More on M: Part 5.2

What makes you happy about the way the world is now?

Hmm. The world now is…OK. The Conjuring movies are scary and I am interested in that. They’re scary, but some parts are also funny.

Do you believe in an afterlife?

I believe I’ll go to heaven or come back as an animal. I think God will let me choose if I want to stay in heaven for a while and then go back to spend time as an animal.

What makes you sad about the way the world is now?

Animal testing, what happens with animal testing, like humans still want more types of makeup and they test on animals to see if it's safe. It hurts the animals. We should stop it. 

So, what goals are you trying to achieve these days?

Being the best at basketball. And at Crossy Road [video game].

Any other questions you want to answer or any other things you want to tell your future self when you read this on the blog?

I want to I want to ask myself if I was an interesting kid. 

Do you think you're a good person and what makes you interesting? 

Yes. I get along with most people pretty well

Why?

Because I'm amazing. And no fear!

Are you nice or are you mean?

Easy—I’m nice. 

And do you have many friends?

Yes, I think so. Just the right amount of friends.

Are you getting along with your sister?

Yeah…actually  no, no. 

Last question. How would you describe your relationship with your big sister, Lady E.? 

Pretty bad. She's always annoying, and always makes it my fault. 

Are you really sure about that?

Yeah, so very sure.  

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More on M: Part 5.1

This blog attempts to capture how the Rising Daughters are growing up and logs a few of my related musings. This latest round of Rising Daughters™ life stage snapshots provides an overview of Marina’s current life which has resumed in her old neighborhood. The environment in Yokohama is relatively unchanged, but this kid is a textbook case of work-in-progress.

What's been the hardest thing for you to readjust to since you moved back to Yokohama?

Learning kanji* and making a new routine. By routine I mean my normal after-school activities like homework and snacks, and my night stuff like taking a bath and bedtime.
*Chinese characters modified and used in the Japanese language

What are your favorite clothes these days?
I like the Paris T-shirt and my Vsco shirt. It has a happy aesthetic and you can add a scrunchie to go with it. I also like Doraemon character stuff.

How did you learn the word “aesthetic”?

It's from the internet. Duh.

Any new hobbies or sports?
I started to play basketball on a team in our neighborhood. We play at my school gym, and we practice three days a week with one game. It’s tiring but I like it.

What's your favorite ice cream/or candy?
I like the matcha* ice cream and marble chocolate. That’s chocolate shaped like a circle with a lucky number on it.
*green tea flavored 

Who is more fun to play with, boys or girls?
Girls. Because there's just many more things you can agree on.

What's your average day like?
Busy and pretty exciting.

Tell us about the past year at school in Yokohama. What have you learned?
Studying is not too hard for me. I study, but not too much. Somehow, when I don't study I still get OK grades.

What books are you reading lately?
I was reading the Wild Robot books, but then I switched to reading Roald Dahl books. After I finished one or two of them, I started to like reading scary slasher mystery series instead.

What’s your favorite toy or thing to do these days?
I like interior design and aesthetics.

What would you like to say to your future self, when you’re 21?
Have you learned more details about flight attendant jobs yet and what college did you get into?

In what place are you happiest?
In my bed or on the couch--the couch downstairs in the living room. It means I'm watching TV and relaxing.

What is your greatest challenge now?
Tests at school. Well, I'm not having trouble. And I just started basketball, so I want to get better at it. I’m still learning.

To be continued...

Getting Spacier Each Day

Courtesy of Shutterstock.com

I am going to space.

I was launched into this world during the salad days of NASA’s Apollo moon landings. Need I mention 2001: A Space Odyssey? Mind blowing stuff. As an adolescent, I experienced my generation’s first “where were you when you heard…” moment when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986. 

Apart from this, Tom Wolfe’s iconic book, The Right Stuff, and its movie adaption drew me back to thinking about the void above us. I've always known that intestinal grit and Mensa IQs are prerequisites to even consider trying to get to outer space. Astronauts seemed superhuman.

I don’t think my celestial yearnings and sentiments are anything unique. Who doesn’t wonder what it’s like outside the Earth’s atmosphere and gravitational pull? The growing prospect of accessible space travel over the past few years is tantalizing. A spate of movies like Gravity and, more recently, Ad Astra, intruded into my thoughts as I went about my life. Then companies began to float the prospect of commercial space travel for civilians.

Soon after visiting the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, I drank too much hooch and woke up the next morning a citizen of Asgardia. It’s the "First Space Nation, a unique international community of forward-looking people, a digital state with its own transparent economy focused on scientific progress on Earth and in space." These days Asgardia has over one million citizens on terra firma, yet remains represented in space in the form of a 6 lbs. (2.7 kg) bread-box-size satellite floating in low-Earth orbit since November 2017.

So that’s that.

Branson’s Virgin’s Galactic SpaceShipTwo vs. Bezos’ New Shepherd space vehicle
Billionaires competed to reach space first in a private suborbital space vehicle! This brought renewed hope to average dudes like me. Thanks to Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX, and other lesser knowns, there is a renaissance in private sector space flight. 

So, I’ve finally put my money where my mouth is. I ponied up a $30 donation to the Space For Humanity NPO to qualify for 250 entries to win two seats on a flight into space with Virgin Galactic.

Win a raffle; go on suborbital space fandango…loony idea? Yes.
Possible? Surely yes, but mathematically speaking the odds of winning a seat aren’t good.
I’m optimistic the cosmic tumblers will fall into place for me.

The draw will be held in late September.
I repeat: I am going to space.

Warmest & best,
Major Tom