Capturing Time

(I really liked how Sarah included photos in her post, so I was going to do that too, but then most of my items ended up being things I didn't actually physically have, so I decided not to bother)

The first item I would put in would be a list of all my best friends that I hope I'm still friends with in 10 years, along with photographs of all of them to remind me just how much I love them, and their current contact information in case I need to try to track them down. That way even I'm not in touch with some of them any more I can reminisce about all the good times I had, and try to get in touch with them to catch up.

I would want to put in a copy of my last NaNoWriMo novel. This would remind my future self that this is what I wan to be doing. Also hopefully it will be a reminder to her of how far she's come (and besides, maybe she'll actually be able to do something worthwhile with it).

I would put in this gavel I have that's made of duct tape. It's from where I worked last summer, a lot of people had summer birthdays and we had a tradition of giving everyone presents made of duct tape, so at the end of the summer they gave all the students a duct tape present that was somehow related our education/interests. So I got a gavel. I want to put it in my time capsule in case my future self needs a reminder that I was at one point excited about going to law school and that I was a bit of an idealist about it and how I was going to help people. Plus it would remind me of that job and those people and all of the duct tape shenanigans and the silly pranks.

I would also include a copy of my first ever YouTube video. Joining a collab channel was a pretty spontaneous decision and I was really nervous about it at first. But it ended up being a lot of fun, and I've become good friends with the other people involved and no one has said (yet) that my videos were stupid or anything like that. So it's a good reminder that sometimes I just need to be brave and put myself out there.

And the last one would be my jar of shells and beach glass. I've always lived very close to the ocean, and I can't imagine ever living far away from it. I want my future self to remember that, and plus they'll be a comfort to her if she isn't living near the ocean. Also most of them I collected during a beach day with some friends, so they have nice nostalgic memories, too.

I feel like there should probably be more things to go in there, but that's all I can think of for now, so I guess that will have to do.

Time Capsule! Mine Might Smell

Where objects travel the long way but you get travel back in time. Mentally of course.

When I think about things to put in a time capsule I imagine they'd be things current to me now so as to remind my future-self who she was.

I took awful quality pictures to show you what I'd put in my time capsule to be opened up in ten years time.

First, I think I'd put in my copy of Tales of Beedle The Bard in the time capsule. To remind myself in the future that I loved fairytales, Harry Potter, fantasy, stuff like that. Just in case I forget somewhere, which I really hope that I don't.

Also because I know that right now I could read and read forever. If I could just go live in an unending library I'd do so.

Second I think I would put in my graduation certificate from Witch's Rock Surf School. We got them at the end of our week spent there in Costa Rica, it was a fantastic place and the instructors were very helpful.

They spelled my name wrong on it, but it's still a memory of the school surf trip there. And the certificate, if you can read it, is quite humorous.

Thirdly I'd put in this bottle of possible-agricultural-virus containing sand that customs probably wouldn't have allowed into the country if they found it, from Costa Rica as well. Also from the surf trip.

I want to remind my future-self that she loved to travel and itched at any change to get on a plane and that I jumped at every opportunity to leave the country. I hope that I'm still traveling and maybe even living overseas ten years from now.

Next I'm tucking away my skating boot.  I'm getting new ones so I won't be missing it long. But up until now I've been skating at Charles Moore Arena for just over twelve years. I'll be leaving for Wheaton in August and I haven't totally figured out the rink situation out there yet. I hope I still skate ten years from now, even as just a hobby with significant loss of fitness.

But future me would probably like to remember the good old days.


The boot is foul smelling, I'm hypothetically glad to be hypothetically rid of it.

Next, I'd put in this metal hair-wrap I got at King Richard's Faire. I love dressing up and I love events like King Richard's Faire, it's one of my favourite times of the year.

Hopefully future me still appreciates the fun of those events and activities, I know they're definitely a part of my life currently.

And last but not least...

I'd put in one of my Amy Pond shoes. Because I'm a cosplayer, I love Doctor Who, and Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica and others in sci-fi, I love cons and the people who go to them. I love the community of the fandom and all awesome people get up to over it.

I may or may not be involved later, a lot can happen in ten years. I can only hope I'm still involved and loving it. Maybe I'll move up in cosplay skills and this will remind my future-self where it all started and all the fellow fans she met and fun she had. And then get her back into it if she ever stopped.

Those are all the items I'd put into my time capsule. All of it has a purpose to remind myself who I was, what I love and the best memories I have/had. Hopefully I won't have forgotten and they'll just be nostalgia for when everything started.

Can't wait to read what you all are putting in your capsules. Have an awesome week!
-Sarah

Memories: lots and lots of food

So this is probably going to sound weird, but the things that remind me the most of my childhood are all food. Boxed macaroni and cheese (with or without canned chili), the smell of apple pie, or - interestingly enough - nutmeg.

I know, right, nutmeg? I actually didn't know what that smell was that made me feel so nostalgic until very recently, when on a whim I sprinkled some nutmeg over sugar cookies before they went in the oven. I recognized the scent the moment I smelled it, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic inside.

My family's been big on cooking for other people as a form of affection, and since we were kinda poor for most of my childhood, many many of those meals came from the blue box of mac and cheese or were baked cookies. They're both major comfort foods for me, if I've been really stressed out or need a mood boost I don't want a $10 bowl of pasta or a nice cut of steak, I crave a $2 bowl of over processed, almost fluorescent orange "pasta" (I use that term loosely...) or handmade brownies.

Aaaaaaaaand that should tell you why my family has weight problems. Well, that and our occasional dinner of "heart attack pie" - apple pie with a pack of maple sausage and cheese in it. :P

Thoughts from Nostalgia

I've been feeling pretty nostalgic lately as I'm getting ready to move since I've lived here my entire life. It's a fairly bipolar feeling, since I end up being excited to move to a city one day, and freaked out and sad the next because I don't want to end up leaving my friends and the only place I've ever really known.

I have a bucket list of sorts, people to see, places to go, before I leave. On Friday it happened that the person I was meeting up with got delayed, and so I got to cross something off my list that I didn't think I would have the chance to.

I wandered over to a local ice cream and candy shop that I haven't been to in at least a decade. I ordered a simple sundae and sat on a bench outside to eat it as I watched the wind rip through the street and the miscellaneous passersby.

There's nothing inherently special about that place, but it immediately brought me back to long summer evenings spent with my family out on those benches, eating and laughing before going home after a long day and falling into bed. Of course the memories are blurry, just like most memories, but comforting nonetheless.

Yet as much as I want to cling on to these places, I think it's probably time for me to move on. I've realized that a greater and greater portion of my conversations are about the past - people that used to be friends, shared experiences from years past, etc. That rapport is great to have since the common experiences create a foundation for other communication, but I can't help but think that I should be looking forward too, not just back.

The things I'm nostalgic about and that I'll miss the most are really all about the people attached to them and not so much the thing or event themselves. When I'm feeling optimistic, I think about the fact that I'll now have all sorts of room to create new memories with new people. And, there's always the bonus that I haven't ever really been able to experience the feeling of going away and then coming home to a familiar place, since I've never left.

So please pardon me if my next few blogs are sappy and/or overly nostalgic, I'm assuming that's just part of this transition and that as I settle in and create new relationships and memories it will start to lessen.