Seven Facts About Kid Splotchy

Freida Bee recently tapped me to provide seven facts about myself.

I think I did this one a while back, so I'll put a spin on it, and give you seven facts from my childhood.

1. I have collected things all my life. The first thing I ever collected was scraps of metal I would find on the street. I actually found some pretty neat things. I imagine I still have them stored in an old bank check box somewhere.


2. My favorite color was pink, before I learned it was a girlie color.


3. I was a big Gilligan's Isle junky.


4. I had horrible Saturday morning cartoons in my hometown of Springfield, Illinois. I get a twinge of envy whenever someone who grew up in the Chicago area mentions all the great kids' shows they had available to them.


5. I really enjoyed playing tackle football with my friends. I was nicknamed "Csonk", after Miami Dolphins running back Larry Csonka.


6. A defining awful moment of my youth - there was a couple who lived in a house in my neighborhood. The man who lived in the house had Down's Syndrome. I remember seeing several kids taunt him, screaming terrible things. I don't think I did anything at all. I just stood there, though I felt I should have said or done something, anything. I always carry that memory with me in the back of my mind. I don't know how the experience has affected my subsequent behavior or attitude in a particular way, but it definitely did something to me. That memory is somehow a part of me (though I suppose *all* memories are a part of us).


7. A defining wonderful moment of my youth - One summer I did some sort of extracurricular type of thing in the summer. I remember I didn't get to do what I had originally asked for. I ended up taking a photography course. It was the first time I was in a group of individuals whose mission was to do something creative. It made me really happy, and I loved doing the photographic assignments. Each one was a little adventure.