Quartz Inchie

The inchie from EIM this week is quartz crystal. I knew I was going to get all techno over this one. Rocks, chemistry, computers! Today I was mostly focused on the chemistry of quartz crystals. I wanted to get the molecular structure in there and the importance of silicon dioxide in circuit boards (not to mention ordinary glass, but that's a whole other thing). There is also the bright light as clear quartz crystals have to do with the soul chakra and a lot of metaphysical stuff that I don't understand but I don't want to fluff off, either.

While researching, I found some great molecular diagrams that would make some neat tangle patterns, how cool is that?

Did you know there are left- (beta) and right-handed (alpha) quartz crystals? I guess I knew that from chemistry class, but it's buried in the grey matter. It's been awhile since I took chemistry (although not so long that my kids have, and therefore I did all over again!).

Privacy issues

So I wandered over to Every Inchie Monday the other day to see what the word of the day was going to be. Thoughts, even creative ones, can use some provoking, so it helps get the brain to think. Today it was, "PRIVACY." Nothing as easy as some previous choices, like, "ORANGE," perhaps?

I immediately decided to try to illustrate how our privacy is affected on-line and I'd really like to channel how frustrated I am with security software/hacking/bugs/viruses (and don't even get me started with the NSA/FBI/IRS), but I think even my digital illustrations would incinerate.

So, until I get the nerve to upload this to Inchie's site, here goes:

(And, if you have a couple hours to spare, check out what your identity is on-line; you may be amazed at how much information it says about you).