Psychic wishes I ask? Vera explains, "They are little psychic gifts. When you send one to a friend, they receive a gift certificate for psychic advice. Besides my psychic work I'm doing a lot of writing over at Day Cabbie too. I have been driving a taxi part-time for almost a year now and I have a lot of stories to tell. My dream is to eventually publish a book or a newspaper column about my fun experiences. As much as I love hooping, I haven't felt inspired to write about hooping recently. With nothing to write, I don't have much to contribute to hooping.org these days, but if I ever get re-inspired to write about hooping, you'll definitely be reading it here."

Going back to when we met, and when it all literally began, I invited Vera to talk about her first experience hooping. She laughs, "I was at a big blogger party in Oakland in April 2003. My boyfriend of four years and I had just broken up. I met a lot of bloggers that night that I am still friends with today, including you, Philo. There were a lot of hoops at that party, and I picked one up and started hooping. A few hours later, I was still hooping. The hoop going around my waist felt so good, I didn't want it to stop. The next day I co-founded Bay Area Hoopers, who are still meeting every week, almost four years later. Soon after that we started hooping.org too. It was a very magical night."

Nearly four years later Vera still makes an effort to be at Bay Area Hooper gatherings every Sunday. You could say that hooping has definitely made an impact on her life. Vera agrees, "Oh it most definitely has! Hooping came into my life at just the right time, when I needed something to fill the void that was created by the break-up I was going through. Through hooping I started meeting lots of people and making new friends. Most of my best friends in San Francisco today I've met through hooping."

When she isn't hooping she likes to meditate, blog, do psychic readings, hang out in coffee shops, drive a car, swing on swings, read, and knit. Something she's currently working on in her life is addressing her fear of social intimacy. "I am outgoing and have a lot of friends and know a lot of people, but I don't have a lot of super close friends. I have come to realize that I unconsciously keep most of my friendships at a more or less superficial level. Once I recognized that, I decided I wanted to change it, and that is one of my goals this year. I want to overcome my fear of social intimacy." What is her idea of earthly happiness? "My idea of earthly happiness is the constant cycle of the formation of desires and the subsequent fulfillment of those desires. When you stop desiring and working towards desires, you stop living."

Vera's favorite hoop is bright yellow with pink and blue accents. "It was 160 PSI and came up to my belly button from the ground. Unfortunately it disappeared at Dolores Park on Easter Sunday of 2004. I loved that hoop more than any of my others. I hope its new owner is having fun with it!" Her favorite music to hoop to is drum'n'bass. "It's bouncy and makes me go fast!"

She also enjoys spending her time watching movies. "One of my favorite films is Liquid Sky." It's about a disenchanted female model with a huge blonde mohawk who hangs around the club and heroin scene in New York City. It's from 1982 but I didn't see it until 2001. When I watched it for the first time, I didn't realize that it was from 1982. Despite its 80's fashion, it seemed timeless and contemporary, like it could have been made last year, and that's what I like about it." A favorite book of hers is Wasted by Marya Hornbacher. "It's about her struggle with anorexia. I like it because it's so honest. She doesn't hold anything back, no matter how embarrassing, degrading,
or disgusting. I always appreciate it when people replace shame with honesty."

What quality does she most admire in a hooper? "I most admire fluidity in a hooper. When the movements run seamlessly, and you cannot tell where the hooper ends and the hoop begins, I am mesmerized." So what does she consider to be her most marked hooping characteristic? "I believe that I am a very bouncy hooper. My body bounces with every rotation of the hoop. I suppose that could be considered cute, but sometimes I wish my hooping was more smooth and less bouncy."

If Vera could give a hoop to one person in the world, who would she give it to? "I would give a hoop to my spiritual guide from another dimension, Sinu. This would, of course, happen energetically and not physically. I would have to do this in my imagination, and then I would watch her with my mind's eye. I would want her to teach me new tricks to work on and also to show me which new role hooping will play in my life now that I am stepping down from hooping.org. I think I will give her a hoop very soon!"

And last, but not least, if Vera were to tell someone picking up a hoop for the first time one hooping tip or something she has learned about hooping or as a result of hooping, what would it be? She replies, “Meet the hoop! This has proven useful several times when teaching people who keep dropping their hoop. I put my pelvis forward, put my hand on my belly and say 'Meet the hoop!' This usually makes it click for people, and they stop dropping the hoop and meet it instead."