Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Um...wait a minute, I'll get it (maybe)!

The thought that's uppermost in (what's left of) my mind lately:  is it possible to reach a point in your life when you've learned so many things, memorized so much information, seen and heard and read such an enormous amount of "stuff"...that your brain can fill up?  In other words, any new fact that needs a "filing space" in my head seems to kick out something else that I once knew, leaving me standing there, staring into space, waving my hands around (as if that helps me think better), going, "I KNOW this, it's right there, starts with a "c"...oh, nevermind, I'll just Google it!

The first time this happened, I was trying to tell a group of co-workers about a yummy Asian restaurant my family loves.  I can see its location in Columbia.  I can give detailed instructions on how to get there.  I. Can. Not. Say. The. Name.  (And we're all Sign Language Interpreters, so there was a LOT of hand-waving.  Didn't help at all.)  The second time, I was trying to think of the former lead singer of INXS (yes, the one who committed suicide. Don't ask me why I wanted to know, because I can't Google that.) I even got so far as to remember what his first name started with.  Then I stalled.  (My husband was apparently unmoved by my torment: "Well, he has been dead for 10 years," he said skeptically, as if this should explain and excuse my forgetfulness. Totally not the point!  I used to know it.  Now I don't.  Jeesh, he just does not seem concerned enough about my declining mental acuity...although I can still use the word "acuity" correctly, so that's something.  Where was I?)  Oh, yeah: finally, I was describing to a friend what my husband does at work, including the job titles of some of the interesting specialists he collaborates with.  For some reason, I could not come up with the word "pharmako-kineticist".  I mean, can you imagine?  How embarrassing is THAT?  (Okay, maybe I can be forgiven for the last one.  But it irritated me anyway!)

My point is (to the best of my recollection): I'm too young for what they call "Senior Moments". So if anyone has a method for "cleaning house", in which I can clear out some useless fluff from up there (the Penn State quarterback's name,  the formula for cotangent, the number of wins Cy Young racked up in his lifetime--these are just a FEW of the random bits of data I don't need...or can Google) to make room for what's really necessary, I would appreciate it.  But please, don't tell me, be sure you write it down!

3 comments:

Jeanne said...

Pei Wei?

Michael Hutchence (and I didn't have to google it! :p)

But there are things I know I know, right up until someone asks the the question. Then my brain, well, farts it right out of my head. :p

Jeanne said...

Oh, and I can NEVER remember what Royce does. He's my Chandler. :p

By the way, what the crap is a pharmaco-kineticist anyway??? Never mind, I'll google it. :p

Sandy Presgraves said...

I can totally relate! I have subscribed to this theory for a long time -- my brain just cannot fit any more info and I cannot pull the stored info out of its filing place. I was thinking I need to reformat my brain hard drive. Thanks for putting my theory into a blog. When you come up with a reformat solution, let me know:)