April 13, 2009

  • Memories fading slowly

    There are days when I feel like my brain isn’t working properly.  Normally I couldn’t care less but when I'm confronted with dad’s fading  memory,  I worry that this will happen to me sooner rather than later.  A few examples:

    Every morning I take my vitamin pills right after breakfast.  The other day, I opened the cabinet and kept staring inside but I couldn’t find it.  I’ve never misplaced the bottles of vitamins and other supplements.  I kept staring until I realized I opened the freezer door by mistake. 

    While I was at my brother’s place, I was about to say hi to my sister in law when I completely drew a blank at her name.  I was stunned.  Luckily someone called her name and I was spared the embarrassment. 

    At my bf’s place, I forgot the name of one of his nephews.  He was running around and I wanted to tell him to slow down.  I opened my mouth and couldn’t figure out what his name was.  It took about 15 seconds before I remembered his name and by that time, he had already darted out of sight.

    Strange...  now where was I?

    In other news, one of the cheaper vegetables out there is cabbage.  I've been adding it to my soups.  My mom used to cook a lot of cabbages.  It's actually quite nutritious and the cabbage keeps for a while in the fridge.  This one is simply chicken soup with some carrots, onions, cabbage, celery and a few left over broccoli from dinner.


Comments (24)

  • I've had plenty of those memory lapses too. I know exactly what you mean. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had amnesia on something I want to tell someone, but finally remember after it's too late. Very frustrating. At least the soup looks delicious.

  • I go through it too and it is not just scary but frustrating as well! 

  • sometime I can remember exactly where I parked my car, and then sometime I draw a blank.     now I forgot what I am going to say next, lol. teasing u

  • Sometimes it's not only about growing old or genetics.
    There is a thing call pruning in neurology.  It when certain pathways in neurons are not used, the dendrites or something prunes away and dies, making rooms for other neurological pathways.  But it isn't as simple as just not using that part of the brain, sometimes certain functions share the same area.  It might be with the invention of technology (such as cellphones that make us not memorize phone numbers) that some part of our brains just waste away.

  • Sometimes technology decrease our memory. Just like when cell phone just came out , and when i was still using manual home phone,I used to memorize all the phone numbers.But now I can only remember my own number XD
    Same thing as reminder as well, i wont bother memorizing what will happen XD

  • i hope that temporarily forgetting names that you've known for years is common because that happens to me sometimes too. and by the way, cabbage is one of my favorite soup vegetables.

  • I am at the age of forgetfulness. I have come to the point of telling some people I will most likely forget their first names but remember their last name. It happens at the office frequently where the patients expect you to know their names. I am getting old but I am told keeping the mind active is the key. That gives me permission to do crosswords at work.

  • My mind slips gears much more often then I'd care to admit..

    and truly it makes me wonder some times too.

    That bowl of soup looks great, I could certainly go for some

    on this chilly rainy day.

    be well, *~matthew~*

  • yes, the soup is yummy, i have such an appetite for healthy stuff like that.

    i forget things too. my mum complains about her memory loss as well, saying she's old and all that. i tend to forget things, too. i think it's because i get terrible sleep, because i've heard that lack of sleep leads to memory loss!

  • Don't stress too much about it.  I think we all have our days when our brain just isn't functioning properly.  :)

    PS - That soup looks YUMMY!  Me want some!

  • Maybe your hard drive is starting to get full...

    Maybe I spend too much time at my desk...

    On the other hand, I have never had cabbage in a soup.  I may have to try that.

  • yeah, i can relate to how you feel with regards to having a father going through some illness or what not.  Since my dad is bipolar, I often wonder if I too may become like him.  It makes me very feel a lot more conscious about my emotions and how I express myself because I don't want to appear too too happy or too depressed.  I admit that I can be very intense but I have pretty good control of my emotions and use it to my advantage. 

    For me, I sometimes view my intense focus of such emotion almost like a superpower that enables me to accomplish great things.  But as with every super power, you gotta learn to control it.  Perhaps you can change your perception of this and harness it as a special ability too.  The power of daydreamers are under-estimated, no?  I might write an article about this later..

  • @zionlover - it's just so frustrating when it happens, I feel so helpless.

    @Dezinerdreams - I agree!  I just hate it when it happens.

    @stevew918 - at work, I park in the same area almost all the time.  At one shopping mall, I try to park in the same aisle all the time too.

