I was pondering upon my journey to get to where I am today. I looked at my school photo from when I was 11 years old and was surprised by how many of the names of my class mates I could remember - it was 33 years ago after all. (see photo). I then started thinking about where those people have gone and what they've done and who they've become - the possibilities are enormous.

Everyone has followed their own path and met a unique number and collection of people along the way. We have all evolved through the interaction of so many folk and experiences.

My plan is to take a snapshot of 70 of the people that I currently know and learn a bit about who you are. I will then add my own details to them and then put them all into a time-capsule and hide it to be found one day in the future - or not.

So what I have done is to come up with 25 questions (see below) that I would appreciate you taking the time to answer and return to me. If you could also forward me a photo of yourself (including the year it was taken), then that would be a good touch too.

I'll let you know how it all goes.

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Cheers

me

Let me just explain what was going on when I did this.

As you know, I am an IT geek who contracts with whomever is willing to pay me for doing so. At the time of the above email, I had actually taken a permanent job with a small company out in Notting Hill called Norwich Research - there are many tales to tell about those times, but I'll save them for another day. The reason for me having taken that job was because they were willing to sponsor me to be a Permanent Resident in Australia - and that was my dream. As a non-resident my status here was quite fragile and I always needed a working visa and whoever I worked for had to hold that visa for me. Each new job required a new visa and the expense and inconvinience involved. On top of that, I knew that Australia was my home and where I wanted to be.

So having started work with Norwich Research, I found an Immigration Lawyer who started the process of attempting to get me my residency. Having completed the forms and submitted them, I was then in a strange place. I was just in limbo waiting to see what was going to happen. Without the residency, I'd have to accept that my future wasn't going to be in Australia and that was something I'd have to come to termswith.

So whilst in limbo, I had been contemplating who I am, how I got to be here and where I might end up later on. So I was contemplating and that led me to consider the paths that people I knew had taken and hence the time capsule idea evolved.

On Sunday 30th October 2005, the results were in and I put everthing together and then sent out the following email to those who had participated, namely: Adam, Andrew, Annette, Bec, Belinda, Bry, Cathy, Christine, Clive, Dana, Daniel, Dave, David, Dominique, Edwin, Erik, Francine, Frank, Georgie, Gillian, Heather, Helen, Jezz, Jo, Jodi, John, Jon F, Jon G, Julia, Julie, Kam, Karen, Karin, Kelly, Lesley, Lex, Liam, Loraine, Louise, Maggie, Mara, Margaret, Maria, Mark, Martin, Michael, Mike, Monique, Murat, Nicole, Pat, Paul, Peter, Pierre, Rebecca, Rita, Rock, Russell, Ruth, Sharon, Sonia, Stanley, Tanya, Terri, Tracey, Trena, Tri, Trudi, Zoe

Hello everyone,

If you are receiving this email, then you probably one of the people who responded to my time-capsule idea, so thank you for humouring me with that.

* * * * * * * * * * *

My plan for the capsule is that it will contain the following:
. My short biography with photos
. My current list
. My answers to the questions (see end of this email)
. Your answers, each with a couple of sentences explaining when we met and who you are

I still haven't decided where the capsule will be buried - it should be somewhere where there is a chance that it will be found, but not too soon. But for me, the value of this project has been in the process of putting it together rather that what will happen to the capsule itself.

Anyway, I thought that I’d give you some feedback with a flavour of some of the answers I received.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Out of the 69 replies, 29 were from males and 40 from females.

Out of those people, when asked whether they were happier now than this time last year, the results were that 46 people were happier, 11 were less happy and 12 were the same or weren’t sure.

* * * * * * * * * * *

When I asked which famous people have had contact with, some of the names mentioned were:
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Arnold Scwatzanegger, Dave Allen, Duchess of Kent, Geoffery Rush, Gough Whitlam, Jean Claude Van Damme, Joni Mitchell, King Hussein of Jordan, Malcolm Fraser, Martina Navratilova, Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman, Elle Mcherson, Mohhamed Ali, John Howard, Princess Di, Catherine Deneuve, Kirk Douglas, The Chief Rabbi, Sir Robert Menzies, The Prime Minister of Japan, The Queen, Tom Jones, Uri Geller, Neil Armstrong, David Bowie, Rolf Harris, Buzz Aldrin, Jeff Buckley, BB King, Prince Charles and Sir David Attenborough.
What an incredibly interesting selection of folk.

* * * * * * * * * * *

20 of your favourite books were:
. Perfume (Patrick Suskind) – this was mentioned by two people
. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
. Birdsong (Sebastian Faulk)
. Stark (Ben Elton)
. Dirt Music (Tim Winton)
. Electric cool aid acid test (Tom Wolfe)
. Galapagos (Kurt Vonnegut)
. Interview with a Vampire (Ann Rice)
. My sisters keeper (Jodi Piccolot)
. Life of Pi (Yan Martel)
. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
. The Magician (Raymond E Feist)
. The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon)
. The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
. Catch 22 (Joseph Heller)
. Wild Swans (Jung Chang)
. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
. Catcher in the Rye – (JD Salinger)
. Oscar Wilde – short story anthology
. Germinal (Zola)

* * * * * * * * * * *

When asked about favourite CD’s there was quite a lot of duplication such as:
. 9 people for Pink Floyd
. 6 for Robbie Williams
. 5 for U2
. 4 for Crowded House, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Matchbox 20 and The Beatles
. 3 for Fleetwood Mac, George Michael, Missy Higgins, Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra and Tori Amos
(There were many that were mentioned by a couple of people too)

* * * * * * * * * * *

And when I asked what the first CD that was bought was:
. 6 people mentioned ABBA
. 3 mentioned The Beatles
. 2 mentioned The Monkees, New Kids on the Block and Elton John

* * * * * * * * * * *

Surprisingly, there was duplication in the first gig attended with:
. 3 people mentioning Crowded House
. 2 people mentioning The Boomtown Rats, Jimmy Barnes, Status Quo and also The Ramones

* * * * * * * * * * *

And even more surprising (to me) was that there was duplication in the first inspired reads with:
. 4 people mentioning Enid Blyton
. 3 people mentioning C S Lewis (The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe) and To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
. 2 people who mentioned The Bible, Shakespeare and Tolkein

* * * * * * * * * * *

There were some interesting motto’s, of which three people had "Live, love, laugh" and two had "Never give up". Ten of the other positive ones were:
. Attitude is everything
. Be responsible for yourself
. It’s MY choice
. Laugh a lot and strive for happiness in everything you do
. Live for the moment
. No Regrets
. You don't regret the things you do - you regret the things you don't do
. You have to push your luck or you won't know how lucky you are
. You only live once, so have a crack
. Live every day to the full - never let yourself feel empty

* * * * * * * * * * *

Finally, I’d like to share the following with you. When I sent out the questions, my father answered them but has unfortunately since passed on. When asked what he was most looking forward to in the next month, he answered:
“..….for the first time in my life I can truly say I am happy and content here in Bournemouth living my life out with your mother. That is what I look forward to doing for the next month and for as long as God gives me on this earth”
He sadly only got that one further month, but I mention this here because, though it is sad for him to be taken at such a time in his life, I like the fact that a) he was happy b) he was with the person that he wanted to be with c) he was where he wanted to be and d) he recognised and acknowledged a, b and c. I hope that we all find such a situation in our lives.

pip pip

me

P.S. my answers to the questions are as follows: