To answer Tim's perception question, yes, I think people can change their perceptions of others or the world. As you have experiences and gain knowledge throughout life, your views/perceptions of things will change. Now, changing how others perceive you can be kind of difficult, especially people who have known you for a while. They'll pretty much always perceive you as the way they've known you for however long.

What/which of your perceptions were you planning on changing?