Moon Landing

Hello folks. I don't know who is aware, but today marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Like most young boys growing up in America, I used to dream of being an astronaut. What else would you want to be when you grow up seeing videos of men walking on the moon? Certainly not a lawyer.

I wish I could have been there, in 1969, to see it happen. I'm a person who appreciates competition, who probably does my best work when I know I need to beat someone else. I guess maybe that's why I've had some success in law school; it's founded upon that principle. So I think I can relate to the "space race," having to beat the Soviets to the moon. Above all, it stands for what we can accomplish if we have a goal, some motivation, and above all, belief in ourselves. So, I only think it appropriate to commemorate this day.

Now, I'm not a math or science sort of guy (although I have been inside an iron molecule). But, I think it's a shame we've rather neglected our space program since that fateful day. I guess I'm more of the opinion that exploration is important for the sheer sake of exploration, although I know it has tremendous practical advantages. It just seems like a tremendous waste of space if we just sit here on one planet. I wish Barack would take a bit more initiative towards the space program. I read this article in GQ about the Constellation program, and NASA is building some crazy shit right now to return to the moon, but they're doing it with only a fraction of the budget they had in the 1960's. They have this machine, where you can pee or sweat into it, and it will pump out pure drinking water. Imagine what they could do if they were properly funded! At the very least, some sort of tremendous common purpose would be nice. Like say, go to 50% renewable energy by 2025 or something.

Anyways, in English news, I went and bought some new shoes today. My old ones have become quite worn out, and they hurt my feet something terrible. I was dying in Brussels. Considering that I have to walk around Norway for 4 days next week and climb a fjord, I figured I needed to get some new kicks. Conveniently enough, I got a very nice, contemporary pair of Clarks on sale for £29.99. I was pleased.

Afterwards, I got bored, so I walked a block down the road to Selfridges, which is London's second department store after Harrod's. I just kind of marveled in awe at some of the products: £1,750 bottles of wine, £2,000 Armani suits, £150 cigars. I kept wondering, "Who can actually afford this? Who buys it? What do they do, and why do they do it?" I mean, the wine I buy typically costs around £10, if even that. It's just stunning, I mostly walked around in a kind of stupor. I won't say that I didn't wish I had one of those nice suits, but I decided for now, I'm just fine with the one I have.

For a bit of comic relief, I walked into the food hall, and came across a "Food from America" cooler. It was overflowing with boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese, Lucky Charms, huge jars of Jif peanut butter, and Oreos.

I always find it interesting to see how we (Americans) are perceived abroad, aside from being warmongering cowboys. The humdrum aspects of American life, like being fat and watching baseball. I'm happy to say that the UK Lonely Planet travel book to the USA recommended going to Minneapolis on the back cover, because it's a "hip, progressive city!" If there's anything Europeans like, it's hip, liberal, pretentious cities filled with coffee, organic groceries, and people who vote for Barack Obama.

Anyways, a bit of a scattershot post. But in the above vein, I'm happy to announce that English folk seem to associate the moon landing with the tolerable side of America.