Entries from August 2007 ↓

Sapphire is September’s beautiful birthstone, and I have several lovely blue sapphire pieces available for sale in my Etsy shop. Sapphire is one of the few precious gemstones (the others are diamond, ruby, emerald, and tanzanite.)

Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum. Ruby is the red variety of corundum, and the term “sapphire” applies to any other color of gemstone corundum. Sapphires form in just about every color, including white, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and black. Blue sapphire gets its color from trace amounts of the ions Fe2+ and Ti4+. Corundum forms in aluminum-rich, silica-poor geologic environments such as pegmatites (very coarse-grained granite), and contact zones between limestone and intrusive igneous rocks.

Corundum is one of the hardest gemstones, with a harndess of 9 on Moh’s hardness scale (where diamond is a 10).

From mineralminers.com: “Corundum is said to enhance one’s creativity, self-confidence, awareness, intuition and ambition. It is also said to help release negative emotions in constructive ways while giving inner peace.”

This is the fifth post in the series of family stories I’m writing. This time, I’m going to tell a couple of stories about my brother Kevin. Kevin is currently living in Korea with his wife Pat and his five-year-old son Paul. Kevin was also a Marine (he and Kara signed up the same summer, and they were at Paris Island at the same time.)

Kevin was fairly quiet as a child, with a very quiet, “perfect straight man” sort of sense of humor. As a result, I think he got picked on a lot by us older kids. (Russell was picked on even more; later about that when I write about him.) I spent a lot of time with Kevin and Russell, and so a lot of my stories about one of them also involves the other.

Super Kevin!

I’ve always felt a special bond to Kevin. The two of us have a lot in common, including an enjoyment of science fiction, the natural world, and a peculiar sense of humor. People often tell me that Kevin is the sibling who looks the most like me.

I babysat Kevin and Russell a lot when they were young. I used to bribe them to brush their teeth and go to bed by giving them little baggies filled with dry cat food. I don’t really know why they liked that stuff. They also enjoyed uncooked spaghetti with soy sauce on it.

(Hey Kevin, should I insert the Zippers wedding story here?)

In high school, I drove Kevin and Russell around in our dad’s station wagon fairly often. The little street leading up to our house had a 25mph speed limit, and I’d drive even slower than that (maybe 7mph) and make “VROOM!!! VROOOM!!” sounds like we were going 120. We’d all end up giggling like crazy. Another time, I did just the opposite when Kevin and Russell weren’t behaving (and I guess I must have been in a foul mood). I sped up to probably 80mph on the windy, hilly road leading to our town, and it scared the poor boys so much that they sat quietly in the car for the rest of the ride.

When I was in my freshman year of college, Kevin and Russell came to stay with me in the dorms. There wasn’t too much to do there, so they got in the elevator, and pressed the buttons for all 10 floors repeatedly, and kept riding up and down, making everyone else stop at every floor, whether they wanted to or not.

When I was in grad school, Kevin came up to visit me in Rhode Island. All I remember was Kevin being greatly amused as I chased my cat Forest around the house with a pair of scissors, trying to cut the fur off of her backside. (Side note: Kevin named Forest and gave her to me the previous year.)

Me with my LITTLE BROTHER Kevin

Before Kevin and his family moved to Korea, I visited them at their home in San Diego. We took Paul to the San Diego Zoo, and I don’t think Paul was too impressed by the zoo until we got to the birds.

Kevin and Paul at the San Diego Zoo.

Question of the Day (for my family): Any Kevin stories to add? I know there are some great funny ones out there.

My brother Kevin suggested that this is what a total lunar eclipse should look like, so I thought I’d create it and post it for him. And Kevin, you’re the next family member I’ll be writing about!

(See yesterday’s post for series of eclipse photos.)

Question of the Day: Vote yea or nay: Should I write a post about myself to include in my series of family stories?

Fool that I am, I stayed up all night taking photos of the lunar eclipse.

Enjoy!

Question of the Day: What silly things have you stayed up all night to do, even though you had important things to do the next day?

Amazonite was named for the Amazon River in Brazil. Amazonite has been found in Brazil, but not in the vicinity of the Amazon River, for which it was named.

