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MY WORLD by David Bowie A WEEKLY DIARY EXCLUSIVELY WRITTEN FOR MIRABELLE MAGAZINE

7th September 1974

   I'm now writing this epistle from gloriously sunny California. Even though it's turning into autumn in New York, it's still boiling hot out here and for most people it's perfect beach weather. I say for most people because I personally have never been much of a sun worshipper, as my all-year-round white skin proves.

   California is a very funny place, especially Hollywood. It seems that just about everyone out here came to this place wanting to be a movie star and, of course, not everyone makes it, but they all keep trying. Also, everyone seems to be on an enormous health kick. They're forever working out in gyms to keep their bodies in shape and eat nothing but natural foods like whole grain breads, carrot juice, cucumber shakes and so on. And almost no one out here eats meat.

   I'm surrounded by vegetarians who, if given half a chance, try to convince me I'm practically a cannibal for my carnivorous ways. I'm starting to feel guilty every time I order a steak.

   Another curious thing about being out here is that nobody walks anywhere. Everyone drives. If you don't have a car, you're absolutely lost. There are no subways, or buses, so your only choice is to get a taxi or buy a car! But people carry it to the extreme out here. They get in their cars to go to the corner store. It really takes some getting used to!

   Anyway, the most exciting thing I've been doing out here is performing, of course. The concerts have been just fabulous, if I do say so myself! The audiences have really loved the shows and we've received telly coverage on all of them. My friend Geoffrey, is in the show with me, you know. He's one of the back-up dancers and he keeps reminding me that all that late night dancing at the 82 Club in New York has really paid off.

   Angie has flown out here to catch the shows and to give me news of London and New York. She's just finished some more modelling assignments in London and raced back to New York to puts Zows in his second year of nursery school. From what I hear Zows is turning into a marvellous student and is quickly becoming 'teacher's pet'.

   I must go now and check the equipment for tonight's concert to make certain everything goes perfectly.

   I was just remembering all the wonderful adventures I had on the tour I've just finished and one came to mind which I really must tell you about. You might already know that I've got a terrible case of agrophobia - that is to say I have a fear of being in high places. I don't like staying in the uppermost floors of hotels and I certainly never take aeroplanes which sometimes, I admit, does cause problems.

   On this past tour everyone, but yours truly, was flying from concert to concert while I took the long way and drove from place to place. On this particular occasion Geoffrey and Corinne accompanied me on the drive from Nashville, Tennessee, to Memphis. Everything was really good hunky-dory until midway between the two cities when our car broke down. Here we were in the middle of nowhere, no petrol stations for miles and absolutely no telephones to be seen. Also, we were in incredibly scorching heat trying to get to a concert, set for just a couple of hours away. We all realised that the only way we'd get to Memphis was by hitch-hiking. Well, I must tell you, hitch-hiking in the southern part of the States is not as thrilling as you think it might be. We all stood there for what seemed like ages while cars whizzed by not even giving us a second look.

   I must admit, we did look a bit strange for that part of the country, because I'm sure not many people around there wear their hair in such bright colours, standing straight up from their heads! Apart from that, we all had these crazy looks on our faces from desperation. (In fact, at that point, I think we were all suffering from a mild case of sunstroke.)

   Finally, we decided to let Corinne stand out in the road while we stayed out of sight with the luggage, and the next car stopped immediately for her. She asked the girl who was driving if she wouldn't mind taking all of us to Memphis. She was a bit surprised at seeing all us strange folk, but she said that she'd be glad to. The strangest thing was that she didn't know who we were, but just wanted to help fellow human beings in distress. When she did find out who we strangers were and what we were doing in the middle of nowhere, she was absolutely amazed!

   At the end of the ride we offered her some money to pay for all the petrol and for her trouble, but the only thing she'd accept were tickets to that night's concert. We were more than delighted to comply with this wish, because if it wasn't for her, there wouldn't have been any concert at all!

   I must tell you right from the start that I've never been one to believe in ghosts or witches or anything like that, but a few very strange things have happened in my house recently, so I may be forced to change my opinion about the supernatural. When Angie, Zows and I first moved into the lovely little house we're renting in New York, we didn't notice anything suspicious at first. But as we started to love the house more and more and feel quite at home in it, there began a series of very peculiar occurrences. We'd hear strange noises coming from rooms that no one was in, and a few times Angie swore she heard footsteps on the stairs after everyone had gone to bed.

   At first I thought Angie was just trying to pull my leg about the footsteps until one night I stayed up really late by myself to do some work. I turned on the stereo to play some records and sat myself down with a cup of tea when all of a sudden I heard a tremendous knocking from the next room. I turned off the record only to hear someone walking from the room and out the front door (which I had locked quite securely myself a few hours before). "Aha!" I said. "It's Angie playing tricks on me."

   I raced upstairs to catch her sneaking back into bed, but lo and behold, she was absolutely sound asleep! Now that I think about it those footsteps didn't sound like Angie's at all, anyway! Zows is too young to be up to these pranks, and our house is absolutely burglar proof. So the only thing I have left to think is that we're being visited by - now don't laugh - ghosts! I'm sure you're probably thinking, 'Oh, the poor Bowie family has gone a bit mad. They've finally all flipped their lids', but we're not the only people who've witnessed these strange events!

   One night Angie and I invited some people over for dinner. We were all having a wonderful time chatting and laughing over old times, and after a while Angie said she was going to put dinner on the table. Angie started down to the kitchen and all of a sudden I heard screams of "David, David, come quickly!"

   The kitchen was an amazing sight! There was avocado dip on the floor, the walls and everywhere! The cupboard doors were all wide open and the cake Angie had just baked was lying on its side. No one could believe their eyes, least of all Angie, whose precious dinner was in a fine state.

   We've decided to stay to prove who's boss. We're determined not to let a silly little spirit scare us off and, anyway, it is sort of a privilege to live in a haunted house!

Created: July 1997 © Paul Kinder

Last Updated: 2/1/99