You can do some really neat things with the small CCFL tubes. A very simple test is to vary the 12 volt input to powerpack used for the tubes. - You can make your tube look like a "Light Saber" from Star Wars. As the voltage is increased, the light in the tube will start at the bottom, and gradually fill the entire tube. This can be done using a simple variable 0 - 12 V power supply.
I made a circuit using the PWM output from a 12F683 PIC to vary the 12 volts in a sawtooth fashion, making the tube fill with light, then decay down, then back, etc. Flashing on and off is also easily done. Switching / modifying the 12 volt input is easier than switching the high voltage side.