Liz: So, Sharon brought some objects that she will discuss. Whenever you're ready.

Sharon: Sharon brought her troll collection. 

Liz: [Laughing] Wow!

Sharon: The first troll is my pilgrim girl troll that is for Thanksgiving, and this troll has significance on a number of levels. I got the troll when, many years ago, right after elections, about this time of year, I went to an ACLU conference on…I can't remember the topic…probably legislative policy or something out in California. One of my sisters who was living in California at the time didn't live too far away, so she drove up and spent, I believe a night or two. And when she showed up to see me at the conference, she brought the little pilgrim girl troll, who is dressed very appropriately in a little pilgrim outfit and it's just perfect. So, this has significance because I was doing what I love as far as being engaged politically and working for women's reproductive health. I also got to see a sister who cared enough to get a special little treat for me. So that's the pilgrim girl troll and she will be showing up on our dining room table next week for Thanksgiving. She comes out once a year. They get kept in a place that is pretty obvious to me, but my partner who hates trolls hasn't quite figured out where they are, or they might not still be with us.

Now my second troll is… [searching through her bag for the troll]...Oh, not that one…Is the little Easter bunny pin troll. And the little Easter bunny pin troll has Easter hair, little Easter bunny ears, and it's tiny and it has a little clasp pin on the back. So this one has significance on a couple of levels. It also came from the same sister who, at one point I said, you know, I don't go out looking for trolls and she said, you inspire trolls. So, I got this little troll and the best thing about this troll is that the color scheme in the troll, which is sort of aqua and pink and yellow, is exactly the same color as a set of place mats and napkins I have, which just by coincidence happen to have been gifts from this same sister many years ago. They're a little worn out, but I keep them mainly because on Easter morning, I go out before Jerry is up and I pin the little Easter troll pin to his place mat, and I put the napkin on top of it so it's hidden, and then I wait for it, wait for it. He's eating, he picks up his napkin and he shrieks. So this has significance because again, it was a gift from a sister who took the time to give it to me, and it has provided countless hours of harmless, good family fun and pranks at our humble abode.

The next troll, this one doesn't have a name. It could perhaps be called a cabaret dancer. I don't know. It's a little troll with little sequined pants on. And this troll I got about, I think two or three years ago at Freedom Has a Birthday. I was working at a pro-choice table and talking to people that came by. And a father came by with his young son, and the little boy had several of these little trolls that he had gotten in, I assume at another table, I don't know where. My guess would be an L-G-B-T-Q table, but who knows? And I made such a fuss about the trolls that the dad made the little boy give me a troll. I think the little boy got a Jolly Rancher candy in exchange, so I definitely got the better end of the stick on this one. So, this little troll doesn't do anything in particular, but again, it has significance 'cause I got it in conjunction with, um, it was like my reward for doing political and women's advocacy work. I did send the sister who was responsible for the first two trolls, a photo of this, and my sister said she's perfect, which I believe is an apt description for this little troll which doesn't have a name.

Now, the next troll is probably the only one that I bought for myself, and it's the little surfer troll. And this is a little surfer, wearing little surfing trunks on a surfboard. I go to Hawai’i almost every year, I try to go every year. And many years ago, I spotted this. Occasionally when I'm in Hawai’i, I decide I deserve a souvenir or something for myself to bring home. So, I spotted this surfer troll in a little store in a little kind of mall area near the hotel and decided it had to become part of the collection. So, the little surfer troll comes out usually about a week before I go to Hawai’i. It sits on the kitchen table for a while to make us get in the mood for paradise and then before we leave, he goes back to the troll hiding place. So, um, those are the main trolls. I have two more in here, but one of them I will bring out and the other one I don't know if I need to.

The last one, perhaps, is the Christmas troll, and this is a little troll wearing an elf hat and a little Christmas outfit and the red and green motif, and he's holding a little sign that says, “all I want for Christmas is a winning lottery ticket.” But I have also determined that the same little hands that hold the lottery ticket sign can hold a protest sign. So, I made a little “unfair” sign. It consists of a toothpick and a couple of little labels printed with “unfair.” And so, if there's something going on, good or bad in your life, maybe you're playing a game of cards with somebody and you're losing. Maybe you've had, um, an experience at the university that you had to run across somebody on Prexy’s Pasture that you thought ruined your day, you can just get out this little Christmas troll anytime a year if you want it to be a protest troll and it can display it’s “unfair” sign.

So those are the main trolls. I do have one other troll, but I don't know if we need to go into that much detail. I believe the idea was I would bring one object, um, that meant something to me. But instead we already have five trolls out, so there you have it!

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.