I guess my response is that part of life is remembering the "unimportant things." Those are the things that often times really impress people when you're able to recall them. It seems like this quality in you explains why you do so well in your career - dealing with so many people and so many details all at the same time.

I cannot, for the life of me, remember the date of my best friend's birthday. (Finally, in our 11th--and that is not an exaggeration--I was able to get the month right. February and March are easily confused after all!) However, during my last semester of college during my very last literature class, I had to read Robinson Crusoe, the godforsaken classic that poor Annie had spent the majority of seventh grade determinedly trying to struggle through. So, as I struggled to wade through it in one week nine years later, I called Annie, and asked if she'd like to burn her copy when I burned mine at the end of the semester. She laughed hysterically and said, "How do *you* remember that?! I had completely forgotten about that!" Maybe that will get me out of trouble when I forget to send a birthday card next year?

P.S. I just got my new issue of Real Simple... (I had to have my old roommate in Chicago pick it up and send it on to my new location in Atlanta!)... I must say that Baby is just the cutest little guy--what a sweetheart! (You look fabulous too, as always!)

I think you've got it entirely wrong. Or entirely right, depending on how you look at it.

Everything that you listed as things you should know are entirely generic things, unspecific to your life. Every single one of them could be easily googled if the need arose. You don't know them because they don't matter to you. You just think you should know them because we think smarty, savvy people (and you're a smart, savvy person) would know all of those things. You think you should know them because you're embarrassed that you don't.

The truth is, there are a million important things in this world that matter, that are important. It's impossible for even the smart and savvy to know all of them.

So, why I think you have everything right, even as you beat yourself over it:

On Friday, you reminded a friend that it was not necessary to meet some "ideal" host standard-- he did important work. You noticed (and remember!) what plants he chose to put in his backyard. When something came up and you didn't know as much as you wanted to about it, you remembered to later research it. (Asking husbands qualifies as research.)

On Saturday, you accomplished a major task (basement and garage!) and while I'm pretty sure it didn't matter once that you couldn't remember the Pope's name (and give yourself a break, he changed it when he became Pope), remembering that his visit was snarling up traffic is probably what allowed you to remember traffic would be bad the next day...

On Sunday, your entirely unimportant thing from the day before saved you and your family from an utter disaster of a day, so that you instead could have a fun afternoon. You certainly provided Eamon with an excellent day, because I'm sure if you were paying close enough attention to details to note his orthodontia, you were paying close enough attention to ensure he had a good time.

Yes, it is good to be well-informed. But we shouldn't strive to be generic encyclopedias of knowledge--even important knowledge. We should strive to notice and remember the details of our utterly unique existence-- and you've got that down.

I had to laugh at this post. My friends (who I've known since elementary and high school) say I have a scary memory for all the crazy things that happened to us twenty five + years ago. For example, I remember that one of my friends was wearing rose colored corduroys when I met her in girl scouts. Now keep in mind this was 1976 and I was 10. ( But I loved those pants and really wanted my mom to get a pair for me. ) When it comes to geography and politics, I draw a blank. I also draw a blank about what I was supposed to pick up at the store. Kristen, don't feel bad about the Pope. When he was in D.C. last week my husband left his office at lunch to see the procession to the White House. I was telling my seven year old about it and couldn't remember the Pope's name. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't go to a Catholic School. I can imagine the next day him showing a photo to his class and telling them that his mom couldn't think of the Pope's name.

You are lucky that everything doesn't "stick". You probably couldn't concentrate if every thing "stuck". I think it's especially nice when someone reminds you of something you did or said (long forgotten) that made an impression on them in the past. Most of us are moving at warp speed and don't expect gems to fall from our mouths, but apparently they do sometimes!

justanote and I have the same mindset on this. It's the small things that make our lives so good and make for such great memories (like those rose colored courdoroys, Colleen!) The things we really need to know we'll remember - or at least know where to find that info. Enjoy knowing a lily of the valley when you see one, Kristin and don't stress about the rest!

