NaBloPoMo "A"

A is for Alphabet



There were a few lessons in school that I learned better than others. Second only to "Never get involved in a land war in Asia" was how to recite the alphabet backward.

It was in 4th grade (interestingly, the grade MJ was in when our kids decided they had had enough school). My teacher was Mr. Hassenstab. He was my first male teacher, and, while I liked him well enough and was fascinated that he was "Dad" to my friend Mary Jo, I spent most of the year wishing he were female. I was in need of nurturing, I suppose, and Mr. H. tended toward the businesslike.

Anyway, this was back in the time when elementary-school students were allowed to have fun occasionally, and Mr. H. encouraged us to learn our backward ABCs. I loved doing this, and it's a parlor trick skill that has never left me. You want me to memorize something and rattle it back to you? Awesome! I'm your girl.

I also triumphed over the multiplication tables in 4th grade.

But it wasn't until middle school that I memorized the helping verbs. I can still do those, too. Ready? Here you go:

is am are was
were be being been
have has had
do does did
shall will should would
may might must can could

Voilà.

Z to A, 12x12, and the helping verbs. Those and a little Spanish might be the only things I really remember from school.

Which brings me to the real point of this blog post.

The theme for National Blog Posting Month this month is "Letters." Since 26 letters will not do for a month that has 30 days (even when I skip one day due to stomach flu), I plan to incorporate a few extras from the Spanish alphabet. That should be fun, since I don't know the ASCII codes for those letters, but I'll figure them out in time, fear not.

Welcome to NaBloPoMo, folks!