August 15, 2026
Blog Topic:
The Planet That Got Away
*****
It's The Journey That Counts!
Life's journey is not to arrive safely at the grave in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, at 90 miles/hr with your hair on fire, totally worn out, and shouting,
"Wow! What a ride!"

Anna-grams​

●  Happy Birthday to me. I can't say I'm thrilled about being 86, but I'm still here.

●  Luciano had a fall on Wednesday, but didn't break anything, so they sent home from the hospital  emergency with bruised ribs, some skin tears on his arms,  a cut above his eye, and the blackest eye you've ever seen.  Since then he's managed to fall two more times. Not a happy camper!

​Life is never dull with the Siracusas.

Anagrams
​● The planet Earth = The eternal path.~ Rick Rothstein

● Mercury, Venus, The Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. = Just nine planets may arc up round The Sun....ah, pure art ever true must run! ~ David Bourke

● Pluto = Lot up. ~ George Mulligan

● Planet Pluto = A potent pull. ~ Tony Crafter

● Pluto's moon Charon = Monocular photons.
~ Jim Banholzer
​

Quotes
● “I refuse to accept Pluto's resignation as a planet.”
~ Amy Lee

● “Many people don't give a rip about politics and know as much about public affairs as they know about the topography of Pluto.”
~ Tony Snow

● “The planets. Now, I'm including Pluto in the planets, because I think it's terrible what they did to Pluto. And it's still a planet to me. I grew up with Pluto as a planet, it will always be a planet.” ~ Demetri Martin

● “Pluto is not a planet, but I am.” ~ Shaquille O'Neal

● “It was becoming clear that if the asteroids were the schools of minnows swimming among the pod of whales, then Pluto and the Kuiper belt objects were simply a previously overlooked collection of sardines swimming in a faraway sea.” ~ Mike Brown (How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming)
​
●“As pointed out by David Jewitt, the name “Kuiper belt” then follows Stigler’s law, which states, “no scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.” ~ ”Donald K. Yeomans (Near-Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us)

​You Had One Job...

This can't be real!

MY BOOKS

Works By R Ann Siracusa
Tour Director Extraordinaire Series
Humorous Romantic Suspense
Book 1 - All For A Dead Man’s Leg
Book 2 - All For A Fistful Of Ashes
Book 3 - Destruction Of The Great Wall
Book 4 - All For Spilled Blood
Book 5 - All For A Blast of Hot Air
Tour Director Series Short Stories
First Date
Halloween in the Catacombs
Christmas Plans Gone Awry
Elves For Christmas

​Other Books and Short Stories
A Timeless Melody 
The Last Weekend In October
All In the Game
Family Secrets: A Vengeance of Tears
Tiffany
Time in a Bottle

​Amazon Link to R. Ann Siracusa Books
Barnes & Noble Link to R. Ann Siracusa Books

Granny Mythbuster Rides Again
Commonly Believed Myths that Aren’t True...Now. Knowledge is a Work in Progress.

THREE MYTHS ABOUT SPACE THAT PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE

● MYTH: Space is completely silent

In space, no one can hear you scream because space is close to being a vacuum. In a vacuum and sound doesn’t travel the way it does here on Earth. What humans hear as sound are pressure waves passing through a medium (solid, liquid or gas) and agitating the molecules. When that pressure wave hits our ears, it causes small hairs and bones within them to vibrate, which sends an electrical signal to the brain that we interpret as sound.

But in a vacuum, where there are no molecules of liquid, solid or gas to agitate, that can’t happen, so there is no sound. 
However, that doesn’t mean space is silent, because space is not a total vacuum. Huge regions of space are, but within galaxies and nebulae are extensive swirling clouds of gas and dust with molecules just as capable of being agitated and so passing on a pressure wave (sound) as their counterparts here on Earth. Researches with sensitive equipment have picked up strange, eerie sounds, such as rippling waves from black holes, or the plasma oscillations around planets. In 2022 NASA released a sound recording of a black hole, extrapolated from observational data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

● MYTH: The Great Wall of China is visible from space.
First of all, it’s a matter of how one defines “space”, i.e. at what height (orbit) above the surface of the earth the observer is located who allegedly can see the Great Wall. The further you are, the less likely can it be seen. Then, the answer also depends on where the observer is located in “space”. The observer would have to be in a particular position in space. Then there are the earthly physical aspects: the weather, the level of pollution, the narrowness of the wall, and the colors of the building materials which blend into the natural landscape.

