Jessica
@specimenstories.bsky.social
PNW geologist. Looking at neat rocks and playing with fountain pens.
Nifty natural sheen on this bubble at the very edge of the Pacific ocean. Wonders exist at all scales, if you care to see.
March 23, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Nifty natural sheen on this bubble at the very edge of the Pacific ocean. Wonders exist at all scales, if you care to see.
New photo of an old mineral. This is a 12" tall sylvite. Ok, cool enough, but what if I told you it was a gift to my Grandmother in 1928, when she was an 8 yo girl living in a palazzo in Venice, from a Viennese art dealer who called himself a Prince. I mean. 🤯
February 19, 2025 at 6:06 PM
New photo of an old mineral. This is a 12" tall sylvite. Ok, cool enough, but what if I told you it was a gift to my Grandmother in 1928, when she was an 8 yo girl living in a palazzo in Venice, from a Viennese art dealer who called himself a Prince. I mean. 🤯
This place is too stressful. Thinking about bringing back blogging. 2011 was nice.
February 14, 2025 at 6:42 AM
This place is too stressful. Thinking about bringing back blogging. 2011 was nice.
Washington state has lots of interesting minerals, but not much fluorite, and especially not pretty crystals of much size. But here's one! From Ferry County.
I don't have any purple fountain pens to match, tho. 😕
Happy Friday all, stay safe.
I don't have any purple fountain pens to match, tho. 😕
Happy Friday all, stay safe.
January 31, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Washington state has lots of interesting minerals, but not much fluorite, and especially not pretty crystals of much size. But here's one! From Ferry County.
I don't have any purple fountain pens to match, tho. 😕
Happy Friday all, stay safe.
I don't have any purple fountain pens to match, tho. 😕
Happy Friday all, stay safe.
Reposted by Jessica
Touch grass. Now touch stone. Now touch water. Now spill blood inside the glyph. Now light the brazier
January 30, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Touch grass. Now touch stone. Now touch water. Now spill blood inside the glyph. Now light the brazier
"We learn geology the morning after the earthquake" ~Emerson
Petrified wood (Bald Cyprus) from Grand Co., Washington
Birmingham ink "petrified wood"
Majohn T1 fountain pen
Petrified wood (Bald Cyprus) from Grand Co., Washington
Birmingham ink "petrified wood"
Majohn T1 fountain pen
January 30, 2025 at 9:20 PM
"We learn geology the morning after the earthquake" ~Emerson
Petrified wood (Bald Cyprus) from Grand Co., Washington
Birmingham ink "petrified wood"
Majohn T1 fountain pen
Petrified wood (Bald Cyprus) from Grand Co., Washington
Birmingham ink "petrified wood"
Majohn T1 fountain pen
"Forever is composed of nows."~Emily Dickenson
Chalcoalumite from the Grand Canyon.
Pilot Elite compact fountain pen
If my mental health today is helped by playing with lovely things in my favorite color, you bet I'll represent #turquoisetuesday
Chalcoalumite from the Grand Canyon.
Pilot Elite compact fountain pen
If my mental health today is helped by playing with lovely things in my favorite color, you bet I'll represent #turquoisetuesday
January 28, 2025 at 11:51 PM
"Forever is composed of nows."~Emily Dickenson
Chalcoalumite from the Grand Canyon.
Pilot Elite compact fountain pen
If my mental health today is helped by playing with lovely things in my favorite color, you bet I'll represent #turquoisetuesday
Chalcoalumite from the Grand Canyon.
Pilot Elite compact fountain pen
If my mental health today is helped by playing with lovely things in my favorite color, you bet I'll represent #turquoisetuesday
Distinctive heart 🤍 of a Japan Law Twin quartz crystal from the mountains above Death Valley. Mined in the 1980s, prior to the expansion of the park. #mineralmonday
January 27, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Distinctive heart 🤍 of a Japan Law Twin quartz crystal from the mountains above Death Valley. Mined in the 1980s, prior to the expansion of the park. #mineralmonday
Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence. ~Ovid
January 26, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence. ~Ovid
Carrera marble is famed for its pure white color and fine grain, but the natural stone occasionally has little pockets that can't be used for sculpture or building. Those little unusable pockets can have perfect little crystals inside, like this quartz. There's a metaphor in there somewhere.
January 26, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Carrera marble is famed for its pure white color and fine grain, but the natural stone occasionally has little pockets that can't be used for sculpture or building. Those little unusable pockets can have perfect little crystals inside, like this quartz. There's a metaphor in there somewhere.
"In the middle of a broken stone, is another world, breathing inside this one." - Jai Hamid Bashir, 'Here, The Wolves'
January 25, 2025 at 4:29 AM
"In the middle of a broken stone, is another world, breathing inside this one." - Jai Hamid Bashir, 'Here, The Wolves'
My cat does not think my time is well spent taking mineral pictures. He has food, I swear! Big black rock from Franklin, New Jersey is shot through with crystals of willemite (green under UV), calcite (orange-ish), and franklinite (no color under UV, but an important ore of zinc!)
January 24, 2025 at 5:19 PM
My cat does not think my time is well spent taking mineral pictures. He has food, I swear! Big black rock from Franklin, New Jersey is shot through with crystals of willemite (green under UV), calcite (orange-ish), and franklinite (no color under UV, but an important ore of zinc!)
It's Handwriting Day! The weird little rock of the day is a little rosette of crystallized graphite from Quebec. Graphite is so soft and delicate that it is a minor miracle that the crystals remain so sharp I could write with them. Look close for the wee accidental smudges just above the pencil. 🖤✏️🪨
January 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
It's Handwriting Day! The weird little rock of the day is a little rosette of crystallized graphite from Quebec. Graphite is so soft and delicate that it is a minor miracle that the crystals remain so sharp I could write with them. Look close for the wee accidental smudges just above the pencil. 🖤✏️🪨
Interesting trend!
