Okay, so WTF? I just returned home after a 5-day trip to New York, helping my Honorary Brother Richard celebrate his birthday (see photo). And I have been tagged 3 times and the RWB tribe has 722 posts, and I have 100 yahoo and 100 RealGirl emails, and I suddenly feel like I'm a huge disappointment to y'all cuz I didn't travel with my computer! Apparently someone wrote new "rules" while I was away:

"RULES - Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog with 8 facts/things/habits about yourself, saying who tagged you. In the end you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs."

Ummmm .... This is Burning Man, people!!! Those who make New Rules will be shot!

Ok, ok, I understand that to some people I am a mystery wrapped in an enigma, or whatever. So if you insist, ARMADILLO, SNOWFLAKE, BUNNY JOE, (you could have just called me ...) here goes!

Oh, and I name Penguin, Carolina Luna, Francis, Joe Priff, Koyote, and Goofaman.

1. I left home 3 days after my high school graduation, with all my Worldly Goods in a backpack on my back, in order to go to Denver with my then-boyfriend and be taught meditation techniques that I've practiced ever since.

2. I wanted to be a creative writing teacher, and won awards in high school, full scholarships for college, and am a published poet. But my first career was as an accountant and now I'm an IT nerd.

3. Yes, I once worked for an internet start-up in Silicon Valley. Rags-to-riches potential: Got hired as SQL admin, got promoted to Director of Acctg. Product? High-speed internet access from hotel rooms. Reason I’m not a kazillionaire? The co. failed their underwriting audit right after I was hired. (And no, those were not *my* lies to the underwriters, I was doing forensic accounting!)

4. I have lots of aquaintences, but am a strong believer in Kahlil Gibran's definition of a Friend. In fact, I am a strong believer in just about everything he had to say about everything. I have exactly three tribe "testimonials".

5. My favorite poet is Ranier Maria Rilke; I am a devotee of The New Yorker; favorite authors are C.S. Lewis, Hermann Hesse, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Isak Dinesen. I have an entire shelf in my library on comparative religions. (Oh, dur, I love to read.)

6. I tried assisted insemination with my last boyfriend and the failure/stress made us break up. And the desire to have a child was an attempt to come to grips with my own mortality, excaserbated by a cancer scare and the previously-mentioned death of several lifelong friends.

7. Oh, I have admitted this in public before, but I have a major crush on Anderson Cooper. Even though I understand he is gay. It is something about the combination of intelligence, sincerity, passion, ability to articulate, commitment to unveiling our follies, and sense of Mission. Somehow he strikes me as a renaissance-type-guy. But now that sounds like Al Gore. Who I understand is not gay. Oh, and I am a Democrat :-)

8. I am actually a very good singer. I was in a bar band for 5 years that did covers of reggae, The Police, Pretenders, etc. I have friends who were local Rock Gods who made music videos. I usually win karaoke contests.

9. There is no #9 required, but there is no Joe Priff, either!!!!!!

Anything else you want to know, you will have to come over for dinner, share a bottle of wine with me, and stay up all night talking!!!