"The Secret Stash"

This reminiscing is dedicated to my little sisters.

When I was younger, probably from ages 12-17, I had a nice bedroom. It was very neat and organized. A place for everything and everything in it's place. That saying makes me smile a lot because it just feels so good, but that is the best description you could possibly give of my bedroom at that age. The main reason my room was like this is that whenever I was in my room late at night, putting off doing homework, I would clean my room or at least a part of it, like organizing the things under my bed, etc. Anyways, it was a tidy room (I'm not actually sure this is actually relevant but it seemed like a good opportunity to explain the setting).

Like most young people who have siblings, I felt I needed a safe place to hide things, such as the little hard-earned money I had. It should be a place where I would not forget about but that no one else would ever find. I needed a secret hiding spot in my room. Not that I was worried about anyone taking anything, but you I just felt the need for privacy and a really great secret spot for stuff.

At some point I discovered that perfect spot and dubbed it "The Secret Stash". It was a hiding place so good, so secretive, that it would never be found. I know this because of the countless times I invited Jessica and Alyna to go through my room searching for it. Oh, how I would taunt them with it! "You'll never find The Secret Stash!" They were seriously curious about it and so I don't recall them ever passing up an opportunity to let them look for it. They looked everywhere! I gave them a clue every few months but after years and years of never knowing where it was, it was decidedly the best hiding place ever.

Mostly I kept money there but there were a few other things, including at one point a humiliating and incriminating list of boys I had had crushes on throughout middle school. Finally one day, I decided I didn't need The Secret Stash anymore. I told my sisters where it was. It was a big reveal for me. It was probably the biggest, best secret I had ever had - and it was great because 1) it was my secret to keep or tell, 2) there were people who wanted to know it, and 3) it didn't really matter whether I told it or not. So of course I kept it bottled up for so long. Even I am impressed with how long I had that secret place. Now the secret was out.

So now you are probably wondering where my secret stash was. Here it is: I had discovered that my radio alarm clock that sat on the vanity didn't really need batteries in it and so I started keeping stuff in the battery compartment. I also had two speakers that had battery compartments and those were also used. It was brilliant! At least it was when it was a secret. Oh well. I don't know why I thought about The Secret Stash, but the other day it just popped into my mind. Ah, nostalgia... Thanks for listening :)

Self Portrait

Here is a self portrait that I drew when I was 5 years old. Some of my favorite things about it are:

• Freckles - I did have a lot of freckles when I was little. Apparently I thought they were very bold and only above my nose.
• Earrings - I definitely did not have earrings when I was 5. Maybe I thought they would help distract from my grossly uneven ears. Come to think of it, those look like Mr. Potato Head ears...
  
• Red hair - Is that a mistake or not? I did not have red bangs, but I wasn't colorblind either.
  
• Apparently no clothes - need I say more?

Anyways, I think this is pretty good, considering. Blue eyes, pink cheeks, light skin, crooked smile, yellow hair. Yep, that was me all right.

Technology and age

So I have been wondering about something for a while now. Sometimes very difficult to teach an older person how to do something new with technology - like how to add an attachment to an email or open a text message on a cell phone. And that very same thing is probably very intuitive to someone of the younger generation. Well.... what I have been wondering is this:

in about 30 or 40 years, will the people who are now young and are adapting quickly to new technology quite easily, be in the same situation as the current older generation who didn't have technology so integrated into everyday life when they grew up? Or will we be more easily able to understand and accept new technology since we are accustomed to technology in general?

This would be a very good Psychology/Technology/Learning study and research topic. How does adaptability to technology now affect individual learning and adaptability when new technology emerges in future decades?

I am open for discussion. And, yay!, I wrote on my blog. I think next time I will write about the birds and the bees. :)