1. Go to the Louvre, find the Mona Lisa, then turn to face the other way and look at the picture that hangs on the wall behind it: The Feast At Caana. It's properly impressive when you see it, partly because it's so big and partly because it's full of detail and really rather lovely.

2. You're not the messiah, you're a very naughty boy.

3. It's lovely and sunny. The sky is blue and cloudless and, whatever happens today the sky (and the sun) will still be there tomorrow.

Recommended piece of music - Alice Coltrane's "Ptah The El Daoud". I can't access Spotify from here, but I'm sure it's there. Lovely, rippling, sinuous, mysterious.

Piece of advice - do as you would be done by.

Nice thing about today for me - I'll be home in time for tea with my family. (I'm away from home quite a bit with work, and that's fine, but it does make you appreciate all sitting round the table for pasta much more than if you do it every night!)

1. Zombieland
2. Mark the coursework the moment you get it, not the week before it has to go off to the exam board.
3. I'm wearing my favourite tie today. It's yellow silk, very shiney with huge paisleys. I'm perhaps not selling it well...

1. Listen to Dick Gaughan sing The Games People Play or the podcast on the upholsterer and powerlifter from Limerick that was recently on Speechification. Quality radio documentary.

2. Get to know your neighbours

3. Tonight, when I get home Im going to have my first glass of wine in over a week , sit back and watch the first episode of Treme which Ive been looking forward to

1. Film: You Can Count On Me

Stars Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo. A film that is genuinely warm, funny and affecting but manages to be all this without ever playing to the gallery or manipulating the viewer with a lachrymose money-shot paraded on an audiotrack of lush minor chords. It's also a film with a strong moral theme but the film itself never moralises, just the characters to each other: the net effect is to make you check your own compass . It's great, just watch it.

2. You don't need a credit card

3. I'm a Spurs fan. It's nice to have waited so long for the club to take the next big step in the modern footballing era and enjoy the after-effects

1. Daniel Agust's "Swallowed A Star" is rather lovely, and isn't to be found within miles of any chart. Relaxing, orchestral, mumbling, but worth checking out.

2. Just think, it could be worse!

3. I don't have to go to work today. That's quite nice!

The self-important ones all begin with "I'm leaving this blog because"

1)When you've done with the Louvre, pop across town to the Musée d'Orsay. Just about every impressionist painting you would want to see in one gallery.

2)Always check in the left hand wing mirror for cyclists/motorbikes steaming up the gutter like loonies.

3)I'm going for a lunchtime walk in a minute.

1. "Bryter Layter" by Nick Drake. I may well play it after point 3 below.

2. Be thoughtful in everything you do.

3. This evening, my wife and I will walk the dogs to the polling booth and thence over the field and back to our new house via the pub. We are very lucky people in so many ways.

1) Seek out the music of Tom Russell. He is a better lyricist than Bob Dylan by far and he wrote a song Guadalupe which he let Gretchen Peters sing. It sounds like Angels.

2) Smile and say something nice to a complete stranger as often as you can. It will make them feel good and uplifts your own spirits too.

3) My daughters school is closed today as it is being used for the Election. Instead we went to the local library and I got some great books to read. I havent been to the library for a long time which is a shame because it is a very nice place indeed.

1. The Right Stuff. A magnificent film. It surprises me how few people I come across who know about it.
2. All you need is love.
3. See 2.

1) Buy every single record The Hold Steady have ever made, but failing that go for albums 2 and 3 (Separation Sunday / Boys and Girls in America). Listen to them each about three times back to back. Then get used to being a pathetically enslaved fan.

2) Keep reading challenging stuff. It's a very good reminder that you're not as clever as you sometimes let yourself think.

3) I'm working from home this afternoon. So nice to be able to work and have a record on at the same time.

1) Film - A Matter Of Life And Death. If you've never seen it you truly are in for a treat

2) Keep quiet in meetings, it makes people think you're clever.

3) I found an old pair of jeans that I thought were too small but due to losing a bit of girth recently, they fit like a dream.

1) The album Danny O'Keefe by the same.

