Changing places

I recently wen to a place I used to go often when I was younger.  The place had changed a lot.  When I was going there, the road was well maintained and there was area that didn't have any trees.  Now, it is the opposite.  Too bad I have not before/after photos.  I just have photos of the present time.  I must admit that some area had gained some charm while other had lost their attractiveness.

Astronomy's discoveries

I have written a lot of stories that happen on other planets, far far away.  It is always nice when science catches up with fiction (http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-kepler-mission-discovers-bigger-older-cousin-to-earth).  I know it is a bit of old news by now.  It renew my fuel in writing fantasy novel on another planets.  Usually, my mind's representation of other planets, in my writing, are  similar to Earth for the vegetation.    For the land masses, it is closer to Eurasia, for what I have in my mind.  For the new discovery, it is a fascinating news.  Of course, there isn't any picture of the surface of the planet.  It is too far.

For sure, we won't be able to do what had been made for Pluto (http://www.space.com/11431-photos-pluto-charon-moons-dwarf-planet.html).  What had impressed me the most is the heart shaped area.  It it amazing the way our eyes and brain can detect shapes and forms.  It is like the face on Mars (https://www.google.ca/search?q=face+on+mars&rlz=1CAASUB_enCA614CA614&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=634&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBwQsARqFQoTCOWmxu6_8sYCFUmsHgod-qUO5w).  I also learned that Pluto have many moons.  I only knew about Charon.  There are many moons orbiting Pluto.  (https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1CAASUB_enCA614CA614&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=moons%20pluto).  Their names (Charon, Hytdra, Nix, Styx and Kerberos) makes senses.  Except maybe Hydra because that monster isn't originally living in Hades.  As Hydra had been slayed by Hercules, I guess Hydra became a citizen of Hades in the afterlife.  Kerberos is the three headed dog guarding the underworld.  Styx is an  important river of the realm of Hades.  Gods and Goddesses swears oaths by that river.  Charon is the one that help the souls get from one side to the other, in the underworld.  Nix is the night.

I also found this video on an asteroid made of platinum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2jpY-ND4AE
Thinking of this one, I am thinking: "Would be great to own my own source of platinum!"  I would say the same thing for asteroid and meteorite that contain peridot and other semi or precious stones.  Would be could to make jewelry made out of stones from space!

I find those discorveries inspiring.  I had already have a few special places in my writing.  One of them is inspired by the Grand Canyon but I don't have any river in my canyon.  I am thinking in putting an conversation about stars and the sky in one of my stories.  Always a good thing to get some expansion of the mind.

Speaking of shark...

I always wondering about reproduction of sharks.  Now I do have an answer with this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X4PW092M38
They are more evolved than I thought.  There are diversity in their mode of births.  I was surprised by the part where the female can store sperms for a long time and that baby sharks can attack each other in their mon's womb.  In this case, it is really the survival of the oldest!

I would like to see something on the topic of sex and reproduction of shark.  I think it should be made in some shark special as the shark week on discovery (http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/).  I would look for that, for sure.  Would also like to know about diseases and death of shark (beside killing by Man).  I seens to have miss the part with the birthing of shark when it came out during shark week.

To think about marine wildlife is a good idea in summer.

Strange shark

I found a video on a strange shark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK7O6ouwt-E
Helicoprion is the name of that shark.  At first, I thought it was a fake, you know like a well done photo montage.  There are a lot of people with too much free time on their hand.  In this case, it is true and nature have a true twisted sense of humor.  Too bad this shark is a prehistorical creature.  If he would exist today, it would make an huge sensation with every handyman person.  I may be messed up but now, I can't stop thinking of "Handy" by Weird Al Yankovic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXiwYUCe_bY)   I would see the helicoprion well as Weird Al tablesaw!  It wouldn't be the first time having a gore scene in his video like in "You don't love me anymore" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWD5gdpt4Dw)

I wonder if the shark was successful in it's time.  Of course, he is no longer around, so the long term survival is not to be talk about.  I wonder what he could eat.  With his denture and jaw, I guess he could not eat big prey.  I don't find him that big but it is a photo, so I am not the perfect judge in that matter.  At least, this shark have a winning look.  Too bad he won't be talk about (at least mentionned) on Shark week, on the Discovery channel (http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/)

Learning more about geography

 In school, I was good in geography.  I never studied for a geography test.  As if it was too easy for me.  I guess if I studied a little bit more, I would have even better notes.  I think that my motivation to study would have been heightened if I learned things like in this article:
http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/fl/Why-Is-The-Aral-Sea-Shrinking.htm
It is on the causes of the shrinking of the Aral Sea and what is happening right now with that sea.  I find it sad it isn't more in the news.  It deserved to be talked about.

I guess there must be other places like that.  It may be silly but I feel that I lack knowledge.  It makes me feel that I haven't learned much in my geopraphy classes in high school.  It seems that I learn more without searching and out of school than when I was at school.  It is a bit frustrating because school are there to makes connection between learning and the students.

