My Thoughts

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There have been days lately that I look around and am nearly overcome with pure gratitude.  Sometimes it happens while I'm drifting off to sleep.  Sometimes it happens on my walk home from Allegory Gallery.  Sometimes it happens when I'm at my desk and just catch myself drifting off into my thoughts.  But lately, it's been happening a lot. You see, I consider myself one of the lucky ones; I'd be crazy not to.  There really isn't much in my life to complain about.  I don't say this to gloat or to sit on a high-horse or to belittle; I say this simply to express how lucky and enriched I feel to have the people in my life that I do, to have had the opportunity and experiences I've had, and to have been born under, what I can only assume, is a lucky sign. There have been times that I've been pretty pessimistic about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.  There have been times when I've been really down and really, honestly, felt that recovering fr...

Good Evening!  It's been awhile since I've written—not on purpose, it's just been very busy lately.  As many of you know, we're preparing for Kieu Pham Gray to come into town to teach a weekend extravaganza of awesome jewelry-making techniques.  She's responsible for all the rings we make at AG now, so we're super excited to see what we'll learn this coming weekend!  If you haven't seen, check out our website for more information ! But that aside, the subject of this post…technology.  You see, I love it.  Not like kind of love it, or "I have it, but don't really need it"…no, I need it.  I breathe it.  It's a huge part of my identity—and has been for a very long time.  I think it's magical what it allows people to do.  I'm no artist, but I can layout a beautiful page with fancy fonts and graphics.  I could never do that free-hand, like they had to do "back in the day".  It can connect with nearly anyone instantly.  I ...

I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about tonight.  Then, I was watching a TV commercial, and it came to me.  I was watching a commercial about child geniuses. The young boy on the commercial was talking about his curiosity and how he loves to learn new things and investigate. I then started thinking about that a little.  Why do we, oftentimes, as adults, stop being curious?  I know that I used to love to investigate things…to learn things.  But, as I got older, learning turned into more of an exercise…a job…than the fun that it used to be.  Don't get me wrong.  I do love to learn, and when I'm fully engaged in a topic, I can spend hours without realizing it.  But it just takes so much effort to get into something if it's not immediate.  It's like sitting down to learn is more than I can handle sometimes. I think back to my school system.  I'm not going to say that it was all hard work without any entertainment, but it was, as most ...

Hello all!  It's been a few days since I've written.  Andrew and I went to a 2Cellos concert in Pittsburgh yesterday.  It was very nice to get out of the house and out of town for a bit!  Plus, the concert was really good, and I enjoyed our time together.  It seems, with so much work, that we don't always get that kind of time anymore. As I was listening to the music and watching everyone around me, I realized that music is such an important part of my life.  Nearly every stage of my life has been accompanied by certain artists and songs.  Lyrics of my favorite albums were woven into my personal timeline.  I think it happens that way for a lot of people.  We hear a song and can be immediately transported, for better or worse, back in time. I've been thinking about that a bit lately, and have also realized that, while I still love music, I don't seem to form as deep a connection to new music as the music I used to listen to, for example, i...

Good Evening Everyone! It's been a busy weekend.  I hope that everyone is enjoying Valentine's Day.  Andrew and I are postponing our Valentine's Day until Tuesday when we're going to a concert in Pittsburgh.  Nonetheless, I hope your day was special.  I think no matter what, it's a good time to remember to love yourself and to love those around you.  I celebrated many of these days without a significant other.  And with or without, it's really just about love…everywhere. Anyway, back to the title of my post.  It's been a busy weekend.  We're always busy doing things, but with Andrew's 30-Day Creative heART Challenge , I've been filling in at the store seven days a week instead of the normal six.  And, he's been so into this challenge that I rarely see him even emerge from his studio room.  There are a lot of great things happening.  So, it's been nonstop for us both. Also, we're taking the time to totally renovate our online s...

Yes, you've caught me. I took a day off yesterday. I did a lot of work for AG, and I was just drained without much to say. I think that through this 30-day challenge, realistically, I'll probably miss a few other days. Obviously now, it will not be a consecutive 30-days for this challenge…perhaps more like a 30-post challenge. The important thing is that I keep going without being too hard on myself when I simply haven't the energy or desire to post. I think that's often the problem with New Year's Resolutions and things of that nature: we get too caught up with having to do it because we said we'd do it, then are too hard on ourselves when we "mess up", so keeping the resolution fails. But messing up is a part of life. It's how we recover that's the important part. So back into the swing of things! The most important thing is, I have enjoyed this trip blogging so far.  And I do believe with a bit of practice (and, I'm sure, a few misstep...

I though that for this entry, I'd try more pictures…many more pictures.  Many of you who follow us now may not have been around for the beginning of Allegory Gallery.  It's amazing to see how much we've accomplished since that first official day on September 15, 2011.  We were a very small store with big dreams…and our dreams have only continued and continued to grow—mostly because of your belief in us, and your support of us.  Thank you.  And without further ado, the photos. Allegory Gallery—First Location—Working to get it ready Painting, Painting, Painting! (Don't let me in the picture fool you…Andrew did most of the painting!) Lots of Painting! We are lucky to have family willing to pitch in whenever they can! This is my mom, aunt, and brother helping to build our first art wall. More art wall work.   Sawing the edging. Finishing up the art wall Our Grand Opening…we were small, but we felt very welcomed i...

I once read a GQ article as a youngster that talked about defining objects.  It was an article that really hit home at the time that I read it, and one that, to this day, still makes so much sense to me.  I wish I still had the article, or even knew where I could find it.  Believe me, I've tried.  But, the point of the article was that for many of us, we bring ourselves close to things that define us.  That is, things that show the world who and what we are.  The article concluded by giving an example of the author standing in line behind a gentleman whose suit was tattered and appeared that he had a fairly hard life up until this point.  But, as the author looked over this gentleman, his glance came upon his shoes.  They were immaculate.  Brown leather.  Wingtips.  Polished and well taken care of.  This was one of the things that this gentleman held on to and kept up to show the world who he really was.  He was sophistica...

Hello All, This is, hopefully, the start to my blogging life!  You see, my partner, Andrew ( andrew-thornton.blogspot.com ) is doing a 30-day artistic challenge.  So, since blogging is something that I think may be useful to me, I figured I'd take the time to try a 30-day blogging exercise.  I'm expecting my friends to hold me accountable for the next 30 days, too! I'm not sure what this first entry should be about really, so let me just tell you a bit about myself. I was born in a small town in Pennsylvania.  I really grew up in a wonderful place for kids.  We didn't have many neighbors around, but my brother and I really had a lot of open spaces and even a lake (very large pond) in our backyard at our disposal.  I mostly remember good things about my childhood.  For the most part, I liked school.  I liked learning (and still do).  I grew up thinking that I was going to be a lot of things in life.  I first wanted to be a Chef (my,...