I’ve never been one for aggregators, until Bloglines. I love Bloglines, I really do. I can access it from both my Dell laptop and my TiBook, and even my roommate’s laptop if need be. The interface is clean and easy to work with, and there’s no fancy moving parts to get in the way of what it is – an aggregator.
However, after seeing my “first 200 character” based excerpts in the tool, I found myself contemplating that an excerpt isn’t just a bit of useless information – it’s a thing of beauty. Another opportunity where one can exercise one’s creativity and imagination.
My, I never knew that aggregators could be such fun! I’ll never look at excerpts in quite the same way, again.
Yesterday, late, I posted my last photo for the mineral collection. Lots of pictures on every page – I don’t recommend those with a slow connection accessing the photoblog. All that’s left to do, now, is finish the descriptions and add a few more stories and then I’ll publish the link around the rock community.
I was looking through the rock photos tonight: at the valuable aquamarines and dioptase and rhodochrosite, as well as the much less valuable members such as this Peacock Rock. It’s formal name is Chalcopyrite, and the rock’s copper base is what creates that lovely iridescence.
The value of a crystal is based on rarity and quality of the specimen as much, or more, than its beauty. Some of the most interesting, fascinating, and lovely rocks in our collection can also be the cheapest. The rock quartz and the apophyllite, and the cheap garnets – pretty, but a dime a dozen. So we don’t talk about them.
It is the valuable members of our collections we talk about – the ones we show off, put in the front of the cabinets, bring out first to show to visitors.
No, in my collection rocks such as my Pet Rock, the above Peacock Rock, or my gen-u-ine 24 carat gold electroplated quartz crystal never get mentioned. I might point them out if you notice them, but with a self-deprecating chuckle – see this rock, it’s not an important rock. You want to pay attention to that rock there. See? The one in the light.
