Space is really big. Beyond infinite, and still growing exponentially. It's impossible to count the stars in space-- scientists currently use the amount of stars in the Milky Way to estimate, and that number is 200-400 billion stars in the galaxy. With potentially billions upon billions of other galaxies in space, it's physically impossible to comprehend the amount of stars in space.
Halley's Comet won't appear again until the year 2061. I will be 59 years old.
Scientists may have found a planet made out of diamonds. A planet named 55 Cancri e may have a surface composed completely of graphite and pure diamond according to research done by scientists at Yale University. The planet is 400 lightyears away from planet Earth but shines in the constellation Cancer.
The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way – where our solar system is – at rate of around 110 kilometres per second, and eventually the two will collide to form a giant elliptical galaxy.
In space, if two metals of the same kind touch each other they will permanently bond. This is called cold welding. It occurs because with nothing between the bare atoms, the two pieces have no way of knowing they aren't the same piece. This is impossible on Earth because there will always be air and water in between atoms.
Astronomers have found a massive water vapor cloud which holds 140 trillion times the mass of water in the Earth’s oceans somewhere around 10 billion light years away – making it the largest discovery of water ever found.
On Venus, one day is longer than an Earth year.
In space, the human spine straightens out since it is no longer being pulled down by gravity. You can become up to 1.97 inches taller in zero gravity.
Space is closer than you think. Space officially begins at the universal marker of the Karman Line. This invisible boundary is 100km above the Earth. In theory if you could drive your car upwards, you could be in space in less than hour.
The core of a star reaches 288,000,000,32 degrees Farenheit. If a single grain of sand were that hot, it would kill someone from 93.2057 miles away.
In the past twenty years, we've discovered over a thousand planets outside our solar system.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Introducing a New Universe (Aka, the reason I keep designing new characters without developing them, oops)
The Lafaye Universe-- History and Characters
History:
Way back at the beginning of the world, humans and the non-human groups, dubbed “magics”, co-existed in peace. The magics kept to their own business and the humans kept to theirs, and everything was alright. But as time went on, people began to realize they knew very little about magics and what they were capable of, and humans fear what they do not understand. Due to some un-condoned, violent acts committed by a certain group of dragons, this fear was only strengthened. Eventually, the humans gained enough power and political influence to have every single magic transported to a large, habitable island in the Atlantic, positioned almost exactly in the middle between North America and England. This transference is referred to in history books and by legend as The Separation. The magics were only agreeable to The Separation because the leaders hoped to avoid war, and because the humans had agreed to provide food, resources, and all current technological advances to the island. The island was still aware of what was going on in the world around them—all the current political events, the wars, the natural disasters, the news—and they had the same advancements in science and technology. They weren’t completely sealed off, just contained. Even though the magics showed no sign of rebellion or wishes to leave the island after they were transported, the humans thought it best to add security measures as time went on, building first fences, then walls, then electrical securities as time progressed. As the magics settled in, most ill-will and rebellious thoughts either cooled away or were carefully kept quiet. The humans were kept educated about the magics, what little they knew of them, and the political leaders strove to keep their memory from disappearing as best they could.
Time passed.
Politics shifted, as did people in powerful positions, and new ideas began circulating. The government eventually decided that, if they were careful, magics and humans could potentially co-exist once more. They began incorporating more and more knowledge of magic’s culture, abilities, and differences into public education and knowledge, teaching into two or three generations how to live side-by-side with magics. On the flipside, magics were also taught about human cultures and differences. This was to prepare both sides for the eventual release of the magics, to avoid problems such as cultural clashes and racism from taking place. The magics were released into the world on July the 14th, and three-fourths of the population moved away from the island and into the worlds, almost half of the movers immigrating into the USA. This major event is referred to as The Union.
Despite the government’s best efforts to prevent it, racism, intolerance, and clashes did ensue among the people. Many occurrences such as restaurants refusing service to magics, hate crimes against magics community buildings, protests, and so on took place, causing discontent and further protests on the magic’s side. The government has stepped in and passed laws that changed some of it, but there is still much malcontent, hatred, and racism present in today’s culture.
