Octopodial Chrome

As some of my friends & family know, I’ve recently (back in August, IIRC) started learning the guitar. It’s tough work, but the reward—hearing a song one knows by heart come out of one’s own instrument—is well worth it. Progress is unfortunately slower than I’d like. I’ve hit the first real plateau, and haven’t gotten any better in about a month. Not certain what I need to do—or can do—to resolve this issue.

While at the Denver Museum of Natural History this weekend we saw a very neat collection of gems & minerals. Most of the were retrieved from mines deep below the earth, and it occurred to me how wonderful it must be to be the first man—the first living creature—to set eyes on them. But I was also saddened, because apparently many of these beautiful crystals are ground up and used for industrial and medical purposes. Certainly, it’s important that industry progress, and I’d willingly sacrifice tons of pretty rock to save a single life—but it’s still sad that something which has been forming since the dawn of time should be so abruptly destroyed.

I highly recommend seeing the collection; it’s well worth the time.

On Sunday my friend Shaima & I took a stroll around Confluence Park. What should we find but an eddy in the Platte River which collects garbage? It’s truly disgusting: a pleasant, semi-natural scene spoilt by refuse.

Something should be done.