my life in a tiny box

i have a little box of stuff. a couple actually; i've found two more since cleaning out my room. and i have about five or six in the top of the closet in the room that used to be mine back in minnesota.

i keep things. 'scraps', i suppose they could be called, as i think i have this secret hope that i will put all of these things into a scrapbook someday. they are the tokens of my life, mementos saved and evidences of what i've done and of who i am. much of it is apparently meaningless, just 'stuff'. but i knew where they came from, who was there, and why i want to remember it.

in the boxes, i have a delta airlines luggage with a sticker from the phuket, thailand airport security, an ihop reciept from may 5, 2005, a napkin from 'weinerschnitzel' advertising the 'chili dog diet' as 'a diet you just can't lose', a ticket stub from a bus in seoul, one frame from a 35mm print of ingmar bergman's 'wild strawberries', a reciept from macy's grocery store that i can't remember why i have it at the moment, a forklift operator's card and a blood donor card [i'm A+], a ticket to a passover seder service, the business card of a cinematographer, an acceptance letter from a girl i asked on a date once, a reciept from the osaka restaurant from october 2001, remnants of clues from an invite to prefernce during the 2004 presidential elections, the bank card from the nice lady in oregon who helped me when my identity was stolen, and old driver's license, a card identifying me as 'the man', a receipt from a byu traffic ticket that i politely talked down from $20 to $5, a pass to a convention in las vegas and a byu all-sport pass, a piece of 70mm film from a print of 'the testaments', a fortune cookie fortune stating that i am 'strong and brave', a birthday card and a gift card to cinemark from a rad girl many years ago [that thankfully does not expire], the ID number from the triathalon i swam/biked/ran last fall, roughly a dozen [mostly handmade] cards from a friend and former movie producer now living in pennsylvania, ticket stubs from the bullet train in japan, receipt for a t-shirt from the hard rock cafe in washington d.c., a colorful bracelet tied on my arm by a cute little shopkeeper in a small village in thailand, a wallet-sized picture of me sitting on graffitied concrete stating 'i ain't in love with you, lady', a small envelope containing an apology card from a girl not being able to come on a date and an accompanying oversized 'raincheck', a brochure from the libery bell, a coin from the united arab emirates, a tag with the number '4619' identifying the pants i wore in 'ocean's 13', a thank you card from the lady who gave me my beloved stuffed dog 'mickey' when i was born, a sheet of paper with a message written in code and it's solution announcing an accepted date, a boondoggle than deb tried to sell in 'napoleon dynamite', a letter from a former girlfriend, 2,000 yen and a welcome card from the tokyo conrad hotel, raven symone's cue cards from last year's 'stadium of fire', the pink bible, a bracelet from ghana, wedding announcements of several very close friends, an empty envelope mailed on dec. 23, 2005 with a 'joseph smith' postmark, the ID of malinna the amazing hair stylist who has sadly since graduated but gave me a hug the last time she did my hair, a newspaer clipping about the r.e.m. concert at the e-center, a japan rail pass, my call to and release from jury duty, many thank you cards from various projects and the like, letters from sister missionaries, 20 baht, a postcard from a place in france, a menu from the 'high rocks' lounge next to our hotel in gladstone, oregon, signed by the cute reception girls, the reciept from my buster keaton dvd set, a birthday card from brasil, more handmade cards from pennsylvania, a 3.5" floppy disk containing files from high school, an 'fbi' pin from the olympics, a letter from las vegas in 2001, and several cards from my mom.

i like treasures.