Way back at the beginning of the world, humans and the non-human groups, dubbed “magics”, co-existed in peace. The magics kept to their own business and the humans kept to theirs, and everything was alright. But as time went on, people began to realize they knew very little about magics and what they were capable of, and humans fear what they do not understand. Due to some un-condoned, violent acts committed by a certain group of dragons, this fear was only strengthened. Eventually, the humans gained enough power and political influence to have every single magic transported to a large, habitable island in the Atlantic, positioned almost exactly in the middle between North America and England. This transference is referred to in history books and by legend as The Separation. The magics were only agreeable to The Separation because the leaders hoped to avoid war, and because the humans had agreed to provide food, resources, and all current technological advances to the island. The island was still aware of what was going on in the world around them—all the current political events, the wars, the natural disasters, the news—and they had the same advancements in science and technology. They weren’t completely sealed off, just contained. Even though the magics showed no sign of rebellion or wishes to leave the island after they were transported, the humans thought it best to add security measures as time went on, building first fences, then walls, then electrical securities as time progressed. As the magics settled in, most ill-will and rebellious thoughts either cooled away or were carefully kept quiet. The humans were kept educated about the magics, what little they knew of them, and the political leaders strove to keep their memory from disappearing as best they could.
Time passed.
Politics shifted, as did people in powerful positions, and new ideas began circulating. The government eventually decided that, if they were careful, magics and humans could potentially co-exist once more. They began incorporating more and more knowledge of magic’s culture, abilities, and differences into public education and knowledge, teaching into two or three generations how to live side-by-side with magics. On the flipside, magics were also taught about human cultures and differences. This was to prepare both sides for the eventual release of the magics, to avoid problems such as cultural clashes and racism from taking place. The magics were released into the world on July the 14th, and three-fourths of the population moved away from the island and into the worlds, almost half of the movers immigrating into the USA. This major event is referred to as The Union.
Despite the government’s best efforts to prevent it, racism, intolerance, and clashes did ensue among the people. Many occurrences such as restaurants refusing service to magics, hate crimes against magics community buildings, protests, and so on took place, causing discontent and further protests on the magic’s side. The government has stepped in and passed laws that changed some of it, but there is still much malcontent, hatred, and racism present in today’s culture.
Character Profiles:
Name: Charm LaFaye
Age: 16
Race: Hamadryad (forest-spirit)
Personality: Rebellious and ready to fight. Lives on the streets, claiming she ran away from home. Hates the government/society that discriminates against her and people like her. Joins protests and riots whenever she thinks it's worth it. Will start fights with anybody, besides her friends. If she really likes you, there's no getting rid of her. Maintains a street-tough image to survive among the rivalries and gangs out on the streets. Practices herb/witch type magic and follows the phases of the moon, despite the fact that witch magic is illegal. Has three magical tattoos-- a bunny that hops around all over her right arm and likes sleeping just under her elbow, a raccoon on her other arm that also moves but only shows up at night, and a branch of flowers covering the right side of her neck and collarbone that change and bloom differently depending on the season.
Likes: Herbs and candles, dragons, cacti, fistfights, standing up for what she wants/believes in, protecting her close friends, the moon, watching the sunset/sunrise, sodas in glass bottles, enchanting things, trees
Dislikes: The government/society, her past, coffee, pollution, being proven wrong, weakness, know-it-alls, tight spaces, physical contact
Fears: Dying without purpose, being forced to return to her old life, claustrophobia
Habits: Wakes up early to watch the sunrise every morning, throws herself into situations without thinking, fidgets with the choker she wears, constantly speaks without thinking
Song: King-- Lauren Aquilina, Boy In The Bubble-- Alec Benjamin
Name: Tiral Hidsway
Age: 18
Race: Human
Personality: Ambitious, friendly, bold. Wants to be seen as equal. Unafraid of people's judgment.
Likes you unless you're rude. Dreams big, and follows them. Poet and baker, has published a book
of poetry and works at Vea's Bakery. Stands up for people, but in a non-violent way. Has magical
tattoos across her face-- stars that change places and number depending on a variety of factors,
they never look the same twice.
Likes: Words, tea, her job, kind people, space aesthetics, courage, quotes, being warm,
music, uniqueness, daydreaming
Dislikes: Pie, rude/judgemental people, being confused, the dark, being interrupted, the cold
Fears: The dark, being misjudged/perceived as unkind, losing what she loves
Habits: Writes quotes/random words on her arm-- always has a pen, can't sleep with at least a little
bit of light, bites her nails when she's nervous
Song: Rise Up-- Andrea Day, Saturn-- Sleeping at Last
Name: Miraran Lian
Age: 20
Race: "One of the Forgotten" (a race of warrior-types specifically dedicated to protecting ideals, groups, or sovereigns, forgotten as time passed and the magics were separated-- most died out)
Personality: Distant, daydreams a lot. When focused, she teases and jokes a lot. Dislikes society and it's views, but understands the government is at least trying to fix the problem, and thinks the laws should be upheld. Tries to discourage the protests and riots. Has a small rivalry with Charm because of that. Keeps a small gang of other magics together, and more or less leads them.
