All right everyone, empty them pockets out. Lint and all. Purses and fanny packs are not excluded. Those with cargo shorts don't worry, we'll wait until you're done......You done? No? Okay......How about now? Good.

I watched an interview with a writer in which they discussed how he went about creating his characters. One of the points he made was to know what was in the pockets of his characters. What do they carry with them everyday? If they empty their pockets what would be there? He said what they carry reveals a little bit of who they are. I found this exceptionally interesting and have adopted into my own character creation process.

So, now that your pockets, purses, fanny packs are empty and the contents scattered around, let us all take a gander at what's been revealed. And when we're done maybe go ahead and empty the pockets of your characters. What you find might surprise you.

My pockets:
Pocket book and pen, SOG pocket knife, wallet, keys, playing cards, gum wrappers, 37 cents in loose change, fingernail clippings, iPhone, and pieces of scrap paper with notes scribbled on them.

Wallet: No cash but a lot of old receipts. Two pictures of my brother making funny poses for track, debit card, movie ticket stubs, driver license, more scrap paper with ideas written down, a note I wrote to myself three years ago asking, "Are you who you want to be?" and a used iTunes gift card.

My pockets? A phone and a wallet. Nothing else. Like usual for me, although often one or the other (or both) aren't actually in my pockets. They are right now, though.

That is a very good point.

Nothing in my pockets at the moment. In my purse, I have a gum wrapper, a couple random quarters, my wallet, my library card, my pocket-size calendar, blank savings account register, and a card with my contact info in case my purse is lost.

*has never had a purse* But I do tend to keep things in a green bag when they're not in my backpack

Normally things included are: phone, wallet, laptop, sketchbook, pencil, pen, phone charger, tablet pen, tablet, tablet cable, pack of grey-scale markers, breath mints, headphones, occasionally a school book or sweater, school folder, and.... Hmm... keys

Wallet includes: Student ID, debit card, recipts, sometimes cash, a Target card that may just be empty, a drivers permit, keys attached and a lanyard to hang out of my pocket and get caught on things

Right now (and 95% of the time) I have absolutely nothing in my pockets.

*Checks pockets* Ah let's see.... Tissues, Ipod, darning needle, headphones, shellls of seeds

My pockets: Android HTC Inspire, earphones, pen, $20 bill, and a LOT of lint.

This is what I usually have in my pockets, not what I have in them now. (Mostly because the pants I'm wearing don't have pockets. )

Backpack I usually carry when I need to take more stuff with me since I hate purses: Usually contains all of the above plus my laptop, one or two books, and some candy.

I have nothing in my pockets. My, purse, however, is another story. I think I've lost track of what all is in there. I usually carry my phone, billfold, a notebook of some sort, tons and tons of pens, oh and a couple of books. Other than that, *shrugs* who knows?

My pockets?

A 3 inch Gerber folding knife, my wallet, my ZuneHD and cell Phone (Before they were destroyed by the Atlantic, they were always there), and sometimes my pocket New Testament.

My wallet has my permit, military ID, debit card, a few dollars, a load of receipts, some phone numbers written down on apiece of paper for when my phone's screen went out, and many business cards, including Joel's Belz's card (founder of WORLD magazine).

What is it with you people and pocket knives?!

I can't get over how midwesterners call wallets billfolds...

Pocket knives for the win!!! Guys are required to have them, more or less. For girls, it's just an added bonus. xD

This is usually me. Sometimes I keep a tissue in my pocket and some scrap paper/wrappers.

Now, purses(and satchels), are another story.

Currently, in my messenger bag, I have:

A wallet (yes, I'm a midwesterner, no I don't call it a billfold.)
Cell phone
Klennex tissues
Medicine bag (hold ibuprofen and TUMS)
Reading glasses
Lanyard of keys
Transaction register booklet
Paint swatches
My tax refund money
A memo pad
A pocket calendar
Lip gloss and chapsticks
3 sticks of bubbles
Nail file
Pocket mirror
iPod Classic with earbuds
Pen, pencil, eraser stick, and highlighter
Deoderant
Hand Sanitizer (I can a cold recently)

My wallet contains my:

Driver's License
My old permit
My old school ID when I did a semester of wood shop in public school
Library card
Debit card
College ID card
Gift cards
Business cards from college and the chiropractor
Receipts I need to enter in my register
Coupons
Cash and loose change
An expired fishing license
A single band-aid

Usually I have a few pocket knives, a small thing of MACE my dad picked up at a police show, binoculars, and a book, but those are in my other purse currently. (I'm using a bigger bag with less pockets...) My dad calls my purse "The Survival Bag". It can get a little out of hand, but at least my shoulders get a work out!