2) Count your blessings, every morning without fail. Works wonders.

3) After voting I'll be off to the local for my weekly pint or two.

Oh, and many happy returns!

1. Confusions About A Goldfish/John Kongos

2. Kind words butter no parsnips

3. I've got a lot on. Happy birthday.

1) Watch 'Let The Right One In'. The best film of 2009 by a country mile. I've recommended it to many people, only some of whom have taken the advice seriously. Shame on them.

2) Learn CPR. It's useful to know you might, just might, be able to save someone's life some day.

3) I should be revising for an Anatomy & Physiology exam today but I had a lie-in (8.30 is a lie-in when you have 2 young children), voted (for Labour) and now I'm browsing the net as my youngest naps.

1. Listen to Bob Dylan on shuffle. Many of the album tracks are gems if you give them your attention.

2. If you are good at something, don't assume that means everyone else must be good at it too.

3. PG tips tea in a glass mug.

1. Chanced on Melody Gardot on Jools a short while ago. Try her 'Sweet Memory'. Several cuts above Norah Jones and light years from the over-regarded piss artist that is Whiney Alehouse.

2. Keep the receipt.

3. I'm meant to be working from home today too but lo! my repaired work laptop is still unusable so here I sit stewing slightly - but my little girl is downstairs and she's healthy, happy and thrilled Daddy is home. What more could I want?

1. If you haven't already, read Tess of the D'urbervilles. If you have just read it again. Or anything by Thomas Hardy. Then go to Dorset on a sunny day and think romantical thoughts for a while.

2. Remember to count your blessings.

3. I dropped my daughter off at school today which I never usually do. It made me feel like a proper mum.

Have a lovely day!

1. Get Steve Toltz's debut novel 'A Fraction Of The Whole'. I stayed up last night finishing it and it's absolutely brilliant - funny, moving, a page-turner but very, very well written. One of the best modern novels I've ever read.
2. I'm no good at advice but..here goes: unless you're a vegetarian, go to your butchers every week instead of the supermarket.
On the other hand I ate so much beautiful beef last week I began to wonder if I should go to beef rehab.
3. I'm feeling excited about voting (for dear old Gordy). I think this is a good thing.

(1) Brian Dettmer's Book Autopsies: http://centripetalnotion.com/2007/09/13/13:26:26/

(2) If you go shopping in Italy, say "Può darmi uno sconto?" (can you give me a discount?) and you might be pleasantly surprised how the price drops.

(3) My back doesn't hurt as much as it did this morning.

1. Read "The Unfortunates" by B.S. Johnson. A superb book - but the version of it that you read won't be the same as the version I've read.

2. Always beware of people who drive cars while wearing a hat.

3. Erm ... I've got a ticket to see Vashti Bunyan in concert tonight.

1.See Johnny Mad Dog. A terrific French/African film looking at the impact that a civil war has on a young man who is indoctrinated to fight and a girl trying to escape from the carnage. Grim but not as bleak as it may sound. Filmed recently in Liberia which is recovering from 14 years of war. Many of those in the film actually were child soldiers bringing real depth and poignancy to the story.

2. Remember listening to other people involves more than waiting for your turn to speak.

3. Just walked into town to vote, stopped and had nice little chats with one of my mates and the decent people who run the local papershop, greengrocer and butcher. Using local shops can be a good way to real contentment.

1. No

2. No

3. No

hope these answers are helpful.

1 - My most cherished tune during the last week has been Trio Esperança - Não Aguento Você, which sounds like...

2 - Impulse buys never work

3 - I've had a chinese lunch and watched an episode of Thriller, it rarely gets better mid-week.

1. Watch Wallander. The BBC version is very good, the Swedish version is better. (and on BBC4 on Saturday nights)
2. If you can, go for a pint with your dad.
3. I'm not at work

1. Watch "Local Hero" as it is a life affirming film

2. Never go onto ebay when you are drunk

3. My 13 month old daughter stood on her own unaided for the first time today. Should be walking soon.

1. If you've never read it, read "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera. Read it when I was a student and its still my favourite book.

