From the age of about 8 to 14, my ambition was to be a marine biologist..
I read every relevant book in the local library and became an obsessive self taught precocious expert on tropical fish;
commandeering one of my dad's sheds to house my fish tanks.
I also had a serious interest in amphibians and kept and bred newts and toads,
that I'd netted in local ditches....

As I neared 15 I became far more interested in girls and guitars,
and neglected the daily chores of keeping the tanks clean and healthy..

The amphibians were released back into their natural environment, and the fish dispersed to anyone my dad could give them away to.

So that was the end of that...


This is the first time in many years I've even remembered that phase of my life....