… despite not having an MP3 player - as mentioned yesterday, my alternative is to put my MP3s on a memory stick, plug it and some headphones into the laptop, and use the software on that.

But I recently bought five new albums (four CDs, one on download), a couple of which I’ve been wanting for quite some time. So today, I’m all new-musicked up with:

• Alas I Cannot Swim by Laura Marling
• Oracular Spectacular by MGMT
• Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah and the Whale
• We Started Nothing by the Ting Tings
• Vampire Weekend (it’s eponymous)

Liking them all so far - each one has some outstanding tracks although I was really disappointed to find that my favourite Laura Marling song, New Romantic isn’t actually on the album. I don’t have a favourite as yet. Maybe after a few more listens to each, I will.

I know the fashion these days is more and more to buy and listen to single tracks, and I do that as a general rule, loading a right melange of songs onto my MP3 players. But I’m definitely one of those people who likes to listen to a whole album and to enjoy it and appreciate it as a single entity. And yes, that dates back to my teens and listening to albums on vinyl and cassettes. And even with CDs, unless you have a multi-CD player, it’s not easy to quickly swap between albums. Of course I have favourite tracks, but there’s something special to me about listening to an entire album, particularly the first time you ever hear it.

These particular albums, plus a couple of others, are the soundtracks to this year’s NaNoWriMo novel though. Last year, it was Muse’s Black Holes and Revelations and Loreena McKennit’s The Mask and the Mirror that provided the backdrop and the atmosphere. I’ve got a much wider selection this year, mostly due to the contemporary nature of my story (as opposed to Knights of the Round Table on a future human-colonised planet, from last year).

Also today, I am mostly … eating salad

… even though with the crappy weather we have - cold, damp and grey - it’s really more of a soup sort of day. I made a vat of leek & potato soup the other week which turned out pretty nice; I think I’ll just make some chicken & veg soup this weekend though. Maybe even put some barley in…

When I first moved to Northern Ireland, I was both amused and impressed that supermarkets sell packs of soup veg, both ready-chopped and unprepared. Soup veg over here, according to these packs, should be carrot, leek, celery and parsley. Deviation is not allowed! although potato and barley is also permitted, as obviously is meat (usually chicken or lamb).

Personally, I’m quite happy to make soup with that holy quartet, which is how Colin likes it… but I do like variation sometimes. I used to make pots and pots of Weightwatchers no-point soup, which was basically any veg you liked with a base of tinned tomatoes and stock. The idea was to eat as much as you like to reduce hunger and make it easier to cut down on less-healthy food. It worked for me, too - I should make some more and freeze some Catherine-sized portions.

In fact, since our new fridge and freezer will be arriving on Thursday, this weekend will definitely be a good time to cook up a lot of soups and stews and casseroles and curries, to freeze in individual and double portions to keep us going for a while…

… or at least, helping Colin do the actual work by passing things up the ladder to him. We only have a stepladder and I’m too short and too unfit to be able to boost myself up from into the attic the way Colin can.

There is some insulation in the loft, but it’s old and thin and tatty, and since we don’ t have double-glazing and our house is detached, we do lose a lot of precious heat. So we’ve finally got organised, and with B&Q’s current 2 for 1 deal on rolls of space blankets, it’s time to insulate! We don’t yet have enough to do the whole loft, but we’re doing it as we go along - every bit of insulation that goes down is some energy saved. We’ve done over our bedroom first as it’s the coldest room in the house (a crappy single radiator), and it’s also over the living room where we’d spend most winter evenings.

Hopefully it’ll make a difference. We also want to look into cavity wall insulation - firstly, if it’s even possible!

Also today, I am mostly … celebrating the return of Roast Beef flavoured Monster Munch

… by eating a bagful. Roast Beef was always my favourite flavour of Monster Munch, way back when I was a kid, although I quite like the Flamin’ Hot ones that have been around for a few years. Can’t stand the Pickled Onion though.

But I have missed that pink monster…

… especially all those who drive tractors and/or jeeps with trailers, and believe it’s acceptable to allow a half-mile tailback of vehicles going at 20mph. And especially that utter w**ker driving a lorry down the M1 this morning, who took about 3 miles to overtake another couple of lorries because he was only going 55mph (and yes, caused a long tailback). And basically everyone who made me late getting to the park&ride place and thus caused me to have to drive all the way into Belfast and park in an expensive car park.

