The NYC Big Flea Antiques Market opens this Thursday, January 19, 2017

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


This week we’ll be exhibiting at our first show of the new year, the NYC Big Flea Antiques Market at the Manhattan Center, Historic Hammerstein Ballroom, 34th St. and 8th Ave. in New York City. The show opens on Thursday at 1 PM and runs until Saturday at 7 PM. The facility is closed on Sunday, which explains the unusual show days. This is our only show in New York City, so please come and visit. The weather forecast for this coming week predicts 50s, so that should make for easy traveling.

We’ll have this fabulous B&S internally decorated vase at the show

We will be there with all of our new and exciting purchases including a sensational selection of French and American glass and lamps. You won’t want to miss us.

Don’t be fooled by the name NYC Big Flea Market. There will be plenty of fine merchandise at the show. It’s the perfect week to visit as there will be more exciting antiques events in New York City at the same time, as it’s Americana Week. Click here for a link to some of the shows, lectures, museums, etc.

Following the show, we’ll be heading to the all-important Miami shows, beginning with the Airport Show on February 3rd. This year may be the turning point for the show becoming the more important of the two Miami shows. If you can’t see us in New York City, don’t miss us in Miami.


I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

2016 Year in Review

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


2016 was a good year, with French cameo glass leading the action. That wasn’t an easy task as the antiques business has changed significantly over the last few years, with many antique shows failing and relocating. What was good were loyal clients. Thank you.

Burgun & Schverer made exceptionally beautiful, internally decorated French cameo vases. The market has been solid for their work. This vase was one of the very fine examples sold during the year.

This gorgeous B&S vase was sold in 2016

The market in Daum Nancy has been consistently strong for quite some time. 2016 was no different.

This killer Daum Nancy French Alpine scenic vase was sold in 2016

This special red Tel el Amarna vase was one of the fine Tiffany Favrile vases sold during the year.

Gorgeous red Tiffany Favrile Tel el Amarna vase

Here’s hoping that 2017 will be a good year. The stock market is experiencing a Trump rally, so hopefully that will put everyone in a buying mood.

The Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center

Next week we’ll be exhibiting at our first show of the new year, the NYC Big Flea Antiques Market at the Manhattan Center, Historic Hammerstein Ballroom, 34th St. and 8th Ave. in New York City. We’ll be there Thursday – Saturday, January 19-21, 2017, with all of our new and exciting purchases. Then on to the all-important Miami shows at the beginning of February. If you can’t see us in New York City, don’t miss us in Miami.


I just listed this killer Daum Prairie pitcher for sale on my website

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Making sense of the new order at the antique shows in Miami this February

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


The Miami antique shows will be turned on their heads this year. Here’s my take on what’s to come, but first a little background.

Our booth at a previous Miami Airport show

The date order of two important antique shows in Miami has always been the Airport show first (that’s the one at the Miami Merchandise Mart), followed immediately by the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Over the years, the Airport show shrank until it finally failed and was immediately replaced by a cloned show. The public wasn’t able to tell that anything had changed, but it had behind the scenes. For more about the details, click here for one of my previous blogs. As the Airport show shrank, so did the attendance. Many dealers and many attendees skipped the Airport show altogether and arrived in Miami only for the second show.

An artist’s rendering of the future Miami Beach Convention Center

In the meantime, the second show, the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show, was forced out of the Miami Beach Convention Center because of construction. Click here if you want to read about the details. The transformed new show will change its venue to the Miami-Dade County Fair Expo Center and its name to the Original Miami Antique Show, removing the word Beach from its title. Its dates of February 10 – February 13, 2017 will still follow the Airport show.

Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center

So what has happened and what will happen? Many of the dealers weren’t thrilled by the move to the new venue and have jumped ship, electing instead to exhibit at the Airport show and skip the second show, the Original Miami Antique Show. Other dealers, including myself, are going to give both shows a chance.

