Senior Moments

As far as I can remember, I've always seen myself as someone with a really, really poor memory. It's so poor that I could barely remember what I did or ate yesterday, unless of course, there are leftovers in the fridge which could possibly clue me in. My brain also works in a way that I could vividly remember events from my childhood but I often wonder whether it really happened or was just brought about by my overactive imagination.

It's also almost embarrassing to admit that my memory doesn't even give me the grace to remember birthdays and ages, including my own, and I end up having to rely on sites like Friendster and Facebook to remind me. Kind of pointless too since I will forget anyway as soon as I log off from the computer. My brother was nice enough to let me play the "guess his birthday game" with him through text messaging one day. I ended up wasting a grand total of Php10 before he gave up and told me not only his birthday but also my sister's, aunt's, and paternal grandmother's as well. He also recommended that I take the newest memory enhancer pill in the market called Glutaphos. Hmph. As if I'm *that* senile. :suspicious:

Anyway, on that same day I was having the ill-conceived conversation with him, I was also at a dinner party where this familiar lady kept smiling at me and greeting me. I, being polite and all, would smile and nod vaguely back while trying my hardest to recall her name. Finally, on my taxi ride home, I turned to my companion and said, "I remember her name now. It's Pines."

And at the back of my mind, I had known it was related to a tree.

PS. Who names their offspring after a tree anyways? :eek: Well, aside from Professor Oak of Pokemon that is.

  1. Allee on Jul 30 2008 at 03:40pm #

    Oh, I'm exactly the same way :lol:. The only birthdays I remember are mine and my Mom's - everyone else only gets remembered if I somehow manage to login to Facebook during their birthday :/.

    Pines, hahaa. I've long accepted the fact that us Filipinos have this distinct ability to come up with the strangest names, ever. I've met enough Apples, Januaries, Babies, and Honey Angels to prove this fact ;).

  2. Nellie on Jul 30 2008 at 03:46pm #

    I have an awesome memory. I remember the birthdays of kids I went to school with who I haven't seen in years! I'd share, but I like my near-photographic memory… so I'm just going to say 'NEENERS!'.

    I'm so mean!

  3. Catherine on Jul 30 2008 at 09:39pm #

    I have a terrible memory. I'm always getting in trouble because I can't remember what happened, birthdays, messages people have left for others via phone…

    I can't remember anything really. I have to write it down and put it in a visible place. I only remember things once I have forgotten them once actually!

  4. Regina on Jul 30 2008 at 10:52pm #

    But isn't Oak his last name…? I have a pretty good memory, but sometimes I remember the most pointless things, such as what people wore on certain days.

  5. Shen-Shen on Jul 31 2008 at 10:18am #

    I have terrible memory too, but I like to think of myself as endearing, like Dory….

    But I agree.. Pines???

  6. Shen on Jul 31 2008 at 11:35pm #

    Hmm. I have this same problem as well. I have a short term memory and it's quite embarrassing at times. For instance, I cannot remember what happened yesterday or what I ate. I rely upon Facebook to remember my friends birthday. It's quite depressing. In the past I've taken brain food pills but apparently they don't work. =/ I still couldn't remember anything. Pines is surely weird though. :suspicious:

  7. Lexie on Aug 01 2008 at 10:53am #

    I, on the other hand, have selective memory. I only remember things I want to remember.

    There have been countless situations where I had trouble recalling the name of a person five minutes after he or she had been introduced to me. Because sometimes, I never bother really listening. I just smile, say hi, and then promptly forget about the person.

  8. Melissa on Aug 01 2008 at 09:20pm #

    Pines?! Wow, I've never heard of someone being named that. XD

    I know exactly what you mean about the memory thing! I have a problem with conversations…I always forget who I tell my stories to. Hanging out with friends I'm like "omg so this happened to me…" and they say, "you already told us that!" and I'm like "oh :("… XD I always forget. :P

  9. Juice on Aug 04 2008 at 02:13am #

    Like Nellie, I have an awesome memory. I remember almost all of my friends' and families' birthdays, and know when a certain phone number is in my phone book when I see it. I was wired like that. Sadly, it hasn't helped me with Math because I suck at it.

    Also doesn't help with unwanted memories. Sometimes I still cringe at something embarrassingly small which happened to me around 9 years ago or whatever, and knowing I'm the only who remembers it, not a very nice feeling.

    Pines? Is that a nickname or a full name? Quite amusing really :P Also, you text with your brother? Why didn't you just talk to him?? Haaha okay, too many questions.

  10. Robmarie on Aug 07 2008 at 11:59am #

    Good God, and here I thought my short-term memory was atrocious, lmao.

    On the other hand, my long-term memory is awesome. I have the ability to remember conversations and uncanny details from long ago. Sometimes I pretend to "forget" things on purpose so that people think that my memory is crap and then I can catch them if they lie and… yes, I'm slightly psychotic, why do you ask? LMAO.

    No but seriously, my short-term memory SUCKS. I remember once I was surfing the net, minding my own business, when I got an MSN message saying "congratulations!" I was dumbfounded, so I replied, "for what?", and the person didn't reply again. It wasn't until half an hour later when I realized that he was talking about my BIRTHDAY! LOL… I dread to think about the day when I'm 60.

  11. Shari on Aug 11 2008 at 12:23am #

    It's possible I can rival your memory with my own. But then, at least I remember my own birthday. ^_^ I'm very bad with names though, and school lessons tend to make that clichéd phenomenon "pasok sa isang tenga, labas sa isang tenga," so there's actually nothing to remember.

    Awww. Pines. Hey, people are named after flowers, why not trees? Hello there, Acacia. Hi, Plywood. Haha. Darn, the second one sounded bad. It's not even a tree. :lol:

    Makes me remember the professor named Aladdin Jasmine.

  12. Does your memory suck as much as mine? « Airdriven on Aug 24 2008 at 02:30am #

    [...] really poor memory. It's so poor that I could barely remember what I did or ate yesterday [...] - [...]

  13. 5amanta on Aug 24 2008 at 03:20am #

    We could start a club :S

    I too have bad memory, but unlike some of you my memories are not competitive, so both -my short term and long term memory- are equally defective.

    And birthdays? Oh Christ… they are my main supplier of embarrassing moments. I can barely remember my siblings’ birthdays, much less my friends'.

  14. Sarah on Aug 26 2008 at 09:48am #

    "Pines" sounds like one of those trendy modern names that annoy me so much, like "Taylor" and "Madison". Damnit, we should all be "Prudence" and "Constance" and "Armor-of-God"! …And "Sarah". ;)

  15. Arwen on Sep 17 2008 at 06:24am #

    People still *use* Friendster??

  16. fruityoaty on Oct 03 2008 at 12:35pm #

    I'm good with remembering faces… not so much with names.

    Anyway, I just wanted to drop by and say hi. I just returned to blogging yesterday and I'm doing my blog hopping rounds. :)

  17. Roxanne on Oct 18 2008 at 03:19am #

    I'm terribly bad with remembering names and birthdays. I too rely on Facebook or Myspace to remind me when anyone's birthday is coming up. I even have trouble remembering what I wore for work during the week, so I don't wear the same thing twice and have my co-workers think I don't change my clothes or something! haha.

  18. suzanne on Nov 05 2008 at 10:39pm #

    i can remember names but then forget the faces lol