The other thing I was thinking about on the train were my ambitions in life. My three ‘wish-list’ ambitions are to write a book, make a movie, and create a computer game. Now it could be argued that I’ve already done all three. My PhD thesis is basically a book – in Germany you have to register an ISBN and publish your thesis! I guess I’m thinking more along the times of (a) a novel, and (b) something that might actually get read. In terms of a film, last Christmas I made a “Ben’s first year” DVD, which I’m actually quite proud of. Edited together a year’s worth of fottage, threw in some cuts and effects to make a little story, added titles and background music. I was really thinking more along the lines of a proper plot, possibly even with actors. And computer games – well I wrote quite a lot of an online MUD called The Land of Drogon, which is still going actually. And I’ve done the usual Tetris type fiddling. But I guess I was thinking more along the lines of a proper arcade game, perhaps on PS2Linux. Clearly these 3 goals are not necessarily unrelated.

Other ambitions of mine range from the trivial to no-hopers, I won’t specify which is which!

In no particular order:

• Go into space.
• Drive a high-performance car on a test-track.
• Go on a skid pan / become an advanced driver.
• Go to a Grand Prix.
• Get a photo published/win a prize.
• Successfully bake brandy-snaps.
• Formally study theology.
• Learn Greek.
• Learn how to draw/sketch.
• Learn Python.
• Go to India, China, Egypt, and South America.

That will do for now.

I should add the more intanglible but ultimately only really important “follow God faithfully”, “be a good husband”, and “be a good father”, which are my mission in life, I guess.