Adularescence is an optical phenomenon, similar to labradorescence and aventurescence, produced most notably by moonstones. Adularescence is also commonly referred to as schiller or shiller. The effect is best described as a milky, bluish lustre or glow originating from below the surface of the gemstone. The schiller, appearing to move as the stone is turned (or as the light source is moved), gives the impression of lunar light floating on water (accounting for moonstone's name). Though white schiller is the most common, in rarer specimens, orange or blue lustres are produced. --quite by accident I happened upon this...it's punny, but not necessarily funny.--Wikipedia, moonstone gemThere's still a full moon. Looking at a pair of moonstone earrings--with the blue cast--on the desk.
Having a bit of a freak-out by the (to me) overwhelming interest on Facebook...I haven't known these people--save for one or two--in a million years. I lived a different life than they did in Strasbourg (& elsewhere, & since). Not better but so different. Or maybe it's just that I arrived in Strasbourg with a different background & future agenda. I was not innocent or naive, I was fleeing a very difficult family situation in America. Posted cassette tapes, bicycle-delivered telegrams, & even a few phone calls made it clear that I would not escape. I returned to try & fix it as requested. It did not work. I am so sorry that I moved back.
I cannot be the only one who feels this way. Yet, I do not want to offend & really, this could be a positive turn of events. A lot has happened to everyone, I know. I don't discount it. My list, though, elicits near disbelief in people who were here for it, one by one, incident by incident. Also, what kind of judgment will be made about me & my life.
I have looked--off & on for some years--for a person who would understand. It was my fault that we lost touch. By the time I responded to what turned out to be our last letter, it was too late. All the return addresses from a few years of correspondence (from Beirut, France, England, Spain, Costa Rica) were dead-ends & I cannot find her married surname. I'm not an obsessive but in the last 2-3 days this lost friend has become more important. She used to say 'old bean' & take me for tarte aux framboise near Place Kléber when I had no money & I do mean NO money. She was wise about these boy-men. She let me use her Fidji perfume. Pamela, I hope you are in good health, happy, & writing witty letters. Those lucky recipients.
Maybe my boundaries are too strict lately, but others' feel far too fluid--as things stand now. I am not rejecting people outright. Give me a little time please. [I will endeavor to make this more coherent but I needed to post it more quickly than I'd anticipated.]
Update Monday, 1.32pm - I should make it clear, I have some 'esplaining to do. I'm not anti-FB. Someone who means very well got very excited because he's new to it. If not for FB, I would not have reconnected with several people. We were looking for the other for years...& I have very good research skills.
Oh, maybe I'll scoop a bunch of this out & wait. Right now, I have a bunch of FB msgs to look at. I hope they're not mad at me. Let me also be clear that I contacted the person in question & sent him a msg about my distress--most of which has to do with me, not them--before I posted above. It was not a passive-aggressive act, which I loathe......
(photo via Rachel Follett on pinterest, via automatism)
14 comments:
facebook like anything has its good and bad points. For me it became too much - friends I did not know, games i did not want to "play", people I had got back in touch with only to find I had moved on and they seemed stuck in a time warp. I would "bump" into conversations my children were having that I thought were inapproriate..
and the list goes on...
I deleted it and my Linkedin site... Interesting to note- I no longer recieve calls from foreign call centres, I no longer have the stress of hundreds of emails in my email account.
I am SO happy with my choice I even bought a Sonim phone- too hard to get internet on it, but waterproof and dust proof which suits my lifestyle AND the battery lasts a week! hooray! :o)
Anyway- distance from family can sometimes be the best imo.....
absolutely gorgeous gorgeous shot!!! and moonstone is a perfect description of the pearlized quality of this image.. I'm now fixated with this look and must play around with it.. thanks
RE friend.. I understand how sometimes we let people go .. for whatever reasons.. I am quite bad at that... and then will often think of them down the track.. particularly OS friends I have met during my travels.. Hope it all works out Susan.. ciao.. xxx Julie
The Moonstone by "Wiki" Collins.
I love this photo. Like a fable.
