wow, hard to know where to begin! life is full, good, and busy! i live in the city three nights a weeks and i'm in the country in stanford in my cottage four nights a week. i have community in both places, great places to eat, people to love, stunning views, good weather, and adventures for the taking. i'll probably be giving up my city flat at the end of july when the lease runs up. it's definitely a luxury and if i was auditioning year round and production was going on here year round, i'd consider keeping it. but as it is, not so much.
the season is over as winter is fast approaching and my slow year in show business will finally lie on it's side and cough. kufa. dead. over. til november. had a big fish of a gig with Emirates that was a once-in-twenty years job flying to Hong Kong, Dubai, on safari, and possibly London, but alas, even though the casting was "in the bag", it went away without me even in the mix at callbacks. that's show biz. but that was a bitter pill to swallow, such a phat gig. could've covered the flat in town for a while.
yes folks, life feels like it's flowing out to the country and that i must leave town behind. actually, hunkering down into the cottage for a few years might be a relief. i have moved every two years since 1996. at least 12 to 14 times. that's a lot. time to put some roots down? try that out. still travel and do Caminos across europe, but have a home base. being a home owner feels much different than being a renter. and the truth is i'd probably fight like mad to keep 905 if it had a balcony, but it doesn't. so, it's time to move on. go with the flow.
of course the african elephant in the room is still my Home Affairs status. my permanent residency permit is still on appeal after 14 months. my status in limbo. i expire 8 sept. hmmmm. how will this play out? uncomfortable for sure being in limbo. i've been waiting and waiting and sometimes quite bummed at the helpless feeling about your own future. i love western cape, i love south africa, i've made a life here, and i want to stay here dammit. but unfortunately "hollywood nice guy" isn't on the Critical Skills list for home affairs. so maybe i'm stuffed. all i know is that doors seemingly supernaturally opened for me to come here and stay here and i pray they keep opening to allow me stay. amen.
i'm teaching HAMC master class again and i love it. absolutely energizes me. love my peeps. love the progress. love sharing what i know. have a great new group of Level One, 2 Level Two and 4 Level Three. did a pop-up class in Paarl. was amped for days. so fun to write a scene and put it up and shoot it then cut it. see how it plays. (trying to stay sharp between feature directing gigs.)
so...what's trending now is to leave town flat end of July, be full time in stanford, and hold my thumbs til home affairs gives me a verdict. then either breathe easier and carry on teaching and acting and being legal to work here, or i'm scrambling for a Plan B and probably forced to leave the country. i was planning on the Camino de Santiago across spain in september but after doing some basic math(s), decided to wait a bit. if i figure 6 weeks to walk it and a few days in paris or madrid, let's call it 50 nights. figure lodging will average $30 per night at these albergues and occasional pensiones, then another $30 per day for three square meals and wine, that's $3000 plus $1200 airfare and $800 for trains, buses, backpack and boots and head torch, etc etc, call it $5,000. then my brother wisely said double it. could be $10,000. with the cottage purchase this year (and no emirates fat cats in the bag) i don't got $10gr lying around. plus my expat status is still iffy. so, no camino this year. it's finished. sigh.
but life is good. what do they say..."if you're going through hell, don't stop." well, if i'm going through a beautiful poppy field, why not stop and enjoy? and so it is. life is a lovely poppy field at the moment so might as well smell the daisies. i've been chasing that brass ring my entire life and maybe just maybe i'm finally chilling out a bit and being happy just being present and enjoying the things i have...not obsessing over the things i don't. i'm lucky, i'm blessed, i'm grateful, and i have purpose and meaning. at least this week! i'm a temperamental sort so things do change and being a creative type i do have my fair share of days of melancholia, but overall this is a season of fulfillment and happiness. i even applied for the Head of Film Dept at a local institution here in cape town. we shall see.
okay, enough gossiping. let's get to the pics! always a bit random as i can't control the upload! but hopefully gives you a feel of my world. you might have seen them on facebook, but not all my blog readers are on facebook. and many that are taking 40 days off!