Finding notes

I think I just had a case of misplaced notes.  I find some important notes for an recent story.  On those pages, there was really useful information.  They mostly are recurring informations.  It is not on the story itself but more with items and things that characters do.  It is a bit like finding a treasure.  I kind of forgot about that information.  So, I am happy to find it again, this is why I say it is like a treasure.  It is important notes to add more to the story.

The story is a mix between a dungeon & dragon world and a techno world.  Eventually, in the story, some techno geeks will be able to become techno-mage.  I do have an idea how it will come to be.  Since I have started this story, I have taken a lot of notes.  The notes I just found will be added on with the rest, on the computer.  I just don't understand how those notes had fray from the rest of my notes.  The most important, is that I had found them and not to loose them again.

Time to go have a look in all my papers,  I don't want to have other ideas scattered around...

My tarot

I slowly work on making my own tarot deck.  I don't project to publish it.  There are few cards made.  I don't work much on.  There are a few cards that I have a picture clear idea.  I pretty much made all those cards.  I still work much mentally to determine what I want on my card.  It is still a slow work in progress.

Not long ago, I got an idea for the court cards.  I thought to have a theme for each suit of the court cards. Here what I thought:
Swords: coniferous
Water: flowers
Wands: leafy trees
earth: vines, roots, grass/lawn
I think I need to think a bit more for details because I want an item from each category to fit with each court card.  I want to have some logic to it.  On another hand, I like the idea to link flora with court cards.

At the beginning, I made a photomontage for my first card.  After that, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do all the cards that way.  Now, I think that if there is a need, I may mix a few cards together to make one card.  I do not want to do the whole deck that way.  Most of the card will be as is.  I think I will takes more notes for this project.

Folklorist

Something got into my conscious mind recently.  It seems that we see more of specialist called "folklorist" in some media.  It is strange but it seems to become very popular.  The first time I saw one was the one on the first season of the "Mythbusters" (http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/)  Of course, they are specialized in urban legends.  Now, the term isn't just for people interested in urban legends.

I found a definition of folklorist: source:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/folklorist

1. The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally.

2. The comparative study of folk knowledge and culture. Also called folkloristics.

3.

a. A body of widely accepted but usually spurious notions about a place, group, or institution: Rumors of their antics became part of the folklore of Hollywood.

b. A popular but unfounded belief.

---

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

folklore

(ˈfəʊkˌlɔː)

n

1. (Anthropology & Ethnology) the unwritten literature of a people as expressed in folk tales, proverbs, riddles, songs, etc

2. (Anthropology & Ethnology) the body of stories and legends attached to a particular place, group, activity, etc: Hollywood folklore; rugby folklore.

3. (Anthropology & Ethnology) the anthropological discipline concerned with the study of folkloric materials

ˈfolkˌloric adj ˈfolkˌlorist n, adj ˌfolklorˈistic adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

folk•lore

(ˈfoʊkˌlɔr, -ˌloʊr)

n.

1. the traditional beliefs, legends, customs, etc., of a people; lore of a people.

2. the study of such lore.

3. a body of widely held but false or unsubstantiated beliefs.

[1846; coined by English antiquary William John Thoms (1803–85)]

 It is confirming what I was beginning to suspect: they study the cultural scene of the common people, those who aren't related to royalty or noble people.

Before the mythbusters, I didn't knew of that field of expertise.   If I learned about it sooner, I think I would had been interested in it.  I am a big fan of mythology, so I think it is a good start.  It just doesn't seems to have catch up where I live.  I haven't seen people teaching it at the universities around here.  Well, I guess it is fun to have learned more about folklorists.

Oracles of ancient time

The ancient Oracles have some kind of bad reputation.  Take, for example the Oracle of Delphi: people still think the Pythia was high on gaz.  There had been some recent discovery about it, in the recents years.  There is a kernel of truth but there is more to it.  I have read two books on the subjects (http://www.amazon.ca/Road-Delphi-Life-Afterlife-Oracles/dp/0374526109/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435504697&sr=8-1&keywords=the+road+to+delphi) and (http://www.amazon.ca/Oracle-Ancient-Delphi-Science-Secrets/dp/0143038591/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435504716&sr=8-1&keywords=the+oracle).  The last one tell the most recent discoveries on Delphi.  I think it is dating from a few years ago.  I didn't heard any more news on the subject since.

Oracles like the Pythia or the Sybilles is something that interest me.  If we look at the myths about them, they where inspired by the Gods and Goddesses.  They channeled something inside them and it end up in spoken/written words.  In a sense, it is close to what a writer can experience.  There is a inspired spark that ignite the writer.  The writer (or any other storyteller) end up spinning a tales around it.  A novel/a screenplay or stage play is born.

