25 Comments

Outstanding news about the Webby accolades!!! Well deserved. Always wondered what a $1500.00 haircut and billion dollar necklace looked like together. Turns out it looks like a $50 haircut framing a billion dollar necklace.

Expand full comment

I'm pretty sure she's the one who bought the ruby ring for $30 million, but I couldn't find anything definitive other than wikipedia. I know 30 mil is nothing when you're a billionaire, but still. The ring isn't even that pretty! I could do SO much better. There's a haunted palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice that - last I saw - was on sale for $20 million. If you're gonna blow that kind of money just for shits and giggles at least make it interesting and get yourself a poltergeist.

Expand full comment

Horse ring!!

Expand full comment

The BEST. All of his rings are, but that one is particularly adorable!

Expand full comment

Huge congrats on the Webby award! WOOHOOO! Oh, and I could get lost for hours staring at one of those jadeite beads, they're mesmerizing and beautiful.

Expand full comment

Thank you!! Yeah, they're gorgeous; I would love to see them in person.

Expand full comment

Congratulations Monica! Well-deserved recognition for your unique voice and vision. You're much-admired by countless people like me, who you'll never have a tea with, but know that we look forward to hearing from you! Keep on getting joy from jewels and sharing your finds with us, your adoring public :)

Expand full comment

Thank you so much - that's so lovely to hear and I promise to keep rooting around for more amazing and/or odd things to write about. I'm raising my mug to you from the east coast!

Expand full comment

I enjoy this newsletter so much!

Life is so hard all over this planet right now. But selfishly I hope you have the energy to keep creating this newsletter, it's such a joy to read.

Take care and congratulations on your Webby nomination!

Expand full comment

Thanks so much, Steph. No worries - I'll keep going! It's mainly my day job; spring and fall are awful. It really is a disgrace that I'm not independently wealthy.

Expand full comment

LOL I hear you!

Expand full comment

Congratulations on the Webby - so well deserved.

I'm glad I prefer nephrite jade or I'd be sad I can't buy those beads.

But I love that horse ring so much.

Expand full comment

Thank you! You know, I nearly cut the horse ring for space, and I’m so glad I didn’t because it’s wonderful to see you all love it as much as I do. You are my people! <3

Expand full comment

Hi, Monica! You wrote "existence in general is killing me"—sorry to hear it. Please know that your newsletter is much beloved. You're so funny and so real. I hope you'll keep writing it. (Whew, I see in the comments below that you plan to continue.)

Congrats on the Webby nom. I guess porn (or about-porn) is hard to beat.

Expand full comment

Oh sorry, I honestly didn't mean to alarm anyone! I'm just super tired; this is an insane time of the year for my real job and I hate when it stomps on my fun job.

Thank you for the kind words - I'm so glad you love Dearest! And yeah, I definitely don't mind losing to that website - the mission, content and design are all phenomenal. I'm so glad they're being recognized for it.

Expand full comment

Each and every time I open my inbox and see Dearest in it, my heart sings a little song of joy—totally serious. I slog through the work-related stuff first, saving your newsletter for last, like dessert!

Expand full comment

Yay! I'm glad you save it for later because this one was REALLY FRICKIN' LONG and I don't want to get you in trouble, lol

Expand full comment

Yes to Dr Seuss’s WWII stuff! I actually saw one of those pamphlets at the CDC museum the other week. So cool!

If anyone is interested, a lot of Geisel’s cartoons from WWII are available online, but you know, beware the random racism. It’s a little weird bc they’re quite progressive in some ways.

You can also find a lot of the WWII propaganda/informational films on YouTube—I love showing my students the Chuck Jones one on rationing, and there’s also one on women joining the workforce that was written by Eleanor Roosevelt and is narrated by Katherine Hepburn.

Congratulations on the Webby! This newsletter is such a treat whenever it pops up, and I’m glad the internet judges agree.

Expand full comment

Thank you!! And yes - I didn't know ANYTHING about Geisel's time in the service, or his incredible squad of soldier artists. That article about them accidentally predicting the atom bomb blew my mind. I'm totally going to look for the Roosevelt/Hepburn film now - thanks for the tip!

This is why i can never stop doing this newsletter - there's literally no end to the stories out there, and the most innocuous things can lead to the most amazing rabbit holes.

Expand full comment

A Webby Honoree!! That’s tremendous!! Congrats!!

Expand full comment

Thanks, Mike! I was floored!

Expand full comment

Congrats on the webby! So well-deserved.

Hang in there on all the other stuff friend.

Expand full comment

Thanks, Elizabeth!

Expand full comment

This morning I feel as though I might die if I can't have that swan cuff ("then perish!" says my bank account. Such a killjoy).

I'm similarly having a difficult time of it right now (mostly just a very busy period at work) so this edition of dearest was a welcome bright spot in my week - as always. Thank you Monica!

Expand full comment

That's great - I'm glad I was able to give you a bit of a diversion! And I hope your busy period comes to an end soon. I have around a month and an half before our chaos calms back down to a normal workload, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to collapse in a heap for at least a week.

Expand full comment