some stuff I found in the junk drawer

"Releeeeeaaaaasssseeeee meeeeeeeeeeeee, releeeeeeaaaaaaasseeee my body"

I will never be able to get away from this song.  In case you don't remember, here is a post explaining the significance of this song.  I had no idea that I kept the actual cd, and I don't know why, but there it was in the miscellaneous junk drawer.

I'm so glad that I decided to go through this drawer that time forgot at my Dad's place, I found so many amazing things.  Many of you have already received personal messages regarding certain things but I decided to put my favorite items up here for all to enjoy.

And oh Agnes was only the beginning, truly, it was the most recent item in the drawer.  A lot of it was paperwork that was important at one point in my life but is no longer relevant, like documents regarding when my license was suspended.  Seeing all that stuff made me instinctively want to just throw away all of the contents of the drawer and be done with it.  As I picked up the first stack of papers I noticed a thick cardboard envelope with my name on it.  I decided to see what was inside, which began my journey down memory lane.

It was my college degree which, up until yesterday, I had no idea if I actually had or not.  I mean, sure, they called my name at graduation but at my college that didn't necessarily mean much.  One semester I had my class schedule picked out and submitted on the first day available and was given my schedule shortly after.  You can imagine my surprise on the first day of classes when none of my teachers had me on their roster for their class.  I went to some admin office and asked why and they said that even though I had a printed out schedule from them, I wasn't actually registered for any classes.

That was a pretty terrible semester.  I got a few of the classes that I had wanted but most had filled up weeks prior and I got left with the bottom of the barrel classes.  I will never forget walking in to the history of revolutionary Latin American literature on the first day and seeing nathanael sitting front and center of the class.  He might as well have had a bright red shiny apple on his desk for how enthusiastic he looked.  Apparently my bottom of the barrel class was one of Nathanael's first choices because he thought it sounded interesting.

Well imagine my delight when I found, in the junk drawer, my binder from that class.  This was tucked in to the clear plastic cover:

The class actually could have been interesting (especially if it was taught by that guy) but the teacher was really...special.  It's hard to describe in words, you kind of have to see our impression of her.

I actually found tons of notes from college which raises the question of what is wrong with me that I can't sit in class and learn, I have to be 15 years old and pass notes all day long?  Each note I found was amazing though and I'd so much rather have them than notes about a dumb lecture.

I guess that's why many people (ariel) find it so delightful that I could have had my degree in a junk drawer for the past 4 years and not even know.  Or that I won the most prestigious award you could win and I wasn't even at graduation to accept it.  But look I found it in the junk drawer!

Doesn't it just look like the kind of presentation you'd expect from the most prestigious award the school can give?

"Ooooh that must be heavy!" you're surely thinking.  No worries, it's just plastic.

In fact, as delighted as I was to find the golden key, I was no where near as happy as when I found this award:

Eliza and I both remember these being from a party at her house but we can't remember who it was for. I remember we put together prize packs, and that Andrew got the "clean teeth" award.  I feel like I picked out the awards with Jojo and that we both saw this one at the same time and knew it could only be the perfect award for me.  I'm glad that I stowed it in what I now realize wasn't so much a "junk drawer" as a "treasured keepsakes" drawer.

And when I say treasured keepsakes I mean exactly that.  I found my sisters tape collection:

What more could you really ask for in a tape collection?  My grandfathers car actually has a tape deck and I want to try them out but I'm scared I might ruin them.  I guess it's not like they are really collectors items or anything but I just think it's too good to mess up.

There were a few other things in the junk drawer of note that I have not yet decided what to do with.  I found a video I did in college for a project that I really want to get on the computer but that's going to be a separate project.  I also found the script I wrote for an episode of the Simpsons for a writing class in college.  It's ok, I haven't decided if I want to post it or maybe just excerpts or something.  I also found the play I wrote junior year (shudder) as well as the play I never finished from senior year.

So I'm glad I didn't just toss the junk drawer.  I didn't realize it contained some of my favorite things.  A lot of it was stuff I knew I had somewhere but had forgotten where I put it while other things completely surprised me and brought back a ton of memories.

For example, my freshman year i.d.:

I remember that I was angry but I don't remember why.  I know they didn't tell me they were taking my picture so I was just sitting there glaring straight ahead of me wondering why I was called down to this weird office.  Subsequently this picture became the stuff of legends because of the mysterious woman's face coming out of my left boob.  It was just the folds in my shirt but somehow it made this really distinct face that creeped everyone out.

Now that i've catalogued the items in the junk drawer I need to figure out what I want to do with them. I guess it's time to start a new junk container.  The junk closet perhaps?  I'm going to go scope out locations.