Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:30 am Posts: 68 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
I now know what it is to be the brunt of the old joke "What's the definition of suppense?" Answer "I'll tell you next week.
Richard, I have never wanted to read the end of something as much as this.
I can't wait for the 4th installment!
Thank you so much for writing this. I have been reading each installment to my Mother who is handicapped and cannot hold the pages to read them. She loves it as much as I and also feels as if she were there watching Chu.
_________________ Look at all the pretty colored stones!
Well next week you will find out how it ends. Interesting watching the numbers. About half as many who read the first installment looked at the 2nd. Will be interested to see the total numbers on #3 and #4.
Seemed like an interesting idea to do a serial, sort of like the movie serials that used to show at the neighborhood theatre in Riverside, Rhode Island when I was a kid. Dating myself here. They had Batman, The Green Lantern, etc. Babra liked the idea, so here it is, enjoy!
Thank you for your comments, very kind. My mother in law, Ma T., just turned 90. She suffers from Macular Degeneration and canno't read but is otherwise in excellent shape. We just threw a 90th birthday bash for her.
I made a tape of another story for her. She is thankful for spoken word tapes that she gets from an organization for the handicapped in her native Virgina.
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 5:30 am Posts: 68 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Thank you Richard. My Mom has parkinson's and cripling arthritis. her eyesight is ok but her hands are in such bad shape that she can no longer hold anything to read.
She taught me to love reading and I still read as much as I can.
My grandfather had macular degeneration so I know how debilitating it can be. One of my residents at the retirement community where I work also has it so I am familiar with the desease.
Tell Ma T Happy Birthday for me and you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
And please write some more for us. Your stories are wonderful and I love the little tid bits of information that you put in them ( like the difference between jadeite and naferite jade.)
_________________ Look at all the pretty colored stones!
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:47 pm Posts: 2505 Location: Eastern Europe
Thank you very much for letting me know of this forum and the lovely story
I'll surely be around reading the rest. It brings enough intriguing thoughts mid-way as is:
#1. quite a bit of envy for the related experience with these places and people. Books are great, travel way better! Oh well...
#2. there isn't too much documented folklore about traditional 'gemology' practices. I found a couple in Arabic tales and one is about the identification of jade by touch. It reads much like the intro of your story: same problem, same solution - many generations and worlds apart!
#3. Is there some real-life tradition limiting the marking of jade pieces before sale? That would make a nice story for my colleagues to sink their teeth into
PS: This is my first post here. If anyone has passed by Pricescope.com, you might remember 'Valeria101'. That's me, hence the new avatar name as a follow up.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:42 pm Posts: 2846 Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Richard, there are probably more hits on the early ones simply because we have been going back to make and read comments on the thread. It may not have a great deal to do with how many people are actually reading the story.
True enough nuck, I'm just pleased to have had a chance to dust off this story and put it out so that people get a chance to read and hopefully enjoy it. Never quite knew what prompted me to write it.
Found myself facinated with the idea that the Chinese would buy and sell rough jade based upon tiny slices of the stone. Saw one once at the Kowloon jade Market that looked like a French bagette, totally sliced. Seemed like it said a lot about the people who bought and sold it.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:42 pm Posts: 2846 Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Speaking for myself, I find the glimpse inside of how it is (I'm assuming) traditionally done totally fascinating, as well as the whole cultural aspect of it. I've yet to go to the Far East, but in the places that I have lived, trying to understand and adjust to the local mindset is one of the joys (and frustrations) of living abroad. Some are so completely alien to how we think in the West. It would be interesting to hear about what you have observed regarding the culture / mindset of that part of the world. Maybe that's in your book though.
That story is completely made up. The stories in my book are true. They are also not stories, rather narratives to give the reader the feel of what it is like to go to a foreign country along with a description of mining activities to geve the reader the sense of the process.
Gems come from somewhere both geographically and geologically. There are a series of steps between the ground and you and each step is interesting in itself. Some depend upon art, others on artifice. All depend upon hard work.
The profession of gem merchant is very old. I suppose both those of both priest and prostitute are older. I don't mine or cut, but I have cut gems and I've been down a lot of holes. It is important that he be grounded literally and figuretively.. Collectors too, should know a bit about the process.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum