I have to admit, I’m not real big on bling – aka precious metals and stones. I recognize their beauty and value, but it’s just not me.  For my taste, I prefer materials such as, say, turquoise, jade, and amber, which share a singular earthy beauty no matter how they’re cut.



Amber, in particular, is a fascinating substance. The ancient Greeks…

I was at a Mexican restaurant recently, and its colorful assortment of piñatas reminded me of all my trips to Mexico - not to mention one of my oldest childhood memories. You know that car commercial that’s been all over the tube recently, the one with a kid whaling away at a piñata that stubbornly refuses to break – a…

While in Mexico City on business, my partner and I were looking for a little badly needed R&R, and interested in an out-of-town excursion that was interesting but not too obvious or a cliché, so we asked our local employees their opinion, and they were in pretty much unanimous agreement: Tepoztlán. A little town in the dusty hills of the…