Henk’s Personal log
Who are you?
My name is Henk Brouwer, I’m 48 years old and I live in Nijmegen (Netherlands).
Why do you consider yourself a Star Trek fan?
I grew up with science fiction from an early age (Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, Battle of the planets). My first Star Trek movie I saw in the cinema was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and I were actually sold right away. After that, I saw every movie in the cinema. Later I watched the series. When Voyager came out I really become a Trekkie! I bought the videotapes, bought some posters and even collected some other items. Since 2004 I really started collecting and also bought the Star Trek books, models, series and much more. Nowadays I have a nice collection.
You still have the videotapes and play them?
I still have the videotapes and a video recorder. Nowadays I also have everything on DVD and besides that, they are also available on the computer and Netflix. So no, they no longer play.
Which Star Trek series do you like best and why?
Star Trek Voyager is my big favourite, I fell in love with its ship (which I also have as a model in my room) and I liked Tom Paris (he was the end). The storyline of that series really appealed to me. A sentence that I attach great importance to is “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey you make”. That’s how I stand in life.
What was the last Star Trek-related gift you gave someone and why?
For a very good friend of mine, I made my own design Star Trek flag. It’s huge (90cm x 220cm) and has the most important starships on it.
Where did you gain this knowledge about working with images?
I like to edit photos. At a certain point, I started to use windows Paint and later switched to Photoshop. After a while I started working for a printing company, here I also did a lot with Indesign. Now I do it mainly as a hobby, but I still enjoy doing it.
If you could live in the Star Trek universe, what would you be / do?
I would test new (Star) ships, what the possibilities are of those ships and design these ships myself.
If you could have designed a ship for yourself, what would it look like? Gosh, nice question. I think a small reconnaissance ship, smaller than for example the USS Voyager (less staff and super fast). I would make a few things like the bridge and things like that. I’ve made a concept drawing once, looked a bit like the Phoenix from the Battle of the Planets series. Maybe I’ll show it to you guys later.
If you had a wish for humanity, what would it be?
That we no longer look at each other with envy and jealousy, but learn from each other and try to get a better world. That not everything revolves around the individual.