Ginormous Blingage

pix 101a, originally uploaded by gradualdazzle.

We visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum while in D.C. and popped in to get a gander at Big Blue, the Hope Diamond. It's forty-five and a half carats and quite blue (it's difficult to get a good photo of it because the flash causes a reflection off the protective shield and non-flash photos from a point-and-shoot camera aren't reliable or steady).

While I can fully appreciate the exquisite beauty of this lovely hunk of crystallized carbon, I am not hankering to wear it. I'm just not that into expensive bling, especially diamonds. I'd rather not be worth hitting over the head, if you know what I mean.

Also in the Gems exhibit at the Smithsonian are case after case of beautiful and rare gems. There's a hunk of uncut topaz as big as my head (and I have a substantially-sized cranium, thank you very much -- my hat size is an 8) and next to it is a faceted topaz the size and shape of a grapefruit. Unbelievable.

If you get the chance to visit the Smithsonian museums like Natural History or Air & Space or American History, do it. I could spend weeks just wandering all the hallways and exhibit rooms of the Smithsonian.