Doing research for characters is fun and sometimes requires a tremendous amount of time. Everyone in your life is a character of sorts, and some more than others. Asking the right questions can open up some amazing conversations.

I once met a man who told me he invented the pop top for soda and beer cans and he told me he earned one penny for every 6-pack sold. Now I don''t know if he was pulling my leg, but the character who told me that story is one I will never forget. I also met the man who invented the process you see when you watch football on TV when the screen flips up with a stat and then seems to move away from the screen flipping and turning until it disappears. Him, I believed.

People are stories waiting to be discovered... all you have to do is ask, or in this case... just remember. I challenge every writer to review and list the simple things from their past that left a lasting impression on them in one way or another. Better yet, ask your parents or grandparents before it is too late. At your next family get-together seek out that quiet uncle and see what the conversation will bring. I asked my father to tell me about every job he did and the results were amazing. I also asked him about every car he owned and that led to some incredible stories.

The point is that the past is there for everybody to discover... you just have to ask. In doing research for the background of some characters in an upcoming book, I sat down and flashed back to my childhood and took note of my own experiences and growing up with the influences that shaped my life. As I looked at the list, I started to see things that almost rhymed and then I thought... Oh what the hell, have some fun and and try to make a poem out of it. So here is my attempt to kill two birds with one stone. It may bring back some memories if you''re old enough to remember.

I remember Howdy Doody, and Captain Kangaroo,

Clarabell, Mr. Green Jeans, and Bunny Rabbit too

always loved Popeye, Olive Oil and SweatPea, 

Cow cartoons with funny mice, and Mr. Bugs Bunny,

Black and white cartoons when no one ever talked,

Ruff and Ready, Heckle and Jeckle and their funny walk

Three Stooges, Andy Devine, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Trigger, Sky King & Penny, the Songbird, good heavens,

Yogi Bear and Booboo bear, and Mr. Ranger Sir,

Johnny Quest, Tweetie Bird and action Speed Racer,

Felix the Cat, Pepe Le Pu, Peabody and Sherman

Saturday cartoons, a Munster whose name was Herman

Abbott and Costello with Stinky on the stoop,

Mike the cop, Mr. Fields and Mr. Bacciagalupe

Untouchables with Elliot Ness machine guns shooting hell

Lassie helped Timmie out when he fell down the well

Road Runner Meep Meep, and Huckleberry Hound

Wylie Coyote and that ACME anvil sound

Tasmanian Devil, and Fog Horn Leghorn tricks

Ma and Pa Kettle a family from the sticks

Love That Bob, Our Miss Brooks, George Burns & Gracie too

Dick Van Dyke and Laura Petrie, Car 54 Where Are You

Sergeant Carter, Gomer Pyle, Duke and the platoon

Million Dollar Movie all day Saturday from noon.

Always watched Superman with the Chief and Lois Lane

The Green Hornet and Kato, Bruce Lee before his fame

Mickey Mouse Club, Spin and Marty, Dolenz Circus Boy

Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, remember Real McCoys?

Lone Ranger and Tonto, and Casper who said Boo

Mighty Mouse, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey too

Laurel and Hardy movie shorts, and watching Jack Lalane

McHale''s Navy, Ensign Parker drove Binghamton insane

Rocky and Bullwinkle, they lived in Frostbite Falls

The Dead End Kids in trouble, the funniest Huntz Hall

Boris and Natasha they were always plotting away

Petticoat Junction with Uncle Joe, Gomer who said HEY.