Great photo/post on Adularescence. With you on boundaries. I admire the mix of humor and integrity in your writing. You should write for the Daily Show!
oh, the darn facebook. I'm not into it at all but do understand the appeal. for instance, there's a whole india and nepal scene that my husband used to be a part of in the 70s that are coming together and finding each other because of facebook. there's even been a reunion in goa last year. so, when it comes to reconnecting with people facebook is great. if you want to reconnect with people that is. :)
Simon--why don't you tell us how you really feel? lol (sorry, people usually say that to me & I rarely get to ask anyone else:)
Julie--it is that pearlized thing, yes. And the word eluded me for days - well, until you wrote it. I could not come up with the word. And a pair of pearl earrings are sitting right next to the moonstone earrings. So there ya go. Oof. Will keep posted on my search..I've not decided to ask anyone on FB yet.
Hazel--Yes, I thought that too. And I always seemed to be running around under the moonlight back then. In forests. Just realized how very weird that is for a fraidy cat like me. Must've felt safe then.
secret, fragile skies--you're so nice. Can't you just hear everyone shrieking "NO! Don't encourage her." Really, you are too nice but that won't keep me from grinning a bit more tonight. I'm feeling quite devilish after my angst attack last night.
Tina--that's it, that's what is so terrific about FB. How would Terry have found all those people otherwise? Most of us do not have access to Lexis-Nexis, those sorts of expensive databases. It was my own fault, really. I should've been prepared. It's not like this is a new problem...I just did not expect to be part of it.
Don't get me started on Facebook... I loathe it... I just un-Facebooked myself. One of the reasons is, I kept on being contacted by people who were in my class back in the days (and I mean BACK in the days) and who wanted to Friend me - people I wasn't even friends with back in school! Why would we be friends NOW after all these years when we were never friends in real life????
Argh.
And all the stupid automatic updates such as "Jack and Jill are now friends!" "Bobby has changed his status to In A Relationship!" "Betty unfriended Betsy!"
I just couldn't stand it anymore.
The moonstone makes me think of Wilkie Collins' book full of mystery and beauty, just like this amazing photo. I'm on Facebook but somehow want to leave without every being able to quit. You know I totally understand those fluid barriers whenever someone I knew years ago from school gets in touch but for me there was so little to say back then and even less now so I never add them as friends. That sounds so bitchy but I need to let that part of me go. I had a friend once from Italy whom I lost touch with; sometimes I dream of establishing past connections but lost her contact details. Maybe it's better that way though. Beautiful post I can totally relate to.
ahahah! Well I do believe in being "straight up". ;o)
Mary Laure- I am with you 100% on the face book issue! :o)
Mary-Laure & Simon - I can't un-do my account...it is necessary for work nowadays (or if I want more). I tweak my settings so that I don't see all those annoying updates. You can refine them fairly tightly. But then, I 'm talking to the wrong people here because you've un-FB'd. More power to you--I don't have that luxury--it is a luxury nowadays in media affairs. I can't come off as "I don't care" because that is not the answer companies want to hear, esp. from those they consider perhaps too old to "get it." So.
I want to restate: I am not against FB...I would not have been back in touch with some of the best people I've ever known if not for FB. I just use it judiciously. And those people who are so clueless as to "request" - I ignore them. I agree that it really is a problem, though. It's uncomfortable. My thing is, I don't friend people because I don't want to "impose" & then find out that they didn't want to either for the same reason. So in a way, I have the opposite problem of so many others.
Vanessa--It doesn't sound bitchy at all, what you said. That's just not me in this case...this was not a good friendship to lose. (& a few more) I'll explain more another time. But I'm not one of those 'oh if only' people, not really. This is a matter of some importance, not idle curiosity. You can stay on FB & just not be active on it. That way you have the option to go back or not. I have told friends & family not count on it to get in touch. I have 2 active email accounts & two phone numbers. They should use them. Some people haven't listened & had to learn the hard way. I know that I was clear, so, oh well.
Oh crum. I forgot to say to Hazel & Vanessa...I never have read Wilkie. I will remedy this during the late autumn & winter. I look forward to it. Cheers. (If you see this before I ask...what should I start with?)
oh I am not suggesting you un-facebook at all! I know this and Linked in can be useful tools 100% :o)
I have not heard that said for years!!! "Oh crum"
Facebook bores me silly. Still, I am on there and in touch with people who are mainly curious about my life since I've strayed away from church. Haha.
Angie--Oh dear. Well, as it turns out, this has been a good thing & I did needlessly freak out. I hope I'm not speaking too soon.
As I've said to everyone (I don't mean this to Angie, just typing it here): tweak yer settings. Announce to people what you intentions are on FB. (As above: Catherine is going to have a business page, etc.). If you've put it in writing (even on FB!) that they've been warned.
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