While rearranging some stuff around the apartment, I stumbled across a whole bunch of old books, letters, etc. from summers past -- some as old as 11 years old, and yet it feels almost like yesterday that I did some of that stuff. And I guess it's a bit odd to think that a lot of my fondest memories from my high school days were from my summers -- time spent with new and interesting people who may or may not have had more in common with me than my classmates. Of course, some of that could be that most of my good friends from those summers were women (I guess I had a better idea of what to do back then ... bizarre).

I also realize how much communication has changed over the years. While I can instant message or e-mail all sorts of people, I was very much a letter writer back in the day. That's because most of my closest friends lived miles away and wasn't doing the e-mail thing at that point (despite being very technologically adept). As much as I e-mail people, it's definitely not the same as writing letters. I've saved a ton of e-mails from people, and lost as many as well. However, it feels a bit better looking through old letters (the paper, the penmanship, the occasional goofy drawings, etc.) than a screen of old e-mails. Granted, I hardly do any letter writing myself these days (outside of some jottings in Christmas or birthday cards), but then again, I hardly have anyone to write to since I know mostly e-mail addresses. And I guess to be brutally honest, there are only a couple of people I feel I would actually put pen to paper to write a letter these days.