If you went to college:
1. Career goal?
2. Initial major?
3. Did you switch majors?
4. Current occupation?
1. Undecided medical
2. Pre-med/biology
3. Yes, to geology-chemistry, and a history minor
4. Environmental geologist specializing in historical info. It worked out!
If you went to college:
1. Career goal?
2. Initial major?
3. Did you switch majors?
4. Current occupation?
1. Undecided medical
2. Pre-med/biology
3. Yes, to geology-chemistry, and a history minor
4. Environmental geologist specializing in historical info. It worked out!
January 23, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Interesting trend!
If you went to college:
1. Career goal?
2. Initial major?
3. Did you switch majors?
4. Current occupation?
1. Undecided medical
2. Pre-med/biology
3. Yes, to geology-chemistry, and a history minor
4. Environmental geologist specializing in historical info. It worked out!
If you went to college:
1. Career goal?
2. Initial major?
3. Did you switch majors?
4. Current occupation?
1. Undecided medical
2. Pre-med/biology
3. Yes, to geology-chemistry, and a history minor
4. Environmental geologist specializing in historical info. It worked out!
Ice cubes on a frosty morning? No, fluorite from Hunan Prov. China on a frosty morning! Bought in the 80s by my grandmother when Chinese #mineral specimens started becoming more available in the USA. ☀️🧊💙
January 22, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Ice cubes on a frosty morning? No, fluorite from Hunan Prov. China on a frosty morning! Bought in the 80s by my grandmother when Chinese #mineral specimens started becoming more available in the USA. ☀️🧊💙
Reposted by Jessica
existential dread tides of the universe trying to stop me from loving being alive, and i just never will. i see joy and love and beauty everywhere i look, bitch, fuck you
January 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
existential dread tides of the universe trying to stop me from loving being alive, and i just never will. i see joy and love and beauty everywhere i look, bitch, fuck you
A little chunk of pale, raw turquoise in host rock from Iran cheering me up today. Iranian turquoise is one of the oldest mined gemstones; turquoise beads were found in burial sites in western Iran dating back to 7,000 BCE.
Pen is Sailor Pro Gear Slim in color "sasa" #turquoisetuesday
Pen is Sailor Pro Gear Slim in color "sasa" #turquoisetuesday
January 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
A little chunk of pale, raw turquoise in host rock from Iran cheering me up today. Iranian turquoise is one of the oldest mined gemstones; turquoise beads were found in burial sites in western Iran dating back to 7,000 BCE.
Pen is Sailor Pro Gear Slim in color "sasa" #turquoisetuesday
Pen is Sailor Pro Gear Slim in color "sasa" #turquoisetuesday
Today my laptop broke. I must have done something right in a past life.
January 21, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Today my laptop broke. I must have done something right in a past life.
An andradite garnet from Calaveras Co., California, with breakage that shows off its layers of "growth rings" around a lustrous central crystal. Thinking about why this one resonated with me today, of all days, is a bit of a Rorschach test.
#mineralmonday
#mineralmonday
January 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
An andradite garnet from Calaveras Co., California, with breakage that shows off its layers of "growth rings" around a lustrous central crystal. Thinking about why this one resonated with me today, of all days, is a bit of a Rorschach test.
#mineralmonday
#mineralmonday
Petroleum inclusions in quartz have an eerie glow under UV, and I just think everyone should know that. (Wait for it)
January 15, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Petroleum inclusions in quartz have an eerie glow under UV, and I just think everyone should know that. (Wait for it)
Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy.
January 12, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy.
This fossil clam partially filled with gemlike golden calcite sometime after it died suddenly 1-2 million years ago. When it's my time to go, it seems unlikely that my dessicated husk will eventually fill with crystals, but one can dream.
Fossil clam from Ruck's Pit near Fort Drum, Florida.
Fossil clam from Ruck's Pit near Fort Drum, Florida.
November 20, 2024 at 12:05 AM
This fossil clam partially filled with gemlike golden calcite sometime after it died suddenly 1-2 million years ago. When it's my time to go, it seems unlikely that my dessicated husk will eventually fill with crystals, but one can dream.
Fossil clam from Ruck's Pit near Fort Drum, Florida.
Fossil clam from Ruck's Pit near Fort Drum, Florida.
Fluorapatite friday! 1/4 inch gemmy purple crystal on matrix from Pulsifer Quarry, Maine. Mined probably ~60 years ago! The purple color likely cones from some manganese impurities. If you use fluoride toothpaste, you have fluorapatite in your teeth. Idk what you should do to make them purple tho.
November 16, 2024 at 5:29 AM
Fluorapatite friday! 1/4 inch gemmy purple crystal on matrix from Pulsifer Quarry, Maine. Mined probably ~60 years ago! The purple color likely cones from some manganese impurities. If you use fluoride toothpaste, you have fluorapatite in your teeth. Idk what you should do to make them purple tho.
Teeny tiny perfect quartz scepters from Dugway, Utah
November 15, 2024 at 7:07 PM
Teeny tiny perfect quartz scepters from Dugway, Utah
Tiny crystals of silvery stibnite topped with little translucent balls of siderite, from Romania. Specimen is roughly an inch across. How does one participate here on bluesky? Idk. Perhaps I will just show pictures of funky little rocks and minerals until I figure it out.
November 15, 2024 at 7:13 AM
Tiny crystals of silvery stibnite topped with little translucent balls of siderite, from Romania. Specimen is roughly an inch across. How does one participate here on bluesky? Idk. Perhaps I will just show pictures of funky little rocks and minerals until I figure it out.