The Buzz: Sacramento
This letter is about the media I would consume if I were going to Sacramento for the first time.
I leave for Sacramento on Saturday to see my grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousins. It will be a nice break as I have been studying feverishly for my Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) exam which takes place on Friday at noon. My work paid for the certification and the test so I am very nervous about passing.
Sacramento is somewhere I know quite well. I can tell which places I know the best based on if I have a library card there. I currently have library cards in St. Louis, Tulsa, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Madrid. I got my Sacramento library card during the summer after my junior year of high school when I was taking an online class during the summer but my grandmother does not have Wi-Fi or service from her house so I had to drive to the library every few days to complete assignments on a library computer.
I have previously written a Flight Path about Northern California that documented my and my parents’ trip around (basically) the entirety of major Northern California towns during our 10-day trip. I will be publishing one upon my arrival back home that will be specific to Sacramento.
Finally, I am very scared to board this flight to California. The last time I flew to Sacramento in April, we had just reached 10,000 feet when the left engine exploded into a fireball and we had to turn around and land at the airport we had just left. I have flown two times since then (Winnipeg and NYC) and both times I was much more anxious than normal and with any loud noise, like the kid in front of me dropping his bottle on the floor, I jumped and thought an engine had exploded again. Flying to California is scarier than the flight to Winnipeg or NYC because it is longer and you can look out and see the Rocky’s underneath you. I need to stop thinking about this and just pop some pills upon boarding.
Anyways, here is some media that I will be thinking about during my time in Sacramento.
“Run, River” by Joan Didion, my Mother, who was born in Sacramento. This was her very first novel that she wrote while at Vogue and published in 1963 while she was a homesick young girl who had just moved from California to NYC. Her 2003 book, “Where I Was From” also talks about California – the state’s good and bad history along with her own personal memoir from the area. I love how cold Didion is. I love women who make people slightly uncomfortable. I am in the waiting line at the library for “Didion and Babitz” by Lili Anolik. Although I love her, I am so against publishing her old journals. Isn’t there a law against this? Note to self, make sure someone burns all my journals when I die.
“Lady Bird” (written & directed by Greta Gerwig): Lady Bird spends a good portion of the movie complaining about Sacramento. But don’t we all spend most of our lives complaining about the place we grew up until we attend a dorm party in NYC, wake up drunk, find our way into a church the next morning, and realize we kind of miss it?
“The Ugly Truth” (written by Nicole Eastman directed by Robert Luketic): your classic early 2000s romcom set in Sacramento. I love the time when girls being journos was romanticized and not literally impossible. Katherine Heigl is the queen of romcoms I’m a big fan of “27 Dresses”.
“I CLIMBED THE GRAND TETON (and kept it a secret!)” on Brie Larsen’s Youtube: I am Jimmy Chin’s most obsessive fan. I refresh his Instagram constantly and sometimes stalk his Spotify playlists. In 2019 he trained Brie Larsen (born in Sacramento) and took her up the Grand Tetons. I found this video while looking up Chin’s name on Youtube to see if there were any new videos of him.
My goals for the coming week:
Pass my CGBP certification exam (we get the results immediately)
Get my grandma to come out for a manicure with me
Bond with my cousin’s four-year-old absolutely feral son
If we go skiing in Tahoe, do not fall and make an embarrassment out of myself
Finish my book, “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey” by Bill Brewster
Do not overpack
Will keep you updated.
Yours truly,
Calihan
p.s. listen to me and Eden talk
omg that plane story 😳 You're going to be fine, you will pass the exam, you might overpack.
OMG I’m from sacramento! I’d love to link up if you’re down to meet for a little coffee xoxo