Astronauts on the International Space Station have said cities, airports, and motorways are far easier to see than the Wall. At night, sprawling city lights trace out continents more clearly than any single man-made structure. The Wall may be long, but from orbit, it’s far from obvious.

According to britannica.com, “Due to its coloration and pollution, the structure is only sometimes visible from low orbit and the International Space Station.”

MYTH: The Moon’s dark side is always dark.
“The dark side of the moon” is a misnomer for “the far side of the moon” meaning the side facing away from the Earth; the side that is hidden.
Because the time it takes for the moon to orbit the Earth once, is equal to the time it takes for the Moon to rotate once, the far side of the Moon never fully comes into view from Earth's surface.

The term “dark” refers to “unseen” rather than to the amount of light. The far side of the Moon isn’t shrouded in eternal darkness. It gets just as much sunlight as the side we see from Earth. However, each location on the Moon experiences two weeks of sunlight while the opposite location experiences night. The far side is actually more reflective than the near side, as it lacks the large areas of darker maria surface.

Sources:
https://thenaturenetwork.co.uk/myths-about-space-that-people-still-believe/
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/is-space-silent
https://www.britannica.com/question/Can-you-see-the-Great-Wall-of-China-from-space
https://www.almanac.com/far-side-moon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_side_of_the_Moon
https://sciencerealitycheck.com/debunking-myths-do-black-holes-suck-everything-in/

• August Monthly  Food Observations

● National Brownies at
   Brunch Month
● National Catfish Month
● National Goat Cheese Month
● National Panini Month
● National Peach Month
● National Sandwich Month
● National Canning Month

August Food Day  Observations
Just because August is half over, you haven’t missed out!

​● 15th -
  Lemon Meringue Pie Day
● 16th -
National Bratwurst Day
National Rum Day
● 17th -
National Vanilla Custard Day
● 18th -
National Ice Cream Pie Day       National Pinot Noir Day
National Fajita Day
● 19th -
National Potato Day
Nat. Soft Serve Ice Cream Day
National Hot&Spicy  Food Day
● 20th -
National Chocolate Pecan Pie 
National Bacon Lover’s Day
National Lemonade Day
● 21st -
National Pecan Torte Day
National Sweet Tea Day
● 22nd -
National Spumoni Day
National “Eat a Peach” Day
World Plant Milk Day
● 23rd -
National Sponge Cake Day
National Cuban Sandwich Day
National Buttered Corn Day
Swedish Meatball Day
● 24th -
National Peach Pie Day
National Waffle Day
● 25th -
National Banana Split Day
National Whiskey Sour Day
● 26th -
National Cherry Popsicle Day
● 27th -
National Banana Lover’s Day
National Pots de Creme Day
● 28th -
National Cherry Turnover Day
National Red Wine Day
● 29th -
National Chop Suey Day
National Lemon Juice Day
● 30th -
Nat. Toasted MarshmallowDay
Nat. Cabernet Sauvignon Day
● 31th -
National Trail Mix Day
National Burger Day

​Enhance Your Vocabulary - New 2026 Dictionary Words 
● sigma = (n) A person who is coolly self-assured, driven, and independent. (MW)

● skip-lagging  = (n) The practice of purchasing an air ticket for a flight with a layover at one’s true destination, getting off at the layover point, and skipping the last leg of the flight: a workaround to avoid paying a higher fare for a direct flight to one’s destination. (D)

● well-fired  = (adj) Heated at a high temperature to achieve a particular effect or quality.” (OED)

● FBOI = (n) F**k boy; a guy just looking for sex.

● fine shyte  = (adj) Started as "fine as sh*t," used to describe someone attractive.

● FINSTA  = (n) Fake Instagram account.

● amazing  = (adj) Amazing

● guzz = (n) Refers to old people.

● gucci = (n) Something good or cool.

● GYAT — Shortened term for "godd**n" used to express approval or excitement, particularly when one notices a large bottom.

● high key - 1. Very interested in;  2. Actively spreading information.
​
● hits different  = (n) When something is better than it normally is because of different circumstances. Example: “A cold soda just hits different when it’s super hot outside.”

● hyperpigmentation  = (n) This term originated from an internet video where a little girl drew a picture of her mom with a black dot on her face. In the video, her mom said, "Is that hyperpigmentation?" and this turned into a meme.