Rosetta Stones

Hi, my nom de plume is Dana Hunter, and I'm addicted to rocks. It began with a First Place ribbon for my rock collection at the age of 6. It's gotten chronic since. I've become the sort of person you see poring over ornamental boulders with a hand lens.

I'm a Midwest-born Arizona native transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, so I suppose it was inevitable. Both places possess world-class, dramatic geology, from two billion years past to the present. I saw enough of the Grand Canyon to develop a brief tolerance, but the seduction of subduction proved too powerful. Living in an area filled with active volcanoes and earthquakes rekindled my early interest in geology, and incidentally cured my volcano phobia. I've now been reduced to begging Mount St. Helens for "just one more little eruption. C'mon, sweetie, build that dome for Dana!"

Babytalk doesn't work any better on volcanoes than cats, FYI.

Aside from a few college courses, I have no formal training in geology. I've done it the way Charles Darwin did it: by reading books, hanging out with geologists, and exploring the rocks. My friends in the geoblogosphere have been of immeasurable assistance in helping me understand this amazing planet (and worlds beyond). They feed my addiction with ever more extraordinary earth science. They also got me mainlining science papers. Yes, that is something I do for fun.

When I'm not geologizing, I'm humoring the whims of my homicidal felid and building imaginary worlds using the principles learned from this one. You'll find me blogging here, as well as at En Tequila Es Verdad, and posting occasional Geokittehs with Evelyn Mervine. Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Perhaps you'll become, like me, an adorer of the good science of rock-breaking.