. This play is about Cambodian Americans, and I’m not Cambodian American, so I’m monitoring the veracity thing closely. I don’t want to screw things up, and if they are screwed up, I want to fix them.

Anyway, she said it was quite accurate. She mentioned that she grew up in Long Beach too, and the characters seemed like familiar people to her. This makes me feel a lot better. I said that I have no idea how I was able to manage this, since my sole street cred consists of beating Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

So here’s to you, young lady. And to UCSD too — you have a lovely campus with lovely people. I just wish you were closer so I could come visit more often.