h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Said I would come over!

So you love music and sitting by the river, we have something in common. I find music can help me fight my agorophobia, it can change a mood so profoundly.

Good luck with the novel, is it really no more boys?!

Well, yes, it is. At least, no more obsessing over boys. It's quite effortless these days. I've got other things on my mind. Of course, there is sombody I fancy, but he's distant and rather out of reach, so it's easier not to obsess about him.

It's really just about books and my mates now.

Good luck with the writing!

Whats your current fav music then? I spent last night playing bits from The Dhol Foundation website, they are brilliant if you like bhangra and loud persussion.

Am I right in thinking you live in Italy? If so well done at staying slim, all that pasta, or have you had your fill?

I have pasta regularly... contrary to the general opinion, carbs don't make you fat! Everybody needs carbohydrates. I stay slim because I have a fast metabolism, exercise twice a week, go dancing during the weekend and generally speaking avoid overeating. I also like cooking, so that helps. You'd be surprised to see how slim the average Italian girl is... we just eat a lot better than most people in Europe

Music: I'm a bit of a rock chick, member of the Punk Society on Hootoo despite being a bit of a post-punk and an avowed Glam Princess (pass the navel rhinestones!), so I'm listening to a lot more rock 'n' roll these days. And to a lot of Italian bands, too, my favourites being Subsonica, Tiromancino and Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti. I like bhangra too, though, it's quite sexy I think, although it gets a bit repetitive after a while.

I thought refined pasta can make you fat, which is why I eat wholewheat pasta. I thought that refined carbs are basically converted to sugar in the body whereas wholewheat carbs, do at least contain some fibre.

Still dietary opinion seems to change all of the time!

We shuold all eat according to our metabolism and the amount of physical activity we do. If I ate as much pasta as I do but had a slower metabolism and did not exercise, I'd be a lot heavier.

Exercise speeds up your metabolism, so the calories from pasta are burnt off... plus, moving your body helps you feel better about yourself and is a great form of meditation. I'm bad at traditional meditation, but dancing and exercising work to the same effect, in that they free my mind.

True, I think exercise is key, sometimes more than what we eat.

I have not heard of any of your Italian bands, I will have to search for them. In England we are so UK and USA dominated. We call music from other countries World Music, which I think is daft!

We call it that too, if it's from Africa or other third-world countries... that's so racist.

Subsonica are probably the most accessible as the words are not as important as the sound (their lyrics are quite good but the sound is bleedin' amazing, if you ask me). Tiromancino are quieter and more lyrics-based. Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti rely on lyrical impact a lot... I once asked their singer and songwriter how he manages to write such poignant songs about 15-year-old girls (despite being male and pushing forty), and he wrote back to me "Sending you a hug... this is how I get to understand girls". The mad b*stard He's a good lad, though.

Do download Subsonica, they're the coolest thing Italy's ever produced. Their second album, Microchip emozionale, is one of my favourites ever.