Did you say you milked a goat?

@Lianabrooks did u say u mlkd a goat???

Um.... yes? I wish I could claim it was for research, but I write sci-fi and goats have never featured into my writing. Although I might try to sneak a goat onto a spaceship now. It would be interesting.

The story is: I went to a friend's farm last weekend for dinner. She has goats, chickens, cows, the usual barnyard assortment. She makes her own cheese, is in a partially renovated house that seems to be in a constant state of growth, weaves her own fabric, and her daughters paint. All in all, it's an interesting place for a city girl like me to visit. While we were there enjoying her cooking she invited my girls to collect eggs and feed the goats. Along with goat feeding, came goat milking. And so I tried.

It's not as hard as I expected. But I don't see a goat in my future. Stopping at a grocery store is so much easier!



Lasers and Loincloths:
So, once I admitted that I do have a the soul of a romantic (safely stowed in a glass jar on the shelf, it twinkles so brightly on the cold winter nights... 0.0 moving on... ), and joined SFR Brigade I stumbled on some very odd conversations. Well, not odd really. Maybe the word I'm looking for is riotous.

There is always a little confusion over what people mean when they say Science Fiction Romance. Are we talkin' a kilt in a spaceport, or hardcore military sci-fi with relationships that last past first lust?

Something like this (culled from an old NaNo novel) comes to mind:

Aster studied the cover. “I’ve never seen a woman look like that,” she said. “Do people take their clothes off in ports at our new home?”

“No dear, no one will have their bodice ripped in a space port by a man dressed like a 16th century highlands warrior.” Fleur took the book from her daughter and threw it into the recycler. “That was someone being fanciful and ridiculous.”

The views of sci-fi romance, and the definitions, will be taking up a whole post in the near future.



Talk Nerdy To Me: CNN had a piece about President Obama's future plans for NASA. It's nice to know I don't disagree with the man about everything. I've been worried about the future of the NASA programs for the past several years, and not just because I reside and vote in an area where NASA provides a large number of jobs. I think that expanding outwards, as long as we aren't threatening another species (which seems unlikely in this solar system) is a good idea.

Many of our current problems and conflicts are caused by a lack of space and resources. It's so much easier to turn the other cheek, to live and let live, if we don't have to share space with people we can't get along with. A few thousand years ago, the quickest way to end a war was to walk away. Just keep walking past the goats and shrubs, eventually you'd find some empty area, plant a garden, and start the vineyards again.

... But Know What You're Talking About:
The Daily Galaxy had a piece out on Thursday linking volcanic activity to global warming. I started nodding at the headline, of course volcanic ash blocking sunlight could result in a form of nuclear winter with there was enough ash in the atmosphere.

Then I read the article.

Oh. Wait.... Global warming causes volcanic eruptions?

Um....

Okay, I skipped geology in college. My last Earth science course was back in the late 90's (yes, I'm dating myself). But I want links to scientific evidence before I start blaming cyclical, predictable, dependable volcanic eruption on global warming.

Most major geological events, from floods to earthquakes, move in cycles. By studying rock strata you can predict within a few decades when something is likely to happen. It's not good enough to lay odds in Vegas, but it isn't unheard of for volcanoes to be quiet for centuries before roaring back to life.

So, until I see the data in front of me in a peer reviewed journal, I'm not hitting the panic button. If you know where the research can be found, send me a link. I'd love to read the ungarbled version.

So.... What's Your Random?

Image of goat courtesy of, and copyright to, the Kentucky 4-H. SFR Brigade banner courtesy of SFR Brigade and Linnea Sinclair, author and artist extraordinaire. Moon map courtesy of, and copyright to, Lick Observatory (Don't look at me like that! I didn't name the place.) Volcano diagram courtesy of the Edward Hall Middle School website, where they found it I do not know.