The Couch Is Moving

TiVo rocks. The greatest invention in the history of man. Better than fire, the wheel, and aerosol cheese combined. I can watch whatever I want, whenever I want. Brilliant. My love and adoration for this miracle of technology knows no bounds. For example, shows I missed months ago can be recorded and saved, called up at a moment's notice, played back again and again, rewound, paused, and... well, you get the idea. But it's great! You can relive every moment of your favorite show over and over again. Like I said, brilliant!

So thanks to the TiVo, I found myself planted on the couch on a lazy Thursday afternoon watching an episode of "Lost" from 3 months ago. I sat there, mesmerized by the adventures of these 21st century castaways stuck on some new uncharted desert isle (whose predicament could easily be remedied if they would only do what the old bunch should have done, which is to ask the Professor to build a friggin' BOAT), but I digress. To make a long story short, that's when the couch started moving. Then the walls rumbled, the windows rattled, and the TV shook. I realized what it was. It wasn't the cat under the table. It wasn't someone running down the hall. It wasn't a big truck driving by.

It was an earthquake.

It lasted about 2 seconds.

It felt like 2 minutes.

My heart stopped, then began racing. I sat there, not moving, not breathing, waiting to see if more was coming. Nothing happened. I sighed, then laughed. There it was, my first earthquake. I knew when I moved to L.A. I would experience one at some point. Out of the blue, just like that. For a split second, everything in your world stops. Life takes a tremendous, ominous pause while the planet has a stretch and rearranges the scenery a bit. Then it's over. The moment hits like a thunderbolt, then is gone just as fast. And, as far as earthquakes go, this one was tiny. Geologically speaking, anyway. But it didn't matter. It was an EARTHQUAKE. I calmed down. I switched from "Lost" to the local news, knowing I could return to the folks stranded on the island at a more convenient time. And that's when it hit me. All the important moments, the ones you remember for the rest of your life, you get to see them one time and that's it. You can't rewind, go back, and watch it all over again. They just happen, then are gone. The moments that remain with us the longest are the ones we only get to see once.

Life has no TiVo.