Rosemary Krieger, owner and promoter of the Airport show (now named the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show), told me that the upcoming February, 2017 show has gotten much larger, with plans to get even bigger next year. Last year only 60 dealers exhibited at the Airport show, while this year the entire first floor will be full with 200 dealers. The second floor will have a special exhibition of Art Deco photography (for sale) presented by the Art Deco Buenos Aires Argentina Institute. If things go well this year, the show will expand to the second floor next year, bringing it back full circle to where it was years ago. That would be an exciting and ironic turn of events.

I’m on the fence about the newly relocated Miami Beach show. If the public and the dealers reject the new venue, the show will fail, and the Airport show will benefit. If it does well, the shows will be similar to what they’ve traditionally been. I suggest when you make your plans to visit the shows in Miami next month, you arrive early to include the Airport show. If you miss the first show, you may miss what could become the more exciting and important of the two. Tune in in next month and I’ll let you know how it all shakes out.

The Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center

In the meantime, come visit me at the new NYC Big Flea Antiques Market at the Manhattan Center, Historic Hammerstein Ballroom, 34th St. and 8th Ave. in New York City. We’ll be there Thursday – Saturday, January 19-21, 2017.


I just listed this killer Daum Prairie pitcher for sale on my website

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

The January NYC Big Flea Antiques Market show is changing venues and dates

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


First and foremost, I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Dee Dee Sides, CEO & Promoter of the NYC Big Flea Antiques Market, sent an email this past weekend about a forced change of dates and venue for the January show at the Lexington Ave. Armory. She wrote “We received notice from the 69th Regiment Armory and the state of NY that they just discovered the Lexington Avenue Armory has high levels of lead toxicity and they are having to close the facility.”

The Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center

The original show was scheduled for the weekend of January 21-22, 2017, but due to the new venue’s hours, the new dates will be Thursday – Saturday, January 19-21, 2017. The show will now be held at The Manhattan Center, in two adjacent ballrooms, including the Hammerstein Ballroom, 34th St. and 8th Ave, NYC. It’s a central location, a block from the world-famous, original Macy’s store. The new hours will be Thursday, Jan. 19th, 1-7 PM, Friday, Jan. 20th, 9 AM – 7 PM, and Saturday, Jan. 21st, 9 AM – 7 PM. No show on Sunday.

We will be bringing really great, fresh merchandise that was accumulated since our last show at the beginning of November. We’ve been buying like crazy in anticipation of good selling at this show and the Florida shows. Hope you can make it. It will be a new experience for us and probably you too.


I just listed this killer Daum Prairie pitcher for sale on my website

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

After the NYC Flea Market, we’ll be traveling to Miami for the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, February 3 – 5, 2017. This is the airport show, which will be new and improved, with many additional exhibitors. The changes are happening because the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show will no longer be in Miami Beach, instead changing its name to The Original Miami Antique Show and moving to a new location in southwest Miami. It will all make for an interesting winter season.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Sotheby’s Paris held their Emile Gallé sale on November 22, 2016

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


Sotheby’s Paris held their Emile Gallé sale on November 22, 2016, with total sales of €1,458,063 ($1,545,547) for the 51 lots offered, of which 9 lots failed to sell. Since the overall quality of the offerings was high, the average was a strong $36,798 for each of the 42 sold lots.

Gallé Coupe La Nature, Sotheby’s lot #128

A huge 17½” diameter, marquetry bowl entitled Coupe La Nature was the top lot of the sale. It sold close to its low estimate of €200,000, realizing €247,500 ($262,350), including buyer’s premium.

Gallé vase Parlant La Giroflée De Muraille, Sotheby’s lot #135

The second highest lot of the sale, #135, also brought just below its low estimate of €200,000, realizing €235,500 ($249,630), including buyer’s premium. The vase was technically very sophisticated, with internal decoration and an inscribed poem, but not very pretty. I believe both items would have done better had they been offered with less aggressive estimates.