Amazonite is a variety of microcline, which is a potassium feldspar mineral. It is a greenish aqua blue stone that is related to such gemstones as moonstone, sunstone, and labradorite. Amazonite grows in very coarse-grained granitic rocks called pegmatites. It has a hardness of about 6-6.5 on Moh’s hardness scale (similar to stones like moonstone and labradorite), but it can cleave fairly easily.

Microcline is a fairly common mineral in the Earth’s crust, but the gem variety of amazonite is relatively uncommon. Amazonite is found in locations in the United States and around the world, including China and Madagascar.

Russian amazonite is a darker variety of amazonite with white striations through it. The white striations are exsolved albite (a sodium feldspar). In geology, this texture is known as perthitic.

From mineralminers.com: “Amazonite is said to calm one’s emotions & soothe nerves, and to enhance creativity and the ability to express oneself. The deeper the color of the amazonite, the more intense the effect is said to be.
Amazonite is said to alleviate muscle spasms and to help normalize calcium levels in the body, and to relieve stress and exhaustion.
Being a variety of microcline feldspar, amazonite is said to also possess all the properties of microcline as well: Microcline is said to be usefull in the treatment of eye disorders and fevers, and to help control water retention and to help with ease of childbirth. It is said to stimulate clarity of thought, to enhance understanding, and to improve one’s ability to cooperate with others.”

Question of the Day: What else would you like to know about amazonite?

Vince and I spent yesterday in Santa Cruz. We were planning to go hiking in the redwoods, but we ended up spending the whole day walking along the coast, then we got sushi at Mobo Sushi – the best darn California-style sushi in the world! (I get the vegetarian Crop Burning and Guido rolls – mmmm…)

Perhaps I’ll make it down to the redwoods next weekend.

This is the fourth post in my series of family stories. It’s time to tell a story or two about my sister Kara. She currently lives in North Carolina with her 4 year old daughter Michaela. Kara served in the Marines for several years, and recently worked as a preschool teacher. This fall she is completing her liberal arts degree.

Kara with her daughter in the redwoods near Santa Cruz, CA

Kara was a very thoughtful, sensitive little girl. She used to help out around the house without being asked. Whereas I was a tomboy playing baseball and army, Kara enjoyed dolls, especially Barbie. Every time someone tried to give me a doll, I handed it straight over to Kara without even looking at it. I remember one time she gave one of her dolls a haircut, and she was devastated when she learned that it wouldn’t grow back.

Our parents were divorced when we were fairly young, and our dad used to come every Tuesday to take all five of us to Pizza Hut or McDonalds. During one of our trips to McDonalds, Kara told me that she wanted to have what I had gotten the last time. I asked, “What? A sundae?” She exclaimed, “Not on Sunday, on Tuesday!”

Another sweet Kara incident happened during the summer after my freshman year in college. I was invited to go to the beach for a weekend with a coworker of mine, and I invited Kara to come with us. We were having a good time, going in all the little shops, and Kara was buying gifts for everyone, including a little pair of sterling silver earrings shaped like shells for me. When we sat down to lunch, Kara realized that she had spent all of her money already, and she started to cry. I felt so heartbroken that she spent every last bit of money she had on gifts for other people. It still tugs at my heartstrings when I think of it now.

A couple of years later, Kara and I went to a Nine Inch Nails concert with Marilyn Manson opening. After the show, I spotted Marilyn Manson’s bassist just wandering around, and I pointed him out to Kara. Kara went running up to him, telling him what a huge fan she was and how great the concert was. The bassist pulled out a couple of backstage passes for us, and we spent the evening backstage with Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson.

Kara the Marine

Question of the Day (for my family): Any Kara stories to add?

I’ve chosen iolite as my next gemstone to discuss simply because I don’t know much about it myself, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn!

Iolite is a fairly affordable blue gemstone. The iolite I have seen available ranges in color from a light periwinkle blue to a deep violet-blue color. I’ve also seen iolite that is dyed to a deeper blue color. It is the gem variety of the mineral cordierite, which is a magnesium aluminum silicate. (It is a cyclosilicate in the beryl group, for those interested.) Iolite forms in igneous and metamorphic rocks. It has a hardness of 7 on Moh’s hardness scale (the same as quartz).

