On a Lighter Note

[stoutfellow]

I'll confess that this is silly.

Every so often, I set myself a memory challenge, usually taking the form of memorizing some list - the Vice Presidents of the U.S., the titles of all 144 episodes of Buffy, what have you. This time, I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

The task: memorize the titles of every bit of popular music on my hard drive. That's over 2000 pieces by about 120 singers and groups. I'm taking them one singer at a time, and ordering each singer's songs alphabetically. I'm a little less than a fifth of the way through - 375 songs by 23 singers and groups. (The biggest hurdle so far was Celine Dion, with 51 songs. Fortunately, it's not hard to establish sub-patterns. For instance, six of her songs on my computer have titles beginning with the word "If", and the second words of those six are "I Love That We You You", which is bizarre enough to be memorable.)

Even if I get this done, I doubt I'll retain it for very long. But I'd like to be able to run through the whole list at least once.

Silly. Yes. I know.

Comments

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I use local checks. That is: I already have a list of the number of songs for each group. When I tackle a group, the first datum I memorize is that number. My (subvocal) recitations take the form, "Buddy Holly. 12. 'Everyday',...". As I name the songs from a group, I count along on my fingers and just make sure I get the right number. (That's not absolutely foolproof - I may get a title wrong but still get the count right - but I have other checks in place as well.)

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

As a result of your memory games, although you may have *other* things later in life, Alzheimer's and senile dementia won't, I think, be in your future. (g)

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

A consummation devoutly to be wished.