Hello there Blogging World! I hope you are keeping busy, even in the off months when there is no A to Z to turn your blog life into a crazy rush. But in case you were getting a little bit bored, I would like to introduce to you two memes that you might want to look into.
Especially if you like stories.
(We have had quite a few people participate in this year's Mythology and Storytelling sections in A to Z, which was amazing to see.)
Folklore Thursday
Folklore Thursday is a weekly meme, hosted on social media by The Witch, The Weird, and the Wonderful. People participating on Twitter and on their blogs post interesting tidbits of folklore - beliefs, customs, pictures of their favorite creatures, local legends, ghost stories, and fairy tales. Some tweets are book recommendations, and all the blogs are teeming with fairies, ghosts, Black Dogs, and all the creatures living on the other side of Reality.
If you are interested in folklore, legends, mythic fiction, fantasy, or any related topics, this is a treasure trove to dive into every week!
If you want to find out more, follow this link, or click on the #FolkloreThursday hashtag on Twitter! Hosted by @FolkloreThursday
Story Saturday
Story Saturday is also a weekly meme, started specifically for oral storytellers, and people interested in live storytelling. People use the #StorySat hashtag to talk about upcoming storytelling events, publish musings on life and work as a storyteller, and discuss stories that they are working with, or planning to tell. The hashtag was started by the #storytelling community to create a social media space where the term is used in its oral context - performance storytelling. Everyone is welcome to join who has an interest, or would like to learn more about the art form.
If you are interested in diving into the world of folklore and storytelling, check out these memes next time Thursday or Saturday rolls around.
Blog and Twitter away, story-lovers!
April Blogging from A to Z Challenge #AtoZChallenge
Friday, September 4, 2015
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Trans-Neptunian Objects: The Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, and Conspiracy Theories
Hi everyone and thanks for stopping by. I hope you are as excited as I am regarding our world and our place in it. We are truly in a new Age of Discovery as we search out the mysterious of our universe hidden since time began.
We recognize eight planets in our solar system, the furthest being Neptune which is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third-largest by mass. Beyond Neptune are what is referred to as Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO) which include minor planets like Pluto and other rocky and icy objects that orbit our sun.
Kuiper Belt: A disc-shaped region beyond Neptune extending from 30 – 55 astronomical units (AU). An AU is the approximate distance from the Sun to Earth, or 93 million miles. There are over a half million icy and rocky TNOs we know of so far with and close to 100,000 having a diameter of at least 100 kilometers (62 miles). There are probably hundreds of thousands more yet to be discovered along with a trillion or so comets. There are four dwarf planets that we know of. Most comets that take less than 200 years to orbit the sun are believed to be in the Kuiper Belt.
Astronomers think the frozen objects in the Kuiper Belt may hold clues about the origin of our solar system - sort of like how fossils tell the story of dinosaurs on Earth. Scientists think the gravity of big planets like Jupiter and Saturn swept all these icy leftovers out to the edge of our solar system.
Oort Cloud: In 1950, Dutch astronomer Jan Oort suggested that some of the comets entering the solar system come from a cloud of icy bodies, ammonia, and methane that may lie as far as 100,000 times Earth's distance from the sun. It is believed that this cloud of particles are the remains of the disc material which formed the Sun and the eight planets.
When its inhabitants interact with stars, molecular clouds, and gravity from the galaxy, they may find themselves spiraling inward toward the sun, or cast completely out of the solar system into distant regions of space. The Oort’s Cloud extreme distance makes it challenging for scientists to identify objects within it. Comets with orbits longer than 200 years originate from the Oort Cloud and can be as far as three light years from the sun.
Some astronomers theorize the Sun may have captured the material in the Oort Cloud from outer disks of other stars that formed in the same nebula as our star. The planetoid Sedna, discovered in 2003, is thought to reside here.
Conspiracy Theories: There is a conspiracy theory NASA knows of a mysterious unnamed planet lurking beyond Pluto. The scientific claims were based on observations of gravitational influences on a group of space bodies termed the “extreme trans-Neptunian objects” (ETNOs) orbiting our Sun beyond the planet Neptune. It's coming our way and spells certain doom for us, but our government is keeping it a secret. Yes, there is quite a following on this one. For more on this Click Here.
Did You Know: The New Horizons spacecraft is now heading toward the Kuiper Belt to an object named 2014 MU69 a billion miles away from Pluto, It is set to arrive in January 2019. The object is about fifteen miles wide and is small enough that it has not been modified by geologic processes and is far enough away from the sun’s influence that it likely has maintained its original composition. New Horizons will then keep going until it runs out of fuel.
Fun Facts: Astronomers have found structures similar to our Kuiper Belt around at least nine other stars using the Hubble Space Telescope.
References
Monday, August 31, 2015
Don't Drop the Ball
Fumble!!! If you're a football fan, you've heard that cry before. We're an enthusiastic football family and it's an easy game to compare to other things in life and that includes blogging.
When you're a running back and a hole opens in the line, you have to go for it and quickly. The same with blogging. When you have an opportunity to guest on another blog or exchange links with them, take advantage of it. Opportunities can disappear in the blink of an eye if you don't react as soon as you see it.
Be a team player. A successful blog is one with lots of friends and followers. Those wonderful people leaving comments are your team. They help you and you help them back. Promote others as they promote you. Link to them when they share something you really enjoyed and they'll have your back at some later opportunity.
Pick up your teammates when they get down. If they're not blogging as often as they used to or express discouragement in their posts, tell them how much you'd miss them if they stopped. Remind them of the fun things about blogging.
Keep your eye on the ball. Why did you start blogging? What did you enjoy about it? Make sure you're don't stray from what works for you. Eye on the target.
Play with heart. Blogging is work even when you love it. Put your heart into it and enjoy this wonderful network of like-minded people.
Don't be afraid to try something different if what you're doing isn't working. Adjust and blog on!
Hope you football haters didn't cringe at the comparisons. Or the football lovers. And as an extra, I should point out that it's easy to visit blogs while you're watching football. There's always time in between plays.
If you want more football goofiness, visit my blog, Susan Says, as I use football terms for some writing motivation. On another note, there is a big announcement coming to IWSG this Wednesday. If you're a writer, you should be part of that group.
Are you ready for some football?
When you're a running back and a hole opens in the line, you have to go for it and quickly. The same with blogging. When you have an opportunity to guest on another blog or exchange links with them, take advantage of it. Opportunities can disappear in the blink of an eye if you don't react as soon as you see it.
Be a team player. A successful blog is one with lots of friends and followers. Those wonderful people leaving comments are your team. They help you and you help them back. Promote others as they promote you. Link to them when they share something you really enjoyed and they'll have your back at some later opportunity.
Pick up your teammates when they get down. If they're not blogging as often as they used to or express discouragement in their posts, tell them how much you'd miss them if they stopped. Remind them of the fun things about blogging.
Keep your eye on the ball. Why did you start blogging? What did you enjoy about it? Make sure you're don't stray from what works for you. Eye on the target.
Play with heart. Blogging is work even when you love it. Put your heart into it and enjoy this wonderful network of like-minded people.
Don't be afraid to try something different if what you're doing isn't working. Adjust and blog on!
Hope you football haters didn't cringe at the comparisons. Or the football lovers. And as an extra, I should point out that it's easy to visit blogs while you're watching football. There's always time in between plays.
If you want more football goofiness, visit my blog, Susan Says, as I use football terms for some writing motivation. On another note, there is a big announcement coming to IWSG this Wednesday. If you're a writer, you should be part of that group.
Are you ready for some football?
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