Tonight I met Choire! He is even more adorable than I imagined. And I saw Philo and Choire standing RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER instead of on opposite coasts. I hear this is extremely rare. Anyway, yeah, Choire is in San Francisco, "passing through, plus," as he called it. We all met at the Tonga Room, a tacky Tiki lounge with fake rain storms, a DJ riding on a boat, a snooty waitress and exorbitant drinks. Roll call? Way too many bloggers to mention. I think there was one person that didn't have a blog. It felt a lot like a Tumultuous Taurean Reunion.
P.S.: Oh, and! Philo has pictures.
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.: posted by Vera 
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Want to go to Burning Man but don't like camping, are afraid of the Playa heat, or simply don't feel like preparing at all? Don't worry, Travelocity will hook you up!
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.: posted by Vera
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On Thursday night, Philo and I did our first hoop performance at the DNA Lounge. Amber had asked us a couple of months ago if we would like to come by and spin our hoops while she spins her records but we didn't feel ready to put ourselves in the spotlight like that. Now, many weeks of Sunday hooping later, however, we were ready to show off our skills. And it just so happened to be the two year anniversary of :CODE, a bimonthly DNA event. For the occasion, we decorated our hoops with glowsticks. That way, we thought, we wouldn't have to bend over backwards and it would still look flashy. We also wore matching red pants and white shirts.
We would have really liked to hoop during Amber vs. Drag'nfly's 2x4 but that didn't start until 1 and it was a school night. So we hooped during Praxis' live PA from 11 to midnight. We were each on our own little platform on opposite sides of the dance floor. Praxis' music, while raw and aggressive, which I normally love, was not ideal for hooping as it was very fast and at times discontinuous. Another problem was that we didn't have very much room around or above us, so there was no chance of tossing the hoop or kneeling down or doing several other of our favorite tricks. But it was still very fun, and I would definitely do it again. As I descended from my platform, a girl came right over and gave me a hug, and two more people later walked up to me and said that Philo and I did a good job. That felt good.
I haven't seen any pictures or video footage from that night yet, but as soon as I do, I will post it on hooping.org.
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.: posted by Vera
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I didn't know that really spicy food can give you the hiccups. Now I do.
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.: posted by Vera
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I love that, in the Age of the Geek, a guy will ask for my email address instead of my phone number. It makes the whole situation much more comfortable for me. A phone call from somebody I hardly know is so much more intrusive and designing than an email. God bless the Web.
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.: posted by Vera
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I finally quit this part-time freelance job that has been eating away at my weekends way too much. For months I had been wanting to quit but was too afraid of an ugly departure to bring it up (a contract had been discussed although nothing was ever signed). To my surprise, the reaction from the person I turned to about this was very relaxed and positive. All she said was something like "You've done great work. I will miss you on the project." I am very happy about this.
I am also very happy to have my weekends completely to myself again. Uh, except for the working Saturdays part at my full-time job.
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.: posted by Vera
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Burning Media
Today at a company-wide meeting:
Yeah, these pictures are from Burning Man. A bunch of people from the team will be going to Burning Man.
I love this company.
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.: posted by Vera
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I just saw a very cool guy crossing the street in front of me. He was probably in his 40's, white, and carrying around a sizeable belly. He was wearing tennis shoes, grass green socks up to his knees, white (!) shorts down to his knees, a blue T-shirt, and a blue terricloth head band. He also had several long gold chains around his neck and a lollipop in his mouth. He had an altogether good look.
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.: posted by Vera
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I want star barrettes
 In 1999, I bought these glittery star barrettes. They were the best barrettes I have ever had. They didn't seem to have the ephemerality of all the butterfly barrettes I bought around the same time because stars are more timeless. There was one blue pair, one pink pair and one green pair. Shortly after I bought them, my friend Monica made me give her the green ones. I did. Ever since then I have been wearing the blue pair or the pink pair at least once a week, depending on what colors I am wearing, and I take them with me on every trip. Within the last few months, the sparkly blue texture has separated from the metal clip of one of the blue ones twice, and I have had to super glue it back together. A few days ago, it came apart for the third time. I am thinking that perhaps it's time to buy some new star barrettes. But where? Maybe stars were just a fad after all, just like the butterflies and dragonflies. I have been looking and I can't find star barrettes anywhere. Have you seen them? If so, please let me know.
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.: posted by Vera
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Philo and I learned a new hoop trick on Sunday: the jump through the hoop sideways, also known as the vertical step-through. Philo, always one step ahead of me, mastered it first, and then I followed shortly thereafter. It was very exciting. Aimee, who showed up after Philo left, got it down too!
And best of all: We have photographic evidence! Philo made animated gif's of us.
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.: posted by Vera
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I just looked out the window and saw my neighbor outside his building painting it pink. I think I want to marry him.
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.: posted by Vera
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 My Japanese friend at work gave me my first Japanese lesson. One of the first things I wanted to know was what the character pictured on the left means. It means "of." I knew it was going to be something very common like "and" or "at" or "of" because anytime I see Japanese text, I see that character. I also found out that the "of" character is part of the word "my." The Japanese say "of I" instead of "my." So "the car of I" is the equivalent of "my car" in English. Fascinating stuff. Also, if your keyboard input method is set to Japanese and you type in "watashinonamaeihaberadesu", once the syllables have been converted to Japanese characters, you would have typed "My name is Vera." You guessed it, the "bera" part is my name. Japanese doesn't distinguish between "b" and "v," just like Spanish. Thanks for the lesson, Toshi!
