A full calendar of lawyer jokes
Barbara Beshel insists there's no "lawyer bashing" going on in her stinging collection of jokes aimed at the legal profession.
"The jokes aren't bashing. They are meant to be fun," says the Baltimore entrepreneur, who created the "Lawyer Joke-Day" 1995 calendar after going through an unpleasant court experience.
She refuses to discuss her court travails in detail, except to say she was sued and then counter-sued.
"I was involved in a lawsuit and spent four years putting up with legal shenanigans," Ms. Beshel says. The experience was costly, and the lawsuit did not turn out in her favor.
"This is sort of my way of getting justice," she explains.
Ms. Beshel, who is in her 40s, began collecting lawyer jokes about two years ago. The jokes are courtesy of "friends, word-of-mouth, books, quotations, the Wall Street Journal," and her own fertile imagination, says Ms. Beshel, whose career is selling computers to schools.
This joke generally sums up the calendar's theme:
"There are three categories of lawyers; honest, diligent and the other 95 percent."
The calendar is on sale at local bookstores, and Ms. Beshel has been plugging it nationally with an ad in the Wall Street Journal and media interviews.
Ms. Beshel says the reaction has been about 99 percent positive. Her attorney friends have also enjoyed the calendar.
"I can claim two lawyers as friends and they love it," she says. "They each bought about six."
Ms. Beshel has set up her own toll-free number to handle calendar requests. Call: (800) LAW-JOKE.
@ Sherry Wolf has painted Tricia Nixon's wedding, produced portraits for Mick Jagger and been written up in People magazine. Now the Owings Mills artist, who looks like a cross between Olive Oyl and Shelley Long, has turned her talents to jewelry -- gem-studded, 18-karat gold designs that have been featured in Women's Wear Daily.
"The concept is to make jewelry that's pretty and wearable," says Ms. Wolf, a mother of two who is in her early 40s. "The era of the big diamond collar is over. Women want jewelry that's practical."
She and her partner, Linda Misoul, have developed a line of interchangeable charms featuring fanciful animals, hearts and ribbons that can be worn on earrings, bracelets, necklaces and pins.
For Ms. Wolf, jewelry is simply her latest artistic medium. Her career began in the '70s when she landed a job as an illustrator on David Brinkley's "NBC Nightly News." She went on to do work for Rolling Stone, BusinessWeek and the New York Times.
Her satirical super-realist art also hangs in several galleries, including the Albert-Knox Museum in Buffalo, N.Y.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is rumored to have bought a pin for his wife, Maria Shriver. The line, which is manufactured in New York, is carried at J. Brown Jewelers in Pikesville and at select Neiman Marcus stores across the country. At prices that range from about $400 to $14,000, though, these baubles aren't going to turn up in every woman's jewelry box.
If Ms. Wolf has her way, more moderate lines -- including dinnerware, sheets and accessories -- may be in the works.
"I'm always looking to create new designs," she says. "I never know what will hit me, what I'll find ridiculous or fun."
Mary Corey