Day 18b: I'm gonna finish this "100 things about me" today!!

85:  My favorite class in college was Medieval Latin. I especially liked how they wrote it: lots of ellisions & abbreviations.  In many ways, it's like what we use now:  OMG, LOL, WTF  (well, not THAT, but you get the drift....)

86:  Writing it by hand is also what I liked best about my first class in Hebrew.  It's like DRAWING!

87:  Arabic is the same, but I had only one class in that--at the Textile Museum in DC.  Lida and I went to an open house for kids, and they gave everyone materials to copy Arabic letters.

88:  When I was a kid, we ALWAYS sat through a movie twice!

89:  That included two showings of the news reels and cartoons, too.

90:  My friend Joanie's dad used to take us along sometimes when he visited this one farm as a grain buyer.  We'd climb up into the hayloft and search for pigeon skulls while he talked with the farmer.

91:  I liked to read Black Elk Speaks and Heidi to my kids as a break from Dr. Seuss.

92:  Jello was a real treat in our house--like at Christmas or Thanksgiving.  My mom mixed orange and lemon jello with grated carrots and pineapple.

93:  When I was about 3 or 4, I knew I had a bunch of older brothers, but I didn't know who they were.  They were never around when I was awake.  They worked before AND after school and were not home yet when I went to bed after supper.

94:  After World War II, we used to get Army surplus canned fruit at the Catholic school.  I think the sisters got it for the orphanage, which they also ran, but we pupils got some, too.  The sisters would bring this big tin can of pineapple around, and if we had remembered to bring a cup and spoon from home, we could have a soup ladle full of canned pineapple.   

95:  In the 8th grade, we'd get to go a few blocks down to the radio station WDAY after we gobbled our sandwiches from home.  The "Co-op Shoppers" was on every M-F at noon, and our classmate Faith Butts's dad was the leader.  The Co-op Shoppers were a country combo who played Scandinavian tunes on their fiddles and accordions.

96:  The theme song went something like this:

If you want to co-operate with your neighbor,
Spare your pockets for cash once more, lighten your labor,
Shop at the co-op for all that you need.
The co-op is yours, you can make it succeed.
So if you want to co-operate, really co-operate,
Shop Farmer's Union Co-op!

97:  WDAY's studio was about halfway between the Great Northern railroad tracks and St. Mary's Cathedral.  When it was above freezing (June-August), a man named Gus had a popcorn stand next
to the tracks.  On the other side of downtown, the Northern Pacific tracks also cut across Broadway, the main street of Fargo. There was a popcorn stand there, too, but I don't know who ran it.  They both kept melted butter in a big enamel coffee pot, and every bag of popcorn got a generous drizzle of butter.

98:  Some of my classmates who lived near the train station took empty buckets after school and collected coal that had fallen along the tracks.  They took it home and used it to help heat their houses.

99:  One of my prized possessions in 5th grade was an army surplus gas mask bag--not too dissimilar from the canvas backpacks/book bags kids haul around now.  It was olive drab and smelled brand new when I got it.

100:  I lost my hearing when I was 26.  I thank God for the excellent education I had up to that point. 
  It saved my bacon!

Amen!!