I've been trying to set aside time for reading in the evenings but it's difficult - I read and write all day for work, and it's hard to get the discipline to read more at night. It will be different though once I get back into the mindset of study and reading things that actually interest me. Richie has lent me a heap of Tom Murphy plays, I bought five of Chekov's plays in England and then of course there's all that Shakespeare to get back to. So, I'm hoping that reading will stop being a chore and become a passion.

I've just finished reading How to Stop Acting by Harold Guskin which Karina bought for me while I was pondering whether or not to try acting again. Guskin is an American acting coach who coaches people like Kevin Kline, Glenn Close and my teenage fantasy Jennifer Connelly (who won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind - that's my Jen!).

The book very much relates to Richie Ball's philosophy on acting. That is, you should not look like you're acting. Instead, you should be real, truthful, honest and believable. Guskin's "technique" is to "take lines off the page". In other words, when going through the script, you should read one line, look up, take a breath and then say the line. Anything that then comes instinctively you should do, whether it is the way you say the line or the action you do while saying it. This is the first step in going from being conscious of what you're doing all the time to being more instinctive and unpredictable.

I got a new fishing rod for Christmas, but I haven't even put a line on it yet which is criminal. Grant and I went to Fremantle one night before Christmas, but I can't remember if we caught anything. Don't think so. But now that he's got his new boat (which he's named Reel Busy) we should be able to get some quality fishing in.

Reading has taken a back seat, but that's because she's writing herself. I won't give too much away, but it's a novel about a young Welshman and an Indian girl living in London. She works on it most nights, tapping away on the laptop, and uses the internet to research various things. Her description of a rugby match in play is really impressive. Well, it sounds impressive to someone who knows very little about rugby - all the jargon is in there!!!

Although not really hobbies, we still enjoy cooking, dining out, entertaining (though we need to do more of it), listening to music and watching selected TV shows. The iPod I got for the gym has all my favourite CDs on it, from Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails to Christy Moore and The Pogues. The most recent CD's we've bought include Snow Patrol, Green Day's American Idiot which is brilliant, and Robbie Williams' greatest hits. Keeping true to my darker tastes, I've just bought Korn's greatest hits which is also brilliant.

Apart from Black Books, we have been watching the new Battlestar Galactica. Initially, I refused to watch it as I was a major fan of the original series and still am. But Daire Garvey and Russell Keith-Magee convinced me to let go of my precious memories, and give it a try. And on my second attempt at doing so, I started to enjoy it. The new Centurions are awesome and Starbuck rocks!!.

I also picked up U2 at Slane Castle on DVD the other week which includes the documentary on the recording of The Unforgetable Fire which brings you inside the castle before it burned down in the early 1990s. The lads look ridiculously young but it was 20 years ago. And the main DVD is great - almost makes up for the disappointment of not actually getting to the gig itself.

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