Second Geeses
LightNews LightNews
banner
secondgeeses.bsky.social
Second Geeses
@secondgeeses.bsky.social
120 followers 1.1K following 160 posts
Just some second gooses
Posts Replies Media Videos
secondgeeses.bsky.social
I also really loved this #Geothite.

#MinCup25SideQuest
October 2, 2025 at 8:36 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
I am stoked that #Kyanite won #MinCup25!

I also got to see so many cool minerals at the Smithsonian that weren't a part of the bracket this year. #Smithsonite maybe takes the cake and I hope to vote for it next year!

#MinCup25SideQuest
A large, shiny, bubbly, blue Smithsonite
October 2, 2025 at 8:35 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
Either #mannardite has no votes or the results are glitchy :(

I don't have either #cuprosklodowskite or mannardite, but I do have the #radioactive minerals display from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History!

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
10 samples of radioactive minerals on public display. They range in color from brown to greenish to bright yellow.
September 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
The Smithsonian has a bunch of #kyanite! A lot of it is cut like gems but there is also this cool tall piece.

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
5 pieces of kyanite, the one on the left is tall and rough. The other four are much smaller and cut into rectangular gems.
September 23, 2025 at 3:00 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
For #carpathite vs #tugtupite I don't have photos exactly but I want to share the florescents display!

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
The lights are turned off and a UV light illuminates neon green and oranges in a collection of florescent minerals With the lights on, this display looks like a basic collection of grey and brown rocks.
September 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
I promised a closer look at this #baryte if it moved on to Round Two and I keep my promises to this self-imposed side quest.

I would love to hear how professionals would describe the flaky layers and speckling. I'm sure "halva" isn't the right comparison?

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
White flaky-looking layers at odd angles with dark specks throughout
September 19, 2025 at 2:17 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
How is #stibnite losing???

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
Two samples of stibnite, on the left is taller with dark grey/black columns and on the right is shorter, covering a brown rock like a bed of moss.
September 18, 2025 at 10:58 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
Mental health is still rocky but improving. I haven't yet been back to the museum, but! I found #haüyne a couple of days after its first match and grabbed a photo.

Round TWO!!

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A very neat gray rock with the middle kinda hollowed out and crystals growing inside!
September 17, 2025 at 1:10 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
Also the world's smallest(?) kyanite. There are more of these too, so whichever moves on will get brand-new photos for Round 2.

I'm not gonna post over the weekend, I hope everyone has a great one.

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A small 3.7 carat, blue gem cut kyanite.
September 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
Posting Round 1 Match 13 early because I need to spend time away from social media, but these are REALLY good ones!

So much #Topaz! There is so much topaz and I'm a sucker for gems.

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A large gem cut, light blue sparkling topaz. 146.4 carats.
September 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 12

Just #zunyite today! I think this is the best mine name I've seen yet.

Someone tell me if I should look again for #molybdenite but I don't think it's on display.

#MinCup25SideQuest
A white rock with some darker pointy crystals near the top center. The sign includes the name Zuynite, the chemical formula and "Electric Meatball mine, Quartzite, Arizona"
September 12, 2025 at 1:07 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
After finding #titanite I thought my luck was going to run out, but #thortvietite was waiting in a display near the back of the gallery.

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A small club shaped rock. That seems like an inelegant way to describe it but it's the best I can do.
September 11, 2025 at 12:31 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
#MinCup25 Round 1 Match 11

I was so stinking excited to find BOTH of today's minerals at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

#titanite is displayed in this gorgeous circle of cut stones (and there's more if it moves on!)

#MinCup25SideQuest
Yellow-ish gems of varying sizes are mounted and arranged in a circle
September 11, 2025 at 12:31 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
And #MinCup25 Round 1 Match 10, #wavellite

I am loving the habit of the crystals in this, looking like rays coming out of a star!

#MinCup25SideQuest
This piece of wavellite has a seam running horizontally with some round crystals protruding off the face. In the face around the spheres, there are rays.
September 10, 2025 at 9:44 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
Catching up on #MinCup25 Round 1 Match 10, sneaking in under the wire!

Contender #dioptase with a two-for-one sample sale!

Both beautiful deep green crystals! I'm a fan!

#MinCup25SideQuest
Two dioptase pieces, on the left is a dioptase with wulfinite and on the right is just dioptase. The crystals of both are small and deeper green in person but almost blue on camera
September 10, 2025 at 9:44 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
Bonus because I couldn't find kosmochlor

I didn't realize that #talc could be so pretty!?
This piece of talc is roughly rectangular, a little longer than the size of a credit card. The color is a very pretty icy/pearly green.
September 9, 2025 at 12:11 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
I couldn't capture just how deep blue this #azurite is.

And although I couldn't find #kosmochlor I am FOR SURE voting for it.

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
This piece of azurite has blue crystals that range from dark blue to a blue so dark that it just looks black in the photo.
September 9, 2025 at 12:11 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
One example of cool but not the actual contender

Is "hairy" how geologist describe #actinolite?

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
September 8, 2025 at 10:38 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
OK here's the question - if I can't find one of the contenders, should I post something else that is cool but unrelated or just post the one mineral that the Smithsonian has on display?

#tugtupite
#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
Tugtupite. Small but sparkling white crystals with a brown rocky bit on the side.
September 8, 2025 at 9:35 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
For the second match in a row, I could only find one contender at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. #sanidine was elusive, however #hematite wasn't too tough to find. I love the layers on this!

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A sample of hematite, mostly black with some brown spots. It shows layers facing the viewer towards the outer edges.
September 7, 2025 at 12:40 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
And for Round 1, Match 6 I could only find #leucite which I will share along with its neighbors spodumene, ilvaite, and cancrinite.

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
Four mineral specimens. Top row has spodumene (gray and rocky) and ilvaite (dark black and dramatic columns). Bottom row has cancrinite (yellow with gray and black blotches, kinda like a tortoiseshell sitting in the sun) and leucite (a grey base with a crystal structure that looks like it could be picked up and rolled like a d20)
September 6, 2025 at 12:39 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
It looks like #silver might be on the way out, so I'll share the silver and copper display.

I'm starting to learn the words for the different shapes that crystals make, so shout out to silver and copper for being (sometimes) dendritic!

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A museum display case, about one third filled with silver and two thirds with copper. The silver pieces are smaller, in general, but both the silver and copper have dendritic crystals which form branching figures.
September 6, 2025 at 12:28 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
I need you to know that you are all getting *bespoke* *hand-selected* *customized for the moment* photos. I'm just weird enough to do this for (maybe) a month.

Anyway, I'm getting photos for the next two rounds, in the mean time MORE #calcite

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A cute lil hunk of calcite, pinkish in color. The sign reads Calcite with hematite, Cumbria, England. I have left off the formula because I don't know how to transcribe it!
September 5, 2025 at 8:35 PM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
The Smithsonian does have several very cool #baryte pieces. We'll start with this large piece and if it makes it through I'll have more to share including a closer look at the piece directly above.
A large hunk of baryte, greyish in color with some variation. Crystals have formed at irregular angles creating some pockets of shadows and some nicely sparkly bits as well. On the shelf above is a smaller piece that has a different type of structure, more like layers. It is white with darker chucks speckled throughout.
September 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM
secondgeeses.bsky.social
OK, one last #calcite for the road before we move onto tonight's face off!

#MinCup25
#MinCup25SideQuest
A pearly white hexagon of calcite on a base with darker spots of galena.
September 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM