Exploration #10

One Thing

Choose an every day object. This can be something you find on the street or something you have. Look at the top half of the object for fifteen minutes. Record everything you see there in detail. Then do the same for the top half. The longer you look the more you will see.

Object: My GameBoy Advance SP. This certainly isn't an every day object for present-day Mary, but 11-year-old Mary didn't go very many days without fiddling with it. I've opened it up, considering the "top half" as the half with the screen and the buttons, while the "bottom half" will be the flip side.

Top Half: First and foremost, it's black. I remember putting the scratch resistant screen protector over the screen, but I didn't secure it properly, so it has an air bubble in it. I wanted so badly to fix this, but I couldn't get the damn thing off! I try to pick at it now, but to no avail. That sucker's on there good. Upon further inspection, I notice that the screen protector has quite a few scratches on it. I find this kind of ironic. There are some sort of crumbs wedged beside the buttons. I can see my fingerprints on parts of the handheld device. I hadn't ever noticed this before, but there's a faded circular shape in the plastic around the speaker. I wonder if it makes that form because of the parts hidden underneath the surface? It's hard telling.

Bottom Half: The UPC is completely absent from the label. It must have rubbed off onto my hands gradually over time. I wonder if the ink could've poisoned me in some way. The game inside the slot is my favourite GameBoy game of all time: Pokemon Emerald. I took the sticker off of the cartridge, because my brother had a habit of selling my games. I knew the pawn shop in town wouldn't take it if it didn't have a label. Take that, Travis. There are a LOT of scratches on the plastic behind the screen. I don't know what I did to this thing, but it seems I was determined to beat it up. It still functions properly, at least. It kind of looks like something chewed on one of the corners... I certainly don't remember doing this, but I did have a bit of an oral fixation, so I wouldn't put it past my past self.

Conclusion: This machine was well-loved! Looking at it so intently brought back some memories that amused me. I was a little surprised to find some things that I hadn't noticed before, because I used to use this device so often. One would think I knew it like the back of my hand! ...then again, I'm not sure how well I do know the back of my hand.