Space freaks, corsets and Youporn

If you want to get ahead, get a virtual hat, says Lara Masters, who also uses the web to grow her prodigious vocabulary and research burlesque and bizarre film roles

I have no idea how all the information I could ever need or want appears on a screen in front of me at my command but I do know that I believe! I happily while away many hours daily avoiding work commitments and depriving my body of sufficient nourishment and vitamin D as I bask in the glorious light of the Google search engine and Youporn. I mean Youtube, of course!

I spend most of my internet time on my burlesque website www.kissmycherry.com. I’ve always been interested in what harsh critics might call “exhibitionism” or “attention seeking” but I euphemistically term “dressing up”. I’m a wheelchair-user and a size six (nothing like a muscle-wasting disease to stay svelte) and my business partner is a size 18, so we rarely find clothes to fit us. However, in true “triumph over tragedy“ fashion we set up Kiss My Cherry to make and sell gorgeous burlesque hats because headwear does not discriminate; whatever your size or shape, you are almost guaranteed to have a head. My search for burlesque staples has also brought me to the reasonably priced www.burleska.co.uk where I’m currently satiating my corset cravings.

Another of my favourite pastimes is talking, and as I am also a writer, I generally use a lot of words and need frequent refills for my word arsenal. I update my vocabulary regularly at www.dictionary.com which also has a thesaurus, handy when the only adjective you can think of is the overused and unspecific “amazing”... one click and voila! You’ve got; “prodigious” and suddenly you sound so... prodigious!

My passion for unusual films is stoked by the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square (www.princecharles cinema.com), where movie tickets cost a mere £1.50 once you’re a member (carer goes free). It’s an independent cinema that shows the latest films a bit after their release, as well as quirky numbers like I’m a Cyborg, but that’s OK; where a young Japanese woman believes she’s a cyborg. I’ll soon be acting in one of these more curious-type films (a sci-fi digital short called Space Freak; Dance or Die), so to research my part as an “Imperfect” (disabled person) in the 27th century, I turned to www.stumbleupon.com a website community where people rate sites and make comments, rather like an interactive search engine.