And then there was poi
Not last Sunday but the Sunday before I hooped at Martin Luther King Park in Berkeley in the rain. Bay Area Hoopers joined forces that day with my friend Kiran and friends, which added poi spinning and stilt walking to our joint bag of tricks. I had always adored poi from a distance but since I knew that it had a pretty steep learning curve I wasn't willing to climb, I had never really tried it.
But after a year of hooping behind me, I discovered that day that I am not entirely awful at spinning and twirling shit. As one of the poi girls said, I "have the whole flow thing down." Don't get me wrong - regardless of my hooping experience, I am still a total beginner at poi and almost embarrassed to do it in public, but it is not quite as intimidating as I expected or as it would have been over a year ago.
That Sunday of rainy poi sparked something in me, and I went online as soon as I got home and ordered my own set of poi. They arrived on Monday, and last night I went to Spin Jam, a weekly thing at Infinite Kaos where a DJ spins and other people, well, spin stuff too. Last night people spun staff, poi, themselves, and even a hoop.
It seems like a recurring theme for the month of April is making changes or starting something new. Last year I bought a car and started hooping. This year I bought a bike and started poi. Note that this doesn't mean that I won't be hooping or driving my car anymore from now own. It just means that I added something new to my routine.
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.: posted by Vera 
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Birthdays
Twenty years ago today, I was in second grade and seven years old. My younger brother who was four at the time came to class with me that day to visit and just to see what this "school" thing was all about. There was a girl in my class, who since Kindergarten I had thought was pretty cool. Her name was Sabine. On this day I thought that she was especially cool since she had just turned 8 the day before, on April 29. I knew this because I knew everybody's birthday. Coincidentally my brother that day was sitting next to Sabine and asked her how old she was. She turned to him, carefully hiding her pride of her newly gained year, and said "8." I was full of admiration. She was eight! I was only seven. She was only six days older than me, and yet on that day, she had something that I didn't. I couldn't wait to be eight like she was.
Today I'm just a few days from turning 28, and I can't wait either! 28 sounds like a great number. And somewhere in Germany Sabine is already running around being 28 as we speak.
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.: posted by Vera
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Butterflies
I taught a little class at UC Berkeley Extension today. My co-workers Chris and Israel are teaching a class together called Flash II: ActionScript. They have asked me to do a guest lesson on web services today. So I lugged my laptop over there after work and did it. It was really fun and not nearly as stressful as the conference. Teaching a class about Flash is also something I have been wanting to do for a long time, so I'm glad I was given the chance to.
My favorite part of this experience were the butterflies that were huddling in my stomach on my way over to the San Francisco Downtown Center where the class was held. It almost felt like being in love.
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.: posted by Vera
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Progress
Up until about a year ago, I used to sometimes look into other people's houses through their windows and wish that I was them, without even knowing anything about them. For some reason I used to build up romantic ideals about their lives just by looking through their windows. I don't do that anymore. Whenever I look through somebody's window now, I think about my own window and that I would much rather be there.
Up until about two months ago, I used to look up at the sky and every time I saw a plane, I shuddered. I used to think "Get away from me, you evil killing machine." I don't do that anymore. Whenever I see a plane now, I don't feel threatened and I smile at the fact that I used to.
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.: posted by Vera
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Happy Anniversary, BAH!
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of BAH (Bay Area Hoopers), and Philo took some great, blue pictures. Remember how it all started?
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.: posted by Vera
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People rock
While hooping at Dolores Park today, Jason, Jiny, Katie and I took a break and walked over to Dolores Park Cafe to grab something to munch on. I noticed that the cashier who took our order was wearing a ladybug ring on her finger. I told her that I loved her ring and asked her if she made it. She said "No, my friend made it. I have another one just like it at home, so you can have this one." With those words, she took the ring off of her finger and gave it to me. I was completely in awe and almost fell to the ground thanking her. That is the sweetest thing a stranger has ever done to me. Her name is Iris.
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.: posted by Vera
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Help, my penis is too small!
I think I want to kill myself. Everybody tells me that my penis is too small. Every day I get up and I have at least five emails testifying that. It's so depressing. The emails say stuff like
"Your girlfriend calls me when she is unsatisfied with your size."
"Dicky, why are you so small?"
"Do you know what large-membered people eat for breakfast? Didn't think so."
"Your penis makes you look like a nerd."
"What happens when your girl leaves you because you are so fucking puny?"
"What is that kidney bean doing between those plums?"
"Wouldn't it be nice if women stopped running out of the bedroom?"
"Where is the rest of that?"
"Time to upgrade your penis."
I am starting to feel really really inadequate. Every morning I dread getting up and facing my email client. This is emotional abuse, and there should be a law against it. And man, I sure wish I had a bigger penis.
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.: posted by Vera
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Birthday Early Warning ™
Two weeks from today, 26-year-olds will now be two years younger than me. I will have to get used to this.
My main birthday wish is that 28 will be as eventful and satisfying as 27 has been. I also have other, smaller wishes that YOU can help out with.
