I'd love to find tapes of my dad singing, and there were reel-to-reels of songs he co-wrote from his collection the More Things Change The More They Stay The Same. Have been through all the tapes I could find in the house.

Also, four or five of my short stories went missing when we moved once. The ones I'd set aside to keep. My dad once lost years of work, translations of the poet Emile Lerperger, when his publisher sank into depression and threw things out and all around. Dad found handwritten letters from Flannery O'Connor, incredible things in the trash and on the floors, but never found his manuscript.

And I had a magic red shirt. The three times in my life when women have made friendly advances in my direction, I was wearing this shirt. When I figured it out, I told my wife how odd it was, and soon the shirt went missing. It was nice, strange, mysterious, and a rare ego boost which I miss. I'd settle for finding my wifes old cheerleading uniform, but that's gone too.

Generally, I always like to have an obscure quest going, and the internet has taken some of the sport out of it.