OK, I admit it, I can be included in the roster of people who made me late this morning. But although I started out a little bit late this morning, due to not getting enough sleep last night thanks to general insomnia, and then wanting ‘just another twenty minutes’ after the alarm went off, there were other things (see the previous paragraph) which contributed to my lateness.

Bah. Grrr. Argh. I’ll just have to try and get a better night’s sleep tonight (the fact that Colin’s on the night shift might help) and actually leave on time - or even early - tomorrow.

At least I had a peaceful weekend, mostly. There was actually some sunshine yesterday… I went to the Farmers’ Market on Saturday, which meant a good dinner that evening (and some delicious sausages still in the fridge), and then Colin’s mum took the whole family (us, his brother and his wife and their 4 girls) out for a really good dinner in the Smugglers’. That’s twice in 2 weeks I’ve been there, but I’m not complaining - it’s one of the few local restaurants I’ve never ever had a bad meal in.

Also today, I am mostly … finishing off my Thank You cards

… because I didn’t make enough yesterday, and I couldn’t find my nice new fountain pen in order to write them, either. I’ve found that I rather enjoy making things while watching TV (not that I watch much TV). I should take up knitting, or maybe have a go at the cross-stitch kit I found the other week that someone sent me for Christmas a few years ago. Once I get all the wedding photos sorted out and printed off, I can finish making my scrapbook too. I already have all the cards arranged, and I’m pressing some of the flowers from my bouquet…

… to the best of my abilities and as much as can be covered in a two-day course aimed at people who have some idea about coding. Which, admittedly, I do, thanks to all the LambdaMOO that lurks in my past (understanding the object-oriented bits today was a doddle thanks to that). But it’s unlikely that I’ll have to do any C++ programming in the future. Perl, possibly. And I really liked the look of Ruby. But C++ probably not - although I may have to be able to at least look through code and understand it.

Anyway, the past week and a bit of training have all been on things quite different from the work I’ve done previously as a tech writer (my Linux fiddling was back in my sys admin and support days), and I’ve enjoyed the change.

Also today, I am mostly … stuffing myself with Indian food

… because I don’t get the chance at home and since I’m living in a hotel at the moment, I do have to eat. Went with one of my New York-based colleagues who’s over for the training/induction course. So far in our meals together (we ate Thai last Thursday), we’ve discussed the topics that you’re not supposed to, ever: politics and religion! Good discussions though, and definitely better than sitting by myself staring at a book or the TV as I’ve done a couple of times over the last week and a bit.

… although technically it’s leftovers from last night. But that’s how pasta al forno works.

Pasta al forno means, more or less, ‘pasta cooked in the oven’ and that’s all it really is. It’s a good way to use up pre-cooked pasta and sauce (although tomato-based ones such as bolognaise work best; cream ones don’t re-cook so well) or you can make it ‘fresh’, which is what I did last night.

Just mix the cooked pasta with the sauce (which can be cold) - don’t drown the pasta in sauce though (bad British/Irish habit, that) - and sprinkle cheese on top. Bung it in the oven at a medium-high temperature and cook until the cheese has gone brown and the top layer of pasta is ever-so-slightly crunchy.

I tend to make pasta al forno with one of my favourite pasta recipes - pasta alla Antonella, so named by me for the Italian friend who taught me the combination. Simply combine any of the following with pasta and a tomato-based sauce, and either eat straight away (with heated-up sauce) or use for pasta al forno:

• chopped ham or bacon
• chopped salami/pepperoni/chorizo
• chopped hard-boiled egg (I cheat by breaking the egg into a shallow bowl of water, and cooking it in the microwave on medium)
• chopped mushrooms - if putting straight in the oven, these don’t need to be cooked first
• sliced black olives
• chopped or grated cheese, any sort - very necessary
• parmesan and black pepper to taste (you can always add more)

Of course, you can add just about anything else you like. Just make sure that you use cheese…

… which I persuaded Mum to make for me over the weekend. Well, OK, she offered, and I wasn’t about to turn them down…

It was a good weekend anyway. Did all of the things I planned to do, despite nasty weather. It was just a shame that I had to get up at 5:30 this morning to fly back here… (and then go straight to work!)