The other day, James requested that I watch a piece that ran on 60 Minutes about “Superior Autobiographical Memory.” Have you heard about this? It’s this incredible, rare condition that allows individuals to actively recall (in vivid, specific detail) just about every day of their lives. You can watch some of the report here.
Seriously, these people’s brains are amazing. I am especially amazed because I believe I have the opposite of this condition….In fact, I’m going to go ahead and say that I have Inferior Autobiographical Memory. I can’t remember yesterday. I don’t know what I wore, or ate, or smelled like. I don’t really even know what today is, if I’m being totally honest. Tuesday? Thursday? I have no idea.
I was reminded of this personal lack of mind yesterday, when Jenny posted about a shopping trip we took last week… a trip that I had momentarily forgotten about. And it involved a giant metal chicken. And it occurred only five days ago. (Just click here to read it. My stupid links are still black and I can’t figure out how to fix them…)
But now that she mentioned it, of course that just happened. I had just dropped Harry off at Camp in Austin and called Jenny because we’d talked about meeting up to go see a movie or something, and then we ended up going on this random shopping trip, and I convincing her to buy a 5-foot chicken and name it Beyonce. And we ended up terrorizing everyone’s favorite Victor by doing a Beyonce “ring and run.” And the whole thing was fun and funny and whatever. But honestly, that’s just a typical Tuesday for us. We do weird things all the time. So it really didn’t stand out all that much in my brain.
So when my server basically crashed yesterday from all this traffic from Jenny, I was like, oh dear, what did she write about now. And when I read about Beyonce, I was all, oh yeah. That happened exactly like that. And it was funny when it happened. But then we were all on to the next thing, and I was picking Harry up from Camp, and going to swimming lessons, and making dinner, and whatever. I can’t remember.
Thank God I have Jenny to write all this stuff down.
I am still laughing over that chicken story! And I am on the same page as you, once something is over and done my mind blanks it out. Especially stressful stuff. I remember telling a friend how tired I had been feeling and then she had to remind me some crazy busy stuff I had just completed. Happens all the ti
Me, too. SO me, too!
<3
That’s awesome to read your point of view on the Beyonce adventure. And I can’t remember a damn thing from hour to hour, so high fives and fist bumps.
OMG! I totally thought that was a doll house door and was like, how did they find such a realistic doll house to fit a tiny chicken? (As if a tiny chicken was super normal) And then I find out it’s a 5 ft chicken…this just makes me want to live in the South again.
I had to read the chicken story out loud to RT last night because it was so crazy funny. I can just see you two doing that.
The thought of you, Jenny & Beyonce doing a “ring & run” is still cracking me up. I now want to find a store that sells giant chickens & put one in my front yard.
I have that same “condition”. People tell me about my life. I have, it seems, done some pretty cool and funny stuff. And they bring it up over dinner, or wine, or whatever… “hey, remember when we… remember that time you… and so on”. And I look at them politely, and I smile, and I nod. But I don’t. I don’t really remember. Because really, how much life can one person really truly recall? I figure if I could in fact remember every single detail of every single thing I ever did, I must not be doing enough.
After telling my sister the story, she said she’d be sure to remind in 10 years (on my 15th wedding anniversary) that 15 years is the giant metal chicken gift. LOL
I think we all need a friend like Jenny to write down what happens to us with a humorous twist. Then again, I rarely buy giant chickens, so maybe my life isn’t quite as funny?
I was going to leave a reply, but I can’t remember what I was replying about!