Once upon a time, before your phone did everything for you, there was this thing called a pencil. To use the pencil, you needed a piece of paper--or possibly five. Maybe 20. It really depended on how much you were going to write.

Once upon a time, before the ipad and the iPhone and YouTube, we took tests with number 2 pencils, and a booklet, made of paper. (I know what you're thinking; how terrible for the environment. Trust me, it didn't do too much damage.) We sat hunched over our desks for hours and filled in little bubble answers Then, when you were done, if you had enough time, you could take a blank lined piece of paper and write with that number 2 pencil.

Once upon a time, before video games were popular among 8 year olds, and you could watch YouTube videos on the Internet with your phone, the only thing you needed was your imagination. And perhaps a pencil and paper. You could be hunting for vampires one minute, and sitting in a stifling hot classroom with your friends the next. You could sail away, sight, sound, smell, touch, taste and all; just by putting the pencil down on a page.

Once upon a time, a second grade me thought pencils were magical, because pencils, and pens, and paper could make the world go away. They could record everything you'd done, everything you wish you'd done, and anyone could see it, even if it was a million years in the future. There was no such thing as forgetting to save. It was just there, in gray and white, a colorful life you only wished you had.