Do I Have Your Stuff?

Last night, as I tried to explain to my roommate why I now have a three-foot high electric Christmas tree next to my desk, I realized I'm in packrat mode. I think after two moves where I successfully fleeced down 75% of my possessions, I'm ready to start owning again. I may be a bit carried away though. Looking around my room, I did not own any of the following things at the beginning of summer. I also did not buy any of them. I now have:

- A huge steamer trunk of the sort that you'd take on a 1930s sea cruise (yeah I know it was the Great Depression, cut me some slack, it's 9 a.m.)
-A bureau that was handmade by my crafty old roommate Vic. He tried to show me how it had been very simple to put together with some spare boards, screws and a little bit of good old-fashioned elbow grease. I nodded blankly and thought, "Why do I care how to make a bureau now that I have yours?"
-A bed from Ms. B's absent roommate. I've been told you shouldn't take used beds from the Allston-Brighton area due to the bedbug epidemic but B assures me her ex-roomie was a clean bean. Except for that one night.
-A ceramic pot filled with potting soil found in the trash. Right now my jade plant (Mr. Plantles) is in a sub-standard plastic piece of crap pot that is too small for its needs. The new pot is right next to the old one. I'll transfer the plant when it does something remarkable (whistles, eats my roommate, etc.)
-Jenny's Turkey Trot shirt from 1,000 years ago and Beth's nifty red sweatshirt with thumbholes. Supposedly these are some of their favorite garments but if this is true, why are they at my house, hm?

Also new: a soccer ball, flip-flops, a stranger's journal, 2 fans, a full-length mirror, a 19" T.V. and a rolling stand for it, two lamps, a wardrobe, a bookshelf, and a pint glass advertising Bugles snack treats. Actually, I wouldn't mind a bag of Bugles. Maybe I'll find some in the trash.