Every since I can remember, I've always had an active, extensive collection of something at all times. The item of value changes every now and then, but after 17 years of doing this, I have aquired an enormous amount of stuff. Here's a list of general categories:

• Trolls: The ugly things with the hair that stands straight up. I have no idea how this collection got started, but it ended with me having over 100 of them by the time I was ten. One night, I had a nightmare that all their eyes were glowing red in the dark. I packed the trolls away the next day.

• Hello Kitty: This started when I was a little girl. I remember having a red rubber ball with Hello Kitty's face on one side. I threw it out the second story window of our house, just to see what would happen. I never found it again. Lately, I have been buying whatever Hello Kitty merchandise I come across; change purses, stuffed animals, Happy Meal toys, etc. Badtz Maru is also a good collector's item.

• Cows: I started collecting cows in fifth grade. I still love them to death (not literally, of course), and I do not eat beef because of that. I have a shelf full of cow figurines, shot glasses, postcards, and miscellaneous junk most people wouldn't look at twice until it's all grouped together in a nice display.

• Beanie Babies: This was not by choice; I was forced to become a collector against my will. When I was in the hospital for various reasons, my grandmother sent me one beanie baby every few days. I loved them because they were from her, and because I was lonely and scared about being away from home. I have them all packed away now, except for the Princess Diana purple bear.

• Skittles wrappers: I know, it sounds pretty dumb. I have hundreds of them though, all taped together in a long line of bright red plastic. I don't know what I'll ever do with them.

• Hospital bracelets: These served as a sort of badge of survival. Every time I was admitted to a new hospital, I got another bracelet. I kept all of them, a total of eight or so. They're three different colors, green, yellow, and white, depending on how I was admitted. I managed to wiggle them off my wrist without cutting any of them.

• Those little silver metal balancing things: I have no idea what they're really called. Whenever I found a new one I didn't have, I'd buy it. They're no more than two inches tall. All balance on stands in a way that you can spin, rock, or twist one piece around to your heart's content. One is a helicopter, it's propeller being the part that moves.

• Mardi Gras necklaces: although I have never actually been to the real Mardi Gras celebration, my cousins from New Orleans would save dozens of plastic bead necklaces for me every year. I would spend hours sorting them into different piles, mostly by color and length. I have no idea where they are at present; probably in a box someplace in the basement.

That's what I get for refusing to throw anything away.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment. I'll update if necessary.