Gingko What?

In an effort to re-enter the blog world with regularity, I have been thinking of topics to write about. Of all the topics I thought of and failed to write down, sadly and ironically this is the topic I remembered…short term memory loss. It has been pointed out to me recently by a dear friend that I seem to have problems with short term memory…I don’t remember which friend it was...which is kind of sad...because I only have two.

It was suggested that I try taking Gingko Biloba as a supplement to help with my memory. I took it under advisement and have made a few trips to the pharmacy in the past month but failed to get Gingko…I forgot to put it on the list.

In an effort to re-enter the blog world with regularity, I have been thinking of…oh wait…I already wrote that…oops.

I wrote a post earlier this year “I Think My Brain is Getting Smaller, and…Wait, What Was I Talking About…? …no wait, that was last year…oops. Anyway the context of the post was about spending my life filling my brain with entertaining trivia to the point that I have run out of room for the daily items that may need retention. I am still convinced that this lies at the core of the short term memory issue. I can remember the first phone number I ever had; I can do rapid fractional math in my head; I will remember your driver’s license number…your name…not so much. Is it short term loss, or selective…hmmm.

I don’t get out to the theatre often to see movies and although I did get out recently [in the past month…maybe two…I don’t remember] I can’t for the life of me remember the movie I saw. I remember enjoying it…I just don’t remember it. The most recent movie I have seen was a stay-at-home DVD. I saw “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. This film is an iconic cult classic that was released in 1974, and I have managed to not see it at all for 38 years. It was cute and fun, but absolutely didn’t make me want to dress in drag and stand on queue to recite the words and lyric with 500 strangers in a dark theatre. I think Tim Curry did just a little too well in drag…just saying. I like Tim Curry, but I have seen him recently on “Criminal Minds” as a serial killer…thankfully not in drag.

No, that wasn’t me going off on a tangent…I forgot the topic…oh yes, short term memory. Much like adjusting ones golf swing to compensate for a slice or hook, I have adjusted my psyche to compensate for the short term thingy. I generally start questions to others with, “I know I have probably asked this before, but…”. I usually try to jot down the response the second time.

Being a marketing and advertising consultant my work requires me to delve into social media, traditional broadcast media, statistics, analysis and strategy…that alone will fill my brain. Did you know that in traditional broadcast a single 1 hour television show consists of 28 minutes of programming and 32 minutes of advertising? The ads are a mix of 30 and 60 second spots. That means that in any given hour you will see at least 32 ads and up to 76 ads. Is your brain full?

Sorry, that seemed like I was pushing my memory issues off on you…wait…that works for me!

Humor aside – Dementia and Alzheimer’s are serious afflictions and each of us has a close friend or family member suffering them. Here are a couple of sites I will share to find out more about them.

http://www.alz.org/index.asp

http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_disease_dementia_support_caregiver.htm

Thank you for reading this post and I will be back soon…if I remember.

I’m just saying.