you can still be an astronaut

One of the saddest things about getting as old as I am (29, for the curious, though that's apparently a 'joke age' that everyone who's insecure about being in their 30s claims to be. Which is it? You decide.), is not that I was learning long division when most of the public hospital doctors I meet were learning not to poo their pants, but that I can now never be an astronaut.

The chances were never high, admittedly, but when I was 12, it was still a theoretical possibility, and I took it for granted that one day I would do something just as cool. My Mum used to be an international hockey player, and I think my sisters and I all assumed we would be, as a matter of course. So international hockey player, astronaut, Prime Minister: these were all realistic possibilities in my head.

Now? Not so much. I can never be an astronaut; I've missed my chance. By the time I got my astrophysics PhD from MIT and my US citizenship, I'd be too old. I can never compete at the Olympics (unless it's in a non-sport like shooting that shouldn't be in there anyway), and the chances are pretty damn slim that I'll follow my Mum into the NZ hockey team. Prime Minister is still open, given the vagaries of MMP (Winston Peters as Treasurer and then Foreign Affairs Minister? Don Brash as Leader of the Opposition? Clearly, anything's possible), but becoming less and less likely as the years go by without me greasing up to any political party selection panel.

But Nick, you're only 25 today, and you can do anything. You could still go to the Olympics, and you can still be an astronaut. I'm trying not to be jealous.

Happy Birthday, my friend. I watch with interest.