Gallé vase, Les Ephémères, Sotheby’s lot #125

I loved lot #125, a gorgeous vase with wheel-carved and internally decorated butterflies, but it sold beyond my budget, realizing €60,000 ($63,600), including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale estimate of €30,000 — €50,000. If I had my way, this vase would have sold for more and others would have for less, but once again I wasn’t consulted. What is wrong with those people?

For the complete results of the sale, click here.


I just listed this killer Daum Prairie pitcher for sale on my website

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future. Please check my site as often as you can.

Our next show will be the NYC Big Flea, the weekend of January 21, at the Lexington Avenue Armory. After that we’ll be in Miami for the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, February 3 – 5, 2017. This is the airport show, which will be new and improved, with many additional exhibitors. The changes are happening because the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show will no longer be in Miami Beach, instead changing its name to The Original Miami Antique Show and moving to a new location in southwest Miami. It will all make for an interesting winter season.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Martin Brothers birds sell well at Heritage Auctions’ 20th Century Design sale, November 18, 2016

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and Happy Chanukah to those who celebrate.

Heritage Auctions held their 20th Century Design sale on November 18, 2016, with total sales of $1,368,204. Included in the sale were eight lots of Martinware, including several bird tobacco jars, which continued to sell well.

Martin Brothers bird, Heritage lot #79001

Top lot of this group was #79001, a grotesque bird with long beak. Collectors prize those birds with the most “expression” and this one fit the bill (pun intended). Its height of 14″ was also a big plus. It soared to $81,250, including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale estimate of $25,000 – $35,000.

Martin Brothers bird, Heritage lot #79004

I particularly liked lot #79004, another Martin bird with a great expression and a hat, 11¾” tall. It sold within its pre-sale estimate of $20,000 – $30,000, realizing $30,000, including buyer’s premium. I would have loved to have bought this bird, but the price was a bit too strong for a dealer.

Martin Brothers triple bird, Heritage lot #79005

Lot #79005 was a rare Martin triple bird, 7¾” tall. It sold above its high estimate of $30,000, realizing $40,000, including buyer’s premium.

For the complete results of the sale, which included Tiffany, Handel, Gallé, Lalique, etc., click here. You will have to sign in (free) to obtain prices.


I recently bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I recently bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future, including a couple of fabulous Martin Brothers birds and a great face jug. Please check my site as often as you can.

No more shows in 2016. Our next show will be the NYC Big Flea, the weekend of January 21, at the Lexington Avenue Armory. After that we’ll be in Miami for the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, February 3 – 5, 2017. This is the airport show, which will be new and improved, with many additional exhibitors. The changes are happening because the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show will no longer be in Miami Beach, instead changing its name to The Original Miami Antique Show and moving to a new location in southwest Miami. It will all make for an interesting winter season.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

French glass sold well at Sotheby’s Important Design sale, December 14, 2016

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


Sotheby’s New York held their Important Design sale on December 14, 2016, with total sales of $8,993,250 for the 168 lots offered. 40 lots failed to sell, for a strong average of $70,260 for each sold lot. Included in the sale were 17 lots of important French glass, from a Midwest collection, by Emile Gallé, Daum Nancy, Burgun & Schverer and Argy-Rousseau. Also included were one Tiffany Studios lamp, two Loetz vases and an assortment of very high-end jewelry, furniture and assorted items.

Gallé Crystallerie Sauterelle et Chrysanthèmes vase, Sotheby’s lot #239

Two French glass vases tied for the highest price at the sale, $75,000, including buyer’s premium. Lot #239 was an early Gallé Crystallerie vase from the 1880-1885 period, entitled Sauterelle et Chrysanthèmes (Grasshopper and Chrysanthemums). The techniques were wheel-carving and gilding for the grasshopper and enameling for the flowers and leaves. Its final price of $75,000 was triple its low estimate of $20,000.

