Collective Thoughts

Well since I've been having some problems with inspiration for this blog here, I've discovered a neat tool. It's a prompt generator. It randomly tells me a prompt and then I respond. It seems it could be very useful to keep the brain working. Some of the prompts are ludicrious but, hey what's wrong with a little madness once in awhile, right?! I'm a big literacy advocate and a big part of literacy is the art of writing in itself. I used to write poetry and prose in my free time. I used to write quite a lot. I think I need to do more of it. It's a skill that needs to be practiced and since I'm not in school this semester, I can't have my writing abilities go all to hec. So I've decided to respond to a prompt or two from time to time when I can't think of something blog-worthy. It may make for a lot of prompt entries but oh well, as long as I can continue to write. Whether this blog is ever read or not, it's something I will always have to look at and enjoy. I think reflection can be revealing and interesting...

The prompt today is: "What did you collect? Describe in as much detail as possible a collection of something you had when you were younger."

I've learned a lot about collectors and collections at my current job. There's a big difference between collecting something as a child and collecting as an adult. Especially when, as an adult, you collect child play-things... That's a blog for another day but this prompt intrigued me. I was an odd child. I did have a small collection of Barbies and stuffed animals like a normal child but it seems that most of my most prized collections were odd, in one way or another.

1. Dinosaurs: This is odd only because I'm a girl. I wouldn't label myself as a tom-boy by any means but my girl friends found my fascination with these masculine animals strange. I had quite the collection of plastic dinosaurs which accompanied me in the bathtub, sandbox, driveway. They were cool... I wish I still had them! I also studied a lot about dinosaurs. I could spout all kinds of dino-stats !
2. Rocks: Many kids probably have a rock collection. Mine however, was a bit more high-class than the typical childhood rock collection. I did not accept your average off-the-street rock into my collection. None of this "pet" rock mentality allowed. In fact, I saved my allowance and purchased awesome, beautiful rocks for my collection. I kept them in shoe boxes and coveted them. I labeled them and knew what type they were and what they were composed of. I wanted to be a geologist for a time. I remember begging my dad to take me to the Geological building on the MU campus as a child. There were a lot of neat rocks to look at and read about.
3. Stamps: I realize this probably wins the "nerdiest collection" award. Yes, as a second grader I actually had a stamp collection and a huge monument of a book to put them in. There was a neat old hole-in-the-wall store run by an old man with thick round glasses where my dad and I used to go on Saturdays. It was amazing how expensive some stamps were, but I saved my allowance and looked forward to these trips!! Friends of my parents would send stamps they received from people all over the world and I was very proud of the collection. At some point I realized my friends weren't collecting stamps, they were collecting nail polish and other girly such items and something happened to the collection. I stopped working on it and eventually misplaced my book. I know this is so silly but I've actually thought recently of starting it up again. I see a variety of cool stamps since I open hundreds of pieces of mail as part of my job. I saw an Edgar Allen Poe stamp the other day and it jogged my memory. Maybe it's a hobby I'll dabble in in the near future... who knows.

Anyway, those are a few of the things I collected in my childhood. I currently have a doll collection but by no ambition of my own. They've been aquired and hopefully I can sell them and make some bones. I collect books and postcards now as well. Good stuff.

What did you collect? I know Brian collected baseball cards :) How American?!