Iolite is mined in India, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, and Brazil.

From kaijewels.com: “Iolite is believed to be the gemstone of happiness and joy. It is also believed to possess Feng Shui properties that help build relationships with others. For people who believe in the special powers of gemstones, this gemstone is supposed to cure sore throat, varicose veins and various skin eruptions and blisters. We have already mentioned above, the special properties of iolite that gave it the name of the ‘gemstone of the Vikings’. ”

Question of the Day: What is your favorite gemstone?

This is the third in my series of family stories. It’s now my lucky brother Michael’s turn. And boy have I got stories about him!

Michael is 1 year and 9 months younger than me. When my parents brought this strange creature home from the hospital, I couldn’t pronounce “Michael” so he was “Buckles” to me.

To say that Buckles and I did not get along growing up would be a gross understatement. We fought all the time, sometimes ending in physical altercations. The most memorable was the “claw hammer incident” in which he chased me around the basement while I was riding my tricycle and hit me on the head with a claw hammer. Thankfully not the claw side!

Michael was always getting into trouble. I remember once we had a single solitary watermelon growing in the garden, and one day it was gone. Michael’s face was covered in pink juice as he vehemently denied breaking it open on a rock and eating it.

Despite his rebellious side, he also had his endearing moments. I learned to bake very young (maybe 6 years old?), but I was terrified of the oven. Michael used to put things in the oven for me, and take them out when they were done. Michael had a fear of his own. When our dad used to read How the Grinch Stole Christmas, we had to cover Michael’s ears when dad got to the part about how the Grinch had a “terrible, wonderful idea.” That part scared him every time. Michael also had this plan to climb the aluminum fence that went around our yard to get to the moon.

Michael was a skater in his pre-teen and teenage years. He built a quarter-pipe in our driveway, and a half-pipe in the backyard, where all of the neighborhood boys would hang out.

Michael the skater

Michael showed his artistic leanings early on. He was constantly in the process of painting (with spray paint) his bedroom. Every object in his room was covered in colorful paint. Although I wasn’t allowed in his room, I could tell what color he was currently painting every time I blew my nose.

Somehow Michael and I magically learned to get along when we hit 18 years of age. Michael, who had always teased me for being a vegetarian (calling me “veggie vamp”) became a vegetarian himself. I visited him as he moved from major city to major city around the US. He field-assisted for me in the desert in Nevada when I was working on my Masters degree in geology. He helped collect rock samples, took GPS data, and carried around a big bag full of my rock samples. Not to mention entertaining me by singing around our campsite… I also visited him in Berlin in November 2003 when he was participating in an art show there.

Michael and I have become good friends in adulthood.

Me and my brother Michael.

Michael is currently living in LA with his long-term girlfriend Molly. He is an artist, showing on both the East Coast and West Coast as well as Berlin, Germany. You can check out some of his work on his web site at dodgemahal.org.

Question of the Day (directed at my family members): Any Michael stories to add? Any stories of my cruelty toward Michael growing up?

View from Diablo looking east over the Central Valley toward the hazy Sierras.

I don’t generally blog about what I’ve been up to, but since I took photos this weekend, I thought I’d make an exception.

I went hiking on Mt. Diablo with my friend Chris on Saturday. Mt. Diablo sits between the Bay Area and the Central Valley, so it’s perfectly situated to be a vantage point to see much of Northern California. The city of San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge can be seen to the northwest, and the Central Valley with the Sierras way off in the distance to the east.

Vince’s birthday was Sunday, so we went out for pancakes. Unfortunately, I’ve been feeling sick since Saturday, so I spent most of the rest of the day sleeping.

I still have a sore throat and an earache, so I expect that I’ll have to go see a doctor soon. Blech! I’m going to take things a little slowly today, and hopefully I’ll be feeling better by tomorrow.

View looking south from Mt Diablo, toward the South Bay. Outcrop of chert in the foreground.