Likes: Quiet, her group, dreaming, flying, hot cocoa, freedom, jokes
Dislikes: The rebellious, Charm, being trapped, riots, questions about her/her family/her race
Fears: Being trapped/unable to fly, losing the last remnants of family she has
Habits: Tends to immediately take off and fly for a few hours when frusterated, wings flare widely when she's experiencing a strong emotion, gets lost in thought and spaced-out very easily.
So there you have it, a brand-new universe that I've been working on for a couple months now. There are other characters, less developed than these, that I'm still working on, and a few more aspects of this world I have yet to explore-- but there's a start! Thanks for reading this far- I know it was long ;)
-Kaytie
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Surviving Suffering
Once upon a time, there was a woman who had suffered much loss through her life. Due to wars and famine, each of her family members had died, one by one. Finally, after her last living relative had passed, she could not take it anymore. She packed up and traveled to speak to a wise old man, who was rumored to be a potion master with strong magical powers.
"Please, wise man-- can you make a potion to bring my family back?"
The wise man was silent for a long time.
"I have the materials for the potion- all except one, and you must bring it to me."
The woman nodded eagerly, hopeful.
"You must bring me one grain of rice from a single family who has suffered no loss and lives in complete, unbroken contentment."
The lady was confused, but agrees and begins her journey to find such a family.
For a full year she traveled, speaking to each family she found that appeared to be happy and asking for a grain of rice. She went around the world, leaving no stone unturned, and finally returned to the wise old man.
"I could not bring you what you asked for-- every family I spoke to, even the ones who seemed happiest, had suffered loss or had some discontent within."
The wise man nodded. "You have learned. The potion cannot be made, for no person is without hurt, and everyone has suffered loss.
"They have healed, and so will you."
"Please, wise man-- can you make a potion to bring my family back?"
The wise man was silent for a long time.
"I have the materials for the potion- all except one, and you must bring it to me."
The woman nodded eagerly, hopeful.
"You must bring me one grain of rice from a single family who has suffered no loss and lives in complete, unbroken contentment."
The lady was confused, but agrees and begins her journey to find such a family.
For a full year she traveled, speaking to each family she found that appeared to be happy and asking for a grain of rice. She went around the world, leaving no stone unturned, and finally returned to the wise old man.
"I could not bring you what you asked for-- every family I spoke to, even the ones who seemed happiest, had suffered loss or had some discontent within."
The wise man nodded. "You have learned. The potion cannot be made, for no person is without hurt, and everyone has suffered loss.
"They have healed, and so will you."
Sunday, January 6, 2019
The Downside to Creativity: A Sort-Of Rant
Hello, dear readers!
I know it's been awhile since I actually buckled down and wrote a real post, rather than turning my thoughts into poetry or copy-pasting stories I've written recently to introduce you to some characters. But I felt like I ought to put some effort into today's blog post, and I didn't have it in me to poet today, and I had a blurry-ish idea of a concept to talk about-- so after a good 10 minutes spent determining what exactly I had in mind, here I am!
So..
Creativity has its benefits. It really does. It's satisfying to have brought something into existence, creating things stimulates your brain in ways most other things can't, and you get plenty of compliments and recognition for being a creative person. You feel accomplished, you see things in different ways and find inner beauty easily, you have something constructive to spend your money on, and overall, it's not a bad thing.
But it does have its drawbacks.
The first one I want to address is something I deal with constantly, especially today. Today, I attended a two-hour long meeting for the leadership team of my church, and it was a struggle. Why? I simply couldn't focus.This happens a lot during classes, sermons, movies, and the like as well. I get distracted by the story (or stories) I have floating around in my head, thinking about where I left off last and where I want to go with it next and what's happened already-- and before I know it, ten minutes have passed and I'm totally lost. This is helpful in situations when I'm bored, like if I'm waiting for something, but if I'm in the middle of a meeting and someone asks me a question and I had not been paying attention, it makes things really awkward. I've discovered if I have something to doodle with, or something to occupy my hands, it helps keep me "grounded" and not floating off in my thoughts, but even so, this is a downside to a creative mind that I deal with on a daily basis.
