School Quiz, Part II |
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January 8, 2007
Admit One
When I was about sixteen years old, my father made me a small wooden box for Christmas. I cannot remember if I asked for it or not but it has proven to be the best gift I have ever received. It was made by my father's own hands and I only keep what I like to call "memory markers" inside it-- small things that I hope will help me remember pieces of my life.
I have saved a lot of things over my short lifetime, all attempts at capturing moments, both big and small, that I wanted to keep close in some way. I have gotten better (or worse, depending on how you look at it) lately about what I choose to stow away and try to stick to little things that do not take up a lot of space. Some of these mementos are movie ticket stubs.
My collection only spans about eight years or so—more than ten if you include various concerts and poetry readings. I am not a huge moviegoer and I am sure that I have lost some around the way; however I can say that I remember something small about each stub in the box. The funny thing is that they are not huge important memories. Instead, they are rather insignificant moments that are only distinct in their simplicity. Saving movie stubs is kind of like collecting tiny moments. They are kind of placeholders for the mundane, tiny earmarks on the pages of everyday life. I can't recall the content of many of the movies but I can pinpoint the theater, who I went with and what we laughed about. I like those memories. I hope that I can continue to remember them as time passes and the past becomes more and more blurry.
Note: On my last visit with her, my Grandmother told me that she saves her ticket stubs, too. She is an avid moviegoer and I can't wait to see her collection the next time I am at the house.
Note II: I very much enjoyed Children of Men. Except for the words spoken in the last minute and a half.
Posted by callalillie at January 8, 2007 6:32 AM | Introspect
, Little Things
I spy a pic of Andrea, pre-Aldarondo, in that box.
I used to keep my ticket stubs too, and other items of randomness felt nostalgic, until I realized harvesting all this stuff was going to require another shoe box of mementos that I never open or go through. So I stopped doing it.
:(
Posted by: jason, yo. at January 8, 2007 10:40 AM
Excellent idea. Life is made of millions of tiny moments, really. The big ones we can remember without help; the tiny ones matter just as much but need a little help.
Posted by: kmkat at January 8, 2007 10:44 AM
Posted by: Sally at January 8, 2007 10:55 AM
Oh wow, yours is way cooler because you actually wrote down who you saw movies with.
Maybe one of my 2007 projects will be to record stuff like that. When I lived around the corner from a theater, my roommate and I went to a lot of movies and I always wanted to take the time and write down what we laughed at, etc., as we spent most of our moviegoing experience making fun of the people around us.
Posted by: corie at January 8, 2007 10:58 AM
I collect movie stubs too, and cards from all of the places that I have been. I put them in my journals which made them chubby and their spines break...
...maybe I need a little box.
Posted by: Novel Nymph at January 8, 2007 12:34 PM
I am so honored to have a place in your box. I have something similar, which is where I keep my favorite picture of us--taken in a photo both, although I can't remember for the life of me where we took it.
Posted by: angeeker at January 8, 2007 12:49 PM
I actually have a lot of old photos in the box...and the rare few that survived the great high school photo purge of 1995.
Re: photobooth pix: Smithhaven Mall! I think the booth was in that store that was like Woolworth's (but not).
Posted by: corie at January 8, 2007 1:02 PM
Posted by: corie at January 8, 2007 1:07 PM
i used to save them all, but i eventually stopped when i started recording them on the blog instead - i was missing the perfect space like your box to keep them. i really liked children of men as well, and sam did up until the last few minutes. he wanted more closure i guess.
Posted by: dahl at January 8, 2007 5:19 PM
I am going to see Children of Men with my mom tonight. I have not read any of the comments above because I don't want to get the ending ruined or something.
I saw Freedom Writers, and it was really, really good. I was expecting it to be good but not as good as it was. I would recommend it.
Posted by: Seton at January 8, 2007 5:57 PM
Can your father make me one of those boxes too? I got movie stubs from the 3rd Century BC
Posted by: john b at January 10, 2007 10:01 PM
