Wednesday, March 30, 2011
URANUS IS BLUE, NOT BROWN
WHAT happened to Tuesday? Am I losing track of time that badly out here, after only two weeks? No; that can't be right!
I don't remember much about yesterday, but I bet I could retrace my steps. Let's see... I started off like always, booting up my computer & hopping on the Twittersphære; got caught up on all the latest updates... oh! then I saw that sweet picture from NASA, that one of the Sahara Desert spotted via satellite. That photograph was stunning.
I remember getting pretty thirsty looking at that parched landscape; my throat started itching something fierce. I drank some water, but I was still thirsty. I had my morning cup of tea, too, but I was still thirsty. Finally, I decided that if I was gonna quit this thirst, I'd need something stron-
Hey, I remember now! I went down to "The Whale's Liver" for a drink, that's what I did! Sure, it wasn't but 11:00 in the morning, but what's the "morning" out here, anyways? The Starship Flybrary is teeming with people at all hours, right 'round the clock; the Captain has actually set up a dual shift system to keep the essential posts manned at all times.
The day workers call themselves the Left Hemispheres & the night workers call themselves the Right Hemispheres, after the fact that blue whales can only shut down one half of their brain at a time; the other half must stay awake in order to make the conscious mammalian decision to breathe.
So what is an interstellar travel writer to do? I had a terrible thirst in my throat, as if some little devil had salted it while I was snoring; I had no choice but to find something smooth. When I showed up to the pub, there was a rowdy bunch of Right Hemispheres tying one on after their shift. I couldn't refuse their invitation, now could I? I am trying to make friends on this starship, aren't I?
Long story short, Uranus looks calm and smooth from my vantage point atop the BPOD - the exact opposite of my whiny, pounding forehead. It's a gas giant, like Jupiter & Saturn, but its heavier concentration of water, ammonia & methane has lead it to be further classified as an "ice giant".
I bet its rocky ice core would feel pretty good across my ragged brow right now. I'm so close to the planet, I could almost dip my aching noggin into its placid, blue atmosphere, where the highs on any given day only reach -371.2 degrees Fahrenheit. I bet that'd take the edge off!
Bleh! I'll never go back to The Whale's Liver again! Well... maybe just not so early in the morning. I think I'm gonna crack a BC Powder and lounge this one off at the library; I'll see you chipper Flybrarians at Neptune.
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