What do you collect?

I come from a family of collectors. My mom collected angels and "Precious Moments" figurines (whose mom didn't?). My aunt, Barbie dolls and Shirley Temple memorabilia; my brother, guitars and Star Wars stuff. My dad's into computers and gadgets. And if you placed them all together, the antiques that my grandma and my uncles own could probably fill three or four warehouses to the brim.

Despite this, I still sometimes manage to believe that I am not a collector--that I am not into accumulating "stuff" (especially since I live in like 20 square feet of space). But let's don't lie: I come from the same gene pool as those relatives who love Han Solo and Shirley Temple and moments that are precious. And although I like to think that I mostly collect "experiences," once I started putting together the below list, I now see that I am going to have to fess up and say it: I'm a collector, dammit. Here's the evidence.

1. Playbills. I sometimes suspect that I may have moved to New York City just to have regular access to plays and musicals. I have a particular soft spot for a signed Playbill; in fact, nerd alert: I used to always keep a permanent marker in my purse so I could wait by the stage door after a show and ask the actors to bless my 'bill with their autograph. I think at this point, I probably have about 200-ish on a shelf here in my apartment.

2. The letter A. After doing a series on the letter A in my college photography class, I started up this collection. My first was bought about 12 years ago in San Antonio at a shop selling letters recovered from the side of a demolished government building. (I do believe I bought the "A" in "Antonio.") Since then, lots of people found out about my A accumulation, and have filled my home and my office with this lovely letter. That said, the collection is now "closed" (read: I've run out of room), but it's still a favorite.

3. Stamps. See this post.

4. The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels and Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List. It's the English major in me. I am DETERMINED to finish up all these works before the end of my days. So far, I have only managed to make it through 18 of the Modern Library List, and 23 of the Radcliffe list, but I kind of like that--it gives me a goal to work toward. [Note that I don't always keep these books; I've been swapping them at swaptree.com, which I highly recommend. I've saved tons of money--and space.]

5. AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list. Unlike the book lists, I've managed to make a real dent in this one, with 67 of the 100 already viewed. (Thank God for Netflix.)

6. Ticket stubs. From anything--plays, museum visits, ballgames, comedy shows, events (except movies--don't ask me why, especially given #5 above). I stole the idea of keeping and displaying them all in old blue mason jars from my aunt (thanks, Kay).





7. Shells, rocks, and various dead sea creatures from beaches I've visited. A fun hobby when you're out strolling on the sand, and an easy (and affordable) souvenir. I also keep these guys in blue mason jars.

8. Boyfriends. This has actually been an unintentionally large one; the list just seems to grow longer the older I get. For the record, I would have been fine with just two or three in this collection. And I must say that, if I had the option, I would probably choose to also store said b-friends in one of my blue mason jars. With the lid screwed on tight. Real tight.

9. Lists. Clearly.

10. Your comments. So what do you collect?