For Andy...
I've always wanted to do something nice for Andy, but the big boy always have me stumped.
So, this time around, Andy did the honors by requesting crystals. The day before my ultra-special UK trip, I hauled my ass over to a shop in the East Village to find them stones. Back in the good ol' days (before the massive commercializing of the Village), you could find a slew of eclectic boutiques and stores everywhere. Now? They're either hiding somewhere or have gone belly up.
After I dropped off my rugrat, I got up there at 10AM. Dammit, this particular store was not open till noon. *Sigh* - so what did I do? Spent time at K-Mart and Barnes & Noble on Astor Place. By noon, I popped back to the makeshift crystal shop which shared 1/3 of its space in a large Middle Eastern bodega. The place seemed to have everything, but from a psychic perspective, I never had a 'calling' for crystals.
I was absolutely clueless. Andy never gave me the 411 of what he wanted, so it was basically up to my intuition to get him something. When I entered the store, the stuff was piled up everywhere and strewn about. I realized that I had some work to do and digging was required on my part. The store owner, part Asian mutt mix and part surfer dude with long hair, looked at me curiously as I walked by behaving like a total snot. It's an attribute I learned my from my wealthy Chinese girlfriends who spend their days shopping at Bloomie's and getting weekly manicures. Because I ventured to an unexplored domain, I might as well get ripped off being an arse rather than an easy target.
The crystals were not organized nicely and the lighting was horrible. I knew the stuff was pretty authentic as there was so much dust floating about, but nothing appealed to me. In the midst of this crystallized mine, only one thing did catch my eye: the Herkimer diamonds (I originally thought they were only for $3 each, not per gram!). I grabbed the largest ones and fished around the tiny place for other odds and ends. Since the store wasn't exactly pleasing to the eye, I asked the surfer dude what would be a proper purchase for a friend. He stated that every crystal had a metaphysical property and it was up to the individual what he/she wanted to do with it.
Whatever. That was mighty helpful to me.
Anyway, I picked a few more items and went for the weigh-in. Everything seemed decent until he weighed the diamonds. Based on the weight alone, the 7 Herkimers cost over $50! So I picked the nicest one and put the rest back. My total order came up to $25, so I gave him 20 & 10 dollar bills.
Either he couldn't break change or my attitude piqued his curiosity, he offered me a deal: he'd give me any 5 Herkimers for 5 dollars. Without a doubt, I grabbed 5 of them - which happened to be the same large ones I picked up earlier and called it a deal.
As soon as I left the store I rang up Lisa on my cell phone and barked into her voicemail about these darn rocks. What I should've done was to ask Lisa WHAT sort of crystals to buy and why. After all, she's very much into them and took my runes which were made of rose quartz (hey, am I ever getting those back?!). All I wanted to know was whether or not I had been royally ripped off. An hour later, I get an email from her outlining the facts. Whew!
On that note, I outdid myself. Then I excitedly rang up Sarah & Andy yapping over the same thing. I was on some wacky high - they were amused by my rambling tirade over these crystals. Sheesh, maybe I need to get out of house more. They were astounded by my discovery because Andy hadn't even heard of these crystals. Herkimers are found in upstate NY and were plentiful 'round these parts. Cool.
For once, I was gloating in a good way. I couldn't shut up about my fabulous find and was even more ecstatic to learn that Andy didn't have any. Apparently good quality stones are harder to come by in the UK. When I finally handed him the stash, he was like a little kid opening his presents on Xmas day. We came across these crystals at one of the local shops in Tamworth, but they were butt-ugly for £3.
For whatever the absurd reason, I spent the entire week blubbering over this one particular incident. I'm surprised they didn't try slapping some duct tape on my face and serve a dish of mashed potatoes mixed with epoxy glue to shut me up.
On a very sweet & wonderful note: Sarah & Andy are renewing their vows this June through the rite of handfasting. It's magnificent because they actually have a Druid present to perform this ritual for the wedding! Based on its properties, the Herkimers are the PERFECT crystal for the couple to use as betrothal gifts to each other. Man, I'm onto something!
[Had I known about it sooner, I would somehow plan my arrangements to attend, but I came a wee bit too early for a visit! Maybe I can finagle something again???]
So, this time around, Andy did the honors by requesting crystals. The day before my ultra-special UK trip, I hauled my ass over to a shop in the East Village to find them stones. Back in the good ol' days (before the massive commercializing of the Village), you could find a slew of eclectic boutiques and stores everywhere. Now? They're either hiding somewhere or have gone belly up.
After I dropped off my rugrat, I got up there at 10AM. Dammit, this particular store was not open till noon. *Sigh* - so what did I do? Spent time at K-Mart and Barnes & Noble on Astor Place. By noon, I popped back to the makeshift crystal shop which shared 1/3 of its space in a large Middle Eastern bodega. The place seemed to have everything, but from a psychic perspective, I never had a 'calling' for crystals.
I was absolutely clueless. Andy never gave me the 411 of what he wanted, so it was basically up to my intuition to get him something. When I entered the store, the stuff was piled up everywhere and strewn about. I realized that I had some work to do and digging was required on my part. The store owner, part Asian mutt mix and part surfer dude with long hair, looked at me curiously as I walked by behaving like a total snot. It's an attribute I learned my from my wealthy Chinese girlfriends who spend their days shopping at Bloomie's and getting weekly manicures. Because I ventured to an unexplored domain, I might as well get ripped off being an arse rather than an easy target.
