Twenty years ago this weekend I was involved in something called “Drug Quiz Show,” a Jeopardy!­-like event for middle school students to display their knowledge of various illegal substances. I’ve thought about that experience a lot, actually, one because one of my teammates from that day is no longer with us, and two, by how ridiculous trying to memorize facts about marijuana and PCP would be in 2014. The Internet has literally thousands of times more information at the click of a mouse or touch of a phone, to say nothing of the casual knowledge held by today’s teen. And marijuana? Seriously? It’s accepted to the point of being quasi-legal in much of the country today, an arrangement unthinkable in the “just say no” culture in which I grew up just a few years ago. Well, maybe a decade or two.

Speaking of decades, tonight marks another anniversary of sorts. I’ve been doing this one for three decades now. With tomorrow being the Feast of St. Nicholas (ol’ St. Nick died on this day in the year 343), tonight’s the night one is supposed to leave out his or her shoes to be filled by a generous benefactor. For the first time in 30 years I’m on the other side of this one, having now a child of my own. (He has no idea who St. Nicholas is or what shoes are either, but the sentiment is there and the tradition has begun.)

These childhood recollections of mine are no doubt excluding important items from entering my memory, but I like them more than the usefulness of any facts I might encounter.