I used to be a daredevil - now I'm dork

I was sorting out all my pics on my mac the other day and came across this pic taken when I was 21 at Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa, where I did the "highest commercially operated bungee jump in the world" - a whole 216m of it.

And that got me thinking about all the other crazy things I have done in my life - most of which were quite disastrous.

In 2002, when I was 22, I took my 1953 red Vespa, named Chippie, and decided to attempt a trip from Cape Town to Villiersdorp to visit my mom (alone I might add). It's a 90 minute car drive, but took me about 3 hours full throttle late at night and I arrived with a freezing blue face and all my other bits frozen solid. The trip back at the end of the weekend was even more fun - I placed a sarong around my shoulders and pretended I was superwoman as I sped down the pass, only to have the tassels catch in my engine - which nearly ended my life. Luckily my brother followed me this time in his car so I had one witness to my stupidity.

That did not stop me. I went absailing in the Knysna forest which was the second coldest experience of my life, no one told me I would have to hike for 4 hours in freezing cold weather to experience a 20 minute absail down an also freezing cold rock-face. Knees bruised and battered, I vowed I would never do it again.

Then came scuba diving - pool sessions were all good, BUT after that we had to get into the freezing Muizenburg ocean in a 6mm wetsuit that makes you feel like an astronaut. I clung onto a piece of seaweed at the bottom of the churning ocean for a full 45 minutes and then vomited.

Last but not least, my cousin decided to marry a UK army officer and we go.......you guessed it - GLIDING. I got flung into the sky by a canon like device and then after 10 minutes of the pilot showing off how many stunts he can do in the aircurrents to the point where my stomach flipped out of my ears - I begged him to please land.

Stunt days are over. Coming down from a 5 hour adrenaline high is way overrated. Now I just take other risks that don't involve bruised knees and cold bits or spattered body parts on a highway.

I do miss my Chippie, but after one too many close shaves (because I was a young hazardous fool on the road)...sadly, I decided I had to grow up and I sold him.

ShoeBox - the prep for my trip begins

It's so glamorous to say "I'm searching for an apartment in LA" for my 2 month acting internship at Edgemar this summer, but the truth is it's a pain in the rear to make a decision online from a few low res pics.
I've never been to California before so i have NOOOOO idea what to expect either!

I'm completely Craiglisted to my eyeballs - I feel as bad as when I first got my new iphone, which by the way gives you goggle eyes, but I can't help it - I'm addicted.

I digress again....so how did this acting internship and apartment search come about?

1. I sent many e-mails to the point of being certified a stalker to some acting schools
2. I received a yes from an LA acting coach who I did a workshop with in Dubai
3. I started saving
4. I stressed endlessly about getting a visa on time to duck the Dubai summer (when production dies down) or having to face the disappointment of postponing my internship for a WHOLE YEAR.
5. I am now searching for an apartment - my current predicament!

Between "no drug users" as if "drug use" is an option for certain tenants applying, to females sharing their...BEDS?! and ridiculously overpriced "arty" dumps, I think I will just take the plunge and find something when I get there. (Gosh I sound like a prude ha ha)

I'm going to be studying 24/7 - All I need is a neat shoebox and I don't mind if it's a desiger shoebox.

Scaredy cat smelt a rat

Just the other day I went to a supermarket to buy a lettuce. I locked my car and walked into the shop.
When I came back and started the car, it smelt different. I smelt a strong perfume, like the type the Arab men wear here in Dubai. So I got out and checked in the boot to see if there was a robber inside.
Happy to see I was alone I drove off and realised it was probably the man behind me in the grocery store queue who just got too close and left a waft on me.

My odd paranoia continued when I showered that night and I noticed as usual that when I wash my face that I can't close my eyes because I always wonder who is in there with me, I'm now talking spirits, not people.

I did not become a scaredy cat overnight and I do laugh at myself checking the boot of a LOCKED car, but it's the aftermath of a combination of seeing spirits when I was younger and being mugged in South Africa, burgled twice and having my mobile grabbed off my lap at a traffic light, when my window was only a few centimeters open!

By spirits, I am not talking tequila...I have always sensed the other world - and sometimes it can be nasty.

So watch our for those boogey men! And if you want to read a blog that is not just rambles about ghosts and robbers....well the previous one is pretty good and it's NOT about me!