So the English football team finally got their act together to scrape into the last sixteen at the World Cup. The wild euphoria their single goal created was amazing to see. If such totally mad enthusiasm could be harnessed in directions other than football who knows what miracles could be achieved?
A self portrait by Manet has been sold at Sotheby’s for over twenty two million pounds. Evidently expected sales of impressionist paintings at various auction houses are valued at over three hundred and forty million. There is an awful lot of money in the world. With both seller’s and buyer’s premiums it’s hard to imagine what these houses are worth the rate at which they must be coining it. I have always been surprised that when the buyer’s premium was introduced there wasn’t a backlash. A short boycott of the auction houses would probably have seen an end to it.
Greek dockers have once more gone on strike in Pirieus badly inconveniencing travellers by not allowing them to board their ferries. I sometimes really do think these people have a death wish. I wonder how many of those tourists when they finally get away will be saying, no more Greece, that’s the last time. Considering tourism accounts for twenty percent of Greece’s income these workers are totally out of their minds. In the end everyone including themselves will suffer for it. Evidently the strikes are instigated by the Communist Party but other unions are not far behind – lambs to the slaughter. If one could see for a moment the government changing policy because of these strikes there might be some point to it but fat chance of that happening.
I see in The Sunday Times Culture section for the 9th May that three books listed in the top ten are misery memoirs and I thought the time for prurient interest in that subject was past but obviously not. The three are ‘How Could She?’ - Harrowing account of a childhood destroyed by a paedophile ring, ‘Never Tell’ – Memoir revealing the author’s horrific childhood abuse. ‘Someone To Love Us’ – The story of two brothers abused by their foster parents. Obviously if I wanted to be published by mainstream publishers I started life on the wrong foot not being an abused child, and then to compound my failure I’ve never been arrested or gone to prison with the likes of Joe Orton, Oscar Wilde, John Osborne, Genet to mention a few. Silly me.
‘Angel’ has arrived from the printers and looks very good though, immediately rereading it, I find it littered with mistakes as usual so it will have to be redone. It really is amazing that no matter how many times you read a manuscript mistakes still surface even after correction.

US Immigration Official to Quentin Crisp – Are you a practicing homosexual?

Crisp to Immigration officer – I don’t need to practice. I’m already perfect.