While working at the cabin, I couldn't find my water bottle. I looked all around the cabin and a couple of workspots around it. When I asked my wife if she had seen it, she pointed right at the bottle at another workspot, where I had been working most recently. I immediately said "Tankspridd" which is Swedish for absent-minded.
Although I read a Swedish book or newspaper now and then and listen to a Swedish radio podcast, I haven't really used Swedish as a daily language since we lived in Sweden 1970-1974. I think I've thought of the word "tankspridd" now and then, mostly in my own head. Still, it was a bit startling that an older memory popped out while I had to dig for a more recent memory.
While double checking my translation, I came across Tankspriddas Riksförbund (National Association of the Absent-Minded). http://tankspridd.se/~/ According to this site, 99% of us are absent-minded.
Oh, yes! Forget about the stereotype of the "dour Swede". The Swedes have a very good sense of humor and tell lots of jokes and funny stories.
Showing posts with label remembering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label remembering. Show all posts
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Sunday, March 03, 2013
Wrong person, wrong street, but right broadcast
After I posted "Remember where you were when you heard…" I started thinking about the Wikipedia entry on Lillian Hellman. The broadcast about the famous person's death mentioned her sister, but the Wikipedia entry on Lillian Hellman didn't mention a sister. Then I realized I was thinking about Lillian Gish. Then I started to rethink my location when I heard the broadcast. The Crystal Post Office was not on 42nd Street but Bass Lake Road east of Broadway.
But my short-term memory is failing me more and more. This morning I could think of the first names of a couple we sat with at a church dinner last night but I couldn't remember their last name. And we've known them for years. I won't go into the details, but a mundane set of unrelated observations set up the link in my head to their last names.
But my short-term memory is failing me more and more. This morning I could think of the first names of a couple we sat with at a church dinner last night but I couldn't remember their last name. And we've known them for years. I won't go into the details, but a mundane set of unrelated observations set up the link in my head to their last names.
Friday, March 01, 2013
Remember where you were when you heard…
Tonight we watched "Julia" with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, a tight, engrossing movie about Lillian Hellman and her friend Julia. I won't get into the veracity of the story, but I would like to mention my own personal incident concerning Lillian Hellman. At the conclusion of the movie, I remembered where I was when I heard that she had died!
In the summer of 1984 I was driving on 42nd St. in Crystal, Minnesota when I heard a tribute to her on Minnesota Public Radio. I was a block west of the Post Office.
I also remember where I was when I heard Jack Kennedy was shot, Walt Disney died, Marshall Dodge the Maine storyteller died, about 9/11, and 54 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange the day before.
BTW, what is your name again?
In the summer of 1984 I was driving on 42nd St. in Crystal, Minnesota when I heard a tribute to her on Minnesota Public Radio. I was a block west of the Post Office.
I also remember where I was when I heard Jack Kennedy was shot, Walt Disney died, Marshall Dodge the Maine storyteller died, about 9/11, and 54 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange the day before.
BTW, what is your name again?
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