My interest in rocks and minerals began very early on. I can remember filling bags of polished rocks that are often at gift shops and bringing some of them to show-and-tell at preschool. I also remember one time I was picked up from school, and my parents showed me a couple pieces that they bought from one of the Tucson shows. Since then, I've been going to the Tucson shows every year. Every year, I see and learn new things.

My focus on what I collect has changed. I first began collecting all of the different rock and mineral names, regardless if there was a location. Then, I started to only collect specimens with a location given. Over time, the locality name requirements slowly got more specific. Now, I only collect minerals with the exact mine, quarry, roadcut, etc. given (with a few exceptions).

Something good caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was my big increase in knowledge of minerals and their localities. The time I spent at home was dominated by my mineral research. A lot of that research came from here on Mindat. I hope that I can contribute photos and information that help others learn.

Around late 2020, I began Alex Minerals, which I quickly changed to Alexander Minerals. I realized that there were some specimens that no longer fit with my collection, so I began selling them. Being able to upload photos here on Mindat makes it easier to release specimens to other collectors.