"What are you reading?", he asked companionably, plumping up the cushion and plopping down beside me. 'I'd have thought you'd have whizzed through that simplicity thingy by now". I had known by the slight pursing of his lips as he flicked through the first issue of The Simple Things that it didn't quite meet his high standards for magazine content.
"Nope, I'm snuggling up with The New Scientist" I replied. "Reading these back copies on how we make and retrieve memories. Really interesting."
"Right", he replied carefully. Nonplussedness hung in the air. "Your brain is like a wardrobe", I enthused. "Anything you put in gets stored in multiple categories. So your memory of that engraved paper weight for long service they gave you last week goes into a drawer for crystal things, a shelf called "work", a section marked "things with my name on", a hanger for paper weights ...."
"I don't see how paper weights on hangers would work", he interrupted dubiously. I sighed. "OK, forget the hangers", I said. "The point is that the brain is so clever in its multi-linking and layering that if you stored your paper weight on the crystal shelf, it could find it again for you if you went to feeling-appreciated-at-work drawer. You see ... " (I was on a roll) "... the richer your awareness and the more all your senses are involved at the time of the experience, the more effectively the memory is stored. Isn't that interesting?" "Ye-e-s" he replied, easing himself off the sofa. "But actually, I came to ask you if you'd seen where I'd left the car keys." And off he oozed.
Clearly there's a market for a chocolate key ring fob that you can nibble as you set your keys down. But I'm hoping you see the relevance for scrapbooking a moment.
And the slightly maligned pages of The Simple Things did at least provide an idea for a page layout. :) See you Wednesday!