Yellow Iris

The pope's name is Benedict - at least that's the name he took when he became Pope. What number he has after it, I have no idea. I? II? IV? Who knows? The PA primary is today, and I have to go vote after work, where I'm sure to see all my neighbors in line!

I can remember how many cups there are in a quart (4), how many teaspoons equal a tablespoon (3), but can I remember anyone's wedding anniversary other than my own? Even if I attended the wedding, or was IN the wedding? No!

I don't know the names of all the kids in my daughter's class, but I can identify everyone in a birthday party picture from my sixth birthday. Go figure.

Yeah,...what justanote said. Now, where did I put my car keys?...I have what I call a "key disfunction." Once, for 20 minutes, I didn't know where any of the seven (yes, seven) copies of my keys were. I once got a set mailed to me from a grocery store (it had my home information on the store card on my keys), because I had used the extra set in my pocket and didn't even realize I had left a set in the store. Left a set in Mexico in a restaurant. The kids always look in the refrigerator for me. Other door in the car (yep, while driving). I could go on. But I won't.

Cathy, if it makes you feel any better, we once had a set of keys missing for about two weeks and then found them, a bit worse for the wear, *in our driveway.* Luckily no unscrupulous car thief found them first. Justanote, that is an interesting way to look at it. It is true that the things I remember are mostly about people (sometimes very small, seemingly dumb details), and the things I tend to forget are about things/events/foreign countries. I could not for the life of me, however, remember my senior prom committee, as Lauralou can.

Figuring out what's important is a big part of growing up. I agree with Justanote, Yellow Iris and Cathy I. My purse goes on a hook right inside the closet door (It helps that it's bright pink.) and my keys (on an orange spiral bracelet) go in a basket right by the phone. That said, I too am truly appalled at the junk that can tumble out of my brain.

BTW: the correct answer is: Pope Benedict the sixteenth, or, in Roman numerals: Benedict XVI.

Kristin, I've been reading your blog for quite some time, and you are always complaining or bragging about your stupidity. Why, as a editor of a national, well-known publication would you admit that you don't know the pope's name, where a Montenegro is, and when the Pennsylvania primaries are? Yes, you shouldn't be expected to know everything, and nor does anyone, but there are some things, especially as a somewhat public figure, you should not admit to not knowing. It seems like you are dumbing yourself down to in your blog... Again, no hard feelings, but I look at Real Simple and then I read your blog and can hardly believe that two have any correlation.

I am a list maker, and yes, I forget the list 9 out of 10 times. However, I can tell you all my telephone numbers from every house I have ever lived in. Now, that is important information to keep floating around in my head! My long term memory is securely intact- it's that short term, day-to-day stuff that is so fleeting. I am thrilled to see I am not alone!

A girl in the world, thanks for your observation (and for reading), but I just don't see this the way you do. My ambition in this blog is to show the chaotic underbelly of daily life, working full time and raising three kids, and sometimes things just fall through the cracks--some funny, some not. Some important, some not. I love nothing more than getting comments from readers who can relate to some of the nonsensical things that happen to all of us (like Cathy leaving her keys in a restaurant in Mexico!). For better or worse, that's who I am, and if I pretended to be a person who always remembered where Montenegro was, then that wouldn't be true. I guess my point is that you *can* be smart and successful and still not know anything about Montenegro. Anyway, thanks for your comment--that's just the way I see it.

Oh, how I sympathize with you. the phrase I typically use is that my brain is " an overflowing font of totally useless information." My husband and friends seem to enjoy it though....they know who to call when they can't remember who sings "Radar Love" (it was Golden Earring). And I have to admit that It was the greatest compliment when my son recently told me I should be on that karaoke game show because "you know the words to every song Mama." but I can't remember to get milk from the grocery store when that was the main reason I stopped there on the way home from work!

