Happy 4th!

Despite any political affiliations I'd like to say Happy Fourth of July! 

AND because it's a Holiday....

 

I'll be taking the day off and returning to our regularly scheduled posts on Tuesday. 

Why Space Travel Is Necessary

Space travel is necessary because one day, a black hole is going to swallow our world...

Black holes exist! They spin too--Myth-Busters proved it! 

I've been watching the forums for Curiosity and my conclusion is people of the space verity are freaky scary.  Not chase you with a knife scary, but we didn't really go to the moon terrifying.  Mr. Armstrong punching out one of the reporters claiming he didn't really go to the moon is my sentiments exactly.

And then there are friends I have that really scare me with their intelligence. People that figure out the velocity and speed a black hole is turning. To all you people you are amazing. And scary. 

You tell me things like our galaxy is swallowing another galaxy and we're all being tossed around in a galaxy vs. galaxy universe-cage fight. You tell me don't worry, the sun won't burn out for millions of years. By then we'll be off the planet or extinct.

Got me wondering about our last days alive or the launch escape from earth... 

Would I go or stay? Chaaa...like I wouldn't take the chance to go! What about you?

Mercury Retrograde Moment

Mercury goes retrograde several times a year.  Usually for a few weeks.  

The closer the planet is to my sun sign, the more Mercury Retrograde Moments I have.  

A MRM (Mercury Retrograde Moment) is when you can't communicate or when your computer gives you the finger.  Things like, not being able to open your browser.  That's the double whammy because it involves technology AND communication.   

Mercury loves technology--it's the computer God. The messenger planet revolves most its focus on technology, I believe, because its our main source of communication.  But when that first planet from sun goes "backwards" it seems everything goes haywire!


Think of it this way.  Mercury is the IT guy of the solar system.  When he's happy, communication runs smooth.  When he's frazzled, everything electronic goes wrong.  Even your own communication skills sour.  

For instance, I've been working on a software program for 9 months now that I know how to work around.  For the past week, it's been like a brain fart.  It's like I forgot how to open MS Word.  It's that ridiculous. 

So if Mercury is the IT guy, imagine a really busy nerd on vacation trying to get things done via Skype.  You wouldn't want to work on vacation so don't bust his balls.  Relax.  He goes on several vacations a year, but they're short.  He'll be back.  

What you can do is back-up your hard-drive and command patience when trying to communicate to others.  This will be the time phone conversations will be jumbled and scatter brained drive thru attendants will give you a sprite instead of a coke.  

If you're not experiencing this, it's probably because you're dense, you have the patience of a planet, or Mercury is not in your sign.  

Here's a great site that tells you if we're in retrograde:

http://www.ismercuryinretrograde.com/

Also, Susan Miller has a great explanation of what to expect during Mercury retrograde here:

http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/mercury.html

So my advice is: Don't travel.  Stow away the phone.  Back up the computer.  Have no expectations of getting your drive thru order correct.  And, pray to Mercury when your hard drive fails--just not during retrograde. 

   

Curiosity

Touchdown never sounded so good!  

We watched and waited like so many other Americans on NASA tube.  We've seen the animated video and we've tracked on eyes in the sky for the rover.  

I didn't dare believe it until the first thumbnail came in.  When it did I knew that little VW bug had a life of its own--a soul.  It was like Curiosity sent a picture saying, "I'm okay!  See, feet on the ground!"  

"Curiosity" captured me by its name.  It's the rover that embodies human nature. This rover has but one duty, one objective.  To explore Mars.  It gets to spend it's whole life wandering around, collect samples and report back.  

It could get lonely, but I know of one other rover still alive on Mars.  It would not surprise me if they were seen hanging out.  

Everyone who worked on the rover did a miraculous job.  We could get spoiled by NASA's perfection but this was a multilayer process where everyone labored over and thoroughly thought out.  It took combined effort to get this machine to Mars.  NASA is proud of their job and the feat they overcame to get the largest rover ever built safely to another planet.  We are proud of them.

