I wrote my storytelling Twitter thread about the top 7 most random, weirdest, and in some cases grossest things I have in my home. It was inspired a material culture challenge where people go through some of their possessions and without giving the context of what it is, other people must guess what the item is and what it is used for. The professor in this material culture class had collected many things and you can imagine almost no one could guess what the objects were. This class exercise taught me a lot about why material culture is important and the key role this discipline plays in different cultures and societie’s.
After searching through my house with a motive to find what I would perceive as the strangest things, I manage to gather 7 items that I felt made the list. I hope this story was interesting, fun and engaging. I tried to add a little suspense and sense of danger knowing that one item in particular probably should have been red flagged at the Canadian border, but at the time for all I knew it was a typical souvenir.
My twitter thread began with the #7 item and counted up to #1 to once again add a sense of anticipation and excitement. Although most of the time I would skip to the #1 thing as I do not like being in suspense. Fun Fact: I can never sit through a movie without reading the plot summary prior and I will never watch scary movies.
I begin with a nostalgic childhood possession that created an entire collection of rocks and shells collected from every place I’ve explored.
Then I thought the gift my friend brought me from Portugal was interesting given that I don’t even know what is specifically in it. For some reason because it’s says 2020 on it and was given to me a day before the quarantine lock down. I have some crazy belief that if I open it, I will literally and metaphorically open up a can of worms and I just can’t deal with that.
I also own this finger stretching device that is supposed to enhance your grip strength. If you know me you know that I pretty much abbreviate every word I possibly can, so I usually call it the fingy stresser.
My thrifted Mexican souvenir I can’t even describe my thought process when I think about how it was constructed. In my mind, it was 100% carved from a chunk of wood and I can’t wrap my brain around how they carved the different rings without them falling off like beads on a string.
The next item I do admit that I was hesitant about sharing just because of the dead silk moth that attempted to break free, and quite honestly might have suffocated. I feel bad for the little guy but it was for the best. I did not want to be responsible for a full on invasive silk moth takeover that could of killed all Canada’s native bugs and ate entire crops of grain, what a nightmare that would be.
The second top item I think to this day is super random but it is cool. To think that’s how the locals got their daily undercover news and gossip back in the day, its clever. It does actually still work but with the advancement of technology I can only pick up on local truck driver lingo that I can’t even translate.
And finally, the top item that made the #1 spot. The Cow Ball. It is truly one of a kind, and remarkable that I even found this in over 100 acres of pasture land. I picked it up thinking it was a rock (blame my crazy rock obsession for noticing it) only to discover it was a super compact ball of cow hair when my dad threw it against the ground.
Please share the strangest thing you have in your home. I hope you enjoyed my twitter story.
-Payton
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 