This is something I love to see: For the first time in history, girls swept the prestigious high school science competition in New York yesterday. According to the Washington Post, It was the first time girls had ever won the grand prizes in both the team and individual divisions of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, with prizes ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 dollars to be used for college scholarships.

What a victory and inspiration for girls everywhere! For the longest time, careers in math, science and technology have been prohibitive for women because it’s been an old boys club for so long, but now that we’re starting to shatter the glass ceiling maybe this next generation of women will finally get to show the world what we’ve known for so long: girls are just smarter!

Worldwide there are more females being born than males, tho in many societies sons are still considered more valuable than daughters, basically because these societies value the ability to carry on the family name thru a male offspring. Infanticide of females is still a problem in many parts of the world. China is certainly the worst offender, but even in Japan the issue of offspring is starting to worry the establishment as Japan’s population grows older and the national birthrate continues to decline.

Immigration to Japan has always been difficult and prohibitive, but for the first time in history, the government is allowing first generation children with Japanese ancestry to emigrate, basically because the workforce is declining – so this is good news for me I think! Now I can immigrate back to Japan if I so chose and sort-of be welcomed! I would love to live in Japan, but that’s probably going to be unlikely to happen. Maybe when we retire we’ll take our nestegg and think about relocating… who knows.

My good news is that I’m back to sleeping in my own bed again! Yay! Jeff is feeling comfortable enough now that my being there isn’t going to keep him up all night, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to say goodbye to the guest room! Not that it isn’t comfortable, but when you get used to sleeping next to someone that absence really gets in the way of a good nights sleep.

It was so nice because we just laid there in the darkness listening to the wind whip around the chimney and thru the trees behind our house, and to the windchimes singing in the background – and we just talked. It was just like we always used to, like when we first met, or when we first got back together. Maybe absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

Our mutual practice of Buddhism always tends to work its way into our conversations, especially when it comes to reincarnation.

“It’s so cold” I said as I shivered under the blankets.

“Here, lay next to me…” he said as he reached around my shoulder and pulled me closer.

“Mmm… you’re so warm! I missed you! Sleeping next to you is like having a furnace in the bed with me! I usually wind up kicking off the blankets in the middle of the night!”

“Yeah… that’s that man heat thing…”

“Mmmm….” I quietly murmured as I closed my eyes and curled up into a ball next to him and rubbed my cold feet against his legs.

“Damn… your feet are like ice-cubes!” he teased, “Here, put them between my legs… you’ll be warm in a minute.”

“Thanks honey…”

We just laid there quietly and listened to the wind and to each other breathing. It didn’t take long for Moe to climb up on the bed and lurk his way up between us.

“Forget it cat!” I yelled as I reached around and picked him up by his belly and tossed him down towards the foot of the bed, “You’ve been sleeping here all week… it’s my turn!”

“Awww, don’t be hating on my cat…”

“Fuck that!” I giggled, “He’s had enough of you…”

Moe tried two more times to advance higher up the bed, each time being unceremoniously tossed aside until he finally gave up and jumped down and found a place to curl up on the Windsor chair in the corner of the bedroom.

“Jeff?”

“Yeah babe…?”

“I was really scared that I was going to lose you… you know?” I whispered.

“I know… I’m not going anywhere… and besides, I’d come back and haunt you…”

“You would?”

“Sure I would.”

“Thanks… you’d be reincarnated.”

“Yeah… eventually.”

“Who would you want to come back as?”

“Ah… yes. Who. I think I’d want to be a rock star… you know, maybe the next Joe Strummer or the next Prince… something like that.”

“Ugh… really?”

“Hell yeah! Why… who would you want to come back as?”

“Well, not any person specifically… but I would settle for Queen of England or the Empress of Japan!”

“Empress of Japan huh? They’ve never had an Empress… you might have a hard time with that one…”

“They almost changed the constitution to allow it because the Princesses weren’t giving birth to any male heirs, remember?”

“Oh yeah… then the younger one had a boy right?”

“Yeah…Princess Akishino had a son last year…so they’re all set now… fuckers.”

“Hmmm, yeah… I think you’re out of luck babe…”

“We’ll see. Are you tired?”

“Yeah… my thing hurts too…”

“Did you take a pill?”

“Yeah…”

“Then just go to sleep then…”

“Okay… goodnight… I love you Nina…”

“I love you too Jeff…”

We kissed goodnight and fell asleep. This morning I woke up and felt the best I have since this whole ordeal began.

So, since this is YouTube Tuesday and because I’m feeling good, I think we need to see some girls kissing girls!

Enjoy your Tuesday! Aishiteru wa!