Mission to Fake Mars

I’m kind of fascinated by this fake Mars mission experiment. Six astronauts are going to be locked up for three months in a space capsule to see how they react to the prolonged isolation of long-distance space travel. They’ll have all their supplies with them, and their communications to “Earth” will be delayed by 20 minutes. Won’t they all just go nuts? That’s what I’m expecting. Other questions that popped into my head: What do astronauts do with their garbage/human waste? Just dump it out into space? (I’m now picturing this space capsule hooked up like a motorhome at a camp ground.) And why aren’t there any women included? Surely the dynamics of a mixed group would be more interesting that all men.

Happy Anniversary, Snookums

Happy anniversary, Snookums
Nine years ago tonight – just about right now, in fact – I was in the Distillers Arms in Hammersmith celebrating being granted a British work visa (which meant I didn’t have to go home in a week). Pretty much the whole office had ended up there, and we were partying it up. Half a dozen of us decided to kick on to the “Leopard Lounge” in Fulham to do some dancing. The place was pretty sad, actually, and not very full, but we made the best of it. At one point I was dancing with the cute boy from the office that I had a crush on, and I just decided to go for it. We smooched and held hands. It was an incredible rush, yet at some level even then I knew it also felt completely comfortable and right. We’ve barely been apart since.

Us at the beginning Us now

It’s been a great nine years. Happy (real) anniversary to my best friend…