QOTD: "I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house." - Zsa Zsa Gabor
Reading: R.D. Rosen, Strike Three You're Dead
Listening to: Pierre Bensusan and Didier Malherbe, Live in Paris
Decluttering accomplishments: I made a major dent in the stack of papers on the living room floor, though there are still more to go through
Shameless Self-promotion Department: Come to Tellebration in Long Beach! At the El Dorado Nature Center on 17 November at 8 p.m.. Send me email for more info.
I often jot down notes to myself of things I want to remember. The difficulty is remembering what the notes mean when I look at them days or weeks or months later. In tackling the pile of papers in my living room, for example, I found a piece of note paper on which I can decipher only some of my intent. At the top, I wrote down the dates of a conference I knew Robert would be at. That's logical enough, as I obviously needed to figure out when I could see him. As it happens, I'll see him the next week, because it's easier to manage when I have a Friday off and because I feel semi-obliged to go to a retirement party for one of the civil servants on my program.
Below that I wrote the word "noumenal." That was an easy note to decipher. I meant to look up an unfamiliar word I ran across in something I was reading. It turns out to refer to something being independent of its perception by the senses. Of course, I no longer remember what I was reading that caused me to look it up.
Then there's a URL - www.uj.edu. Obviously, I meant to find out something about some sort of event at the University of Judaism. Hold on - let me look now. There's a good rant about web design I could write based on this. (Their site is pretty much unreadable via anything other than the hated Internet Explorer and they don't put critical information in easily accessible places. I should not have to scroll through three pages to find the date of an event.) I suspect I wanted to look up info on their public lecture series, but they don't sell individual tickets and some of the dates conflict with other things in my life. Ah - there it is. I was contemplating going to a musical that's playing on their campus, but it's gotten lousy reviews so i opted not to. On the other hand, Stand Up Opera sounds like it could be fun and it would be very nice if they actually gave me enough info that I could buy a ticket. Since they don't even tell you what time the shows are, I suppose that is too much to ask. (I will also note that the web page for B. J. Ward's Stand Up Opera is also unhelpful, as the "upcoming performances" are half a year ago. This is not any way to encourage people to come to shows.)
Frustrated as I may be in tying up my schedule any further, the next scribble consists of the numbers "6.24 7-11." That's also fairly straightforward. I bought a newspaper, a six-pack of soda and a couple of lottery tickets at the local 7-11 for six dollars and twenty-four cents. However, there is another string of figures on the back of the paper that has me mystified. If you happen to know the significance of 3F13-0110-3133, let me know. My best guess right now is that I scribbled on paper that had already been used to let my secretary know I needed a copy of something and that it's from something like a copying order.
Then there's "Math Law Office." That's a business name I noticed in an ad. I was quite disappointed that it referred to an attorney whose last name happens to be Law. I had hoped to be able to rescind a few inconvenient theorems or at least inquire into some of the greater unproven ones.
At the bottom of the page, I have a note that says "no knock knock jokes." Now, I haven't told a knock knock joke in a good 25 years. (In fact, that's part of what made them good years.) I am completely mystified as to why I should have written a note to myself about that. Had it said "no atrocious puns" I could take it as the start of a self-improvement program.
The least mysterious note I ran across in my cleaning blitz was a large sheet of looseleaf paper with the following list:
It will be a while, though, before I can take off anywhere near that long again. I did have my performance review this week (very positive, overall) and told Milo that I have a couple of applications out for other jobs. I also mentioned that if I didn't transfer, I will probably want to take three months off towards the end of next year. He said he'd protect my job, so it may be time to start planning.
Copyright 2001 Miriam H. Nadel