No. 4 MICHELLE

Once again I found myself walking through the Myer Center Food Court, a place that is fast becoming the official "Can I Get You A Coffee" meeting place.
But only hours before this I had a pretty odd experience. Since I started this project, strangers were now beginning to approach me!

There I was on my laptop at Café Bourngiono trying to understand a bizarre message fellow comedian Trav Nash had left on my ‘My Space’ profile.*

*For those who aren’t ‘with it,’ My Space is an online community where you basically have your own web page where you can display a profile, your favorite movies, books, sports, episode of ‘Growing Pains’ and other interests as well as photos and even videos of yourself. Other people can view this profile and if they like you and your favorite Kirk Cameron moment they can ‘add’ you to their ‘Friends’ page. There are more than 2 billion people on the planet with a My Space profile! Therefore making it possible to have 2 billion friends!!
This will come in very handy if some drunk guy decides to shove you in a pub!

Suddenly a pretty young girl walked behind me and said "Hey add me if you want. I’m listed as ‘Grey eyes.’ And then she sat at a table close by.
So I typed "Grey eyes" into the search engine but the profile of some angry black guy from Colorado came up.
Suddenly I was intrigued. Maybe this sweet girl had a mental disorder where she thought she was actually a gangster rapper. Oh this was GREAT!! The exact sort of person I'd need in a pub-fight scenario!!I noticed she was sitting with an older woman who I deduced was her concerned mother or carer or parole officer.
"Hey! Nice beard!" I called to her pointing at her photo.
"That’s not me," she laughed. "Refine the search to people in Adelaide."
Somewhat disappointed I found her actual profile, added her as ‘friend’ and strangely didn’t talk to her again until she’d left me a message on my profile the next morning.
What a surreal way to meet someone! A ‘real’ person had asked to be my ‘internet’ friend. Usually this happens in the reverse order and often the police and restraining orders follow from that.
As odd as it was I thought it was great!! These online communities were seemingly making people more approachable and friendly to each other in the wider world! I certainly was finding people were a lot more open to me and my strange project than I was expecting.
But then I was very good at selecting people who seemed quite approachable. Like MICHELLE for example, who I found sitting quietly in the Myer Center finishing off a vanilla soft serve ice cream.
So how does one appear approachable? Mmm. I’m not sure. She had frizzy hair. But so does the Bride of Frankenstein and she’s hardly approachable, even in her better moods.
But my assessment was obviously correct because when I asked her for coffee, rather than spitting on my face or shooting me with a crossbow while tiny devils flew out of her ears and stabbed me in the eye with pitchforks she said ‘yes.’
Interestingly she had actually seen me perform on stage about 6 months ago at PJ Obriens and apparently I had talked in length to her boyfriend Jason after the show.
So if she’s seen me before was she really a stranger then? Mmmm. Would I have to snatch her hot chocolate away and give it to someone else instead!
I contemplated it.
But then I felt bad about not remembering her or her beloved Jason and having to call off our drink might be the last straw and indeed cause the little devils to fly out her ears and poke me in the eyes with pitch forks. So I decided she WAS a stranger but just one who had watched me from afar.
Actually this definition makes her sound like a stalker.
Actually it didn’t at all until I brought it to everyone’s attention just now. But just for the record NO Michelle is NOT stalking me or anyone else I’m sure. Though I can’t be 100% sure of this fact, I mean she seemed lovely and genuinely harmless but I don’t know her 100% well enough to say definitely that she isn’t a stalker. Who knows, maybe she was stalking this ‘Jason’ guy. I certainly don’t remember him! Maybe he doesn’t even exist at all!!! Maybe she’s completely delusional, had escaped from an institution and was about to blow up the entire world and I was the only one who could stop her.. alright perhaps I’m taking this way to far and I should probably change subject now before I get poked in the eye by little devils.

Michelle has only just recently moved to Adelaide from Perth to be with Jason (who for the record I am CERTAIN is real) after being in a long distance relationship with him since 2004. Leaving her family and close friends behind has definitely been a challenge and it’s Michelle’s ambition to start up a home massage and beauty-therapy clinic here.

THE MICHELLE FACT FILE

AGE: 35
STATUS: Relationship
FAVORITE SONG: Depends on the mood. Currently it’s John Meyer
FAVORITE MOVIE: Currently ‘Step Up’
FAVORITE BOOK: ‘Cause of the Soul’. Thomas Moore.
FAVORITE YEAR: 2004. WHY: The year she finally felt a strong direction in her life accompanied with a feeling of everything ‘coming together’ after years of self-analysis and spiritual investigation.

GOAL FOR NEXT 12 MONTHS: To achieve independence in Adelaide. i.e. to get a place of her own and get her business up and running.

SOMETHING THAT EXCITES MICHELLE IS: Achievement

SOMETHING THAT PISSES MICHELLE OFF IS: People who lie and manipulate when they could just be direct and honest about what they want out of other people.

A BELIEF MICHELLE WOULD INSTILL IN PEOPLE IF SHE HAD THE POWER OF BRAINWASHING IS: You can do anything you want to!

A QUESTION MICHELLE DECIDED TO ASK ME WAS: What’s your background?
ANSWER: My mother was born in Italy and moved down here with her family when she was 4. I’m only half Italian but tend to become more Italian in manner depending on how many Italians are in the room.

THOUGHTS WHEN I INITIALLY ASKED HER FOR COFFEE: Apparently Michelle actually saw me walk past, had recognised me and was quite intrigued when I’d looked back. She enjoyed the spontaneity and felt my approach was open and sincere.
Michelle also was feeling in a bit of a rut and was feeling a lack of spontaneity so having something out of the ordinary like this happen felt refreshing.

THOUGHTS AFTERWARDS: That she’d had an interesting time.

OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT MICHELLE:
*Michelle finds a puppy who can breathe fire more threatening than a shark who is petrified of Justin Timberlake’s music.
*Michelle admits she likes Justin Timberlake. Particularly the song ‘Rock Your Body’
*Michelle therefore is obviously not a shark.
*Michelle’s grandmother is Lebanese.
*Michelle is interested in spirituality.

Meeting strangers has become quite fun and I’m starting to get quite good at it. But really what’s the point? And how long am I going to keep it up? Will I stop when I meet a certain number? Maybe I won’t stop? How long into the future am I going to keep doing this? I started to worry about it. Probably quite unnecessarily. But then I suddenly realised one of my strangers could help me. If I was concerned with the future of this project and about the future in general there was someone indeed who could help answer my questions. So I decided to track him down.……..

Until Next Time,
Mark, Michelle and Grey Eyes.