The Digital Packrat

My mother has set me on the task of cleaning out my room. I am moving to New York soon, and she fears that she will never get another chance to make me clear out all my old stuff (read: crap). And as I have been clearing out my old stuff, it has amazed me how many memories have been (or can be) digitized.

I had entire shelves full of music CD's. Music CD's? I might as well be milking my own cows. CD's are a relic of the past. I can trash them all if I just rip them onto iTunes.

I have an endless supply of trophies for everything from winning gold at public speech competitions to being a field day participant at the Langley School in May 1997. Emailing a list list of these accomplishments can avoid me the hassle of schlepping around the awards forever.

And pictures, pictures, pictures. This is actually a difficult one because in the days of the 35 mm, I had to get them all printed out. I wonder whether there's a service that can more quickly scan them and put them online.

The point is, it's amazing how many of these tangible memories can be digitized. And it makes sense too to digitize them because are they really worth the space they take up when I might only glance at them once?

And yet, it's still a struggle for me to toss them out because it feels like throwing out my childhood.

Oh, and what do I do with my yearbooks?