Associating things together in groups helps. If I need milk, eggs, apples, and bananas at the store, I try to picture a chicken on a cow and a monkey holding an apple and a banana. Some people are visual, and seeing it in their mind helps.

NAMES are the worst. I have to think of a song, like "Sweet Caroline" and associate it with that person (my name is Caroline - an uncommon one - and I always appreciate when someone sings the song to me!) :)

Or if Jose has a big nose, then it just makes it really easy. :)

Oh! Also, put some of the responsibility on your kids to remember. If they want something cleaned for Thursday, it has to be in the hamper by Tuesday, etc. "Hey Ma, don't forget tomorrow I'm sleeping over at Stephie's," etc. Their young little sponge minds can keep you on track.

Whew! I'm so glad I'm not the only one whose brain is wired for a rousing game of Trivial Pursuits! I always said if I could get a degree in Trivial Pursuits in college, I would be all set - you know, a little bit of everything and a way to turn remembering useless stuff into an asset! I can still remember exactly what my best friend and I wore on a specific trip to the mall when we were in junior high, the theme song to every prom I ever attended and the year (there were several), and can still recite Hamlet's soliliquy. My friends are constantly asking me to remember ridiculous details from years ago and I can usually do it. But can I remember what I got my husband for Valentine's Day this year? Nope. Can I remember to take something to work with me that I need tomorrow morning? Probably not! But should you ever need to know that Hershey quit making their 5-cent chocolate bars in 1969 - I'm your woman! ha-ha-ha!

My memory affliction is the complete opposite. I remember that cone snails can paralyze you wihle diving in Singapore and that they use them to make new non-addictive pain killers. But I can't remember the name of my very good friend that I lunched with last Wednesday or where we went. The brain is a very mysterious thing!

My husband calls this selective memory. He said I only remember what I want to remember.
Not until recently that my dearest and closest cousin corrected me when her birthday was. I always thought it was October 27th. NOT!!! It's the 29th!! At least I'm 2 days early in sending her birthday wishes!
Thank God there are people in my life who know exactly what I am thinking when I say things because when I blank out, they know to complete my thought!

My husband says he fell in love with me when he realized that I had an amazing recall of 80s music (I could have made a fortune on name that tune - in less than 2 beats I can name a song, the band, the lead singer, etc.) but ask me to tell you what any of the US Amendments are and I go blank - free speech? right to bare arms? I don't know which order. I've read books on it and it doesn't stick. What gives?

Hey everybody! Wow, what a rousing discussion! Thanks for the key dysfunction sympathy . BTW so far it's been mitigated by a clip I have that always hangs on my purse. We'll see.

After having read all of the above, I figure it this way:
1. If I'm smart enough to learn, I'm smart enough.
2. If I can look at my list of things to remember and can figure out what the most important thing is (usually something for my family), I can do research on what else I need to know ('cause I'm smart enough to learn).

Justanote and yellowiris were very articulate and many people expressed things I can relate to - although my cellphone is what I seem to always have trouble locating...that may be subconsciously purposeful as I am a realtor and would often like to escape the never ending phone calls. Personally, I would like to thank Kristin for reminding me that I'm pretty normal. I'm successful, intelligent and a space cadet all at the same time - and it doesn't mean I'm a fraud or that I need to be ashamed. I'm human, as is she.

It is like this article was written about me.

I was thinking this morning about a card 2 of my friends (David and Jon) gave me in the 5th grade (20+ years ago) that had Snoopy on it and said "Beagles can't be choosers." I can name every play I have done since I was 15 (nearly 50 of them) and most of the actors that were in them. But have I remembered to rent a tent for a function this summer? How often to do I have to rewash laundry I left in the machine?

Unlike, A Girl in the World, I am glad you admitted you don't know where Montenegro is or the Pope's name. It makes me feel better that I don't know those things either. I do know that Montenegro is the last name of a character on Bones and that they put out white smoke when they have chosen a pope.

Well "a girl in the world," as Socrates once said, "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." Those of us who profess to know everything are really only fooling ourselves.