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.: posted by Vera
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How to speak Australian Part II
Now that I am living with my roommate and her various visiting friends, I am learning more and more Australian vocabulary. Here are some snippets:
How are you going? = How are you doing?
Come through = Come in
Do you reckon? = Do you think so?
No worries = That's okay OR You're welcome
heaps = a lot
pissed = drunk
fanny = vagina
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.: posted by Vera
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I have three reasons to believe that I have at least one doppelganger. I have no idea who she is or what she looks like or if she even exists, but within the last week, I have experienced the following.
1. Kristin told me that she saw me riding a bicycle on Van Ness Avenue. I don't own a bicycle nor have I been riding one in the last few years. I also came nowhere near Van Ness Avenue the day she saw "me." But Kristin was so convinced it was me, she waved at the doppelganger and everything.
2. Recently at a club, someone asked me if I had come with such-and-such and such-and-such. I said no, and that I didn't even know such-and-such and such-and-such. Then he told me that there was somebody at the club who did, and who looked exactly like me. Unfortunately I never got to meet this mysterious person.
 3. Today some coworkers and I went on a field trip to spend the day at [another-software-company]. When we first met up with the guy in charge of taking care of us and showing us around, he looked straight at me and said 'You guys are from [the-company-I-work-for], right? I remember you from "last time".' I told him that I had never been to his company before. He said that he was pretty sure that I had. To tell you the truth, after all this doppelganger talk, I am not so sure myself anymore.
Who is this duplicate of me? Is there a duplicate of me? Am I the duplicate?
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.: posted by Vera
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I have two questions today.
1. What ever happened to Serena Altschul?
2. Could Reese Witherspoon be on any more magazine covers this week?
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.: posted by Vera
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Sometimes, when I think about the bedroom I used to sleep in, and when I then think about it some more and realize that no, my dressers aren't there anymore, and no, that picture of the red poppies does not hang above the bed anymore, I feel like I am falling. But only sometimes.
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.: posted by Vera
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Do you live in a nerdistan?
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.: posted by Vera
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Yesterday I made my first two hula hoops. I made a blue/yellow one for myself and a white/purple one for my roommate. After I was done, we tried them out on the street in front of our house!
 
 
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.: posted by Vera
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Last night I went to the Red Eye Lounge to see a hoop and light performance. Aimee, who was one of the performers, had invited me. She was using my hoop during her performance! Pictures are here.
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.: posted by Vera
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You know how you sometimes have those dreams about somebody you know, and in the dream your relationship with them intensifies until it can't get any more intense, and in that dream they are completely in love with you and you with them? And then the next time you see them, you feel really, really close to them and you also feel a little bit abashed for feeling that way since, you know, nothing ever really happened? Well, last night I had that dream. About a dog. It wasn't a sexual dream, it was just a dream about love. In the dream, I was a dog owner, and to that dog, I was the center of the universe. He loved me more than anybody has ever loved me. He licked me and kissed me and hugged me and squeezed me and cuddled up to me at any chance he could get. It was pretty flattering.
Today at the store I saw that dog. He was being carried around on someone else's arm. When I saw that dog, I felt really, really close to him, like I really knew him. You know?
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.: posted by Vera
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Whenever I talk to somebody from another country, whether they are from Thailand, Mexico, or Sweden, I usually discover some kind of commonality between their culture or language and my (German) culture or language that is not shared by the U.S. culture and language. Last night I got drunk with two Australian girls. While doing so, I learned that Australians instead of "I have to go to the bathroom" say "I have to go to the toilet." In Germany, we also say "toilet" instead of "bathroom." I like that much better because who are we kidding? The only reason you "have to go to the bathroom" is to use the toilet 9 out of 10 times. Why euphemize?
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.: posted by Vera
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I need to stop being so damn polite. No, seriously. I know politeness is a good thing, and I'm sure my parents would be proud, but I have to draw the line at being polite to MACHINES out of fear of hurting their FEELINGS. This is what I do: When I'm at the gas station feeding my beetle - wait. When I'm at the gas station filling up my car with gas, I tend to use my Unocal 76 credit card. I don't know if you have ever used your credit card at the gas station, but what the pump does when you're done is it asks you if you would like it to print out your receipt. The thing is that if you just ignore it and don't press one of the Yes/No buttons, it will assume the answer is No and not print a receipt. This is really a very sensible and efficient approach. But I, not wanting to be rude and just ignore the question, always make sure to press the No button anyway. Just to be nice, you know. You will not be ignored, my friend the pump.
Another polite thing I do is try to avoid interrupting automated phone operators. When I call an 800 number and there is a long robot monolog on the other end, I try to listen to the whole thing before pressing my option. The rationale is that it's rude to interrupt people - yes, even robots, apparently - when they're trying to tell you something, especially when you interrupt them mid-sentence.
I really think I need to take some kind of politeness management course or something.
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.: posted by Vera
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My week was going really well until somebody FARTED right next to me on a crowded, sticky, sweaty dance floor.
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.: posted by Vera
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Hooping.org, our collaborative hooping site, went live this weekend, thanks to Ariel's hard work. If you have any fun hooping pictures, please submit them to the gallery!
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.: posted by Vera
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