This second one is sort of related to the first one. It often feels like most, if not all, I do is connected in some way to my writing or art. This isn't something that I mind terribly, and my work has definitely improved because of it, but there will be times I'm listening to a song that suddenly reminds me of a specific part of a specific character's life and I go really, again? Plus, it sometimes ruins songs for me, especially if I dislike the character it reminds me of. (I blame my sudden fascination with lofi hip-hop beats on this, since it has no lyrics and no connection to my writing at all.) Also, I'm constantly confronted by seeing a situation and immediately thinking about how I can incorporate it into a story or scene. I will mention that this has helped me go through several hard times and has improved my writing dramatically. It's just that sometimes it catches me off guard and just makes me realize normal people aren't like this. Normal people can appreciate this fully without dissecting it to use later. But again, these doesn't bother me that much, it's just vaguely irritating.
The absolute worst thing is when you just can't create. Writer's block, artist's block, and so forth can get extremely exasperating. This gets empathized when you're in the mood to create something, anything, or you have ideas that you know will work out or become clearer if you could just let them out. Sometimes it's like you want to open the door to let a flood of, say, tennis balls (I don't know, tennis balls is all my brain is giving me right now) out of a closet, and these balls are the best things ever.... but the doorknob is jammed and you just can't get it unstuck.
Now. there are probably a few more things I could add here, things that I'm not really thinking about at the moment or that I can't really articulate right now, but since it's been a fairly busy/productive day today and tomorrow is going to be exhausting and I've already written about 700 words already, I'm going to cut it off here. I hope you enjoyed this post, or maybe learned something, or at least gained a sense of accomplishment for reading all the way through my complaints...
Anyway- goodnight, dear readers! I'll be back next week!
--Kaytie
I know it's been awhile since I actually buckled down and wrote a real post, rather than turning my thoughts into poetry or copy-pasting stories I've written recently to introduce you to some characters. But I felt like I ought to put some effort into today's blog post, and I didn't have it in me to poet today, and I had a blurry-ish idea of a concept to talk about-- so after a good 10 minutes spent determining what exactly I had in mind, here I am!
So..
Creativity has its benefits. It really does. It's satisfying to have brought something into existence, creating things stimulates your brain in ways most other things can't, and you get plenty of compliments and recognition for being a creative person. You feel accomplished, you see things in different ways and find inner beauty easily, you have something constructive to spend your money on, and overall, it's not a bad thing.
But it does have its drawbacks.
The first one I want to address is something I deal with constantly, especially today. Today, I attended a two-hour long meeting for the leadership team of my church, and it was a struggle. Why? I simply couldn't focus.This happens a lot during classes, sermons, movies, and the like as well. I get distracted by the story (or stories) I have floating around in my head, thinking about where I left off last and where I want to go with it next and what's happened already-- and before I know it, ten minutes have passed and I'm totally lost. This is helpful in situations when I'm bored, like if I'm waiting for something, but if I'm in the middle of a meeting and someone asks me a question and I had not been paying attention, it makes things really awkward. I've discovered if I have something to doodle with, or something to occupy my hands, it helps keep me "grounded" and not floating off in my thoughts, but even so, this is a downside to a creative mind that I deal with on a daily basis.
This second one is sort of related to the first one. It often feels like most, if not all, I do is connected in some way to my writing or art. This isn't something that I mind terribly, and my work has definitely improved because of it, but there will be times I'm listening to a song that suddenly reminds me of a specific part of a specific character's life and I go really, again? Plus, it sometimes ruins songs for me, especially if I dislike the character it reminds me of. (I blame my sudden fascination with lofi hip-hop beats on this, since it has no lyrics and no connection to my writing at all.) Also, I'm constantly confronted by seeing a situation and immediately thinking about how I can incorporate it into a story or scene. I will mention that this has helped me go through several hard times and has improved my writing dramatically. It's just that sometimes it catches me off guard and just makes me realize normal people aren't like this. Normal people can appreciate this fully without dissecting it to use later. But again, these doesn't bother me that much, it's just vaguely irritating.
The absolute worst thing is when you just can't create. Writer's block, artist's block, and so forth can get extremely exasperating. This gets empathized when you're in the mood to create something, anything, or you have ideas that you know will work out or become clearer if you could just let them out. Sometimes it's like you want to open the door to let a flood of, say, tennis balls (I don't know, tennis balls is all my brain is giving me right now) out of a closet, and these balls are the best things ever.... but the doorknob is jammed and you just can't get it unstuck.
Now. there are probably a few more things I could add here, things that I'm not really thinking about at the moment or that I can't really articulate right now, but since it's been a fairly busy/productive day today and tomorrow is going to be exhausting and I've already written about 700 words already, I'm going to cut it off here. I hope you enjoyed this post, or maybe learned something, or at least gained a sense of accomplishment for reading all the way through my complaints...
Anyway- goodnight, dear readers! I'll be back next week!
--Kaytie
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