After a great turnout for the inaugural birthday rock competition, I am pleased to announce its return in 2025. The ruberic is the same as before, and can be seen below, as well as in the pictures of this post. If you need a mailing address for submission, please let me know. Submissions need to be in-hand by September 14th, 2025. Good luck!
Ruberic:
Size /5
Nothing too big or small. The perfect stone will be large enough to fill a palm comfortably--too big or small will lose points here.
Visual /5
Does it have interesting colours or striations? Sparkles? Nifty pattern? If it is just a classic grey or black rock, it may get dinged in this category
Texture /5
Particularly smooth, particularly jagged? Cool. Uncharacteristically lumpy and bumpy, or missing chips from it unintentionally? Not ideal and will result in deducted points. Give me something pleasant or interesting to hold
Whimsy /5
What is the story behind this rock? Where did you find it? Does it have a fossil in it or somethin? What made you think "Sky will like this rock." beyond its immediate appearance? Please give a short write up (1-3 sentences)
Identification /2
Please identify what type of rock it is so I do not have to
Birthday rock competition was tight this year! Here are the top 3, from the 20+ submissions recieved. Thanks to everyone who submitted, and I hope to see your submissions again in 2026!
🥉3rd place: @abby.barrie and @bre.b123 's lovely submission, a heart-shaped quartz included rock from out of town. This sweet birthday wish earned an 18.5!
🥈2nd place: This volcanic rock came all the way from Iceland--wow! With its interesting texture, history, and hard-to-capture-on-camera sparkle, it easily earned a 19! Thanks Carol Mann
🥇1st place: The winner of this year's competition is Smoke Show, submitted by @nikkitighe , earning the title and the 25 dollar prize! This smokey quartz, coming from Sombrio Beach, is absolutely stunning--deep in its allure and layers of darkened quartz. Congratulations, Nikki!
Thank you @kylarlangeart for assisting us in bringing this lil duck friend home from the @queerartsyyc market. The name we are leaning towards at the moment is Reginald. Thoughts?
Happy TENTH bday to the undisputed star of the @thecalgaryzoo
Much love to Tilly! Hope she gets a good treat today
#yyc #rockstar #birthdayvibes #zoo #muskox
As of 2024, I will be donating all royalties I make from my books (as if you needed more reason to buy my rad words) to various charities. It aint much, but it is something!
For 2024, all donations went towards @gazasunbirds
Any suggestions for what my 2025 donations should go to? 👀
The 2024 Birthday Rock Competition results are finalized! Huge thanks to all who helped me celebrate with this very serious competition.
We had some very strong submissions, and so many! With over 20 rocks submitted, I can happily pick these rocks as my top 3:
3rd place 🥉 @_.spagheddie._ for their super smooth submission. Pulled from the Bow River, this rock is not only the perfect size (the only one to get full marks in this category!) but look at all those little inclusion! Sparkly to boot, earning a score of 18.5/22
2nd place 🥈@pocket.bat for her super cool geode submission. The sparkle on the outside, mixed with quartz and an absolute mystery inside, intrigued! With good size, and a striking appearance, this earned 18.75/22
1st place 🥇 @crowlestagram for this stunning green flourite structure, sourced from a walk in California. The colour, interesting structure, and supposed cleansing properties of this submission are worthy of 1st place! Well done! 19/22
See y'all next year for round two 😎
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
This year for my birthday (September 7th), instead of presents I would enjoy if people could present me with rocks. Since I am a competitive person by nature, this will also be a rock competition. I will include the scoring rubric below, as well as in an image for this post. Happy gathering!
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Size /5
Nothing too big or small. The perfect stone will be large enough to fill a palm comfortably--too big or small will lose points here.
Visual /5
Does it have interesting colours or striations? Sparkles? Nifty pattern? If it is just a classic grey or black rock, it may get dinged in this category
Texture /5
Particularly smooth, particularly jagged? Cool. Uncharacteristically lumpy and bumpy, or missing chips from it unintentionally? Not ideal and will result in deducted points. Give me something pleasant or interesting to hold
Whimsy /5
What is the story behind this rock? Where did you find it? Does it have a fossil in it or somethin? What made you think "Sky will like this rock." beyond its immediate appearance? Please give a short write up (1-3 sentences)
Identification /2
Please identify what type of rock it is so I do not have to
