I needed a roommate

I needed a roommate and Nina answered the ad. She was small but strong. Old strong, before everyone spent so much time in the gym. Short spiky blonde hair. A lot of energy. Sparkling eyes. Dimpled smile. She said something about juggling, accordion, temp work, but I wasn't listening. She'd be a great roommate.

I ran a wire outside the building to her bedroom window so she had Internet and before long she had borrowed an old computer. She would be up all night clacking on her keyboard. One day, sharing beers in the evening, I asked her:
 What the heck are you doing all night?
Nina: Working
What, online?
Nina: Yeah there's a Web site, guys want to chat, they pay to chat. They re-run girls in video, but the chats have to be responsive, live.
I can guess what you chat about
Nina: And you'd be right
I had to laugh. So no more temp work?
Nina: Right. I need a camera, and I don't know, something
Can I help?
Nina: Do you mind? I can handle the guys, but the tech stuff is not my thing
We're all figuring the Web out. Yeah, I have this little eyeball camera with a mic in it. Let's hook it up and see if it works.

Nina liked being in front of the camera much more than late night shifts typing. I got her lights, a better camera and mic. Soon she was the most popular gal on the site and there was enough money. There was good money. I quit temping.

We had parties. Nina had a friend who liked wearing a wig. I think it was a Warhol thing. Cool guy, managed a restaurant. Anyway, one time we told everyone coming to wear a wig or a hat. It was a hit and that became our thing. Nina was in a band with 3 other gals. They played at the parties some times. They were good, recorded a CD, but drifted apart.

So the video chats, the parties, the hats, some guys from the parties with Nina, it all merged together. She was my star and I was her nerd who kept things working. We were having a great time, making some money, spending it all.

One day, having coffee in our little kitchen, Nina said:
Nina: There’s a guy who I chat with, a regular, he has ideas
Ideas? What about?
Nina: About me
Ah
Nina: Yeah, a whole houseful of ideas. a car. travel.
Like a sugar daddy? A trophy wife? That stuff is real?
Nina: I don't know. Maybe.
Is that what you want?
Nina: I don't know. No. She laughs a little. sips her coffee. Maybe.
Do you have to find out?
Nina: I do. I haven't told him I'm going to. but I'm going to. Find out, at least.

I wished her the best and she moved out. Just like that. And the fun went with her. I got a job at a new thing, a Web magazine, and a new roommate moved in, but that's another story.

One of the good things about keeping an old email address alive is that people can reconnect. A few years later Nina sent me a note. Let's get together.

Nina looked great. She grew her hair out, long and wavy blonde. She looked like a cross between a hippie and a business exec. She was inventing it. Under a tree at a cool cafe, we sipped white wine in the late afternoon light.
Nina: I have my own business now.
Great, what's that?
Nina: We invest in startups, help them with whatever they need. Find investors, business advice, technical expertise, that kind of thing
I laughed. What do you know about all that?
Nina: Oh you'd be surprised what I've picked up. My instincts are excellent. And more important, my team is the best
What about the guy, the sugar daddy?
Nina: He still has lots of sugar, but he's not my daddy any more. That part didn't last too long. But he was very good to me. He set me up, and now I'm doing ok. More than ok.
Well, my star, you're shining brighter than ever!
Nina: I'm having fun, and there's a man, too.
A good man?
Nina: A pretty man!
Jeez, Nina, is that all you want?
Nina giggled: No... Maybe.

We kept in touch. She got out of Silicon Valley when the bubble burst. Probably could have made more if she rode it out, but she had plenty I guess.

She slipped quietly into life in the East Bay. Buddhism. School for comparative religion. After a while she became a writer and a life coach! Chapter three in Nina's life.

I still see her now and then. My wife loves her. One Saturday I dropped by and we sat in her back yard drinking tea.
Nina: I'm writing an article you'll like. it connects the through line from the infinite vibrations of Indra's Net, to Pythagoras' ideas that music guides the planets and stars, through the Music of the Spheres of Newton's time, to current string theory.
It's all about the vibrations
Nina: It sounds trite, but it's a universal truth. It’s an even larger tradition in creations myths - Om/Aum in Hinduism and "staota" in Zoroastrianism, “Hu” in Egyptian mythology - The creator god Atum was said to have begun creation by uttering the primordial sound "Hu" which represented the vibratory forces that brought the universe into existence. The Kabbalah has "Bereishit”. Sikh scripture has the sacred syllable "Ik Onkar”. The Dogon people of Mali believe in a creation vibration. Many aboriginal Australian cultures believe in the creative and life-giving power of an ancient, ongoing "Songline" or vibrational notes/tones that sang the world into being. I could go on.
Wow. it's cool that the more we learn in science, the more we just learn the same things. I sound like an Alan Watts lecture.
Nina: He's an excellent teacher
You mean was
Nina: I mean is. The lessons don't die.
I see, that's the whole point
Nina: You're getting it now. Isn't it divine?