Jenna rushed excitedly down the sidewalk. It was her first solo scan day, and she couldn’t wait to get to work. As she dashed past the long side of her building to get to the staff security entrance on the north side, her coffee and ice bounced around inside its plastic cup. She met Tony, the security guard, with a cheerful greeting, and hurried through the metal detector to the elevator beyond. She fought to slow her pace as she exited onto her floor, very aware of how fast her heart raced. She dumped her bag at her desk, booted her computer, and quickly logged into her account.

It’s been a few weeks since Project Hail Mary came out, so I feel less awful about the copious spoilers ahead. But it’s really difficult to discuss or describe Ryan Gosling’s intergalactic science fiction dramedy without getting into what makes it intergalactic or science fiction or dramedy. So here goes. 

Right at the top, I will say we can’t talk about Project Hail Mary without talking about my previously adored ‘Interstellar’ from 2014. It’s almost exactly the same plot with a few important deviations. 

The local Bellevue channels are awash with the news and developments of our new waterpark. Like everything else online, public opinion is varied and extreme. I, for one, am quite excited. Living just a couple of minutes away, my girls are already planning their first birthdays following the opening, not to mention the year-round fun afforded by the park’s main enclosure. Now, for obvious reasons, the public is mostly focused on promotional renderings and official updates from the city.

It’s been a couple hours since Teresa left to trade in the dirt bike and the sun is starting to fall quickly. We’re definitely going to have to stay the night and leave in the morning. Most of the kids seem ready for sleep, but I know they’re hungry because Judd won’t shut up about it. Despite me telling him explicitly not to, he has polled the other children several times and it seems everyone is hungry and they would all prefer “sketties”.