I used to happily throw away the boxes that things came in as soon as I'd removed them, but after learning that Apple demand that repairs could only be effected on devices returned in the original box (perhaps everybody does this - I heard it about Apple first), I became loathe to throw them away. As I've hinted, I'm sure, I'm loathe to throw anything away, so don't really need the encouragement in that area.

Anyway, since then, I've been a compulsive collector of Original Boxes.

On top of the shelves are a pile of boxes of various consumer goods, which haven't been back in the box since I bought them. There may even be boxes for things I don't have any more, though I hope not and doubt it.

Anyway, this was taking that principle to extremes.

I bought a popcorn maker. I went into a bit of a popcorn frenzy, and decided it was the perfect addition to my lifestyle. That my have been true, actually, popcorn is good. But I don't normally choose the model designed for eight-year-old girls. Perhaps it was because I'd spent a short but very intense period colouring in pictures for a collection of Rainbow Fairies stories, so I was particularly attuned to the eight-year-old girl mindset. Perhaps I just thought it was cool - it's a bit retro, a bit bulbous and a slightly regrettable mauve.

I suppose, in my and its defense, it's not dull-looking. Most of the others I saw were fairly dull-looking - trying to hard to be taken seriously, which is a sore point for an essentially frivolous machine.

But there it sits on top of my kitchen cabinet, ready to provide me with a bit of popcorn, quite a lot of unpopped corn kernels and debris all over the place (functionally it's not as good as it looks, but then how much R&D is put into what is effectively a large, upside-down hairdryer?). And until recently, the box it came in sat next to it I'd look up occasionally and think "hmm, I really don't need that box, I should get rid of it", and then not get rid of it.