rattle those teacups

A piece about the poetic danger of earthquakes in L.A. morphs into a story about David Ulin's book "The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction, and the Fault Line Between Reason and Faith." Sounds interesting:

Ulin's scientific tutors hail from various universities and the U.S. Geological Survey. Oddly enough, it's an administrator at the USGS Southern California office in Pasadena who tipped him off to the weirdo 'predictors' she documents in what she calls her 'X Files.'

Here we meet Kathy Gori, a former news anchor, whose headaches come and go a few hours before a tremor; Donald Dowdy, who believes quakes are signs of God's 'refining fire,' the necessary destruction that precedes redemption; Zhong-hau Shou, aka 'Cloud Man,' a retired chemist who argues that impending quakes send up water vapor that produces unusual cloud formations like snakes, feathers or lanterns.

If some of these types are clearly flakes ripe for psychological help, others have scientific training, keep accurate records and urge conventional scientists to expand their horizons. They're like acupuncturists who want medical doctors to regard their practice with more respect.

Early in the story, when it's still just a general piece, a tacit claim is made --

"The whole point of Paradise is that you get kicked out of it," quips novelist Carolyn See, doyenne of the Los Angeles literary community.

Emphasis mine. True, untrue Angelenos?

(Your faithful Bondgirl is too nice to mention definition 2 of the root of doyenne.)

worm "The Rat," The Walkmen

namecheck Susan Marie "Sunburn" Groppi