Another Twist on Black Friday

I think it was last year I rethought Black Friday because it's a day I never think of shopping.  That kind of thinking might have come from how, since I was 16 or 17, I worked it!  Nothing better than having to deal with the chaos behind the counter to make you not want to get out into the mix of it all.

So, another way to think of Black Friday is to think Black Gems.

In Whitby, near where I lived in England, and also where Bram Stocker wrote Dracula, comes a type of black stone called Jet.  The peak of Jet jewelry was the Victorian era, although you can still find some beautiful pieces today.  Each time we go to visit there, I think about coming home with something.  Maybe this is the year.  I'm pretty sure we'll be going there for fish & chips [chip butty for me] at Magpie's Cafe and pick up some Fortunes Smoked Kippers for the cutie and his dad - definitely not for me!

Obsidian is another black gemstone and has unique properties.  Laurell K Hamilton also wrote a book in her Anita Blake series called Obsidian Buterfly and that's the first one I bought - yup, midway through a series.  I mentioned in Comeback Time about how the cover of that book encouraged me to buy it where the one in England turned me off.  It didn't matter that the blurb sounded interesting.

Now for something personal.  Tomorrow is the cutie's and my 17th anniversary and while we can't walk down to share a moment with the sea lions that barked through the ceremony, we will celebrate.  Our pressies for each other have, since the beginning, been Christmas tree ornaments.  When you're young and have none, it's a good place to start, and even better when you have travel 6k miles with them.  Why am I telling you this?  Because the "Onyx is the anniversary gemstone for the 7th year of marriage.  Black Onyx is the anniversary gemstone for the 10th year of marriage."(1)  7 + 10 = 17 and a odd coincidence.  [On a side note, the gift for the 17th anniversary is furniture, and the cutie and I have been talking about getting a new stand for the tv - another weird coincidence or should we do it?]

While a black diamond can refer to a ski slopes range of difficulty and a rare gemstone, which many of the rare diamonds are named.  Many have heard of the Hope and Cullinan [or Great Star of Africa] diamonds, but what about the Amsterdam Diamond?  I hadn't heard of it, but apparently in 2001 it sold for $352,000, which was the highest price paid for a black diamond at auction.  Wow, that's a lot of money for 33.74 carats / 145 facets!

Now, sand is not a gemstone, it is part mineral so I'm putting it on this list because if you ever get a chance to go to a black sand beach, you will think it is just as prescious.  The cutie and I went to one when he had a conference on Maui.  I drove the Hana Highway and at the end was a black sand beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park.  It was stunning and we promised we'd get back there one day and stay a few days.  We haven't, but thankfully there's time.

And on that note, hope you enjoyed my twist on Black Friday - go have fun making your own day of Black!

Although, if you do want to go shopping, then I heard a while back that Best Buy were going to be selling the Nook wi-fi for $99, not $149 on Black Friday.  That's a really good price.