Ok, I was goaded into enhancing my meme (so much for being a brown-nose, 'one of the first to reply' goody two shoes.) I was the memette of Maureen Francis and I'll start off with my first five responses:

1. At age 11,  I was the Secretary of the Vic Davalillo Fan Club. #25, center field, Cleveland Indians lol. I still remember his birth date (July 31st). I was in charge that year of baking the cake; which I had never done; and I folded in the first third of the flour and forgot the last 2/3.  It came out the height of a cookie sheet. Luckily my mother made one quickly lolol. He and his wife, Luisa, came out from the dugout during the 7th inning to accept the cake. Used to attend as many Saturday baseball games as possible; it was 50cents on Saturdays. Such a deal! (Kudos to Jay Thompson for finding this pic of Vic. Which I also own! :-)

2. I played the violin.  Bach was my best friend, he made me sound good; the problem was, I was obsessed with  Beethoven, so after a few years I tried my hand at Beethoven pieces. MUCH more difficult than Bach. I had perfect pitch so I hated how I sounded : -)  It's possible it's the Beatles fault that I stopped practicing a lot too. I finally donated my violin to a music school a few years ago.

3. Took my first trip to England after High School; we did a summer program at Durham University. It was like dying and going to heaven. I won a debate (the total subject escapes me it was uh, a few years ago), but it was something about Parliamentary Government versus our own Three Branches. I lucked out and was chosen to represent the Brit side; my prize was a glass bottomed pewter mug and a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale. The best part was taking a Field Study Architectural class which put us on a double decker tour bus to wonderful abbey and building and cathedral ruins. For a long time I could still look at a building and tell you when it was built and when additions were made.

4. I attended the first Farm Aid Concert in 1985 in Springfield Illinois. A friend had back stage passes which I 'borrowed ' for a few hours until they caught me. I was up on stage when Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson sat in front of me talking to each other like old friends. Now, these are two of my favorites, and I couldn't get up the nerve to talk to them, even when they smiled at me (well, Dylan ALMOST smiled, you know how he is). Well what was I going to say? Hi, you guys are awesome? Like they never heard THAT before. I was seated right next to the amps, which wasn't a problem until Van Halen came on.  Can you spell L-O-U-D

5. Not sure I have completely given up this dream yet, but always wanted to own a baseball team; it just sounds like so much fun. A minor league team would be perfect too. And now that I think about it, if 'W' could do it, why not me?

I memed Monika McGillicuddy, Damion Flynn, Michele Connor, Brian Brady and Jason Price

Added Tidbits -

6. I've been deaf in my left ear since I was a kid. I can still hear bass sounds out of that ear which is great for blasting rock music lol. Now it's good for working in the office and not listening to other conversations.

7. I am a great secret keeper. I know things about people that will go to my Ceramic Urn.

8. Besides Ohio, I have lived in Boston Massachusetts, St. Louis Missouri, Greenbelt and Rockville Maryland. What I love about that fact is the 'sociology' you learn of the people in each place. Real Estate is local, well, so are our cultural norms. St. Louis had the friendliest people. I worked as a reporter for a legal paper. I got my work done every day but mostly we went out in groups to eat lunch and/or play tennis as much as possible. I love Cleveland, but part of my heart is still in Maryland.

9. OK, back to Boston: I don't know if it is like this now, but in the 70s, driving there was like Vigilante Force. I learned how to fit right in. Someone parked me in at a parking garage? I'd leave 'unpleasant' messages in lipstick on the  windshield. Or maybe we'd let air out of a tire. No joke.  You could be sitting at a red light and the car behind you would be upset that you were waiting for the light to change, they'd get out of the car and jump on yours until you went through the light. This was usually done by peeps with shotguns and flags in the back of their trucks; but not always. One time too many I had been blocked in at school (sometimes drove my bf's mustard colored Pinto) and I found a knocked down 'no parking' sign that was begging to be used as a club. It was not my best moment! But it did cure me from participating in that kind of behavior after that. Tell me it's different there now!  I really did love Boston, in spite of the driving craziness. Still on Boston for:

10.  While in undergraduate school at Northeastern University, I had a weekend job at the New England Baptist Hospital in the Nursing Services Office. So I was able to get a room at the nurses dorm; $25/week. And free food at the cafeteria! I had it made. I was there when schools were desegregated, and there were two young African American kids (maybe about ten yrs old) who would walk me from my dorm down to the bottom of the hill so I could catch the MTA. They were with me so no one threw stones at either of us - I always cherish the memory of us being able to connect in our diversity during such a violent time - these kids would bring me a flower almost every day; and I would bring them a cookie; and it brings me to the heart of #10, my most passionate interest which is bringing down racial barriers.

It was fun to read the memes and get to know people better!  Now Monika, Jay and Angus, I hope this doesn't put you to sleep, but you were the ones who made me do it     Peace Out - 3C