I was once married to a member of the Ryan clan – Annie Ryan. She came from a tough suburb of Sydney, called Blacktown. When Oz-folk in London asked where Annie was from and I said ‘Blacktown‘ they always winced. Then one night at a party in the Brixton Dogstar an Aussie asked the same question, but added, “..and don’t tell me, you’re already divorced?”. “Yes!” I replied without hesitation, and with a big smile.

Met a woman on the tube today on the way back from the scan; she was american and had got on the wrong train. julian and I pointed her in the right direction (‘the hilton olympia’), and i asked where she was from; she was studying philosophy in Rome, her favourite philosopher was St Thomas Aquinas; she was planning to study theology, her favourite theologians were St Augustian and Pope John Paul II (at which my heart sank, wow this she was serious). So what does your dad do? Oh, he’s a tax lawyer for Microsoft (she’s from Seattle).