Collecting Jewelry
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Adrienne
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Todd
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Todd: Adrienne you have such interesting jewelry. I mean, it's just amazing. Where did you get all this stuff?
Adrienne: Well, all over actually. I like to travel. I tend to travel a lot as does most of my family, so whenever I travel somewhere I like to pick up something to remind me of the place that I visited, and the easiest thing to do is to pick up a small piece of jewelry instead of getting a poster or a t-shirtthat won't last. I like the idea of having something small and also, I find whenever I wear jewelry that I bought somewhere interesting, it's a good conversation piece. Usually people ask you, " Where did you get this?" and I then have a story to tell and it's a good way to meet and talk to people. It's just interesting, so I have jewelry that I picked up when I travelled to Greece and when I travelled to Thailand and when I travelled to Africa and when I've travelled in Europe. Everywhere I've gone I picked up some small piece, a ring, a bracelet, a pendant, something and sometimes I even just pick up a bead or something that I make a necklace out of later.
Todd: So you said that you picked something up in Thailand. What did you buy in Thailand?
Adrienne: Oh, in Thailand it's really cool. There's... I went to some of the islands in Thailand that are actually well-known for having this interesting white shell, and I can't remember the name of it, but they call it, Shiva, something Shiva-eye, I think, but anyway it's white on one side with a spiral, and then on the other side it's a beautiful, usually green, brown or orange kind of mix of color, and so you can wear it either as the dark green shell or you can wear it as the white, with the spiral or the Shiva ..eye?... I can't think if that's right, anyway, so I bought a pendant that has this and then I made a bead necklace to hang it off of.
Todd: Cool!
Adrienne: Yeah, it's really, it really is cool and I get a lot of compliments on it.
Todd: So, what else have you got?
Adrienne: Well, let's see. I picked up, when I was in Greece, I picked up a very interesting piece of glass jewelry. It's green - bright, bright green - really light color, like lime almost, and it was made by a jeweler who lived on the island of Crete where I visited and it was such a unique looking piece and part of the reason it's so unique is it's a green disc and in the center he inserted a piece of gold - fourteen carat gold, and so it gives the green... the green shines through the glass when you wear it. It's very interesting looking piece.
Todd: Wow! Sounds nice. You'll have to show it to me.
Adrienne: Yeah. I'd love to.
as does
I tend to travel a lot as does most of my family, so that's
where I got all this jewelry stuff.
You use the phrase 'as does' to talk about something similar. In this case, both Adrienne and her family travel a lot. Notice the following:
- I love football, as does my boyfriend.
- She teaches, as does the rest of her family.
the easiest thing to do
The easiest thing to do is to pick up a small piece of
jewelry than something that won't last.
Here, 'the easiest thing to do' is a phrase used to give advice. It means that 'it's a good idea to.' Notice the following:
- I think the easiest thing to do is just decide where you
would like to live, and then try to get a job there.
- The easiest thing to do is just put all of your
ingredients in the cooker before you go to work in the
morning.
a conversation piece
Whenever I wear jewelry that I bought somewhere, I find
it's a good conversation piece.
A 'conversation piece' is a topic that you can talk about. In this case, Adrienne is saying that her jewelry is a good topic for conversation. Notice the following:
- The elections are a big conversation piece right now.
- My broken arm has been a good conversation piece for me.
pick up
When I was in Greece, I picked up a very interesting piece
of glass jewelry.
'Picked up,' used like this, is similar to buy. Notice the following:
- I picked up a bunch of scarves when I was in Asia.
- Will you pick up some milk on your way home?
fourteen carat gold
It's interesting because there's a fourteen carat gold
inserted in the center of the green disc.
The percentage of gold in a metal is measured in carats (spelled karat in the U.S.). It tells you the quality of the gold you are getting, so a higher carat number would be more expensive. Notice the following:
- An eighteen carat gold necklace will last longer than a
fourteen carat gold one.
- This necklace is fourteen carat gold.
Vocabulary Quiz
pick • carat gold
Adrienne talks about making her own jewelry and how she got started.
