2009 will mark a decade of my living full time in the Bay Area. It was May 1999 when I left behind a charming apartment overlooking a church square in a hip Berlin neighborhood (Prenzlauerberg/Mitte), solid work, and my mother --whose only child I am, to come to California and move in with my now ex-husband.

About a year ago I started thinking about leaving. Why? I know this place: I’ve lived on 3 sides of the Bay: San Rafael, in Marin County; the Berkeley hood; and now the City- the Cast... read more

www.facebook.com/album.php

-It's a little over the top, there are really much better, more divine hoopers out there.
I was talking to my boss, van. A pretty savvy guy.

But van insisted my superheroname should be hoopgoddess, and promptly reserved a relevant URL for me.

So my hooplog became hoopgoddess.wordpress.com...

And on a whim I changed it here on tribe. Looks weird. I kinda miss Arugula, the Rocket.

hoopgoddess.wordpress.com/2008/...input/

4/22
Tonight I opted to be social, feeling very pleased with myself after having churned out another 12 pages of the policy chapter (tho I’m nowhere near the end of it). Had rambly and unaccountable conversations with Erik, whom I’m beginning to get, and really treasure. Also connected briefly with Jeremy on sci-fi.

Did the sauna with Erik to close the evening- a long sit until it got hot enough that we were actually sweating, more drifts of conversation, with an ease that makes me feel ... read more

Mesa, 4/19.

It’s noon. I arrived 23 hours ago. I’d had a spirited conversation about race and race relations with Rafiq, my cab driver, in our hour plus together. At the end he gave me his number, the gold of his grills flashing. I smiled back, blushing.

I had envisioned the Mesa Refuge extended over more land—oceanfront—and more rustic and minimal. Instead there are cut crystal glasses and a decanter full of sherry in the vast library/ living room, and up the stairs—painted a pumpkin c... read more

3 weeks ago: got over the final Futureflu, which had kept me down for about a MONTH, with the help of a stellar acupuncturist and naturopath and lots of herbs and rest and love from friends. Thanks especially to Christabel, Michael, and Craig for the caretaking: I hated to ask, but I needed the help.

2 weeks ago-ish: spring had arrived, and the flu had departed, and I was compelled to dig out something that's been like a corpse under the bed, moldering: a mess and a mass of divorce-related... read more

Recently I’ve been going through a spate of consumerist indulgence. Or indulgent consumerism.

It’s all relative, so allow me to describe the baseline, as illustrated by my shoe collection.

I’ve got 22 pairs of shoes in my closet, two of which were acquired in college (around 1995); 9 of which I got between 2002 and 2004; two of which are second-hand; and roughly a quarter of which I bought last year, the most recent in August 2007. Five of them are athletic-ish. Five of them have any... read more

I was just notified that I've been accepted to the Mesa Refuge program for a spring residency. What an honor! All the energy from all the amazing writers who have spent time there (Michael Pollan of the Omnivore's Dilemma was one of last year's residents). Striding on into the dream...

My friend Tony runs a supercool project collecting portraits of folks answering the question Why Do You Do What You Do? This week he's got my portrait up there, to be followed in the coming weeks by other campmates of ours from BM07. You can also post your own portrait with your answer to the question. Check it out: www.wdydwyd.com

I have taken a certain amount of pride in being tatless. Nearly one in four U.S. adults between 18 and 50 has one or more tattoos, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Among my age group I’m certain it’s distinctly over half, since we were in our impressionable late teens and 20s during the tattoo boom of the 90s.

Nowadays it’s tattoo removal that’s hot, a procedure that’s costlier and more involved—although apparently recent developments have improved its effectiveness.

... read more