You may recall I set myself a list of goals for the summer, and promised an update on them in Freshers’ week. So did I do them? Find out below..

1. Organise a PES tournament: You put it a long away and people complain they don’t know if they will be free. You put it near the time and people complain they can’t come. I’m sensing Draconian entry criteria (if you can’t make it, tough) soon… So, no I didn’t get round to doing this.

2. Finish a few more books (Mere Christianity, Of Mice and Men, assorted others): I finished them and enjoyed them greatly. Not much more than that though.

3. See some shows at the festival: Yes, I saw Sean Lock, Just a Minute (where a woman collapsed just before the start: she was okay though) and Ed Byrne, and enjoyed them all greatly. Best line? Ed Byrne: “the best thing about being married is that you don’t have to plan a [flipping] wedding!”

4. Go home for a week: I did so, and it was good.

5. Move flat without too much hassle: Sort of.. I have a lot more stuff than I thought. And the mice seem to have followed us. And in greater numbers.

6. Re-acquaint myself with German and Spanish: La problème avec ça était que j’ai décidé d’écouter la radio française sur l’internet, et donc je l’ai oublié. Oops!

7. Become more diligent in Bible study attendance: Alas not, as I have my supervisor meeting on a Wednesday morning and hence Tuesday night for me= stress++. I went to summer navs on the Thursdays though, so maybe I get half a point for this.

8. Get some results for my thesis (not long now): Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha, it’s funny how naive one can be.

9. Plot/scheme/research what I might do after the PhD: I have thoughts, but they may or may not be workable. Why not? I hear you cry. Well, let’s just say a move down South could be in the pipeline.. but how far?

10. Avoid watching Big Brother: Easily done as I wasn’t in when it was on and it hasn’t really been talked about much. If it stays that way, I won’t mind it continuing.

11. Go to Newcastle to see the ‘Dop: Nope, but he was up here a lot anyway, so no need.

12. Enjoy my birthday: Yes, and thanks for coming and for any birthday wishes!

13. Catch some cricket at the Grange: I would have, but the rain and general forgetting about it did for me.

14. Blog succinctly but not offensively: At least one of the two occurred.

15. Do unto others what I would have them do unto me: Probably not, largely due to a period of grumpiness on my part.

16. Smile more: I don’t recall being more smiley than usual.

17. Watch my “Teachers” DVDs: Nope, still on episode 2.

18. Visit some other churches: Only Barclay got a visit. Lucky them.

19. Drink more water: I don’t think I did, but then I was “naturally hydrated” a lot of the time (thanks Scottish summer!) so I didn’t notice it so much.

20. Spend more time outside: Well, the two sunny days there were this summer I spent outside, so it’s not like I didn’t utilise the time well..

So out of 20.. I got… well I can’t be bothered adding it up. Did you have any goals this summer? Did you achieve them? Or, like me, were you a bit unrealistic/ lazy?

As the Large Hadron Collider gets switched on and the Earth gets destroyed by a black hole (albeit in a 50.000.000:1 chance), all in the name of SCIENCE!!!!, I will probably be in the shower or something, which might be a bad idea as going into oblivion naked doesn’t really appeal to me.

Anyway, I’m just going to put up the same poll as in on the radio at the minute, and that is:

What is your biggest regret in this life, since there’s a (very small) chance it will end tomorrow?

I’d love to know what yours are, but I will tell you a few of mine, some major, some not.

The first is that I spent too long believing that my parents’ belief in God would be enough to say I had some kind of relationship with God. It was not, and I didn’t realise this until relatively recently.

Another is that I was an idiot in my early school years. I am ashamed of how many times I antagonised people so I could tell on them for hitting me. This led to my becoming something of a social outcast in my school years and I didn’t really have anything resembling a social life til I came to uni.

Finally, my third regret is not being interested in football til I was eleven. Okay, it’s no big deal, but it would have been nice to have a bit more skill than being a poacher which is all I seem to have the nous for.

Also: What’s the thing in life that you are proudest (or most glad) that you did?

For me there are a few standout things:

Becoming a Christian was a momentous decision and everyday I’m glad I did. Linked to this is joining the Navigators as it was there that I understood the need for community, and that God is more powerful than I imagined

Coming to Edinburgh was probably the best geographical decision I ever made (though I often wonder what might have happened if I’d gone to Glasgow as originally hoped, but what-ifs are not really useful), as the friends I’ve made have kept me sane, and demonstrated that it’s important to have support and to be supportive. And to have fun too!

I never smashed atoms together at ridiculously high speeds and selfishly risked rupturing the fabric of the universe albeit with very small probability. This is a great achievement.

But yes, those are a small selection of my regrets and joys, please tell me any you might have that you might be wiling to share on the interblag, you don’t need to sign in to comment!

I saw a post that Tom Schmidt wrote on his facebook about goals he had this summer, and I guess I have some too, so here they are, in no particular order:

1. Organise a PES tournament

2. Finish a few more books (Mere Christianity, Of Mice and Men, assorted others)

3. See some shows at the festival (booked!)

4. Go home for a week (booked!)

5. Move flat without too much hassle

6. Re-acquiant myself with German and Spanish

7. Become more diligent in Bible study attendance

8. Get some results for my thesis (not long now)

9. Plot/scheme/research what I might do after the PhD

10. Avoid watching Big Brother

11. Go to Newcastle to see the ‘Dop

12. Enjoy my birthday

13. Catch some cricket at the Grange

14. Blog succinctly but not offensively

15. Do unto others what I would have them do unto me

16. Smile more

17. Watch my “Teachers” DVDs

18. Visit some other churches

19. Drink more water

20. Spend more time outside.

How will I do? I’ll tell you in Fresher’s week..

New year, new blog, new rants! So, to begin..

Actually I don’t really feel like ranting. For a change. No, it’s time for some musings (devoted aficianados of my blo, if they exist, will know that my posts fluctuate wildly from musing to rant and little in between).

I don’t really have a great many events to look forward to this year. Not to say I have to dread 2008, but as far as I know, no-one I am reasonably close to is getting married (there’s still time to rectify that, John :p) no conferences are on the horizon and I can’t see myself leaving the country, barring a change in my current situation.

However, that can’t stop me being optimistic. Granted the year hasn’t exactly been great so far (see the penultimate post in http://andrewstothers.blogspot.com for the ceiling incident) but I think my optimism has good grounds.

I know now what I have to do for my thesis and that is a massive relief. It will be a lot of work, but if I knuckle down, there’s absolutely no reason to not finish before the end of the year and start writing up. This is a hope; and not an expectation, but if we don’t have hope, then what are we left with? Pessimism seems to be something of a national sport (and I could be world champion), but times are about to change, there is a task at hand, and it is alogether more pleasant to look at it positively. I’m not the sort of person to have a “because it is there” mentality towards things, but the task I have is there and there’s little worth in striking it off as too hard.

If Jimmy (more on him later) taught me anything before he died, it was that too many people these days stare at a wall thinking they can’t possibly climb it when they could just walk a hundred yards and go through the gate. If you won’t set off to look for the gate, then you’re stuffed, simple as. You have to believe a gate is there, or you’re done before you start. I miss his pearls of wisdom, even if they didn’t always make sense…

But anyway, what’s wrong with a positive outlook on life? Absolutely nothing, and if I’m honest I think it’s a better way to be. I just wish I’d realised this sooner. So even though there seems to be not a great deal this year in terms of events, it doesn’t mean I can’t look forward to a good year. Someone I know is expecting a babyin the summer (I would say who but I don’t know if the couple wants everyone to know at this juncture), there’s Euro 2008 and the Olympics and my church is getting a new minister. Come to think of it, I’[m pretty darn excited. Bring it on!