Ep.7 Transcription- Discussibility of Rock Accessibility
RR: Ok, this is Rock Rat, coming to you from my bedroom in Spokane. I am sitting down with one of my- actually my oldest friend. Mel, you’re my oldest friend, I just want you to know that. Guys, just- to my listeners- I love all two of you very deeply and um this is probably going to be one of my favorite interviews, so far. Um, meet Mel, Mel please introduce yourself.
Mel: Hello, I’m Mel. I have a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Which means that I’m very used to talking about issues of race and gender across all of the spectrum. And I have been also been invested in some of the arts, I also do some digital art and stuff. Yea, I feel like I have a very left-brained mind. Or right-brained….I don’t remember…
RR: Left-brained is logical, I think.
Mel: Right-brained then, very opposite my family. I’m left-handed. Anyway.
RR: Well, that makes sense because the left side controls the right side and the right side controls the left side.
Mel: That’s right, because I’m in my right mind and everyone else isn’t. That’s right.
RR: WHOA! With a capitol “W.” Ok, great! So, This would be an episode of Rockcast Podosophy and you do not identify as a rockhound, but of course the blog is about four things: rocks, philosophy, nature hobbies, and human connectivity or societal issues. So, I’m just gonna sorta break in here and ask, Do you have any experience or any inclination towards the rockhounding community? We’ll just use that as a segue.
Mel: So, really my only true experience with rocks was as a little kid. I’d be walking across gravel at my grandma’s house and she’d be yelling at me to put shoes on and be like, “No, I can take it! It’s like walking across hot coals, you just have to do it.” But, pickin’ up shiny rocks and showing them off and putting them in a bag, never to be seen again, that’s basically my experience with rocks. And also watching all of my friends, including you Rock Rat, just go bananas over rocks. And I’d just sit there and be like, “Dang, those are some really shiny, colorful pieces that you have that I know absolutely nothing about. Is this one salt? That’s all I got, can we eat it?” That’s about the extent of it. Oh and with Steven Universe, that Cartoon Network show, that’s about it for my precious gems. But that’s it. Not too much.
RR: You know, I get told a lot that I should watch Steven Universe. For a lot of reasons, and I never have because I am very disconnected rom our generation in a lot of ways. Also, I don’t find tv like…-you laugh at me, girl, but you know-
Mel: I know that’s why I’m laughing.
RR: -um, it’s just not very stimulating ‘cause it’s just audio and visual but, anyway, anyway. I have been told to watch Steven Universe. And when people find out that I’m a rockhound too, they’re like, “Oh my god! On so many levels…” So like, do you want to talk about that show? Or like what it is about that show that is related to rocks…or whatever?
Mel: Yea, so a bunch of the characters are named after precious gemstones. It’s really interesting that they gave literally all of these rocks anthropomorphic shapes and you basically go through the show being like, “if this was a gem what would it look like? What would it act like?” And a lot of the time it deals with energies people associate with gemstones and that kind of stuff. Um, but I truly think that it’s just a guise to not make up names, truly. It’s a really interesting show about growth and acceptance of yourself. Also it undoes a lot of troupes in that the main cast is mostly women and there’s one man and he’s a thirteen year-old child. So, it’s really neat, it’s really interesting. It’s all about personal growth and …..so yea, the first three characters that you meet are Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet. They also have like Sapphire, Ruby, Rosequartz, they go through- and there’s also a caste system within the precious gems. Which is really interesting, and like it definitely feels like a caste system that would develop in regards to like what humans deem as a precious gem, whereas like what should- I dunno. Would you consider like diamonds the highest tier of gemstones?
RR: Personally, no. I think diamonds are super boring because one, they’re not as- yea I know just bein’ an eletist over hurr- they’re not as rare as people think. There’s a huge blood trade, obviously that’s pretty popular knowledge, and they’re really boring to look at. Like, you could cut-it’s hard to cut quartz, and they’re the hardest substance out there, that’s true, they’re very beautiful, they’re very prismatic…lots of things are prismatic though. And they’re clear. They’re not even white, they’re clear. I have diamonds, it’s my birthstone ‘cause I was born on April Fools woot shout-out to my three other relatives that were born on that day ‘cause we’re just a super…cool family I guess. Uh,-
Mel: A topic for another time…
RR: -I can’t keep it together for this interview. Ok. Um. I love you and miss you so much! Ok. Um, I think diamonds and colors and shapes, but like you can go online and people are selling them by like the bucketfulls because they’re slightly imperfect or some crap and it’s just….I don’t know. Are they- is Diamond the end-all and be-all of Steven Universe of something?
Mel: So, in the caste system, they are basically God tier. So.