Ugh, you guys, unemployment has made me dumb. If any of you have had a conversation with me in the last few months, you've no doubt noticed this. My brain is just sluggish. I spend most of Jeopardy! saying, "Oh, it's...um...I know this...it's...GAH!!!!" because I know the answer but because I spend my days talking to myself my ability to be coherent has evaporated. I blame the lack of problem solving opportunities. You know when you're at work and some guy comes in screaming about how he was over charged by one million dollars or you have to spend 3 hours on the phone because the coffee cups you ordered all have holes in them? I don't have these problems, which isn't a bad thing. It just means that I don't use my brain in those ways very often which means that I've become a little stupid.
And so I have decided that I need to fix this and have started doing things I don't normally do, like math problems. And logic problems. And memorizing poems. And learning new piano pieces. I've also started memorizing all the world capitals. (Which really doesn't make me any smarter, just a bigger nerd and truly insufferable at parties) Two weeks ago I started with Africa, then last week was Europe. Yesterday I dug into Asia, which has fewer countries but also has the -stans. You know, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, etc. So I've had to come up with creative ways to remember them all. Like, "Bishop Kek of the Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 1st Ward." Or, "There's a cash tent under Tashkent, Uzbekistan." Or my favorite, for Turkmenistan, "Turks in Ashgabat wear Oshkosh B'Gosh."
Next week is South America, which should be pretty simple ("Life is more simple in Thimphu, Bhutan"). I hope that by the time I get around to the Caribbean and all those little island nations in the south Pacific my brain will be back to fighting shape ("Go back to Baku, Azerbaijan").
(The answer to the title is Ouagadougou (pronounced wah-gah-doo-goo). "Do the watusi in your bikini in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso)
2 comments:
That is awesome. Maybe I should start memorizing something too. I spend all day talking to a 3-year-old and getting my brain sucked out of me by my baby. Sometimes, when I remember that one time I got a college degree, I just kind of laugh and take a nap. I LOVE how you remember the stans. Because I don't think I even know which ones area actually countries. There are so many more countries than there were when I took geography in 9th grade. Your new knowledge would not be wasted on me at a party.
I'm so glad you're my sister! You got me doing the ugly laugh at work again.
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