So, where do I start? Well, without wanting to sound like one of those moustache-twizzling stovepipe hat-wearing baddies out of the old movies, I Likes A Girl With Spirit... whether you're a tomboy who scrubs up pretty nicely, or a princess who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty and her clothes all messed up every now and then.

My grandpa met my grandma by accidentally running her over with his bicycle when he was on the way home from work, but no matter how hard I try I never seem to manage to find the right woman to crash into, so I thought I'd give the Internet a go...

Hey, I managed to write all that without using the phrase 'partner in crime'!

Oh, bugger.

Wondering why I don't find time to get to more gigs, festivals, interesting films at the Cornerhouse, or go on more roadtrips, considering how much I love that kind of thing.

And I get paid to watch sport by a Broadcasting Corporation.

Herding cats. Splitting infinitives. Procrastinating. Dancing like Ian Curtis. Making tea. Quoting random lines from 'The Young Ones'. Cooking lasagne. Looking sideways at life and taking the hinges off it. Going on road trips - and, therefore, reading maps. Throwing my soul into everything I do... and bouncing back when invariably things don't quite go to plan.

And I think I can dance to Northern Soul. I may be wrong about that.

The sparkle in my eye? Although I've been told I have quite a pleasant voice... and apparently quite a nice backside. I can't see it myself, though.

I gave far too many of my books away when I moved house but some I've kept are The Master and Margarita, The Crow Road, The World According to Garp... Love Douglas Coupland, Kerouac, Bukowski, PG Wodehouse, Nick Hornby, Douglas Adams, Jerome K Jerome. And I've read and loved and given away so many of the classic arty student books - Catch 22, The Dice Man, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, On The Road...

I *love* roadmovies, I'd love to live my life as one... European cinema moves me or makes me smile, films like La Double Vie de Veronique, Together, Amelie, or Black Cat White Cat - and if you think I'm pretentious, I also love classic blokey stuff like Blazing Saddles and The Italian Job... and of course Monty Python and Withnail & I.

Music? Anything with a bit of guts and a bit of soul that's true to itself. Mod, punk, new wave, indie, you name it. Seem to have been going in a more soulful direction of late - there's a band called The Milk that I have really high hopes for. Everyone else seems to do a big list here so Franz Ferdinand, Blur, Teenage Fanclub, Manu Chao, Pulp, Blondie and the Clash would be on mine.

I spend a lot of time cooking on my days off - farmers markets always make feel grounded and happy - and apparently I used to make the best lasagne in south London (and now south Manchester).

My trusty old 3-speed Peugeot bicycle.
A record player (or modern equivalent...)
Kisses.
BBC 6 Music.
Adidas Samba trainers.
...and the hope that one day, I will get around to buying a Vespa or Lambretta

whether whoever's running the Universe ought to pack it in and let someone else have a go.

Along the way, I have concluded that the 'someone else' shouldn't be me.

me.

I work irregular days and hours so there's no such thing...

You must be joking.

...you're still reading this far, you've smiled once or twice, and you've ever owned a pair of Doc Martens or Converse.

Or if you fancy showing a charming stranger round Barcelona. I'm here for the Primavera Sound festival and a couple of days after...

Or if you would like to inform me that my profile picture is sideways.