2. Give people more credit for their abilities. Learn to let go and trust people to do things themselves - it makes your life a hell of a lot easier (you can tell I'm in management.....)

3. My primary school kids have there second English test paper tomorrow (we are in Singapore where they are big on exams at Primary level) and so what could have been a stressful evening actually turned out to be glorious when all we did was a simple run through of a practice paper each which they fully understood and then went to bed early with daddy safe in the knowledge that they'll do fine......

1] I was pleasantly surprised by In the Ruff, newish by Diamond District. DC hip hop somewhere between J Dilla and Mobb Deep.

2] If it can't be fixed by sauna, tar or vodka it is probably fatal.

3] I'm about to make a splendid cup of Japanese tea.

1. Sunnyside by Glenn David Gold is long but entertaining; also recommend D-Day by Anthony Beevor if non-fiction's your bag.

2. Never drink in a pub with a flat roof.

3. My daughter's just been accepted to the primary school where her brothers are. They're all being looked after nicely there, and I don't have to worry about schools admissions for another two years.

1;
2; Remember - the best things in life aren't things.
3; It's my tenth anniversary today, and we're due to go out for dinner on our first night out together without Archie (six months). We're a bit nervous.

1.The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell is rather long,rather good but not rather jolly.Highly recommended.

2.You can't get snot off a suede jacket,don't sweat the small stuff.

3.My Wife and my Mum both feel well today so It's a good one.

1) Great book I've read recently is Stuart Sutherland's Irrationality. Very very interesting. Explains why people act in irrational ways. Far more fun than I've made it sound. Oliver Sacks calls it "Terrifying, sometimes comic, very readable and totally enthralling."

2) You cannot stop the birds of unhappiness from flying overhead, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair.

3) Making and eating pink fairy cakes with my 4 year old.

1. Watch Kind Hearts and Coronets
2. When you catch people's eye passing in the street, smile
3. I had a rotten day yesterday due to a blow-up with a work colleague. That evening my girlfriend and her daughter came over to mine and the three of us spent a couple of hours cuddled up on the sofa watching 2 episodes on Jonathan Creek, all of which made the world a much better place again.

1. Two splendid Saint Etienne albums have been reissued this week as double CDs - Tiger Bay and Finisterre.

2. I watched my grandmother's horizons shrink until the extent of her world was a twice daily commute by wheelchair between her bed and an armchair. Make the most of the mundane aspects of your life and try to find joy in these moments. There may come a day when you'll give anything just to be able to walk to the end of your road.

3. At the 11th hour I've managed to secure work until at least the end of July. I feel like a great weight has been lifted off me.

For (the vast majority of) these suggestions!

Julia Nunes' cover version of Don't Trust a Ho by 3OH!3 (googletube it or see my blog post from five mins ago)

Never walk down stairs with your hands in your pockets

The Stephen Moss article about Greece in G2 today is worth the price of the Guardian on its own

** *** **

Whoah-oh, whoah-oh, whoah-oh...

1. Roddy Woomble. His collaboration with Drever and McCusker made me happy; I got the Idlewild back catalog and have been replaying incessantly. Perhaps not for everyone, but I'm genuinely happy to have found him.

2. 'Shit happens, and it'll work itself out'. My Dad's advice to me when I graduated University and was about to enter the Wide World. He was right.

3. The best thing that happened to me today was Skype. Videonconferencing witth someone in Sydney made the world seem a little smaller, and made her seem a little closer. After 18 months of hell, she - via Skype - is making me smile.

1. Read 'There's A Riot Going On' by Peter Doggett - an excellent account of left wing sixties rock culture (it says here)

2. Often, and more often that you would think, it's perfectly fine to say 'No'.

3. The acupuncture I had on Thursday for my back seems to be working ... more tomorrow.

1. Check out the Cowboy Junkies. If you like them, you'll love them.

2. Driving, accelerate around bends. And be glad you're healthy.

3. This is my first post in some time as I've had a shoulder operation and my right arm's in a sling, until late June, so can't drive, play guitar, play records, or cook. But writing and pc mouse activity returning slowly.

Welcome to this good place, man.of.soup