SO WHAT CAN'T YOU GET OUT OF YOUR MIND?

SONGS, THE PAST, WAR, ARGUMENTS I COULD HAVE MADE BACK THEN, A DO-OVER.

At least that's my list. Today it's a song our youngest granddaughter loves, "The Elmo Song". So I'll be do-do-do-do-ing for the rest of the morning. While we shop for something called Elmo's Fingers, I'm sure it will come back and last until early afternoon.

I'm always seeing something that takes me back to the past. When I read on computer and saw a picture of Vernois (nee) Changnon Gym in MTV, I reflected on my time there as announcer. When I just looked closely at the picture, I thought of an eighth grade friend named John Leigh.

Since I was not war-tested, unless you count high school teaching, I don't have that to stay in my head though I may still be the only teacher in the state shot while he was on the picket line. Thankfully, my shooter chose a high powered Chinese air rifle rather than a rifle with more kick which the same lunatic fired at a farmer on a tractor in his field, wounding but not killing him. So I guess I do have a war or battle story.

I'll combine the last two because there are so many instances of arguments I could have made and do-overs that I wish I could that they would be too numerous to mention. But we all have them. Sharing mine would simply make me even more transparent and really serve no purpose. Other than (you knew I couldn't resist) giving someone a hand up is better than a handout and some things you just have to learn the hard way. Or just as the long time poster that hung in the back of my classroom said, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."

Remember that piece of advice, and then go out there with a clear head.