People who are on Twitter as much as I am might be getting tired of the “Hold my beer” jokes. (I’m still amused every time, but I’ve seen a few complaints.) On the other hand, if you’re not on social media at all, you might have no idea what “Hold my beer” means. Allow New…
ProPublica Wins a Fourth Pulitzer Prize
ProPublica won its fourth Pulitzer Prize yesterday! The public-service category’s prize was awarded for a story — done in partnership with the New York Daily News — about abuses of nuisance abatement laws in New York. The laws give police the power to evict people using their homes or business for illegal purposes, but they’ve…
Jewel of the Month: Eryn’s Engagement-Ring Redesign
April’s birthstone is the diamond, so it’s a good time to feature a custom engagement-ring redesign as the Jewel of the Month. This ring is particularly close to my heart because it’s now adorning the ring finger of my right-hand woman and branding chief, Eryn Patton. Before Eryn’s boyfriend Donnie popped the question, he and…
Weeks in Review
In case you missed it, here’s what’s been on the blog recently. Monday, March 27: United Airlines enforced a “no leggings” dress code for passengers who were flying for free, then fumbled its explanation on social media. Tuesday, March 28: Gorgeous actress Margaret Anne Florence wore my Xenobia ring on Harry Connick Jr.’s show. Thursday,…
A Pleasant Surprise From JCK Magazine
I feel like a winner even though I’m not one! My designs didn’t place in this year’s JCK Jeweler’s Choice Awards, but my two-finger ring for ANZA Gems still made it into JCK’s “Best of the Best” awards supplement. I found out from Monica Stephenson, who is the editor of jewelry blog iDazzle, as well…
Introducing My New Vlog!
In case you don’t get enough of the jewelry-designer life on this blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest … I’ve started a vlog! CLICK HERE FOR MY NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL. I’ve shared videos on my personal YouTube channel over the years , but I was just hosting them there for the blog’s sake. As a…
ProPublica For the Win, With All the Receipts
During yesterday’s White House press briefing, Sean Spicer was asked about a story published by MrB’s organization, ProPublica, that morning. ProPublica’s Derek Kravitz and Al Shaw wrote that previously unreported changes to a trust document allow Trump to draw money from the supposedly “blind” trust for his more than 400 businesses, at any time, without…
Recommended Reading: The Coal Country Canard
Last week, Trump gathered a bunch of coal miners around him and announced the rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations, claiming that would help bring back jobs in the coal industry. In response, Paul Krugman wrote an op-ed for the New York Times this weekend about the myth of coal country. In case you missed it,…
The Best Press Release of All Time. OF ALL TIME!
It’s a cold, rainy day in New York, but FitzRoy the Cat is staying warm and dry in his bowl. Kitties who have to venture outside should take their umbrellas from Catbrella Inc., the Boston-based company that has designed, produced, and distributed over 2 million custom umbrellas for various types of cats and kittens. Before…
Talking Custom Jewelry With JCK Magazine
Thanks to Kathy Henderson for including me in JCK Magazine’s recent story about custom jewelry. The “Custom Relations” article starts on page 92 of the March/April issue. I love the subtitle: “No jewelry request is too big, too small, or too outrageous for these visionary designers and retailers.” I also love the first 14 words…