My excavation of my past continues in this virtual display culled from a box full of artifacts collected during my middle school years.

Exhibit E: Merit badges from my years as a Boy Scout. I think I was more interested in collecting the badges based on how cool they looked moreso that what they represented. Hence, the awesome snake head for my first, the “Rattlesnake Milking” merit badge. I also see a variety of other favorites such as: “FBI Skills”, “Lyre-playing” and “Electrical Tower Ascension”…oh yeah, and “Art”.

PS - I came close to becoming an Eagle Scout, but lost interest and moved onto other hobbies. Nonetheless, I’ll always have the fondest of memories from my years as a scout.

Exhibit F: I really did see Picasso in Miami. My middle-school art teacher, Tom Prestopnik (aka Mr. P), took a busload of kids. I don’t remember much of the exhibit except someone in our class grabbing one of Picasso’s original sculptures on display so that he could examine it closer. Mr. P had to talk very calmly to him as he instructed him to put it back. You know, its like the way someone speaks to their indoor cat when it runs out the front door and freezes, just seconds from bolting, in the front yard.

Exhibit G: One of my favorite Christmas prezzies from this time was a View-Master projector that Santa had gotten for us DiTerlizzi kids. The reels that came with it were all of The Muppet Show, the best variety show in the universe. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that I could trace the projected images onto a piece of paper taped to the wall, where I would then meticulously color each one in watercolors…and I wonder where my stamina for my book projects comes from…

Next time: High School Junk!

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