~Calen

*high fives the fellow Ibuprofen fan*

If I had a purse, I'd have a giant bottle of the liqui-gel Ibuprofen capsules in there.

*high five back heartily* Oh yeauuuh!

I'm prone to getting headaches, so like a Boy Scout, I'm prepared for when they strike.

~Calen

Me too... and I'm not a natural-health nut like so many people here. Bless her heart, Noelle always scolds me for my love of artificial chemicals...

Right now I have nothing but lint in my pockets.

When I go to work I take a knife and wallet.

When I film I have lens caps, screwdriver, sd cards, and pencil, pen, and highlighter.

"What has he got in his pocketses? Tisn't fair, we doesn't know!"

*Cough* I rarely ever have anything in my pockets because it's uncomfortable...the only thing I put in them really are rubber bands (*cough* the hair kind) and my handses.

As for my purse... I'm not sure about that. Let me see....

Lotion
Chapstick
Sunglasses
Random amount of clothing money
Learner's permit
Pocket knife (it's more comfortable in my purse than in my pocket XD)
Random amount of change
Notepad
Glitter pen (o.O I don't know why it's a glittery one..that's just the pen that made it into my purse. )
And...I know I'm missing something, but currently I don't know what it is.

To be honest, I sort of wavered between calling it a billfold or a wallet. I didn't really know that it is a midwesterner thing, but it makes sense. My mom is from the midwest and she uses the word "billfold" while my dad is a southerner and carries a wallet. In any case, mine is huge and I don't like to carry it around, but it has my driver's license in it so I sort of have to .

Yeah, I'm from the south, and I always heard it called wallet. Then when I visited Noelle and Calista in Kansas, everybody was calling it a billfold...

I love to keep my permit with me so I can drive as much as possible.

Are you sure purses should be included? Coz mine hold an awful lot of odds and ends (I barely carry anything in my pockets, except for a menthol stick every now and then).

In my purse:
Mini notebook
Not-so-mini pencil case
Alcohol/Hand sanitizer
Wet ones
Tissue paper
Make-up (not that I use it, but because it might come in handy when our choir group is suddenly called to sing)
Po-chai pills (a Chinese medicine for the stomach)
Methol stick
Petroleum jelly
Extra hair ties
Powder

In my wallet:
Money (duh )
Currency from Cambodia (as a memorabilia, because my wallet is from Cambodia)
Calling cards from here, there, and everywhere
Pictures of some people
Food coupons
Mini sheets of paper

Cool Idril. Sounds like an interesting wallet.

'Tis a memorabilia from my very first mission exposure trip.

Nice.

I'm planning on adding a handheld GPS to the backpack.

That's cool!

...and I totally put that post in the wrong thread in the wrong board.

It was meant for the MacGyver one...

Currently...

SureFire E2L Outdoorsman
PocketToolX Piranha (Smoke)
Gerber Paraframe I/II (it would be an American-made Buck Vantage Force Select, but I have to send it back to the factory. This Chi-com knife shall soon be gone - forever. Oh, and my version of the knife is coated, and it's a bit older, and slightly different overall)
Victorinox Swiss Army Knife (similar to the Spartan model, exactly the same, in fact, excepts the small blade is a nail file/cleaner)
Small Altoids tin (knickknacks are therein)

I will be coming back to this topic in the future, and the list shall be much, much, much, much, much longer then.
God bless,
Joel ><>.

Ohhh, LOL!

