In Brief: BlackGirl Self Interview

BlackGirl, Where have you been and what have you been up to?

Still in Prague, keeping a low profile. It's been a strange year, and I've had a lot of thinking to do.

About what exactly?

The usual stuff—life, asking questions, looking for the big B: balance. Strangely, once the half-marathon was over I got unhinged. I didn't realize how much energy, not just physically, I had put into achieving that one goal; when the day came and went and the high faded things I had neglected came rushing at me for attention. I became very cranky.

Are you better now?

It took almost five months, but I'm getting back to me. A few days break in late August helped tons. I packed a bag and went off to a tiny mountain town called Bedrichov in the Jizerske Hory region. On my second day, I decided to take a walk to the highest point in the area—an old television tower. Well, thanks to my rusty Czech I ended up taking the long way there. Three hours on a small, winding road heading to who-knows-where is a lot of time to talk to oneself—aloud. The rest of the trip I was also able to get to a second reading of Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now". Love Mr. Tolle!

That's been your only trip?

Nope. After the race I was in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, for a week in April. For a company conference. The city is massive! And beautiful. I stayed on Vasilievsky Island—the Hermitage and other top sites (Church on Spilt Blood—simply divine) were just a ten-minute-plus walk away. My hotel was a dream—ten different types of saunas and steam rooms, a gorgeous indoor pool. I tell ya, traveling on the company's dime sure is sweet. I'm going to miss it.

Uh-oh, what does that mean?

Yeah, that pesky financial crisis hit my company kinda bad. We're getting acquired.

Doesn't sound good. You've been through acquisitions before at two other companies; you know what happens with those, right?

Yeahhh, but that's topic for another post—if I feel like it.

Did you meet any oligarchs in Russia?

NO. (Sucking teeth.) I mean, where the heck were they?!

Probably losing sleep over the crisis.

You've got a point.

Any other trips?

Scotland (Glasgow & Edinburgh) for a week in May. The States (California & New York) for five weeks from late May through June. Caught up with my family, my girls, and some friends from way back—high school. Facebook does have its uses other than time-wasting.

Other highlights?

Tan returned to Prague for a brief spell! She wanted to give Prague another try, but the job market was bone-dry. She's back in Australia now. It was great to have her around again if for a while.

Aren't you going to mention your “two seconds of fame”?

Oh that. Obama was in town in April. (Squeal!) I went with some friends to see him. I ended up getting interviewed by two Czech television stations. Friends watched it on the evening news and I got a flurry of SMS messages and Facebook comments.

Were you tickled?

Of course. I'd been waiting for that moment all my life. (Snort.) I was more concerned that my statements (the question was about nuclear proliferation—yikes!) made no sense. But it's impossible to sound dumb in a 5-second clip. I think.

Who's loving you these days?

My crazy new kitten Lulu. Unfortunately, my camera is out of commission so I can't post a picture of her.

Are you back to blogging again?

I'm still in recovery mode, so no promises. Let's just take things one entry at a time.