Did you know John Waters was famous in Italy? Do you care? No. OK.

I’m getting stuck into Edit number 12 of my book; I thought I was finished at the fourth re-write. Having been advised by A.N. Agent that it was too long at 125,000 words, I’m only on page of 80 with the scalpel and 5,000 precious words have been excised already.

So as not to be heartless I’m sending these émigrés to a file marked ‘possible short stories’, I find it hard to ‘kill my darlings’ but go they must.

Aci Trezza, Sicily, Faraglioni

The Italian student has been here in landladyhouse a week, this fact contributes to my zeal with deadlines, now that I have to prepare dinner for 7pm each evening, my day is ruthlessly organised.

We’ll call her Donatella, she arrived in Dublin last Saturday at the inhospitable hour of 11.30pm, at 11.25pm I got the brainwave to tell her to take a taxi from the airport to join me and friends, luckily she jumped at the idea and was immersed in Dublin terrace society in no time. At 44 and from my favourite region of Italy, Sicily, she settled right into the company with a glass of vino and when her mother rang said, ‘Ciao Mama, Si, Fantastico.’ Very pleased with her Irish welcome.

As a novice Bean an Ti, I’ve been very lucky, she is great humoured and the cooking isn’t so bad (having been relieved of regular dinner duty since the cost centres went to college, it’s very hard to get back into).

I was watching Vincent Browne (feat. Tom McGurk) with Donatella during the week (I know, a deadly introduction to Ireland). Next thing, she squealed as John Waters was introduced, ‘Ah, I know heem, he is famuss in Eetaly.’

I was sure she was mistaken.

‘He was a musician, he took drugs,’ she said.

I know he’d tried to get a song in the Eurovision (and complained bitterly about not being picked), but a rocker?

Apparently, he gave a televised ‘testimony’ to Pope Francis recently and avowed that finding faith had transformed and saved him. So there you are, he has a Damascene moment and gets to issue belligerent diatribes via the Irish Times. Good on him, I suppose.