I picked up a box of paperclips last week in Germany; for no good reason other than aesthetics—and a dash of nostalgia for the time I used to live there—I prefer their pointy tips to the rounded versions that are standard in the US.

It’s a funny thing, nostalgia. Obviously, that period of my life was much richer than a simple office product, and I don’t have any specific memories associated with paperclips in particular. But I still find comfort in the quotidian reminder of a thoroughly mundane object, something I can integrate into my everyday routine and think about more frequently than I would, say, look at my photo album, or reread the fragmentary journal that I kept back then. It’s a more meaningful relationship, I guess. And now that I’ve replenished my supply, I can use them with abandon, and without fear of running out anytime soon!