The paperwork that one accumulates just trying to get through life is staggering. And the institutions and organizations that I have to deal with for monetary purposes are the most prolific on the paper front.

I was only briefly a customer at Washington Mutual in 2004, but I'm still finding paperwork from those days: an identity theft service enrollment agreement, some accidental death membership agreement and an employer automatic payroll deduction authorization form. I didn't sign any of these things, but I kept them around just in case.

And there are those pesky little receipts that I save for taxes. One from Duane Reade from January 10, 2004, for something Fuji. Maybe film...I think I still used film in those days; another from Barnes & Noble for a card and a journal (business expenses or birthday presents?); a Europa Cafe receipt for a salad and a Snapple from 5/28/08; a get-six-months-of-issues-for-just-$2 offer from Borders that expired on 1/31/10. When did Borders go out of business?

There's a Dunkin' Donuts receipt from the store on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn from 9/22/09 @4:24; a bubble envelope from Duane Reade from 1/18/04; a couple of receipts from the Columbus Circle Whole Foods from 2/20/04 and 3/15/04, probably post-librettists workshop get-togethers; and a post-office receipt from 2/21 for six items (must have been a lot of RT books to send out that day).

I'm not sure what I did on 2/20/04, but I'm guessing it was something with Jim. I have a receipt from the Playwright Tavern on Eighth Avenue for a Brooklyn Lager (that would be me) and a Tetleys (I can't imagine anyone else I know besides Jim ordering that).

And in August of 2004, I actually invested in a copy of Theatrical Index for $14. That was right around the time I started writing for David at Time Out.

Do good gift givers remember what they give someone on any given occasion? I found a barely legible receipt from Barnes & Noble, paid for with my Barnes & Noble Mastercard (can't make out the year), for a book called Pennsylvania Off the Beaten Path. I must have given that to Connie and/or Ed as a gift, right? Either before or after they bought the house in Shohola. I don't remember doing it, but I can't imagine any other reason I'd have a receipt for it.