Bone-house, memory-house
Memory in action. The other night, chatting with this one, I had cause to learn that the bechatted-with had never heard of Pogo, leading to this exchange, quoted without permission:
(22:05:25) I: pogo is a possum who lives in okefenokee swamp
(22:05:44) she: you are intense, dude
I also mentioned that there had been an article "a few years ago" in the NYRB about Pogo, written by, as I said, someone or other (for some reason the name I'm coming up with is brad leithauser, but I wouldn't rely on that)
. Now Leithauser's name didn't exactly pop
into my head, it was more as if it had been swimming around in there and happened to surface when I thought of the article (that is, before my attention turned directly to the question of authorship), so imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only did he write it, he did so in April of 2002, nearly five years ago. And yet I can never remember the word "martinet" when I want to employ it, and only half the time can I remember it when I want to comment on how I can never remember it.
Another instance of memory in action: my default idle away message in gaim comes from the proem to book three of the Georgics: temptanda uia est, qua me quoque possim / tollere humo uictorque uirum uolitare per ora
. I've got its translation more or less memorized, but on looking through a few of the lines which followed it I found myself completely unable to answer to my satisfaction whether or not I was actually translating them, or just remembering what they meant from the last time I translated them (you might ask yourself if there's a principled difference to be drawn here). The lines in question:
primus ego in patriam mecum, modo uita supersit, / Aonio rediens deducam uertice Musas; / primus Idumaeas referam tibi, Mantua, palmas, / et uiride in campo templum de marmore ponam / propter aquam, tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat / Mincius et tenera praetexit harundine ripas.
Now, I couldn't remember what "tardis", "flexibus", or the last four words meant, but I also felt as if, when I did know what was going on, I was basically just transcribing, not actually knowing what anything meant. (Though isn't that the feeling, or lack of feeling, one normally has when reading a language one actually does know? Well, maybe not.) Of old my method for preparing for exams on which translations might feature was simply to re-read everything that might be on the exam, along with my translations; generally I would have to do this at most twice in order to have things pretty well set for the next day. Faced with the exam the first line or two would indicate where one was and thenceforth attention to the actual text would only be necessary for reminders (I may be remembering inaccurately).
Comments
on 2007-03-25 18:54:18.0, A White Bear commented:
I said you were intense because it was the second time in like three minutes that you made a reference to Pogo's creator without my having any idea why you were so obsessed with the Okefenokee.
and, further, on 2007-03-25 19:43:33.0, ben wolfson commented:
And?
I just asked for a catalog from these people. They probably won't send me one.
and, further, on 2007-03-25 19:50:04.0, A White Bear commented:
Do you fear they'll suspect you of malintent?
and, further, on 2007-03-25 20:10:55.0, ben wolfson commented:
Rather of merriment (or frivolity).
I see I could just have downloaded the catalogs.