March 22, 2006

USELESS INFORMATION

You may have heard me comment from time to time, that my mind has a �thought catcher� built into its processing system. I can hear someone speaking, be viewing a movie, �whatever�and out of the blue usually unrelated to what is going on � a �one-liner� or phrase will jump out, catch my attention, and obliterate everything else that is spoken. I am no good for the rest of the conversation or story, because I am desperately trying to find something to write on, or trying to mind-associate the word enough to remember the quote.

For instance; I went to the theatre to see a certain film. I have no idea what it was now. It is forgotten. But one of the preview trailers was for �Last Holiday� which was soon to be released. I absently stared at the clip up to one of the final scenes showing Queen Latifah reminiscing over her life and wishing she could live it again. Then came these words, �If I could do it again, I would laugh more, love more, and not be so afraid.� Isn�t that a great quote? I love it.

I nearly fell out of my seat scrambling in my purse and pockets for something to write on and with. I kept saying the phrase over and over in my mind until at last I found my pen and my checkbook record sheets, wrote it down and breathed a sigh of relief. This did not go unnoticed by my son, who commented when we exited the theatre. �You found something you wanted to remember?�

He knows me well.

Anyway, back to the �phrase catcher�. This goes on all the time. I hear things others seem to pay no attention to, and usually miss the overall context of what is happening.

I have just accepted it; become accustomed to it; and walk around calling myself a trivia buff (Which I am.) Just ask me how far north I-15 travels after it starts at the Mexican Border and travels north/northeast through California, Nevada, Utah, and�. Never mind. Oh, and do you know the most economical town to move to according to economists? College Station, TX. And do you know what college is in that town? Texas A & M. And do you know what �A & M� stands for?�..There is no end to it. This is my mind. It can be a real burden.

Remember somewhere in High School English we were told one part of a sentence always asks the question �how, where, when and why�? Or something like that. My guess is that it�s an adverb, but it doesn�t matter, because my brain does that automatically. About everything.

A close friend once commented, �It must be really exhausting to be You.� Yeah. Sometimes. But I bet I could do pretty well on Jeopardy.

Anyway, all this is to tell you what I heard this morning.

I was listening to my very favorite�not to be missed�talk show. (No it is not Rush Limbaugh)

The Host proposed this question: �What is the origin of the name �Wednesday� for that day of the week? Where did it originate?�

Quickly a caller responded with the answer. (THAT bit of trivia was not important to my �quote catcher�, and I don�t remember the answer.) But I do remember what followed.

The host of the show asked how the caller knew these things (he had offered some other unrelated bits of information.)

Caller replied: �Oh, I don�t know. For some reason, I just absorb useless information.�

THAT�S IT! That is ME. My mind constantly absorbs useless information. Now I know how to explain my idiosyncrasy. I am an �absorber of useless information.�

Yep. That�s me. (�or, It is I�or�)

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