(no subject)

[dayse]

It's been forever since I posted anything substantial, and I really want to make it a priority this year to keep up to date with my LJ more. I miss reading through each post and commenting like I used to. I just want to say: Happy New Year to all, I hope it's happy, healthy, exciting, fulfilling, and that you get from it whatever it is you strive and wish for. I <3 you guys, my LJ homies :)

My resolutions for this year are:

1. Learn something new.
2. Move upwards in my job.
3. Stick to healthier/smarter habits.
4. Walk the dog more.
5. Read.
6. Stand up for myself.
7. Stop caring so much about what other people think.
8. Make my bed.
9. Drink less pop.
10. Take more risks.
11. Be more social.
12. Don't put myself down (or let others do it for me).

An ambitious list to be sure, but I figure if other people can do it all year-round without it having to be a resolution at all, I can do it, too. I didn't mean to put it in any particular type of order, but looking at it now, I wonder if I kinda did anyway.

I've already sort of completed number 1. I recently ordered this from amazon. It's called "The Memory Book: The Classic Guide to Improving your Memory at School, at Work, and at Play". It's really interesting stuff. My memory's not the best for some things (while incredibly accurate for others), and I thought this might help me out.

One of the exercises in the book is memorizing the 50 States. A while back I tried that name as many states as you can in 10 minutes game, and did ... okay, considering I'm Canadian ;) I think I got about 30-35 within that time frame. Now I can reel off all 50, in alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order, in about 3 minutes.

For some reason, I keep forgetting Alabama :|

It basically talks about associating words/things/whatever with pictures. So for "Alabama" I picture a photo album, because "album" sort of reminds me of Alabama. Then you link that picture, to a picture that you can associate with the next State on the list. So I picture the album falling into a snow drift for Alaska.

The goofier the better. Like the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz clutching a bucket of Kentucky fried chicken, or a naked chick with a hunk of cheese on her head standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial xD *

But yes - I definitely recommend checking it out. I'm only into the third chapter but already I find the methods they recommend working. It sticks, too. No forgetting it again in a few days or a week.

And now - I'm off to the mall with my mom. I can hear my final gingerbread latte of the season calling my name.



* For the record, it was Washington -> West Virginia -> Wisconsin :q

Comments

[iterationzero.livejournal.com]

we miss you. both in a virtual sense and in an irl sense.

[dayse.livejournal.com]

I miss you too! And I'll see you in April :)

[iterationzero.livejournal.com]

you realize it will have been a year and a half since we've seen you at that point?

[ezust.livejournal.com]

That memory book looks like something I desperately need to work into my daily routine. Are most of the exercises memory games, or are there the equivalent of isometric exercises too?

I'm crap at memorizing anything, but I'm more crap at recalling things these days. I wonder if those are two separate issues, requiring different kinds of exercises.


edited for spelling, spelling, spelling.

[dayse.livejournal.com]

I haven't had a chance to read much further, but so far - there really aren't any memory games to speak of, just certain exercises they encourage you to do before you move on to the next lesson. It makes sense since the lessons really build up on each other.

One of the big ideas is "Original Awareness", making the (pretty big, I think) claim that nothing that you are originally aware of can ever be forgotten. And their methods are supposed to force you to use original awareness when you are trying to memories (or remember) something.

To induce original awareness the book basically teaches techniques of observation and association - so taking new things and connecting them to things you already know.

It takes work, but I do find that after going over it in my head a few times and devoting some time to it, I'm looking at things in new ways and the stuff is actually sticking. I'm only about four chapters in, but so far - it's all been pretty nifty stuff, you should definitely nab a copy ^_^

[dayse.livejournal.com]

D'oh! And just to add - it's really interesting, but I find there's very little 'memorization' involved when you want to remember something later, like say - a grocery list. At least, not in the way I used to think about it.

But yes, the book touches on both - taking in the information and then being able to pull it up later (even weeks later).

Like, I got my mom to make me a list of about fifty items, and I took about fifteen minutes to take it in, and then up to weeks later I was still able to recall the list. (And I just tried it again now, and I'm pretty sure I got it right, but as the list is lost, I don't have a way to double-check :/).

But with straight, rote-memorization, I don't think I would have been able to do it, or do it that fast. Basically, it encourages you to visualize a certain picture - something big, ridiculous and exaggerated, and then use that picture to connect it to the next thing on the list.

So if you're given something like "apples, flowers, penguin, bike, dog", you can picture a really huge apple, the size of a house. Then you connect that to "flowers" by imagining a giant flower eating an apple. Then you connect flowers to penguin by imagining a penguin sprouting from the ground like a flower.

This way you aren't really memorizing anything, but the picture you've created in your mind will automatically force you to think of the next item on the list.

Whew, sorry for rambling xDD I just found the whole thing really interesting. I don't know if I made any sense tho :x