There's nothing in pockets, never is. *despises things in her pockets*

Now, my bags are a different story, and stuff is a little transient between them. As of right now:

Purse:
Old bus tickets
A straw wrapper
Old piece of gum (in its wrapper)
Nearly-empty mint box
Nail file
Compact
Bandaids
Probably a bobby pin or two (*is working from memory*)

In my work backpack:
Two books
Clipboard with lots of paper inside
Pencil, erasable pen, eraser
Hand sanitizer
Lip balm
Cell phone
Instructor patch that I need to sew on my uniform
Keys
Wallet
iPod
Coin purse
Mini umbrella

Wallet:
Debit card
Plum points card
Black belt card
Two Starbucks cards, one empty, one new
Old receipts
More bus tickets, some used, some not

Music bag:
Music
Tuner and metronome
Flute stand
Lip balm
Pencils, pens, erasers
Sketchbook
Old cheque that needs to be torn up

*looks at everything scattered on the floor and sighs* Now to put it all away again....

I have nothing in my pockets.

In my purse I have:
A small Journal
Gum
Gum wrappers
Several colored pens
At least two hair ties, multiple bobby pins
Chapstick and lipgloss
Pocket mirror
A little cash
Drivers Permit
Small New Testament

In my backpack:
Everything in my purse/my purse
A book or two
A sketch book
Pencil bag with pencils and erasers
Water bottle
iPod
Ear phones

Pockets, nada.

*empties purse *

Well, there is my cell phone. My Palm Pre electronic organizer. Tissue packet. My wad of keys and key chains. 2 hair bands. 2 black hair clips. A pen (what writer goes anywhere without one?). Burt’s Bees chap stick. My pocket knife (Yes, I’m a girl and I carry one. My Daddy would never let me leave the house without one, even if it wasn’t already one of my pet peeves for girls to have one). My mini mag flashlight. Phone charger. MP3 player and headphones. Nausea gum. Oh, and an old grocery list that I need to throw away. *does so*

Oh yes, and my wallet. What’s in my wallet? License. Pictures of the special little ones in my life (and not so little 18 and 16 year olds). Hunter’s Safety License. Fishing license. MMV ID. 24 hour Fitness card. Voter Identification Card. Joann’s discount card. The business card of the Ronald McDonald House development coordinator and PR person (should probably pitch that since everyone’s numbers are in my phone). Top Gun Membership card. My Pet Perks Card. Debit card. And about 30 dollars, plus change, and an old receipt.

Wow. I didn’t know I had that much stuff. My purse is deceiving. It’s not huge, but it sure can carry a lot.

Apparently I carry my life with me when I go places. *shrugs *

So, if I was a character, what does all of that say about me?

In my pocketses?

Well right now, not much but I'm sick, so that doesn't count. Usually though I have these items on my person at all times:

Buck Vantage Paperstone or Gerber Paraframe II pocketknife, (sometimes with a small Gerber in my back pocket as well as a backup.

Leatherman Juice S2 multitool sometimes accompanied by a Victorinox classic SD.

Streamlight Microstream flashlight.

iPod Touch, cheap earbuds for work.

Keys, which contains all of the necessary keys, (car, house, gate) and the PocketToolX Brewzer all on a lanyard.

Wallet, which has ID, drivers licence, library card (which is also good for getting into accidentally locked doors) some cash, a debit card, various membership and business cards and usually some bandages, but I used all of those.

Last but not least, my cheap cell phone.

That's all folks!

I have pockets but they usually just have doggy bags in, and possibly my mobile phone, haha!

I have three handbags though, and they are always very full. My newest one is currently being filled. It has in it:

Keys
Work Keys
Police Pass
Purse
A hat
An empty packet of paracetamol
Two full sachets of Mayonnaise (I have no idea how they got there, as I despise mayo)
Ooh a two pound coin hiding in the bottom of the bag
A couple of napkins
Chewing Gum
Old Receipts
Lipstick
Library Card


In my purse:

Loads of change! No notes at the moment, just over ten pounds in change.
Receipts
Plastic Fork
Debit Card
Gift Voucher
Provisional Driving License
Blockbusters Card
Cafe Nero loyalty card
Old gym pass
Premiere Club Card for the Odeon
Some old train tickets
Some of my business cards

Currently, no pocketses at all. i'm wearing a skirt, but I usually keep money, a school ID, and hairties. I want to add a pocketknife to that...

