What do you know you have forgotten?
- The name of the kid who sat next to you in fourth grade?
- The phone number you had in college?
- Which aunt gave you which crystal vase as a wedding present?
I know I knew the answers to those inquiries, but I know I don’t know the answers now nor shall anon. With each passing year, I seem to remember remembering things more than I remember things.
For example, I know I saw the movie Xanadu when it came out. And I know at least seven other people saw it–I counted. But now, other than the fact that it involved roller skating, disco, Gene Kelly, Olivia Newton-John, ELO, and the Tubes (how could it not have been memorable?) I can’t really remember much about it, and neither can anyone else I’ve asked.
But it wasn’t until I saw this clip that I realized how much I’d forgotten: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m1UWSD-FaA
Weird Al dancing on a tightrope? A troupe of dancing mimes? Electric blue pirate shirts? Olivia dressed as Ming the Merciless? How could this not have been memorable?
It’s enough to make me think seriously about holing up in a cork-lined room for a few years to jot down what I still do remember, before the rest of it is gone for good.
What about you? What do you remember remembering, and remember no more? And do you miss it?