The Wise Old Crone Is Talking To You

Men seek knowledge.  Women have wisdom.  It's interesting to see that men seek what they think women have.  Yet, why is it that no one listens to the wise crone?  There is one in every one of us. 

This could be the fourth time, this year, someone has asked me to "slap" them from making a mistake.  

I always do, but even when I make my observations they never take the advice.  Maybe they believe their way is right.  Maybe they can't see the train wreck coming.  Perhaps I don't bullet point the occurrences I see happening, but even when I do no one listens. 

When you seek out advice from the crone, this could be the reason why she speaks in riddles.  You're not going to listen to her anyways.  You're too close to the situation.  

If she were to speak the plain truth--you're future wife is Cthulhu.  Don't switch jobs, you'll be worse off than you are now.  Please don't lower your insurance--oops I'm sorry.  If I said these things, all it would do is hurt your feelings. 

One seeks the Crone to be justified.  Then blame the crone for not warning you.  Fantastic.  The secret to the Crone is, her knowledge is for HER benefit, not yours.  You know why?  Cause her knowledge was gained with wisdom.  Hard, life altering, painful school-of-hard-knocks learning wisdom.  Her lessons aren't your lessons. 

If you have the open mind to heed the crone, you're life could easily avoid soul crushing failure.  Maybe that's not better though.  You see, wisdom of the Crone is knowing enough to know she knows little, that others paths don't follow hers, everyone needs to learn the hard way, and they aren't going to listen anyway. 

So the next time you seek guidance, the next time you read the tarot, the next time you search for the right path, you must understand that this is your journey.  Each one is unique.  Each path is yours.  You have a Crone and it's your choice to listen.  

The Moon

I love the feel of wind massaging my skin, a fire with it's snake tongues lashing in waves and the stars with no moon to suppress their light.  

Face down, forehead on my arms I let the beams of thousands of years whisper their adventures as they cascade at this rest stop before they go for however long light can reach.  

The fire has always been kind to me even if it is consuming its fuel at a fascinating rate.  If you are what you eat then this fire was made from the trees I cared for, tried to nurse back to health, but eventually became too old or sick to continue on.  They became ripe and rotted until we admitted, finally, that the tree with no leaves in spring would not come back and took it down before it fell onto the house.  

This pyre is half mourning for the friend that provided apricots and shade and half rejoicing for the warmth and the return of a trees elements to grow another.  

The wind is soft and lovingly wraps around my bare form making a coat of warm breath around me and turns like a cat to play with ash and sparks twirling them in a spiral offering them up to the stars as tribute or to add another story to their timeless travel.  

I love this place of wind, fire and starlight; my backyard.  

Fires From Space

This link was fascinating and I had to share! It's a visual of forest fires from space.

Huge fires almost always look threatening and overwhelming from the ground, but it's often difficult to grasp the larger impact of, say, an agricultural fire in China or a series of drought-related fires in Texas. NASA's just-released visual tour of Earth's tens of millions fires shows just how large certain fires look from space.

Go to this link below:

Fires From Space

9 Things you should know about the universe

Jay Pasachoff

The transit of Venus, astronomy’s most rare predictable event, will take place next summer, on June 5, 2012. With the transit and several other astronomical events right around the corner, the Williams Alumni Review asked astronomy department chair Jay Pasachoff what we ought to know about the universe.

1. Hubble changed everything.
2. What looks like empty sky isn’t.
3. Don’t rule out life on other planets.
4. The universe just keeps getting bigger faster.
5. The next frontier is infrared and very, very cold.
6. Pluto’s getting hotter.
7. Astronomy’s rarest predictable phenomenon is just around the corner.
8. Mercury will cross the sun in 2015.
9. This fall and winter are also prime times to see astronomical events.

Go HERE for more info on this article and about astronomer Jay Pasachoff.