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.: posted by Vera
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Farts with bows and ribbons
A friend of mine (I won't point fingers or name names) had a conversation with my computer while I was out tonight. I found it quite amusing.
Session Start (AIM - [me]:[AnonymousFriend]): Mon Apr 19 20:44:41 2004
[AnonymousFriend]: you're never online
*** Auto-response sent to [AnonymousFriend]: I am currently away from the computer.
[AnonymousFriend]: i' know you are but where am i
[AnonymousFriend]: that's the question
[AnonymousFriend]: vera I hope you don;t mind if i just have a conversation with your computer,
[AnonymousFriend]: hi computer
[AnonymousFriend]: wanna be buds
[AnonymousFriend]: wanna be my pal
[AnonymousFriend]: my squeeze
[AnonymousFriend]: i know you do
[AnonymousFriend]: chicklets
[AnonymousFriend]: heath bars
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: that;s it, i;ve found my mantra
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: farts with bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: i love letting farts that have ribbons and bows
[AnonymousFriend]: vera, your computer just let a fart, and guess what? it did not have bows and ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: which means it was just plain stinky
[AnonymousFriend]: you know what they say: if you can't put a little bow or ribbon on your fart, then don't fart. just hold it in for crying out loud.
[AnonymousFriend]: i gotta go now V
[AnonymousFriend]: i know you've enjoyed talking to and all, but i just have to go, that's it, it's final. I'M OUTIE!!!
[AnonymousFriend]: farts
[AnonymousFriend]: i just let a really bad one
[AnonymousFriend]: no bows
[AnonymousFriend]: no ribbons
[AnonymousFriend]: just good old fashioned gas
[AnonymousFriend]: sleep tight
*** [AnonymousFriend] signed off at Mon Apr 19 21:35:29 2004.
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.: posted by Vera
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Cyclic
I GOT A BIKE! I'm so excited. It's a used Cruiser from Pedal Revolution. My roommate took me to pick it up and then took some pictures of the happy new me. Yes, I said "new me." I feel like a different person. I am now part of a piece of San Francisco street culture that I had been eyeing curiously and admiringly for a while. After Joe left, I rode around the Mission for a while and then home. It was so much fun. I am seeing the city with different eyes now, from the saddle perspective. Next on the agenda: A basket.
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.: posted by Vera
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Spring Brakes
It's that time again. Time to keep a real flower in my car instead of a fake one.
It's apparently also time to pay $450 for new brakes for my car, but we won't let that bother us.
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.: posted by Vera
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More photos from the conference
The Flash in the Can organizers have just posted lots of their own pictures, taken by a professional photographer.
Here is a picture of me right before I had to start giving my presentation. Don't I look apprehensive?
Jared, who I met in person at the conference after having "known" him for years as a Flash celebrity, also posted some pretty cool pictures.
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.: posted by Vera
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Happy Birthday, Philo!
Multi-dimensional web celebrity, hooping.org co-founder, Bay Area Hoopers co-founder, and my good friend Philo Hagen is turning a year older today. Let's all wish him a very happy birthday. He deserves it. Happy Birthday, Philo! May the next year and decade bring you all that you hope for.
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.: posted by Vera
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I'm back
I got back from Toronto at about noon today and slept all afternoon. It has been a very exciting few days. Sometime on Sunday I completely lost my voice, but luckily this happened after my presentation. If you see my voice running around anywhere, please return it to me.
My presentation wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either. I think I did decently for my first time. Either way, I am very glad I did it. It definitely feels like an accomplishment. For those of you are interested, my presentation outline is online.
I had a lot of fun hanging out with friends from previous conferences and making new ones. A special treat was meeting Jeremy Goldstein. He produces electro under the name E.V.A.C. and co-founded nubreaks.com a few years ago. I go to nubreaks.com all the time to get my breaks fix when I need it. What was he doing at a Flash conference? Good question. He knows the right people, I suppose. His session wasn't about Flash at all. Instead, he played us some of the tracks he has produced!
Pictures from the conference are here. It was great to sleep in a gigantic bed at a fancy hotel, to be in a foreign city and yet see tons of familiar faces, to meet people that you had previously only known via emails. This was the kind of trip that makes you glad to be alive.
And now that it's all over and done with, it's finally time to RELAX. Except for the part where I still haven't done my taxes.
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.: posted by Vera
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Shitting my pants
My presentation is in less than an hour. I am just about TOTALLY FREAKING OUT.
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.: posted by Vera
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Leaving the country
Tomorrow morning bright and early I leave for Toronto to go to Flash in the Can. This will be my first time to Canada. My talk about Flash and web services is at 12pm on Sunday. The date Sunday is 04/04/04 - how cool is that? Wish me luck!
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.: posted by Vera
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No joke
About a year and a half ago, I was so proud to have my profile listed on flashgoddess.com. Today? I am in the spotlight at flashgodess.com. Am I bragging? Sorry. I didn't mean to.
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.: posted by Vera
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