it’s been almost an entire week since Luke and I played our first co-ed beach volleyball tournament at Long Beach. We had a fantastic first outing — went undefeated in pool play among seven teams, then lost in the finals to a very strong team. My mom came to pick us up just in time to cheer us on in our last match and afterward, she said, “The other team was much bigger and taller than you.”

A sad fact, but true. Luke and I are below-average height for male and female volleyball players. The good thing is that we’re fast and cover a lot of court, but the bad thing is that people aren’t afraid when we approach the net to hit.

Our second-place prizes were phenomenal. We each got to choose a pair of Native Eyewear sunglasses. They are so soft, light and comfortable. I have a difficult-to-fit face when it comes to eyewear so it was so great to learn that Native makes all its sunglasses in three widths, and they only use polarized lenses. Mine are a beautiful color they’ve named Black Cherry. Luke has a very mod, stylish pair in orange plastic with wide arms and some silver metal detailing. My mom loved the sunglasses so much we promised to win her a pair later this summer!

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In other news, Adrienne apologized for being a bully last year! And then she rejoined the gym! I told her I accepted her apology but asked her why she behaved that way. Can’t say that her answer was very compelling, but oh well, it’s now water under the bridge. And by the way, now that she’s been playing regularly, she can pretty much beat the pants off me anytime! Did I mention that she’s about six feet tall? I’ve got lots of improving to do!

i met an editor for drinks at Mas in the Village. Contrary to what I thought, Mas wasn’t named for the Spanish word “more.” It was named for the French word for “farmhouse.”

Anyway, it has a great ambience, and the crowd was very international, sophisticated, and older than the usual 20-something trendsters. This crowd looked tasteful and stylish. discerning.

Mas has two house cocktails, a martini made with homemade citron vodka and fresh grapefruit, with the rim dipped in tahitian-vanilla perfumed sugar and sea salt; and a daiquiri made with haitian rum, lemon juice and ginger sugar. I ordered the ginger daiquiri, but i could swear i got the martini, especially since i asked the bartender about the delicious crystals on the rim and he said it was the mix of salt and vanilla sugar.

anyway, the editor i was meeting ordered the daiquiri too, and she got exactly the same drink i did! quirky. could it be that both of us got the same wrong drink? or can my tastebuds not discern the difference between ginger sugar and a hint of grapefruit? hmmm.

so the end result of my meeting is, 1. i have a hangover (one drink! i’m a lightweight!), and 2. i’ll be freelancing for 3 days next week at a weekly. we’ll see how it goes. but i’m optimistic. the work seems interesting and the staff and the magazine are appealing.

i had to answer the question, Do i like freelancing? tonight. I said, as i’ve done several times before now, that i did not become a freelancer voluntarily, but that after 2-plus years now, i’m starting to get the hang of it. it could just be that i’ve been extraordinarily busy in the last two months so i cannot remember the panic and anxiety of the stretches of downtime that happen several times a year. Or, it could be that i have actually gotten used to the whole rhythm and am figuring out how to make it work for me.

not sure yet. time will tell.