Like, wow...

I mentioned cleaning out my closets has made me feel old. This is mainly because I found a box of stuff I've wanted to keep--memorabilia, if you will. Some of it has been a trip down memory lane, technology wise, but also fashion wise. Here's an example:


Various newspaper clippings I wanted to keep, mostly my name in the paper for various things growing up. The one on top was for All-State choir in Maine. Check out the dresses and the hair! Not me, BTW. My hair never could do that, though I desperately tried. (I am not sure what to do with these clippings--should I scrap them? Any ideas out there?)

Here's a trip down memory lane: mix tapes!

I love that I called one "Love Songs and Other Myths." I don't think I can get rid of these, at least because the list of songs reminds me of certain times in my life.


This one is funny: I have kept almost every paper I've written since junior high. When I discovered that, I bought a 3-ring binder and some page protectors to put them in.

The one up here? A paper on Invisible Man--which I now teach. I am a little nervous to read it. It's probably tripe.

My first driver's license and all my ID cards in college. Don't you love my perm? And that the driver's license was typed and laminated? After my photo was taken, they typed and laminated it right in front of me. This makes me feel super old.


This one makes me nostalgic. Write.click.scrapbook had a posting on friendship bracelets last week, and look what I found.

Back to the papers...remember dot matrix printers?

And along the same line, ditto machines?


Here's a treasure: my commonplace books. I never kept diaries, but since high school I've kept these books to write down quotations in. I have one by my bedside now; these 6 I finished since high school. They're not only a record of my readings, but they also show my thinking, based on the quotations I was drawn to.

And my trip through time with my commonplace books? The first one I wrote in different colors of magic markers.


Evidence of my religious scholasticism: this book is dog-eared and lightly annotated. Can you tell I was afraid of the public examination?

Another treasure: when I was in the St. Olaf Choir one year, we toured the Southwest, including California. While there, we met Betty White, who autographed my itinerary. Betty White, the coolest person in America right now. Nice!

Back to the "I feel old": Remember Apple Works? Here's the command codes for back when floppies actually flopped.


For some reason, I have all sorts of clippings for my parents too. That's them right there--aren't they gorgeous? Not sure what I'll do with these either, but I enjoyed this trip down memory lane, bad hair and all.