Photo: Me as a youngster, looking sorta like a boy. 

So I've been attending a hula hooping class in NYC for over one month now, in the hopes that I will one day become a master hoop dancer, beloved the world over for my spinning skills. Last week, I purchased a hula hoop of my very own, so that I could practice in the intervals between classes. Today was the first (and the last) time that I brought it in with me on the bus, and downtown on the subway.

Aside from a multitude of funny looks, I met an animal caregiver working for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Circus, high as a kite and thrilled to no end that I was enriching my life with hoop classes. (At first, I questioned the validity of his credentials, but he was wearing an ID tag on a lanyard around his neck, and I had just read that the circus was in town...)

I'm really not confident — or social — enough to deal with this on a weekly basis.

Which is why I'm considering investing in a second hoop, for travel purposes:

[$39.95, Hoopnotica] 

The Hoopnotic TravelHoop disassembles into multiple arcs of hoop, and ties together with a handy-dandy strap that you can sling, all cool-like, over your shoulder with either the $12.95 HoopStrap or the $24.95 HoopTote.

Or you can use rubber bands and string, which is free, but not nearly as cool-looking.