I know I’m getting a little ridiculous with the AD references, but deal, because this post is about memories. More specifically, a box full of them, which I rummaged through today.

See, when I moved into my new apartment I received all my furniture and boxes one morning and then went out of town within a few hours. When I came back, I did very little unpacking, and when I got out all my necessary items, my dining room became a storage area.

In an effort to minimize my belongings this afternoon, I decided to start with the tower of boxes I have neglected the past 5 months. The first one I opened just happened to contain a sampling of random high school and college souvenirs that distracted me for a good 2 hours.

Among my findings:

  • My high school planner from senior year containing all my IB course work due dates, dance practices, performances, my social schedule, scribbled lyrics by bands I loved in the margins and sketchings of what I wanted my prom dress to look like. Wow. Pretty lame.
  • Cards from former co-workers in Seattle filled with inside jokes about tea, spices, coffee and a man named David Rio.
  • Three Tootsie Roll pops with a note and a CD sleeve all still in an envelope. Apparently I was only concerned about the actually CD.
  • My high school binder with a custom-made cover featuring Jason Schwartzman, Jack Black, Weezer, The Muppets, The Boss, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Eat World and No Doubt.
  • A scoreboard I made in biology class that kept track of a “where is this quote from” game between myself and 3 others. I won, by the way. Barely.
  • Dozens of ticket stubs, including, Jamie Cullum, Mitch Hedberg/Lewis Black, and Dave Chappelle.
  • Poems and drawings from a boy I liked.
  • A discman.
  • My handwritten packing checklist for CU.
  • Old AP style quizzes and countless cover letters from CP applicants.
  • Many reporter notebooks, all of which are only about 75 percent full.
  • Copies of financial disclosure reports from a project.
  • All my media law essays.
  • Job fair contacts.
  • A study abroad brochure.
  • My five mountain ski pass and old ID cards.

Although I will never need any of these things again (except for those job fair contacts), and rarely think about them, I can’t possibly bring myself to throw any away. I packed all the listed items back up neatly into the box and set it aside.