COTW says cheerio!
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| Grand Beach cafe. granger bay. |
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| boat at sunset. snapseed. drama 2. |
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| i did 4 days on a Netflix pic as a high school principal. wardrobe and hair village. |
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| marie was able to join me for a screening of Finding Messiah at christ church kenilworth. |
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| more Grand Beach cafe. quite grand indeed. |
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| put your toes in the sand. they close for a bit during winter whereas nothing closes in LA. |
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| this place is money. |
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| INT. BUILDING. CAPE TOWN. ON A SHOOT. |
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| pop-up quartet concert at Youngblood gallery. Emile (third from left) was in Finding Messiah. |
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| classic cape town corner. in de waterkant. |
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| it's a motorbike town. would love to have this one. vroom. |
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| my pool at the cottage is now a cold plunge pool early morning. brrrrr. wakes you up!!!!!!!! |
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| even creepy crawly needs new tyres on occasion. |
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| Another successful HAMC completed! |
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| natasha doing a comedy scene. |
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| trusty sound man Zola is with me every week. |
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| some Level Three girls. lovely. |
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| i'm becoming a salty dog. |
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| petronela. |
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| zola on boom with marzanne. |
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| we shoot a new scene every week! |
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| rosco roman became a star. and booked a movie shortly after class. |
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| we have a nice space near 905 at CMM offices. |
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| rosco again, he killed the comedy. |
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| our sassy intern Christy. |
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| "and mark it" |
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| Graze slow food cafe in stanford. a friday night tradition. great food & vibe. |
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| the kitchen at Graze. |
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| michelin chef Tabby at counter while Alex measures twice. love this couple. dear friends now. |
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| the cottage at night. |
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| they call them fairy lights. magic. |
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| big open plan house. looking towards kitchen. |
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| more open plan. |
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| dinner for 14 |
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| overview |
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| my loft |
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| princess suite |
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| garden suite |
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| pergola dining |
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| road trip |
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| B'Bos |
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| B'Bos bistro |
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| African tortoise. exotic markings! |
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| villa in the hills. |
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| visiting friends. i want that couch for the cottage! |
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| the ole veranda. |
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| the nature. |
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| water was definitely chilly. |
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| faithful Birkenhead Brewery, stanford hills |
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| the road less traveled. |
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| andre & ria, we met in 2013 on a Holy Land tour. incredible couple. lots of fun! |
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| the road more traveled. |
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| my new favorite shirt. |
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| nairobi art. mutatu route numbers they place on their dash. |
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| CBD. raw Coffee. |
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| random alley. |
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| govt building. |
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| fair share of Defenders in city centre. |
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| Parliament. |
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| farmer. |
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| typical corner. |
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| my street Adderley. |
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| famous Long Street |
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| sunset outside the cottage. |
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| main church spire in stanford. the church bells are always welcome in my loft at all hours. |
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| HAMC class in Paarl. soap scene. |
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| nail the basics first. |
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| me with Thonda. |
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| "my phone? i couldn't live without it". okay, faster. |
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| so much fun. we all had a blast. |
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| my new roommate jean pierre. fashion photographer. doing some pre-pro at long street cafe. |
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| work station at Coffee corner, stanford. |
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| fixing to purchase some larger roof windows than the existing sky lights. |
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| Cape Town philharmonic at city hall. stunning. |
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| near 905, parliament street |
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| city trail looks towards table mountain |
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| lions head and signal hill. |
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| Villains ale house |
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| we love this pub! |
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| ibid. |
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| the pilsner is cold. yum. |
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| gingerbread buildings. |
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| varied architecture |
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| my city view. not bad. |
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| George, the neighbor's cat. he lives at my house. and he bites. |
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| morning at stanford. early morning table cloth means a hot day. |
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