A Gem of a Deal - Book Update August 2024

Some of you know that I have been working on another book - about gemstones. This is a mock-up of it. It probably won’t be the final cover, but this one looks good so far.

I’m updating the information to be more relevant to the post-pandemic world, especially market information pertaining to the gemstone industry and the changes that it is experiencing.

A Gem of a Deal was especially written to help people who are buying gemstones for the first time to know a bit more about what they are doing before they do it - hence the working subtitle - How to Buy Gems and Gemstone Jewellery Without Getting Ripped Off.

It also seeks to help beginner collectors get a head start and good deals for their first collections.

We all had to start somewhere, and I wish that I had something like this to refer to when I first started my collection those many, many years ago. It would have helped me to minimise my “school fees” and more expensive mistakes.

If all goes well, I should have something more concrete by the end of this year, and hopefully get this published and printed in 2025! Exciting stuff!

Book Recommendation: 12 Rules For Life is Fantastic. Dr. Jordan B Peterson Makes You Feel Smarter For Having Listened To Him

Some people have a knack for making you feel smarter for having listened to them.

Not only are they able to summon facts and studies, they make their points in a logical flow, and explain complex words if they use them.

They don't shove emotional rhetoric down your throat, instead calmly explaining their views and expounding on them when asked to do so.

Because of how prepared they are when questioned, it's clear that they have thought through what they are saying.

One of these people, whom I've been listening to for some time now (on YouTube, primarily), is Dr. Jordan Peterson.

I find his eloquent articulation of what he believes and observes to be highly compelling.

Some time ago, I bought one of his books - 12 Rules for Life - An Antidote to Chaos, and am making my way through it, having to pause every now and then to ponder upon what he writes in it.

Though this isn't exactly light reading, it's full of thought-provoking information, laid out in Dr. Peterson's engaging style of dry humour. I highly recommend it.

Why I Won't Write a Book About Other People's Expertise, Experiences, and/or Stories

Writing a book that is a collection of other people's expertise / experiences / stories doesn't make you an expert.

Oh, it will certainly allow you to be perceived as an expert.

And it makes you a good collator of information, and, if you've been paying attention, a good student of your interviewees.

But you're not really an expert.

Not yet, anyway.

This isn't to say that you shouldn't write a book.

I'm just saying that it may make more sense to write a book about something you are personally good at, even if it's not necessarily a "marketable" or "popular" book.

If I want to learn from a known expert about their expertise, why would I learn it second hand from someone else?

Unless that person has something valuable to add.

I Had Childhood Ambitions. I Didn't Become Any of Them.

When I was a kid, at different points in time, I wanted to be a Cook (I didn't know the word Chef), a Librarian, and a Scientist (specifically, an Entomologist, one who studies insects).

Perhaps as a way of fulfilling at least one of them, I would stay in the kitchen to watch my mum cook. Though I didn't take notes or ask a lot of questions, I still remember and use a lot of the techniques she used.

Being a Librarian is still somewhat appealing to me, though I can't say I'm going to be great with putting books back on the shelves. I've always been a messy reader, with my books all over the place.

I almost never put them back in my book cabinets (yes, plural) until I'm sure I won't be reading them for a while, or forced to do so. I suspect I'll have trouble maintaining a neat library.

And, although I liked observing insects, especially praying mantises, I didn't want to touch them. I've recently learned that it's because I've always had sensory issues.

So, a career of studying something I cannot touch is a bit... Difficult.

Oh, the picture attached is of one individual of a couple of colonies of mantises I found in East Coast Park, where I go on Photo Hunts. I go back and check on them about once a week or so. This one is about 2 months old.

Today, I'm an Educator, Consultant, and Workshop Wrangler.

I would never have imagined as a kid that I'd be here. And yet, this has been my work for over 15 years.

Funny, isn't it, where life takes you?