Fourth the Little mouse who traveled North

This is just about the only hat I've ever worn recreationally and consistently for any period of time. I got it on my A.I.D. volunteer trip in the summer of 2007, when I went to Taiwan to teach English to elementary school kids. One day during class, I paused in the middle of our culture lesson (the kids were asking me to draw a map of California) and had an amazing brain-child: I would ask the kids to sign the hat I had been wearing to prevent my head from baking at the mercy of the smoldering sun. I later got signatures from other kids on the trips - college students, our advisor, etc. When I got home and checked Facebook to see the horde of pictures my friends from Taiwan had taken, I realized how stupid I look wearing the hat. But it just goes to reinforce the important lesson I'm promoting: value inner beauty (wow look at those meaningful signatures) over outer beauty (hey that hat looks really dumb on you).

P.S. That's actually a Cheetos bag in the upper right corner, since I took this picture on my sister's desk and she was being a junkie.

There's nothing that represents the undiluted enjoyment of childhood quite like:

Pokemon.

I can't begin to explain how many things this old Gameboy has been through. My grandpa bought it for my brother some 17/18 years ago; it's been through plane rides, vacations, car trips, and an unforgettable day when my Magikarp finally evolved into a Gyarados. We've never gotten another Gameboy, but I think things are better this way; it helps to preserve the magic of our original one and the adventures we had with that little blue cartridge on the left.
P.S. Blue version is infinitely better than ANY other version.

This used to be my white whale.

P.S. I don't think I ever heard "Fourth the Little mouse who traveled North" in my elementary school days, but it rhymes, it sounds relatively meaningful, and it's a reference to a pretty popular children's book (tell me which and win a free high-five).