This is your brain. This is your brain on SDMB.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

In my brief time here, I have noticed a shift in my way of thinking. I am constantly scanning the world for issues to put to the SDMB community. When I hit upon one, I run a search, and usually find that it has already been discussed. Then I’m bummed out and I cry alone in the fetal position for a couple hours.

But seriously, on Saturday, I was driving down the road by myself, and I was struck with an AMAZING question for the General Questions board. I thought about the question, and was quite sure it would have never been discussed before. I was also fascinated by the question, and was really interested in soliciting input. I knew I might forget the question, so I developed a memory aid in order to recall it later. I came up with a single word that I mentally related to the question, such that all I would have to do is remember that word, and I would recall the question.

Then I forgot the word.

And I can’t remember the question.

And for two days, I’ve been plumbing the depths of my brain for the question, trying various tricks. "Let’s see. I was driving at the time. Did it have to do with cars? Road signs? Sunglasses? Gasoline? No, no, no, no. Goddammit! I hate life!n

If anyone knows what my question was, please tell me.

2

When you’ve lost something, this always helps:

Where did you last see it?

3

“Damn, I can’t remember what I was going to say!”
“Don’t worry, if it’s important it will come back.”

Important stuff is like Lassie, it always comes back.

4

and

go back go back go back where you were (sung to the tune of (STTTO) Barney (barfme)

that amazing general question you forgot? wrong forum obviously, it went in GD.

I can give you one of mine, (Great topic never heretofore posted before) if I can only remember… :smack:

salud to dope, man

5

No help at all on your word or your question(s) but maybe if I toss out some random words perhaps one of them will touch the nerve.

Before I do, though, let me say I fully understand your basic idea. If you were to do a search on the threads I’ve started over the past 3+ years, you’d find a fairly heterogenous collection of topics. What you wouldn’t find is that at least half of them were spawned to avoid hijacking other threads that were going on at the time and that made me think of something that, on second thought, would most likely be a hijack. Thus, the new thread. (I have contributed a great number of hijacks as well – more likely a greater number of them than threads).

Some words: philanthropy, pterodactyl, gargling, zippers, white socks, jazz-based commercial themes, soccer vs. rugby, ptomaine, gerunds in everyday life, Gaul, gall, goal, gold, gulls, phantoms, operas, Mickey Spillane, beatitudes, comas, commas, free association, expensive association, dada, nihilism, the American Way, justice, nine-eyed creatures.

Surely your word is on that list or else the list made you think of it. If not, sorry for your wasted time.

6

Hmm. My memory is not jogged, but my time was certainly not wasted. That is one interesting list.

I really think it may be gone forever.

It kind of reminds me of a moment in college when, under circumstances that I shant describe here, I was quite certain that I had discovered a fundamental truth about the purpose of life. However, I forgot it about five minutes later and spent most of my junior year trying to get it back. Never did, so now I proceed through life as aimlessly as the next guy.

7

I had a similar experience while dreaming. The secret of life, the universe, truth, knowledge, everything puzzling humanity since men and women began marking on cave walls, came to me in a dream and startled me awake with its clarity and simplicity. In my sleep I scrambled for pencil and paper and wrote down the word and then returned to the fabulous dream that had spawned it. Hours later as I was groggily waking from that session, I spotted the paper on the floor and all it said was “glumph” or something as idiotic. ( I confess that I just made that word up since I forgot the real one.) I tried to go back to sleep to recover the dream and get the right word this time, but all I could think of as I tried to will myself back to sleep was “what the hell is a glumph?”

Ever since that experience, I have been somewhat skeptical of visions and miracles and that sort of thing. Before that I was 100% gullible.

8

So – look down the well. Either your brain is there or the thought is.

9

Wait! I’ve got it! I’ve got it! You were going to ask why you drive on the parkway and park on the driveway, weren’t you?

10

Nope. It’s just gone until the next time you’re an hour away from a pencil and paper or a cell phone or some other means of securing your great thought. Then it’ll be gone again.

11

In that case there is no need to start a thread as Cecil has already answered it! :smiley:

12

Just use the search function.

13

I have a good friend who is a classicist who once had a dream where she deciphered Linear B. She said she remembered thinking how simple it was once she figured out a couple of central facts, and that she remembered how it felt to understand it, but once she woke up she couldn’t remember anything about how she did it.

14

Whoah, I’ve been thinking about writing a very similar OP. Glad to see I’m not the only one that cries in the fetal position.

15

This forgotten word, did it end in -gry?

16

I always rely on the adage that you always find something in the last place you look. So I look there first. :wink:

17

What often works to help you remember something is to say it out loud three times in a row. Try that next time, and let us know how it goes.

(Was it something about cats? We do like cats here.)

18

“Who,” dammit. Things are thats, people are whos.

Okay, that’s been building up awhile. Think I’ve got it out of my system now. :smiley:

19

Went through a period of about three weeks, once, where as I was falling asleep I’d see myself doing standup comedy. It wasn’t just symbolic standup, there were actual jokes and I remembered being pleased as I thought them over on my way out.

None of them were ever there in the morning. So if you find your word, could you look around for my jokes. I vaguely remember that most of them were about my family.

I’ll help you out with the following post hypnotic suggestion. (If you don’t remember being hypnotized, it’s because I told you to forget.) You will dream about the word. It will wake you out of a sound sleep at 3 AM. As you wake, you will remember the question. Be sure to keep paper and pencil by your bed, because if you don’t write it down, you’ll forget it again.

That’s tonight, 3 AM. Ping!

20

I wouldn’t worry about it. If you found it, you’d probably experience this:

So maybe it’s a good thing that you lost it, afterall. :wink: