When I was in primary school, I just wanted to go school forever and ever and ever and one day be a doctor. It was a hangover. I don't think I had any concept of what kind of work you have to put in to become a doctor; nor was I aware of how much I was going to suck at science when I reached high school.

When I was 13 I "discovered" The Beatles. I say "discovered" because I was already fully aware of the existence of The Beatles; in fact, I'd had several debates with my father over the years that could probably be entitled "Why The Beatles Are A Dumb Band For Old People" with a fair degree of accuracy. I'm sure I pointed out why Kylie Minogue was a much better musical choice. (The first tape I ever owned was a Kylie tape with The Locomotion and I Should Be So Lucky, and the extended mixes of both. I was stylin' at 10.)

Then The Beatles Anthology was on TV, and I was hooked. Thirteen years later, The Beatles still amaze me.

At fourteen I discovered Monty Python's Flying Circus and British absurdism.

Not surprisingly, the result was that when I was fourteen, fifteen, nineteen, all I really wanted to do with my life was to write absurd sketch comedy. I have hundreds - literally hundreds - of sketches I wrote in that time. Some of them are quite good, particularly later ones; the earlier ones are a bit woeful. These days, sadly, I have seen an awful lot of sketch shows - among them, lot of awful sketch shows. The notion of sketch comedy isn't new any more, and to do it well - in a way that is unique, clever and funny - is very difficult indeed.

Either way, by the time I was fifteen I had reserved my seat on the Dork Train. A guy with buck teeth and a Dwayne Dibbley-style pudding bowl haircut was keeping my seat warm.

When I was 23, all I wanted to do with my life was to leave my dead-end job and do something better. Money alone, I had finally realised, wasn't enough. I took a diploma in Editing and Publishing by distance, and two years later, started applying for jobs.

Now I'm an editor (in training, at least) on a lower salary than before, but I love my job. Now all I want to do with my life is less. I have a few simple goals - things I would like to learn - but the biggest one is for me to have less clutter in my life. Fewer distractions. I have to stop trying to do everything at once. When life is too full there isn't time to enjoy any of it. This week I have made the effort to simplify things, and I feel happier so far. I hope I can remember to make this last.

Our Managing Editor had an operation recently for her sinus problems, and was off sick for two weeks. She was sent some flowers, and emailed to thank us all. She also added the following:

Apart from the headache, drippy nose and feeling like I've been kicked in the nose by a horse I'm really tired and can't think straight. I get up, wander aimlessly around the house and then go back to bed. At least I'm not alone. The cats have volunteered their services as companions and bed warmers and Mikey brought me a dead rat to cheer me up. Left it right there on the bed where I couldn't miss it when I first opened my eyes. So thoughtful.

Aw.