The Sybille and the Pythia are still well known today.  There is also the oracle of Olympia that is well known too.  The difference with Olympia, the oracle was based on some technique involving nature.  Priests were interpreting the winds in the leaves of oaks.  Roman also excelled in the augury of flying birds.  It is another well known technique for any Roman history fan.  There is a book I read and it was on various places in the Ancient World that hosted an oracle (http://www.amazon.ca/Oracles-Ancient-World-Trevor-Curnow/dp/0715631942/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1435504760&sr=8-12&keywords=the+oracles+of+the+ancient+world).  There was place that I didn't  even knew existed on an divination level.  In any way, I see parc and birds in another way now.  I got some inspirations quite a few times as I was sitting in a parc.

Rock art / Petroglyph

I find rock art and petroglyph to be fascinating.  It is not the first time I talk about it.  I found a nice definition of Rock Art: http://archaeology.about.com/od/rterms/g/rockart.htm.  It is short and to the point.  In addition, there are links to some example.

I think that Rock Art show an important transition in our remote ancestors.  It is where what we consider "art" appear.   It show some untangible concept start to appear.  There is also the symbolism attached to a picture.  I find it very important.  Most of my ideas comes from pictures or like a scene in a movie.  My mind work mostly in images.  When I want to explain a idea, I have to do some translation from the pictures to words.

What I like in ancient Rock Art is that my mind is not the only one that work that way.  Way back in the past, there were other people who worked with images.  They had to have a focused mind and some planification to end up with caves like Chauvet or Lascaux.  They tried to convey something that was meaningful for them.  They didn't have any form of writing.  This is why pictures was so important for them.  They took a lot of time and patience to make those drawing.  It is a proto-writing system, in a way.  We have lost the signification of those drawing but there is still some emotional charge to it.

I find that Rock Art is inspiring.

Quartz, the unconscious favorite

Until recently, I haven't tought much about quartz.  It is a nice clear stone.  Recently, I had browsed in my stone, making some discovery along the way.  I had shown them in previous posts.  One point that had struck me is the quantity of quartz I had, beside the numerous malachite, lapis lazuli and obsidian.

I show you them, so you see that I am not kidding.  I really have a lot of quartz:

 In a more brute form:

I even have a rutilated quartz and a epidot quartz:

I may miss a few but it is all the quartz I have.  I sure want to do something with many of those pieces.  I think that the rutilated and epidot quartz would do great with silver, in a bezel.
So, I must admit it now, quartz is one of my favorite stones.  It is no longer an unconscious favorite of mine.  From now on, it had become a conscious favorite.

Nice shaped stones

I found a few stones that have nice shapes or that are shaped in an unusual/interesting shape.
Like this heart-shaped snowflake obsidian:

I do love snowflakes obsidian but when I found this one, I had no resistance left.  As it is now, would do a great paperweight!  I find it is a great eye catching.  It will sure makes people talk.

This is a tourmaline wand  (I find it can be also be called a "crayon" because I find it look like one in this case):

I like this shape for tourmaline.  It nicely show all or many of the colors that a tourmaline can have.  I do have other wands.  Not just tourmaline.  I just wanted to show that some stones are great looking in this shape.

Here are two agathe, I think.  I am not sure of the lozange one.  I know I bought the two a very long time ago:

I like slices.  Wish I would see more of that.  When I will have more experience, I would like to put a silver band around them, as a bezel.  I think they would look great as a focal stone.  Just have to be cautious and not bang them!

There is also the rectangular slab:
This one is a kyanite, it is quite small.  I think it would fit perfectly with silver, making a cartouche like bezel.

 Those are obsidian rectangular slab.  They are bigger and heavier.  More thick too.  I alway bought them on a rope but for that time, I wanted to go differently.  I wanted to create a necklace myself with those ones:

The next ones aren't exactly stones and I haven't bought them at a gems show.  I find their shape interesting.  I just wanted to show them up:

Forgotten stones

While I got my crafting stuff into order, I found a few gems.  I was richer than I thought, gems wise.   I had found a lot of them. Right now, I think I will mainly show the tumbled stones.  Here what I found, enjoy:

I know that on that one, there is at least one snowflake obsidian (botton one, on the far right).

Here, there is an emerald (top left), lapis lazuli (just beside the emerald), three aquamarine (top right and in the middle of the bottom row), garnet (botton right) and the last one, I am not sure (topaz or citrine?  Can be something else entirely):

Here, I don't remember all the name of the stones.  What a shame but they are beautiful anyway.  They aren't in the usual colors of stones I buy but they had attracted my eye:

So, there is a lot of stone that I possess.  I want to do something with them.  Of course, I will do bezel with cutted stones like the garnet and lapis lazuli.  For the tumbled stones, I have a lot and I don't know yet what I would like to do with them.  My main problem is that I don't want to hide them, even if it would be for a silver band with a bezel.  Drilling a hole in them would be difficult.  I don't want to take chances, some of them may be too soft for drilling.  I don't want ending with sand.  I need to think a bit more.