My Stuff: Amanda Allen

Amanda explains:

1. Origami - My friend Gabriel made this for me before he moved back to Montana. I always thought it was inspiring. I keep it on top of my computer.

2. Key - I got this as a present from my friend Patricia for my 26th birthday. I think it came from an antique store in Chelsea. She got into a bad bike accident shortly thereafter. I have a tattoo of this exact key now.

3. Cup - Before my parents were married, they had a set of camping cookware. There are only two remaining artifacts of that set. I have one, and my dad has one.

4. Horseshoe - I bought this at an antique store on South Congress Street in Austin. I bought it on my last afternoon of the trip. For no particular reason I had a goal of bringing an old horseshoe back with me. Maybe I was listening to too much Ryan Adams. This was the dingiest one, the one I wanted. It's one of the best reminders of a solitary trip/

5. Scissors - I bought these in July at a stationery store. They're Indian tailor scissors, and they are incredibly sharp and precise.

6. Dracena Palm Tree - My mom bought it as a start on Maui when I was a kid. It's a good 16 years old now.

7. Record - This is my mom's original copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Right before my mom and I moved to Hawaii, we had a huge barn sale, and my mom was selling all her original Pink Floyd and Beatles records for a quarter each. I knew that was a mistake. Thankfully, most of them didn't disappear.

8. Kodak Camera - My grandpa gave me this and two other cameras. I think this one was made in the '30s. My uncle once described it as a Wizard of Oz camera.

9. Bobo the Bear - In 2008, I found him in a free box in front of my house. He's kind of ratty and disheveled, but I felt some kind of affinity for him. Later that year, I was having a lot of anxiety, and I would wake up in the middle of the night. If I snuggled Bobo, he calmed me down.

10. Where the Sidewalk Ends - My grandma bought this for me at Village Books in Bellingham, Wash., when I was 7. We used to spend many rainy afternoons at Village Books. If I had to set fire to my bookcase, this is the book I would save.