"30 days hath September, April, June, and the speed offender...."

For some reason, I couldn't remember the standard mnemonic poem for which months are long and which are short until I was nearly 12. Fortunately, I learned an equally effective--dare I say "handy?"--way of figuring out which months were short and which were long: knuckle-tapping.

Start by tapping the knuckle of your index finger. That's for January (a long month), then the tap the valley between the first and second knuckles, which is for February (a short month), then the middle-finger's knuckle for March (long month), and so it goes until you get to the knuckle for the little finger for July (long month). Then, you move back up and start again with the index finger's knuckle for August (long month), and repeat the process, ending up on the knuckle for the ring finger (a second time) for December.

I learned that watching the Mickey Mouse Club. It was one of the little pieces of advice that Jimmy gave right at the end of the show. I thought it was really cool and I still do.

"30 days hath September, April, June, and the speed offender...."