Ten things I've done that you probably haven't

[vilakins]

I'm glad some other people have done this meme because I was feeling very intimidated and boring after reading selenak's post. So here's my lot. Actually, once I started, I found I had more than I thought, and they even make my life look spuriously exciting.

Ten things I've done that you probably haven't

1. Been chased by an escaped bull on a beach when I was about 7.
   
   
2. Broken my leg when I came off my motorbike and walked around on it till I realised it was more than a bad sprain when I took my boots off.
   
   
3. Went on a marathon walk in Israel and got a certificate for completing it. OK, it wasn't a real marathon; it was 26 kms which I thought was far enough in the heat.
   
   
4. Had a night of hell in Rome which you wouldn't believe if it was in a story: Actually I could get another 10 out of this night alone. Hmm. Let's see if I can.
   
   1. Got invited to an uncle's empty villa near Ostia by Franco, a guy my sister met in Rome.
      
   2. Hit said Franco over the head when he tried to strangle my sister when she refused to sleep with him in the villa.
      
   3. Cleared the villa of Italian youths and my two Australian travelling companions and drove off in our camper van packed with everyone but Franco.
      
   4. Got pulled over by Italian police and told off for leaving Franco behind (the little bastard was the son of a government minister--ooh, my one brush with the glitterati) and made to take him back.
      
   5. Had the dashboard wiring short-circuit as we drove though Rome around 2am to take Franco and his mates home, filling the van with smoke.
      
   6. Was interviewed by a second lot of police while repairing it.
      
   7. Was invited to a disco by one of the police, a rather nice Sicilian with a large nose. Turned him down.
      
   8. Was solicited by prostitutes of various genders as continued splicing, splicing, fixing, fixing. Two of them offered themselves as a couple--and while the police were only a block away checking other suspicious types out. Turned them all down.
      
   9. Repaired wiring, dropped Italians off at their homes.
      
   10. Drank the red wine left in van and slept in the back.
   
   See? I made it.
   
   
5. Travelled round Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand with a friend.
   
   
6. Witnessed a running gunfight between police and Thai bandits at a railway station. I stuck my head out of the stopped train to see what was going on and why all the food vendors were hiding under the benches and down on the tracks (the shots sounded more like pops), and an American tourist said, "Get your head in, those are gunshots! I know 'cause I was in 'Nam."
   
   
7. Gone white-water rafting and snapped my oar in two fending raft off rocks, fell out and got towed behind raft till pulled back in. (This was fun! Really!)
   
   
8. Shared a house with a convicted arsonist, though I only found out about later. Was videoed last weekend in the role of a Pizza Hut personnel manager for a training course, the first acting I've done this year.
   
   
9. Been towed on a parasail behind a speedboat at 300m (800ft) - great views of the Bay of Islands from up there.
   
   
10. Had dinner with Michael Keating. Yes, nine others did too, but I don't think any of them are on LJ.

Comments

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

And you're life's not interesting!? Geez. #4 alone had my jaw on the floor. :)

I kind of didn't like this meme when I first started seeing it, but, you know, it's actually very cool. It makes you realize just how many interesting (or at least interesting-sounding events there are even in lives that feel boring (as mine certainly does!).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I have some very funny photos of those guys, all posed like a soccer team, some kneeling in front. Yeah, that night was funny in retrospect. I said to my sister at the time that we'd laugh about it one day. She never has but I still see one of the Australian girls and we laugh ourselves silly about that and other loony things we did in that van.

Sigh. My sister just rang up and she's coming up to see us this weekend. She said she's bringing a present she forgot to give me. It'll be the thingy that makes water extra-wet and I'm on a short fuse these days with the road rage long commuting time. Sigh. I can quite see why Franco went for her throat.

And hey, I never knew anyone who sneaked onto a government explosive testing range, or threw fire-bombs in empty lots. :-P

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Well, good luck surviving the visit.

You should perhaps consider yourself lucky on that last point, you know. :) (And they weren't fire bombs... They involved dry ice and soda bottles, as I recall.)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Now I want to try that.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

Just make sure your neighbors aren't the type to call the police when they start hearing explosions. :)

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Number 4 - ha! I'm impressed you defended your sister, as you aren't that fond of her ;0)
Number 10 - sigh :0)
Number 8 - actually, I've done this, but I did know and was very nervous about the fact we had open fires and a zippo collection in the house!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I almost gave up on my sister completely after 6 months with her in a campervan. She was not pleasant to travel with. There was a time after we got back though where we got on well, but she's a right pain now. But hey, I'd defend anyone being attacked. It was weird. The other guys were like lambs after I yelled at them all to get out; Jenni said I had huge wild black eyes. I know I was full of adrenaline and would have thrown anyone who objected.

Zippos? Are they lighters? Eep. What an odd thing to collect.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've removed it and added another one. :-)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Having been in Israel (sans sportive exersise): 26 km in that heat certainly qualify as a marathon. And hey, dinner with Michael Keating is a most enviable thing to have done!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It was lovely. He was even more delightful than I'd heard.

[matildabj.livejournal.com]

Hee. Great list (especially the Italian adventure!) Was going to post my 10 things, but had a lot of trouble thinking of 10. Especially since most of them involve travelling to strange places, and you've been to them already!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah, but you haven't done the same things as me there! For example, I've had a 9-foot python wrapped round me in Bangkok; I'm sure you've done things like that in your travels.

I must remove one and add another as someone else has flatted with an arsonist.