A Letter to myself at 16...

DK has tagged me - to write a letter to my 16 year old self. Which I will do, even though my past self will never get to read the letter. Bloody Royal Mail - they just don't seem able to send letter across time and space. Hell, they struggle with sending letter across space. It will be a long time before they can manage time travel.

Anyway, here's what I'd say to the younger me - someone who turned 16 in 1995, and was attending Rugby School:

Hello ****,

This is your future self speaking. Don't worry, you haven't gone mad. And, at the age of 30, you still remain sane. In a manner of speaking. Rest assured, I am not going to offer you any real advice. Mainly because I know you wouldn't take it. In fact, even at the age of 30 you will find that you still aren't great at taking advice. But at least, in 14 years time, you will find you have the self-awareness to realise that.

Instead of giving advice, I'll offer some observations of what life is like now based on what you/I wanted from life back in the mid-nineties.

Politics: you'll find you were right to choose to do an A-level in Comparative Politics. In fact, politics will be your undergraduate degree. And throughout your time in the "real world" you will be interested in it, and - on occasion - active in it. It should be no surprise that when you go back into academia, your chosen area of study is political theory. Of course, you don't end up as a politician, but seriously, given the hallmarks of that profession are compromise and toadying up to people you have no respect for, did you ever think you could have a career in politics? And don't worry too much if you flit from political allegiance to political allegiance. Go with your instincts - that government should be both cheap and small, and that people achieve their best without perpetual state intervention - and you will find the right ideology for yourself in due course.

Music: guess what? You don't become a rock star. I know, seems to crazy to you right now, but your inability to sing and your refusal to learn to play a musical instrument really do kill any chances of a musical career. You remain a music fan, though. The bands change a bit, but you remain an indie kid. You'll find that you start to like music that you couldn't stand at school. Including REM and Pink Floyd. You even learn not to hate all Blur songs. But don't worry, you were right about Oasis. They are oik rock. And you never, ever grow to like them.

Writing: you write at the moment. For fun. Which most people think it is weird. Well, that won't really change - both the fact that you write, and that (some) people think it is weird. After a while, you will work out how to do it reasonably well. You will also find a medium (which will be introduced to you by a loquacious Welshman whose secret identity is an Easter Island monument - no, really) where you can publish your thoughts on a daily basis. And, believe it or not, people will actually read those thoughts. If you ever manage to pull your finger out and edit some of the creative stuff you have written, then you might be onto something with the writing lark. But, in 2009, that remains something for the future.

Professional life: I can't stop you choosing two different careers that you are entirely unsuited for. And I probably wouldn't stop you, even if I could. Because you make some money from those careers, make some great friends and learn how the real world works outside of the rarified atmosphere of a public school followed by a red-brick university. As much as it pains me to write this, don't go straight into academia after you leave university. You need to live in the "real world" for a bit. It will teach you a lot of important things, and make you a better - and more effective - person when you decide that the "real world" is best left to other people and you run away from it. If you want to make your various jobs a little more bearable, then don't get so hung up on them. Don't make them the centre of your life, especially if you hate them. But you won't actually manage that until about... 2007.

Personal life: I won't lie to you, this ends up being all over the place for a number of years. Some of those experiences are fun, some of them most definitely are not. But it ends up just fine. No, I can't tell you who is the love of your life. I really can't - because of the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey nature of reality. If you want a clue, that girl who joins in the Sixth Form and who you really fancy, well, it turns out she does like you too. But that's all I can say. Rest assured, when it happens, it will be awesome.

That's it from me, really. A couple of final points from the future: don't worry, Doctor Who does come back*. And it is tremendous. Although, to date, you have neither written for the series, nor been the star. You will also find you live in very different parts of the UK over the next 14 years, and also develop a fear of flying. But I won't tell you anything else. Lest I ruin the surprise.

Best of luck,

The Nameless Libertarian**

* Ignore Paul McGann. He proves to be the very definition of a false start.

**This will make sense in the future. Promise.

I'm not going to tag anyone. The 16 year old in me would hate myself if I did...