Gallé marquetry vase, Sotheby’s lot #245

Lot #245 was a gorgeous Emile Gallé marquetry Crocus vase with a wonderful applied foot. It realized the same price as the early Gallé vase above, but only doubled its low estimate of $30,000.

4 of the 17 lots of French glass failed to sell, for an impressive average of $30,866 for each of the 13 sold lots.

Tiffany Studios Fishscale lamp, Sotheby’s lot #215

The only Tiffany Studios lamp in the sale, lot #215, was a Fishscale design on a Grueby pottery base. This rare lamp probably sold to an Arts & Crafts buyer. It realized $150,000, including buyer’s premium, equal to the low estimate of $120,000.

For the complete results of the sale, click here.


I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future, including a couple of fabulous Martin Brothers birds and a great face jug. Please check my site as often as you can.

No more shows in 2016. Our next show will be the NYC Big Flea, the weekend of January 21, at the Lexington Avenue Armory. After that we’ll be in Miami for the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, February 3 – 5, 2017. This is the airport show, which will be new and improved, with many additional exhibitors. The changes are happening because the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show will no longer be in Miami Beach, instead changing its name to The Original Miami Antique Show and moving to a new location in southwest Miami. It will all make for an interesting winter season.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Strong price for a Tiffany Studios window at Christie’s New York Design sale, December 12, 2016

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


Christie’s New York held their Design sale on December 12, 2016, with total sales of $3,572,625 for the 154 lots offered.

Tiffany Studios Snowball and Wisteria window, Christie’s lot #103

I was only interested in the 11 lots of Tiffany Studios’ objects. Of that small group, lot #103, a Snowball and Wisteria window, did best. It sold for $499,500, including buyer’s premium, well above its pre-sale estimate of $200,000 – $300,000, and was the top lot of the sale.

Tiffany Studios Laburnum table lamp, Christie’s lot #107

Of the Tiffany group, a large Laburnum table lamp performed second best. It sold within its estimated range of $150,000 – $200,000, realizing $211,500, including buyer’s premium.

Rembrandt Bugatti bronze sculpture Jeunesse, Christie’s lot #116

The second best-performing lot of the entire sale was a 1906 bronze by Rembrandt Bugatti, entitled Jeunesse (Youth). It sold below its estimate of $400,000 – $600,000, realizing $391,500, including buyer’s premium.

For the complete results of the sale, click here.


I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future, including a couple of fabulous Martin Brothers birds and a great face jug. Please check my site as often as you can.

No more shows in 2016. Our next show will be the NYC Big Flea, the weekend of January 21, at the Lexington Avenue Armory. After that we’ll be in Miami for the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, February 3 – 5, 2017. This is the airport show, which will be new and improved, with many additional exhibitors. The changes are happening because the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show will no longer be in Miami Beach, instead changing its name to The Original Miami Antique Show and moving to a new location in southwest Miami. It will all make for an interesting winter season.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Some superb items were sold at Rago Auctions The Jerome Shaw Collection, October 14, 2016

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


Sorry for the delayed coverage of the Rago Auctions in October. I meant to write about them earlier, but life got in the way. I covered Rago’s October 15, 2016 Mid-Mod sale last week. Today I’m covering the high end, eclectic Jerome Shaw Collection, which Rago sold on October 14, 2016, with mixed results. I think the aggressive estimates on the best lots held back some of the interest.

Carabin sculpture, Rago lot #13

The top lot of the sale was a hand-sculpted wooden sculpture entitled Femme et Grenouille (Woman and Frog), exhibited in 1907 at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. It sold below its low estimate of $150,000, realizing $150,000 with buyer’s premium. Carabin was a sculpting genius, whose work is on display in many museums, including the Musée D’Orsay. (See my post of 1/17/12)

Loetz black-bottom vase, Rago lot #49

Two important Loetz vases, lots #48 and #49, sold for prices near their low, but strong, estimates. Lot #49 was a monumental, 18″, Phänomen vase, model no. 387, usually referred to as a black-bottom vase. It sold just below its low estimate of $50,000, realizing $53,125, with buyer’s premium.