    @Wangium - how do you remember all this stuff? 

    @zozoyork - I have to look up my own cell number sometimes.

    @JonasApproved - it happens to you too? 

    @Fatcat723 - reading and writing also helps (at least that's what I've read).  Learning new skills, new languages also stimulates the brain too.  Hmm... maybe I have too many routines going and not enough new things.

    @bleuzeus - my gears sometimes grind and that blank look appears. I tell people I'm thinking when that happens.  Go have some soup. 

    @stepaside_loser - hmm... I average about 5 hours of sleep a night, I know that's on the low side. 

    @brooklyn2028 - the soup is very easy to make, most of the work is really cutting the veggies.  The rest is just gentle simmer.

    @Esbartman - I think my hard drive sometimes slows down.  The cabbage is very soft and sweet in soups.

    @alchemystfury - ah yes... the absent minded super hero. 

  • @ElusiveWords - yes i forget names too, but not too often. maybe like, once every 5 months i'll forget and remember the next morning?

  • I agree with your other friends that it isn't necessarily anything to worry about.  I took my dog Louise to the vet today for a rabies shot, and I checked "male, neutered," instead of "female, spayed" on the check-in sheet.  I was wondering why the techs were asking me whether Louise was a boy or a girl.  Sheesh.

    I forget names all the time, often from stress.  When I was 11 and had to introduce my parents to a teacher, I forgot their names!

    You're a good cook!  The soup looks delicious!

  • I think it's more of a this-happens-to-everyone thing than a brain-not-working thing. One time, I looked around for the remote for like 30 minutes just to realize that it was in my hands. x_x

  • The point is that I want you to make it for me.  LOL!  Kidding. 

  • That happens to me too.  I guess if I haven't seen someone in a while, it might take a couple seconds to register the name ^_^  I accidentally called someone by the wrong name, only to realize seconds later and apologized.  That was embarrassing >_<  But I'm sure it'll happen once in a while.  

  • @jojobaDESIGNS - hahaha... can't help but chuckle at your experience at the vet. 

    @Devilzgaysianboi - hahaha... I think I had that happened too.  Actually, one time, I took my bf's remote home with me (don't ask how that happened).  He called me and asked if there was anything extra in my pockets or knapsack.  And there it was!

    @brooklyn2028 - hahahaha - missed that completely. 

    @ImprezaGirl - I've done that too!  

  • hahaha... my mind also not working well... what's in my mind just cant be properly express out... and i speak the wrong/weird things which my friends always laugh at me... try to play mahjong or write diary, it would help you to better memorise things =p

  • pei is going to make me a dish with taiwanese cabbage today... i look forward to all the dishes and photograph them now...he says why do you want the recipes written down...there is no writing it down in chinese cooking... well true yet for this girl she writes it photographs it and then after time commits it to heart... any way i like his cooking(it is tasty) yet because it is made with LOVE...ps got another thing off the list. photo shoot for a painting i wanted to do for a few years...

    the mind is a funny thing ...it forgets and then remembers and sometimes forever deletes a moment...

    the heart will always REMEMBER.

    ' LOVE can never be lost... when TRUE LOVE is found '  _meikaili_

    LOVE is...

  • ha ha ha. It is nothing compared to what I go through. I was a medical student, in early sixties, and one of the professors stopped me to kinda chat, and he asked me what rotation I was currently doing, and I stared at him, without any idea of my rotation, even though I had just walked out of that department. I will never forget that. Don't worry about these things Matt. They are common to all people, and the more stressed we are, the more we tend to forget these things.
    Start playing chess with your bf.

  • @ZSA_MD - maybe it is stress. There has been a lot of stress at work recently.

    @luvmei - my mom never wrote anything down either.  You had to watch and learn.  But you also had to experiment on your own too.  

    @lcfu - I don't play mahjong; maybe I'll just write more. 

  • I read a fascinating book called The Design of Everyday Things that explores the psychology of design and, particularly, why design flaws can increase the liklihood of accidents.  There is a particular name (which I don't remember, of course) for the phenomenon where you mistakenly perform an action that is physically similar to your intended action.  In this case, opening a freezer door instead of a cabinet.  When I read this, I thought it was very interesting because I find myself doing that all the time.

    As for the cabbage, it is a great and underappreciated veggie.  Especially red cabbage which is just loaded with vitamins and other good things.

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