I remember, when I was a kid, watching my mother jam herself into her girdle - a piece of equipment so rigid it could stand up on its own - and I remember her coming home from fancy parties and racing upstairs to extricate herself from its cruel iron grip.

I remember watching Eddie Murphy's stand-up act when I was little, and just being mesmerized.

I remember these when I was a kid.

I remember thinking that a girdle was barbaric, and that never in a million years would I treat myself like a sleeping bag being shoved into a stuff sack. Never! Instead, I would run marathons and work out and be in perfect shape and reject the tyranny of the girdle forever.

My mother used to go out on her own, and I used to have to keep a look out for my stepfather coming home.

We're coming along. I remember the days when we would go to P-O, get off the bus and be getting right back on the bus. Our goal is to compete with the other teams in the county and we're getting to that point.