Chronicling a Life, One Toy at a Time.

I don't remember when I got my first toy.

That's not meant as a shocking sort of statement or anything like that, just a simple little fact. Toys have been around my life for so long that they break that earliest point beyond which your memories strangely disappear. I had toys when I was 14, 10, 5, 3- heck, I don't think I had even been born when my parents bought me what I think was my first toy (I'll have to ask them on that point to make sure).

Point is, I had toys all throughout childhood. And I still do- that picture of my bedroom was from last Sunday, and hasn't changed pretty much at all since then. And chances are, I'll still have them as long as I'm able, and the collection will keep growing and developing along with me.

They are, in their own bizarre way, a part of who I am.

They've carried my imagination, they've expanded my interests, and most importantly of all, crystallized my memories. I can look at virtually every toy I've owned and remember how I got them, where I got them, why I got them, if I bought them or if they were a present, etc. As is the case with such things it's just a little fuzzy on some of the details, but most of it is startlingly well-preserved- even the stuff I gave away but remember having, I remember the circumstances of. Each toy carries with it a capsule- a little chest of random and disparate memories, all throughout my life.

This is a chronicle of those memories.

Every few days I'm going to go through my room and take a look at a toy- starting with a rather important li'l guy sitting at this moment to my right, and continuing from there. With that toy I'm going to post whatever really comes to mind- thoughts, memories, reflections, ruminations on life and its mysteries- you know, the usual stuff. I'll probably even post stories every now and then- I played with my toys constantly as a kid, and still do, so there's a wealth of stories and tales to be told. Just wait 'till we get to Cornelius, and Irnakk, and the President, and the Great LEGO War of '12.

But I also want to look at myself. I'm still in a transition phase from an old life into a new one. In that time, I've begun to really look and start re-evaluating my life- what I want, where I want to be, life choices in general. And as I do this I want to go through my life and rediscover myself through my toys. These little things that have meant so much to me through the years. I want to look at them and find out who I used to be- what I've wanted, where I've longed to be- even just revisit some of my favorite (and least favorite) memories. Explore my mind as I explore my toybox.

And once I've done that, maybe I'll find out, or remind myself, who I am.


C'mon. Let's go exploring.