A rockhound is an amateur geologist or collector of rocks, minerals and gemstones. It's not always about the value or selling them. Not for me. I like the history of rocks. Such ancient things, far older than even the oldest of trees. Eroded by time and the elements (mostly water) found on and under land, sea and space, small enough to fit into a pocket or far too massive to consider moving at all. How can anyone not find even the most common rock a bit interesting.

There is some difference between being an ordinary rock collector and someone who actually knows whether the rock they just picked up (because it looks interesting) is a gem, mineral, or just another rock. I'm the ordinary rock type of beachcomber, streetcomber, forestcomber, (even though only one of those is a considered a real word at this time).

I like rocks, sometimes I carry one home in my pocket. It's a casual hobby. But, I couldn't say for sure whether the rocks I keep are anything but an interesting looking rock. I did study geology in high school, so I know (remember) a little about how rocks are formed.

Ontario (I live in Ontario) with links found for the other Canadian provinces afterwards.

Ottawa Lapsmith and Mineral Club
The Niagara Peninsula Geological Society - St Catharines
Barrie Gem and Mineral Club (Currently inactive).
The Gem and Mineral Club of Scarborough - Toronto

The British Columbia Lapidary Society
Victoria Lapidary and Mineral Society
Ripple Rock and Gem Mineral Club - Campbell River
Port Moody Rock and Gem Club

Alberta Federation of Rock Clubs 
Southern Alberta Rockhounds Association
Edmonton Tumblewood Lapidary Club
Calgary Rock and Lapidary Club

Prairie Rock and Gem Society - Regina, Saskatchewan

Montreal Gem and Mineral Club Quebec

The Central Canadian Federation of Mineralogical Societies
Mineralogical Association of Canada 
Gem and Mineral Federation of Canada

Do you know all of these, what they are or even more about each of them? They are all connected to rocks in some way. Not on this list was rock piling or stacking. I've seen people turn them into bridges which continue to stand without anything but friction and gravity keeping them together. Also, Inukshuks, traditionally used for navigation and communication in northern Canada.

• lapidary
• tumbling
• carving
• sculpture
• architecture
• fossils
• geology
• paleontology
• prospecting

List from: Virtual Museum of the History of Mineralogy

If you wander into this site and stay more than a second or two, you may wonder why its here at all. This site began as my first personal site (I'm not sure what year that was now) then the domain was sort of hijacked. The person who was hosting the domain forgot to pay for it on time. So, I lost the domain. For many years. I did keep running my own sites, personal, for other people and some on other networks:  Suite101, Lockergnome, BackWash, BellaOnline, HubPages, Squidoo, and others I can't think of right now. But, when I typed thatgrrl.com into the domain search and it showed up as available (no longer owned by anyone not using it but asking thousands of dollars for it) I bought it again. So here it is.

Meanwhile, I had several other sites and domains which I was burnt out from trying to run. Plus, there are very few people still keeping sites for personal reasons rather than monetizing, commercializing, tracking, spying, and you know the rest if you have been around online awhile. Most of the software for making websites has become customized for people making cookie cutter sites for clients and selling it as professional websites. I did not learn a lot of HTML, far from much when it came to software, scripts, etc. But, I still work on my sites, by myself with the help of software developers and others when I search for it online.

Mental slavery is a term I noticed, posted to Twitter this week. Something about people choosing to go along with brain washing or choosing not to really think too hard about anything and just let themselves be used as per herd mentality. Something like that. I'm kind of tired and not really feeling enough passion/ vibrance to write. The world is a very discouraging place. Everyone is just supposed to think as the government/ media wants us to think. Anything less is discouraged. Not even so much by the government or media, or whatever controls both. Peer pressure has become so strong whatever source all of this came from, they can just stand back in the dimly lit corners and let it all wash over the world without help.

Zack, my nephew, wrote about a video game he played with Chris. I asked and he explained the game is "specifically designed for co-op where you play as two parents trying to get divorced. They get transformed into dolls who then have to work together to undo it" Ok, so just a game... But, it heavily promotes the idea that divorce is bad, wrong, etc. Isn't this a soft method of controlling how people think?

Some people are protesting about the lockdowns but most think all of this mental slavery, brain washing, whatever you choose to call it, just started with Covid. As if it is all something new. This means so many other things have swept past them unnoticed, uncommented upon. The issue isn't new. The Covid panic and lockdowns are just another step, another link in this chain of events.

When did it start? I don't think I am old enough to see the start and too old to see where it will finish. Eventually it will finish, one way or place or another. What is the point of it all? Power, control, economics? A lot of words are shuffled around but people don't seem to think or understand any of them any more. Even the people starting to think are not seeing a very big picture.

The only part of the Matrix movie I really remember, the part that has stuck in my mind, is the character played by Keanu Reeves waking up to realize he has been a human battery for the machines now running and in control of everything. I know it seems so far afield. But, it just keeps lurking around in the back of my mind, how far fetched is it? Each time I think its just not likely, next it is back again, making me wonder.

In a world for machines, what would they need? Just enough life to keep the planet healthy, so some animals, plants, etc. Humans aren't necessary and likely to be a detriment more than a plus. Without humans to entertain so many businesses would be unnecessary, like restaurants, religion, so many of the things being closed down due to lockdowns. Is it a coincidence. It must be, right? But, apparently, humans do make good batteries and machines would need power, of that kind, more than any other resource.

However far off the rails this idea is, there is still the thing about mental slavery. Freedom of speech, freedom to gather, freedom to travel, and etc are gone. Freedom of speech seems to be a term, like a flag they fly, when they want to condone being rude to each other. It's ok to beat someone verbally because we have freedom of speech. But, don't say something we don't agree with, you have no freedom to say anything we don't like and you will be pressured to conform. Like a good little battery.

The garage at this house smells like something very old, closed up and forgotten. It’s an interesting smell and I might even like it if I didn’t have allergies and asthma.

It’s the right smell for a tomb. Why are people only buried in garages in movies? Or for less than polite and honest reasons. This garage smells like a place for burying people, keeping them forgotten forever. I could buy a coffin, make sure it is sealed so it doesn’t have that awful rotting meat stench, and be left in this garage for eternity. Or until they bulldoze the house down to build something bigger.

Graveyards seldom ever smell like a place people should be buried in. Why is that?

If you took a magic pill, what would it be for? People think about pills as little things you swallow to cure your problems, usually health problems. A lot can affect your health, mental and physical health.

So think about it, carefully. There is only one pill, one chance at getting the magic right. Of course, you can’t be tricky and say “everything”. The magic pill needs specifics.

Once you figure out what the magic pill will cure – figure out how to do it yourself, in reality. Good luck!