Then there's the purse I use for special occasions in which my backpack cannot come with me. It has:

A home key (No car keys yet )
A noebook
Pen
Money
Identification card
Chapstick
Medical things (Band-aids, antibacterial stuff, etc.)
A little coin purse from the UK
Snacks (<-- Very important! )

In the ever-present backpack:
Chinese textbook
iPad
Earphones
Notebooks
Colored folders with assingments and such
Pencils
Random papers
Pens
Stylus
Water bottle
Bible (For Monday morning on-campus Bible study)
Student ID (When not in the purse)

That's it for now.

Pockets
Currently: a Tylenol, and a necklace with an arrow charm.
But usually:

Puzzlebox--USB device for stories, documents, etc.
(connected on a necklace chain to...)
Shadowbox--USB device for pictures, music, etc.
pocketknife
hair elastic
guitar pick
cell phone
lint

Purse (although I always refer to it as my bag, not my purse. XD :
a second pocketknife, with lots of extra tools including a flashlight
keys--well, more keychain than key...
pen made to look like Bilbo's Sting
second pen
small notebook
sunglasses
earbuds
chapstick

Also in my bag is a large wallet containing...
all sorts of the official cards I have to carry around
some gift cards (probably empty)
some receipts
a list of the quarters I've collected
two folded pieces of paper for writing on when I forget a notebook
business cards people have handed me
spare change
a few bills in cash
some allergy medicine and Tylenol and that sort of thing
more hair elastics
another guitar pick--for emergencies
bobby pins--kept for picking locks, not fixing hair. XD
a built-in calculator that only works when I don't need it

*whispers* I have nothing in any of my pockets half the time, except sometimes a knife... and I have no purse or wallet... XD

I never really keep anything in my pockets, and I don't have a purse or bag or anything, except what's in my backpack, which I don't take with me EVERYWHERE I go, just some places.

Only thing I keep consistently in my pocket is a magnet. One of those ones that's supposed to help with uh...energy coming from technology stuffs. Not sure exactly what it is. But. I'm supposed to wear that, so yeah. Otherwise m pockets would all be empty. XD

I have dark in my pockets.
(If Gollum had thought of that Bilbo would have inevitably lost.)

I also put my hands in my pockets if it is cold, but never farther than the knuckles, so my hands would not be trapped in my pockets if I tripped. Sometimes when it is warm I will put my thumbs in my pockets.

Sometimes I will carry something from one place to another, like yesterday I found an eraser outside and put it in my pocket until I went inside and asked whose it was. Otherwise there is nothing in my pockets.

I wear a pouch when I leave the house. In my pouch I have a:
Bible,
notepad and pen,
tract in Gaelic,
printed picture of a Roman shield *smirks *,
a folded ziploc bag with my passport, immigration card, and a couple business cards;
a thing with "Six Proofs that I am a Christian" *reads and tosses because it is wrong *;

in another pocket:
fifty or more coins I have picked up while shopping,
tiny LED flashligt,
pieces of another tiny, LED flashlight *reassembles, but the battery appears to be dying anyway *,
two rechargeable batteries (for my camera),
a very small multitool in bad repair;

in another pocket:
a small ziploc bag with some paper money. *replaces the ziploc, since it was torn *

When I leave the house I usually drop my "fob" watch in one of my pouch pockets. It used to be a wristwatch, but the plastic band broke off. *dislikes plastic bands *

I like my pouch because its shape reminds me of a Civil War era hat.

On the pouch belt I also carry my camera with spare SD cards and two more rechargeable batteries.

I also sometimes carry my MP3 player, though not in a pocket or bag. I clip it to the back of my shirt collar when I am walking to keep the cord from catching on so many things.
When I take it in the car I clip it to the shoulder strap of my seatbelt and put one earphone in my ear and the other in Nathaniel's ear and we listen to Librivox books.
We have listened to scores of the old classics and books by classic authors that way.
Currently on The Brushwood Boy by Rudyard Kipling. I love it.

I like your pockets and pouches right now.

I ditto Calista. Especially Tsahraf's "fob"... Never heard of that before. And your magnet, List. It sounds awesome.

List? Ooh, a new name...