Memories light the corners of my mind

Dear mouse,

This is not about the song popularized by Barbara Streisand and adapted by Rico Puno with that infamous line...namamasyal pa sa Luneta ng walang peraaaaaaaa. That reminds me of my friend mimicking the singer.

This is a sequel to my blog yesterday about being absentminded.

And as I promised, I am going to give you tips on how to enhance your memory especially that part which you are losing because of certain factors. Age is one of them. Haaa hindi ko sinabing ulyanin ha. Makakalimutin.

O kaya SKAS. Si Kalimot AKO SYNDROME.

One such culprit that contributes to memory loss is the multi-tasking.

Sa mga matatanda, ito yong habang naliligo ka nga labhan mo tuloy yong mga pamunas...habang nagluluto ka nga, pakikisulsi yong pantalon.

I did that last Sunday. While watching The Buzz, I fixed the hemlines of my newly- bought-slacks...can't resist...sale kasi.... And at the same time, I boiled some potatoes.

Kumustahin ninyo ang nangyari. Ano kanyo ? Alin? Anong tinatanong ninyo. hakhakhak.

I got a toasted potato, a pair of pants with uneven hemlines, so uneven that you think one leg of mine shrunk.Not even my high cut boots could hide the irreperable damage. Tipid kasi magpaalter sa tailor. At least napanood ko ang The Buzz and I was able to remember how many times Rica Paraleja started her responses with Acshually...

A neuropsychologist suggested mnemonics to try remembering things especially in your to do list. This is the practise of forming a word using the first letter of each item.

Like, Garbage, laundry, Appointment, Dentist for your important sked the whole week that you do not want to forget or you will not be GLAD in case you miss one.

I am for it but sometimes, you can't remember what is the item that a letter stands for especially if you have a kilometric list.

Some people use ASSOCIATION like a a fly for garbage, water for laundry...etc.

But then it requires more memory bytes from your brain since there are more things to remember, the stuff itself and the associated word for it. It works well for a few items but never for more than ten items. If it will, it takes a while like fly for the garbage.... what if you cannot see one. O kaya this scenario, i know I have to remember something if I see a fly. I just can't remember.

This is the reason why information stored in the computer are called bytes or small pieces because just like our brain it can remember in small groups or items. This is what is termed by Dr. Francis Pirozzolo, a neuropychologist as chunking.

Grouping the fifty states into subgroups and applying mnemonics would be easier to remember them, like CATS, for California, Alabama,Texas and South Carolina; DOG, for Delaware,Ohio and Georgia...etc.

But this exercise requires basic information such as the names of the fifty states.

Me, I have a unique way of remembering groups of things, abstract and otherwise.

I start with a basic thing that I can associate that if I try to remember it, it would like be a chain, like a door for instance.

When I see a door, I should remember, my keys, lights, eyeglasses, or whatever things I do not want to forget bringing with me before I leave the house. So you say, it's the same, it still association. Yes, it is but I go more than that.

Like I try to imagine a picture. Weird. A door with eyesglasses,running after me dangling the keys while opening an umbrella.

O kaya when I go to the groceries, I think of a awimming pool where the eggplant is jumping from the board, joining the ampalaya and the rest of the vegetables.

A word of caution, if you fail to remember the veggie that jumps, do not ask the sales associate if a cabbage is a swimmer.

However there are things that you should not defer doing once you set your mind in it or you forget.

Yesterday, I saw the manager in my former workplace in the train. He approached me and kissed my cheek. Kabaro ko siya mga ateng. We share some beauty secrets, you know.

While implanting that kiss, he unceremoniously yanked the protruding price tag and label in my new cardigan, a task that I was trying to remember before I locked the door. He chuckled. Dahling, you haven't changed. You are a show off. You want to see others how much your suit costs.

Subtle na show off daw. Hindi noh,kasi taped over the original price is the 60 per cent reduced price.

Alibi ko lang yon for my poor memory.

So next time, before you leave, turn around in a full body length mirror. You may never know, baka may nakasabit na pusa sa likod ninyo.

When I was making turo sa unibersidad, I considered it a mortal sin if I cannot memorize the names of my istudyents. So guess what I did. I became a copycat to a former professor of mine who required us to submit an id photo that he attached to our classcard. I did more than that. I had a seatplan where I pasted their id photos so I can remember the faces of the names but only for a few weeks reference. To remember my isudyents, I looked for distinctive marks in their faces. Sa akin na lang yon ano...pero para sa mga makulit, ito... tinitingnan ko yong ilong, yong mata na parang palaging nagugulat o palaging antukin and I try to associate them with a favorite movie star of mine kaya minsan pag tumawag ako, pangalan na ng movie star ang gamit ko. Like.. Aga Muchlach, go to the board and solve problem one. Hindi ho siya kamukha ni Aga. Aga lang siyang dumating sa klase.

Itutuloy.

The Ca t