To kick off the blog to my new website, and as a supplement to the ‘About Me’ section, I thought I’d share ten things about myself that you probably don’t know:
- I was named after the French novelist Guy de Maupassant; see the picture above. I’m still working on the moustache
- My first memory is of the smell of the carpet in the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road
- My nose has been broken twice – both times because someone has hit me; hence why it often looks a bit bent in photographs
- I don’t own a Kindle or any type of e-reader; I much prefer real books. In fact at the time of writing, I don’t own a laptop, tablet, ipod or smart phone etc. I must confess technology doesn’t much excite me. My one concession is a blu-ray player
- I’ve read The Odyssey in the original Ancient Greek (benefits of a classical education)
- I once met Russell Crowe in the lobby of the Swiss Hotel in Quito, Ecuador. We chatted briefly… and I had absolutely no idea who he was – though in my defence this was before Gladiator
- My favourite animal is the camel, I guess because they plod on through the desert but always reach their destination in the end… rather like myself
- I don’t own a suit. I’d be perfectly happy if I got through my life without changing this state of affairs. Nor do I own any ‘proper’ shoes – only boots and trainers
- Above the door to my office are the words ‘Potest ex casa magnus vir expire’ – ‘Even a great man can come from a cabin’ (Seneca)
- I have two ambitions: 1) to see The Ring at Bayreuth 2) to visit all fifty US States; so far I’ve been to sixteen of them. Actually, I have a third – to witness the test detonation of a nuclear bomb, though I doubt I’ll ever to fulfill this one!