Treasure Trunk

When I was a little girl, my grandma gave me a big cedar chest, hand-painted with images of Shirley Temple in some of her more famous costumes (hey - she sang, she tapped, she conquered - I loved her). Right now, it's living in the closet under the stairs in the basement, and I opened it up earlier this evening to go through some of the goodies stored in there. Here are some of my favorites:

* My 9th Grade geography composition notebook, complete with my folded-up MAP OF AFRICA assignment. Apparently, I got a 96 on it for "slightly sloppy coloring," which I suppose was fair. But geez, cut me some slack, Mr. Houston - it's a pretty accurate map of AFRICA that I hand-drew!

* The Life & Style section of Sunday, March 21st, 1999's issue of The Fort Worth Star Telegram. They have an entire spread of Shakespearean fashions. "O worthy readers, look what a wardrobe is here for thee! Sumptuous Elizabethan-inspired ball gowns move from Oscar films to the runway to our own mortal closets." I. Am. Such. A. Nerd. For. Saving. This.

* Monologues I hand-wrote from the production of THE KENTUCKY CYCLE I did in 10th grade, all mapped out, scored, underlined, and notated. It's fascinating to see how I worked at age 15 on a role that size. I cared about it SO much. I was playing the female lead in this beautiful play, and I was a sophomore, so it was a big deal for me. We built out the stage and put the audience up there with us, brought 50 truckloads of dirt into the theatre and crafted them into a stark, dusty landscape...I used to ask my director for notes every day after he'd already done notes. He must've gotten into the habit of holding some back, knowing I'd be yapping at his heels sooner or later. It's really funny to see how I used to work. I was essentially making it up as I went along, establishing my own working methods. I had a marvelous high school drama teacher, but when you're in a class of twenty or so other fifteen year olds, there is really only so much info they can impart.

* The headshot and resume of an actress who sat next to us on the plane on my first trip to New York. She wrote her number on the back of it in case we needed to know where to go to buy Aaron cheap shoes. I had it hung up in my closet all through my adolescence - here was a real, live, New York actress!

* An 8th grade report card. Straight As all year, except for stupid Honors Algebra.

* Programs and ticket stubs from shows I saw in high school. No playbills. Those went in a special box. :)

* A tiny notebook I passed back and forth with a good friend during History class in 10th grade.

* A list of Spanish verbs. I'm taking that with me, as I've forgotten everything I learned in Spanish class.

So delightful.

Also, here is a fun photo of Aaron and I while snowshoeing earlier today!