Tiffany Studios turtleback inkwell, Rago lot #143

I’ve been following the travels of lot #143 for a few years. Originally it sold to a dealer at Nadeau’s Auction in Windsor, Connecticut on October 30, 2010 for $37,500. That dealer sold it to a collector (who I now assume was Jerome Shaw) for $75,000. At this sale it sold within its pre-sale estimate of $40,000 – $60,000, realizing $53,125, including buyer’s premium, a loss for Shaw. I’ve always loved this item for both its beauty and rarity. If I were just a collector, I would have tried to buy it.

For the complete results of the sale, click here.


I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future, including a couple of fabulous Martin Brothers birds and a great face jug. Please check my site as often as you can.

No more shows in 2016. Our next show will be the NYC Big Flea, the weekend of January 21, at the Lexington Avenue Armory. After that we’ll be in Miami for the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, February 3 – 5, 2017. This is the airport show, which will be new and improved, with many additional exhibitors. The changes are happening because the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show will no longer be in Miami Beach, instead changing its name to The Original Miami Antique Show and moving to a new location in southwest Miami. It will all make for an interesting winter season.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.

Exceptional results for two Emile Gallé lamps at Rago’s Mid-Mod sale, October 15, 2016

My goal is to publish new posts twice a week — Mondays and Thursdays. However, if you don’t see a new post on Thursday, it’s because I was too busy, so please look for a new one the following Monday.


I meant to write about this sale earlier, but life got in the way. So here goes. Rago Auctions held their Mid-Mod sale on October 15, 2016. Included in the sale was a small collection of Gallé lamps and vases. The two lamps sold very well, while the rest of the Gallé basically flopped.

Gallé floor lamp, Rago lot #532

Gallé floor lamp, Rago lot #532

Lot #532 was a Gallé floor lamp with allium floral decoration. Other than the rarity, I thought the glass was unexceptional, with only one technique (acid-etching) and uninspiring brown and green colors. On the other hand, the metalwork was fine and floor lamps are really rare. The bidders did not consult me and pushed the final price to $310,000, including buyer’s premium, against a pre-sale estimate of $150,000 – $200,000. The air gets kinda thin at that altitude.

Gallé Allium table lamp, Rago lot #533

Gallé Allium table lamp, Rago lot #533

The next lot, #533, appeared to be a companion table lamp, which in my opinion was finer and more graceful than the floor lamp. It didn’t do as well, realizing $43,750, including buyer’s premium, against an estimate of $40,000 – $60,000.

Most of the other Gallé offered for sale did not sell, with a few exceptions. It was a mixed day for French glass at Rago’s.


I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I just bought this killer Martin Brother 11½-inch bird.

I’ve been listing on my website many of the new items I’ve recently purchased and I’ll be listing more in the near future, including a couple of fabulous Martin Brothers birds and a great face jug. Please check my site as often as you can.

No more shows in 2016. Our next show will be the NYC Big Flea, the weekend of January 21, at the Lexington Avenue Armory. After that we’ll be in Miami for the Miami Antiques + Art + Design Show, February 3 – 5, 2017. This is the airport show, which will be new and improved, with many additional exhibitors. The changes are happening because the Original Miami Beach Antiques Show will no longer be in Miami Beach, instead changing its name to The Original Miami Antique Show and moving to a new location in southwest Miami. It will all make for an interesting winter season.

Click here to check my website for the latest items and to look around. I will update it as often as time permits. We’re still very much in business between shows, so please don’t hesitate to email or call. I always strive to offer the finest objects for sale on my website and at every show. There are many items for sale, sold items with prices and free lessons about glass and lamps. And remember to keep reading my blog.