On Saturday I entered a small storage room and screamed. There, before me was a gaggle of drag queens in various stages of dress and make up. I had a flash that I was Fay Wray and had suddenly found myself on a transvestite Skull Island, but no such luck. It was just Tiffany and her teenaged acolytes from Prideline Youth Services, for which we were giving a benefit that day. Prideline takes in teenagers who have run away or been thrown out of homes and keeps them in school and away from drugs and prostitution.


Thankfully, they don’t keep them away from drag because the kids performed all the songs from Dream Girls and were a smash. Our generous customers gave them almost a thousand dollars (I saw many tens and twenties being stuffed into their champagne bucket) and it was matched by the equally generous owners of The Palace and The Wire Magazine. Always looking for something to worry about, I was in a constant state of fret when the crowd built up to such numbers as to spill out on the street and totally stop traffic on Ocean Drive. These are my nightmares, but by the time the police arrived the show was over and nothing could be addressed.

That Pimpernel left yesterday after the last lunch extravaganza. Mikevil so totally over-rates the consumption of solid food as opposed to vodka; the liquid lunch gives birth to so many ideas and machinations. Solid food just makes you want to sleep. It was, of course a superb visit and everyone thanks Pimpernel for his outrageous generosity.