"So much is said," Allister said, "and, furthermore, so much happens and so much is done. How can we possibly remember it all?"
With so much already stored in his brain, Allister feared he would run out of grey matter for important things- the names of new friends or the location of buried treasure.
So, he took to wearing a parachute. The rip chord dangled loosely at his side, ready for a sudden pull should Allister come in contact with a piece of information that he did not need nor want to remember.
Here is just a sample of what Allister remembered:
(in no particular order (other than alpha-numeric))
-0 C or 32 F = water freezing.
-.367 = Ty Cobb's batting average.
-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc, etc, etc, infinity.
-3 leaves = poison ivy.
-4 leaves = four leaf clover.
-8 glasses of water and an apple a day.
-100 C or 212 F = water boiling.
-100 Years War =116 years.
-1215 = Magna Carta
-330-1453 = Byzantine Empire
-Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz
-Arbor Day (last Friday in April)
-Armistice Day (11/11/1918 at 11am)
-August 20th = Dad's Birthday.
-Banana Bread: Unsalted butter, 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting), 1 teaspoon baking soda, pinch of salt, 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1 cup sugar, 2 large very ripe bananas, confectioners' sugar (also for dusting).
-Bicycle (1839), Unicycle (Sometime Before), Tricycle (Sometime After).
-Cheetah accelerates from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3 seconds.
-Claude Joseph Vernet's Morning 1760.
-Dog wagging tail = good
-George Eliot = Mary Evans
-Greenland = ice.
-Henry VIII had six wives.
-The Hunchback Of Notre Dame does not end happily.
-Iceland = green.
-Marianas Trench = Deepest Part of Ocean.
-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
-Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown: St. Louis Cardinals (1903), Chicago Cubs (1904-1912), Cincinnati Reds (1913), St. Louis Terriers (1914), Brooklyn Tip-Tops (1914), Chicago Whales (1915), Chicago Cubs (1916)
-My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—It gives a lovely light.
-Nails on Chalkboard = painful. Chalk on Chalkboard = slightly less painful.
-North star is brightest.
-"Not all vampires are evil. Some are just thirsty." -Solomon Gates-
-Oxygen in, Carbon Dioxide out.
-Peregrien Falcon is fastest animal (325 km/h or 202 mph).
-Photosynthesis makes plants green. Photography makes people black and white (or sepia).
-Rattlesnake wagging tail = bad.
-Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
-Red litmus paper turns blue under basic conditions.
-September 8th = Mom's birthday.
-Step forward with the left foot + Right foot step sideways to the right + Bring your left foot next to your right foot + Step back with the right foot + Step back sideways with the left foot + Bring your right foot next to your left foot = Waltz
-Van Gogh's left ear.
-Vowels- a, e, i, o, u (sometimes y).
-Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, JQ Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, B Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, F Roosevelt, Truman.
-What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
-"Whatsoever begins in your heart is always possible." -Uncle Tugboat-
-"Worthwhile resolutions quite often seem impossible. But, before discarding them, remember that to grow they must begin in the heart." -Mr. Row-
- ? = Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Allister's birthdays.
But, the mind is a funny thing (as is wind resistance) and why it selects what it retains is far beyond human understanding (which seems a very strange thought). It also memorizes far beyond the speed of a parachute. And, time and time again, Allister would find himself faced with a piece of information he wanted to store inside his crowded brain (the laugh of a new friend, the final goodbye of an old one, or (of course) a treasure map). And his brain would spring forth a clean piece of grey matter from some deep and dark and assumedly-forgotten place just in time to wrap itself around the memory and bring it into his vault of conscience.
So, Allister did not need to be afraid of random knowledge or trivia. Instead, he put faith in his brain to know its own limits and gave his parachute to some wandering pilot.
With so much already stored in his brain, Allister feared he would run out of grey matter for important things- the names of new friends or the location of buried treasure.
So, he took to wearing a parachute. The rip chord dangled loosely at his side, ready for a sudden pull should Allister come in contact with a piece of information that he did not need nor want to remember.
Here is just a sample of what Allister remembered:
(in no particular order (other than alpha-numeric))
-0 C or 32 F = water freezing.
-.367 = Ty Cobb's batting average.
-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc, etc, etc, infinity.
-3 leaves = poison ivy.
-4 leaves = four leaf clover.
-8 glasses of water and an apple a day.
-100 C or 212 F = water boiling.
-100 Years War =
-1215 = Magna Carta
-330-1453 = Byzantine Empire
-Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz
-Arbor Day (last Friday in April)
-Armistice Day (11/11/1918 at 11am)
-August 20th = Dad's Birthday.
-Banana Bread: Unsalted butter, 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting), 1 teaspoon baking soda, pinch of salt, 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1 cup sugar, 2 large very ripe bananas, confectioners' sugar (also for dusting).
-Bicycle (1839), Unicycle (Sometime Before), Tricycle (Sometime After).
-Cheetah accelerates from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3 seconds.
-Claude Joseph Vernet's Morning 1760.
-Dog wagging tail = good
-George Eliot = Mary Evans
-Greenland = ice.
-Henry VIII had six wives.
-The Hunchback Of Notre Dame does not end happily.
-Iceland = green.
-Marianas Trench = Deepest Part of Ocean.
-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
-Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown: St. Louis Cardinals (1903), Chicago Cubs (1904-1912), Cincinnati Reds (1913), St. Louis Terriers (1914), Brooklyn Tip-Tops (1914), Chicago Whales (1915), Chicago Cubs (1916)
-My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—It gives a lovely light.
-Nails on Chalkboard = painful. Chalk on Chalkboard = slightly less painful.
-North star is brightest.
-"Not all vampires are evil. Some are just thirsty." -Solomon Gates-
-Oxygen in, Carbon Dioxide out.
-Peregrien Falcon is fastest animal (325 km/h or 202 mph).
-Photosynthesis makes plants green. Photography makes people black and white (or sepia).
-Rattlesnake wagging tail = bad.
-Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
-Red litmus paper turns blue under basic conditions.
-September 8th = Mom's birthday.
-Step forward with the left foot + Right foot step sideways to the right + Bring your left foot next to your right foot + Step back with the right foot + Step back sideways with the left foot + Bring your right foot next to your left foot = Waltz
-Van Gogh's left ear.
-Vowels- a, e, i, o, u (sometimes y).
-Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, JQ Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, B Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, F Roosevelt, Truman.
-What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
-"Whatsoever begins in your heart is always possible." -Uncle Tugboat-
-"Worthwhile resolutions quite often seem impossible. But, before discarding them, remember that to grow they must begin in the heart." -Mr. Row-
- ? = Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Allister's birthdays.
But, the mind is a funny thing (as is wind resistance) and why it selects what it retains is far beyond human understanding (which seems a very strange thought). It also memorizes far beyond the speed of a parachute. And, time and time again, Allister would find himself faced with a piece of information he wanted to store inside his crowded brain (the laugh of a new friend, the final goodbye of an old one, or (of course) a treasure map). And his brain would spring forth a clean piece of grey matter from some deep and dark and assumedly-forgotten place just in time to wrap itself around the memory and bring it into his vault of conscience.
So, Allister did not need to be afraid of random knowledge or trivia. Instead, he put faith in his brain to know its own limits and gave his parachute to some wandering pilot.
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