The crystals were not organized nicely and the lighting was horrible. I knew the stuff was pretty authentic as there was so much dust floating about, but nothing appealed to me. In the midst of this crystallized mine, only one thing did catch my eye: the Herkimer diamonds (I originally thought they were only for $3 each, not per gram!). I grabbed the largest ones and fished around the tiny place for other odds and ends. Since the store wasn't exactly pleasing to the eye, I asked the surfer dude what would be a proper purchase for a friend. He stated that every crystal had a metaphysical property and it was up to the individual what he/she wanted to do with it.
Whatever. That was mighty helpful to me.
Anyway, I picked a few more items and went for the weigh-in. Everything seemed decent until he weighed the diamonds. Based on the weight alone, the 7 Herkimers cost over $50! So I picked the nicest one and put the rest back. My total order came up to $25, so I gave him 20 & 10 dollar bills.
Either he couldn't break change or my attitude piqued his curiosity, he offered me a deal: he'd give me any 5 Herkimers for 5 dollars. Without a doubt, I grabbed 5 of them - which happened to be the same large ones I picked up earlier and called it a deal.
As soon as I left the store I rang up Lisa on my cell phone and barked into her voicemail about these darn rocks. What I should've done was to ask Lisa WHAT sort of crystals to buy and why. After all, she's very much into them and took my runes which were made of rose quartz (hey, am I ever getting those back?!). All I wanted to know was whether or not I had been royally ripped off. An hour later, I get an email from her outlining the facts. Whew!
On that note, I outdid myself. Then I excitedly rang up Sarah & Andy yapping over the same thing. I was on some wacky high - they were amused by my rambling tirade over these crystals. Sheesh, maybe I need to get out of house more. They were astounded by my discovery because Andy hadn't even heard of these crystals. Herkimers are found in upstate NY and were plentiful 'round these parts. Cool.
For once, I was gloating in a good way. I couldn't shut up about my fabulous find and was even more ecstatic to learn that Andy didn't have any. Apparently good quality stones are harder to come by in the UK. When I finally handed him the stash, he was like a little kid opening his presents on Xmas day. We came across these crystals at one of the local shops in Tamworth, but they were butt-ugly for £3.
For whatever the absurd reason, I spent the entire week blubbering over this one particular incident. I'm surprised they didn't try slapping some duct tape on my face and serve a dish of mashed potatoes mixed with epoxy glue to shut me up.
On a very sweet & wonderful note: Sarah & Andy are renewing their vows this June through the rite of handfasting. It's magnificent because they actually have a Druid present to perform this ritual for the wedding! Based on its properties, the Herkimers are the PERFECT crystal for the couple to use as betrothal gifts to each other. Man, I'm onto something!
[Had I known about it sooner, I would somehow plan my arrangements to attend, but I came a wee bit too early for a visit! Maybe I can finagle something again???]
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Holy Herkimers! Yes, Herkimer's are the perfect betrothal gift. I've had one for over 15 years now...can't remember what I paid for it then, but it is lovely. Been saving it ever since.
And handfasting...now that's romantic. :::sigh:::
And handfasting...now that's romantic. :::sigh:::
Oh! Do tell! I'd love to hear how you came across this stone! Your comment makes me feel all warm and fuzzy because it's another good score for me! I really should've listened to my intuition all along!
Sarah & Andy are sickeningly sweet - makes you wanna barf sometimes.
Sarah & Andy are sickeningly sweet - makes you wanna barf sometimes.
Well, it was many years ago, but there used to be a metaphysical bookstore called The Eagle's Eye. I was a regular customer and student. They carried every kind of crystal and stone imaginable. One day they received a shipment of these Herkimer diamonds while I was shopping. I was immediately drawn to them, but didn't buy mine right away, and for days I could not stop thinking about these stones. About a month later, I had some extra cash and made a bee line to the Eagle's Eye. I've had it ever since.
I even took a photo for you. I only have one, and like I said, I've been saving it all these years. Still have the same brown cloth bag it came in.
http://members.aol.com/delela1/Photos/Herk2
I think handfasting is such a wonderful ceremony. In the old days, many Scottish wedding ceremonies included the exchange of blood. The groom would make a small cut into his brides wrist, then do the same to himself, their wrists would be joined and then fastened together. It represented the mixing of the two lines of blood, literally.
Today, it would definitely freak some people out.
I even took a photo for you. I only have one, and like I said, I've been saving it all these years. Still have the same brown cloth bag it came in.
http://members.aol.com/delela1/Photos/Herk2
I think handfasting is such a wonderful ceremony. In the old days, many Scottish wedding ceremonies included the exchange of blood. The groom would make a small cut into his brides wrist, then do the same to himself, their wrists would be joined and then fastened together. It represented the mixing of the two lines of blood, literally.
Today, it would definitely freak some people out.
Wow...now I'm getting fweepy over this handfasting ceremony.
Of course, in today's society, if anyone was to exchange blood, it'd be amongst the Chinese Triad gang members during their initiation.
Of course, in today's society, if anyone was to exchange blood, it'd be amongst the Chinese Triad gang members during their initiation.