Ed Sullivan had everybody who could sing or dance

Saturday Night Live, The coneheads were from France

Arnold the pig on Green Acres always stole the show

Eb and Mr Ziffel, and Haney''s truck so slow

Taxi was outrageous with Louie and Reverend Jim

The Munsters, Addams Family, and My Favorite Martian

Zorro, Flintstones, Jetsons with Spacely Sprockets

A sidekick Buddy Ebson in a show called Davey Crocket

Mr. Ed, Dukes Of Hazzard, The Flip Wilson show

American Bandstand played the music we all know

Leave it to Beaver with Wally and the Beev

Ozzie and Harriet''s Ricky Nelson singing on TV

The Man From UNCLE, Illya Kuryakin and don''t forget I Spy

Get Smart''s cone of silence, shoe phones and Agent 99

Mayberry''s mild sheriff, Opie and Aunt Bee

Goober at the station, and Otis had the key

Magnum PI, Hawaii Five O we waited for Book em Dano

Before Jack Paar, Steve Allen, and Liberace on piano

Frankenstein, Godzilla, the Wolfman and King Kong

Rodan, Mothra, Dracula and Mighty Joe Young

My Three Sons with the saxophone music

Chip and Ernie made Uncle Charlie lose it

Hogan''s Hero''s with Klink was something

Newkirk, LaBeau and Schultz, I see nothing

Rockford Files, Mannix, Columbo, Peter Gunn

F-Troop, Outer Limits and scary Twilight Zone

The creature from the Blue Lagoon and Invisible man

Sherlock Holmes with Rathbone and Detective Charlie Chan

And now it''s on to other things, I remember jiffy pop,

creamcicles, Good Humor ice cream man, TV dinners,

cracker jacks, cotton candy and red hots,

one color M&M''s, papersheets of candy colored dots

jaw breakers and jujubees and Tang and Ovaltine

candy cigarettes, Kool aid and egg creams

Blackjack and Clove and Bazooka chewing gum

fireballs and sugar straws and Penny candy fun

NeHi flavored soda and favorite Nestles Quick

gumballs, wax candy and liquorish twisty sticks

comic book sea-monkeys really sea horse pets

speaking in Pig Latin, and the New York Mets

Silly putty, simple kites, and Erector sets

hula hoops and slinky and the Etch-a-sketch

Duncan yo-yo''s, Chatty Kathy, marbles and jacks

hopscotch sidewalk fun, don''t step on any cracks

The Game Of Life, Parcheesi, simple blocks of wood

assembling your own bicycle, directions were no good

Easy-Bake ovens, and your army men were green

Superball, Mr. Potato Head and robot Mr. Machine

Monopoly, Chutes and ladders, and also Tinkertoys

The Fort Apache Play Set and Lincoln Logs for boys

Candy Land, stickball, skateboards if you''re able

glass bottles for your soda pop, jukebox on your table

skates with metal wheels and jumping jacks in Gym,

windshield cleaned and tires checked at your gas station

wooden soda crates, x-ray glasses for your eyes

Washtub wringers, peashooters, and records 45''s

Hi-Fi''s, sting ray bicycles with banana seats

Cork pop guns and Drive ins, Keds for your feet

Fuller Brush Man, Green Stamps, metal ice cube trays

cigar boxes with pennies saved for a rainy day

Reel-To-Reel tape recorders, and shouts of tag you''re it

5 cent packs of baseball cards, how far can you spit

Studebakers, Edsels, and cars with rumble seats

15 cent McDonald''s and shouts of Where''s The Beef?

eeny-meeny-miney-moe, Baseball cards in spokes

Stay up late for Johnny Carson just to hear his jokes

Oly-oly-oxen-free, three channels on TV

mini-bike at age 12, my Red Wagon at age 3

Station wagons, Groucho Marx on You Bet Your Life

coonskin hats, decoder rings, shiny Boy Scout Knife

Concentration with Hugh Downs, also Queen for A Day

Flipping cards and jumping rope, these were things to play

Everyone''s Mom was at home when you got home from school

Fights were settled by foot races, there lived a golden rule

Mr. Clean, Do Overs, free glasses in Detergent

Caps and Sparklers on the 4th, catching lightning bugs was urgent.

Now I think I have to stop, I could go on all day

Remembering the olden times while hair is turning gray

hope this brought back memories, it was really nifty

but I think you would have to be born around 1950.