Alone in her apartment she'd dwell, till the man of her dreams comes to break the spell (Paul and Linda McCartney)

As you can tell from recent post titles I'm missing my habibi and  the whole living alone thing does not move me.

I think it's also fair to say that I have quite a bit of spare time at the moment while SWMBO is in NZ because I prefer not to go places on my own. I much prefer sharing experiences with TLOML.
Therefore four main things occupy my spare time

• Reading
• Listening to what SWMBO calls 'Hillbilly Music'* on CD and DVD
• Practising guitar chords
• Watching Arsenal

* (This is a wide ranging term, as used by my habibi, that encompasses Jazz, Folk, Country, Blues, Heavy Metal, and Rock'n'Roll music. Actually the only thing slightly exempt is Pop music from 2010 to 2011 but even then...)

All three things are often combined and all are noisy pursuits you'll notice. I don't like living in a silent apartment. So I read while I listen and lately I've been practising my guitar while watching TV.

Two Irish blokes, one of whom has the Pope on speed dial.

Details? Details!

I've just finished Killing Bono, a kind of autobiography by Neil McCormick - by his own admission a failure as a fame chaser and a very frustrated man who has had to settle for not being as world famous as the lead singer of U2.

Cry me a river you might think and he skates close to that at times during the book but the self deprecating humour really helped me through the narrative of dashed dreams.

The other books I have on the go at the moment (I do a chapter of each in rotation) are also non-fiction titles: Unlocking The Meaning Of Lost (an unauthorised guide); the Star Wars title in the Film Classics series; and the Classic Rock title in the allmusicguide series.
The practising guitar one is self explanatory (I'm getting tougher fingers from the E chord in particular) and you can go to my Goo Goo blog for the hillbilly stuff.

That leaves what? Mmmmm...Arsenal.
They are trying my patience at the moment.
Tonight is the latest round of the F.A. Cup. We are playing Aston Villa. Here are my reactions. [Events take place in real time (Jack Bauer voice please)].

Pre game stuff and the commentators have already mentioned how long ago it was we won a trophy (apparently the F.A. Cup - I don't remember).

Kick off - Arsene has a spiffing red tie on.

My friend Colin tells me that Arsenal and Scotland's tennis boy wonder Andy Murray have a lot in common. They both look great but don't win anything!

So far we've passed the ball beautifully - no threats on goal yet though.

AV's Robbie Kean handles (muppet) and we get a free kick - Vermaelin has a great strike on goal but keeper saves. If Kean scores against us I will be turning the TV off in disgust.

12 minutes gone - Fabianski in our goal has flirted with disaster three times so far by rolling the ball out to players in shocking positions.

19 minutes gone - a lot of boring sideways and backwards play. We win a freekick on the edge of the penalty area, Boy wonder Robin Van Persie hits the ball straight at the wall. Sums us up so far.

30 mins gone. Still 0-0 and still no sign of a goal coming at either end.

Of course as soon as I say that - One nil to Aston Villa. Header from Richard Dunn. Maybe we'll start to create some chances now.

45 minutes gone - all Arsenal attacks since the goal. Still 0-1. Of course Darren Bent then goes down the other end and scores. AV 2 nil up and not even half time.

Boos ring out at half time! Fabulous. My brevrin aren't happy - but you should never boo our team.

Can we come back and win the game? Oh sure - it could happen. It's possible but it's not going to happen. Not if we played for another 2 hours. This game is dead and buried. It's over! I should go to bed.

Will I? Will I eck as like.

Second half starts, Come on Arsenal!!!! Maybe Tierry Henry can come on and be a hero again. Hey I need to cling to something. One thing's for sure if we go 3-0 down we will be sunk.

47 minutes gone and we have a shot cleared off the line. Not our night clearly.

53rd minute - Penalty! We get one back via Robin. AV 2- 1. Why is the AV player (Richard Dunne) not sent off though? Last player, goal scoring opportunity. Typical!

57th minute - Walcott scores!! 2-2. Come on Arsenal!

59th minute - another Penalty!! Robin has 2 as we go 3-2. And Tierry is warming up.

71st minute - Arteta on for Rosicky. Rosicky has had a great game too. Everyone's looked much more lively this half. We do need that 4th goal to be safe in this one I feel.

87th minute - been a bit cagey. A few scares but now Henry and Sagna come on for the last few minutes. Great to see them both back. Henry in particular. What a legend.

Clock is winding down in injury time. Fabianski is still rolling out shocking balls!

It's all over!

And there you have it - the best and worst of the Gunners right now. A rollercoaster of the great and the terrible.

Bedtime at last...love and peace - Wozza