Thursday, December 23, 2010

Reason Number 666: Pnumonic Dervish

When I was in eighth grade, I employed a Third Eye Blind song* as a mnemonic device for remembering the polyatomic ions. It still winds its way into my head sometimes. Like today, I'm googling for ways to clean the insides of my shearling clog boots, the general consensus being sodium bicarbonate, which is actually a chemical compound, but bicarbonate is a polyatomic ion, at least it was according to Third Eye Blind, who also reminded us, please, to step away from that ledge. It sucks I don't actually know a damn thing about chemistry, but I do remember strings of words like crazy.

Especially song lyrics.

Incidentally, I always forget how to drive, but then my terrible driving skills haunt me when no one's around my mom's house and I NEED to drive to the Dunwoody Cobbler to have some shoes repaired, or purchase a large cup of highly-caffeinated coffee without killing myself and everyone in the process.

Embarrassing fact: I didn't realize exactly how to cut, copy, paste by keyboard until two days ago. For some reason I feel the need to admit this over the internet rather than with individual people. At least it's in the open and off my chest (cliche x 2).

Laguardia Airport has eliminated their Starbucks and replaced it with some kind of strange replica of hipstery Brooklyn coffee shops, complete with pour-over! I died a little, mostly in embarrassment over my excitement and relief that I could experience this brewing method before an overcrowded, uncomfortable flight full of crippling anxiety.

*I dare you to guess which one!!

Psst, I also used Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" to memorize the steps to the scientific method.

2 comments:

Jay Dickson said...

"Psst, I also used Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" to memorize the steps to the scientific method."

I knew about the TEB mnemonic, cause you told me about it 3 minutes after we met. But the Celine Dion one is news to me! 7 years and I finally find out about this? Sometimes I feel like I don't know you at all...

Keyboard command of the day (for a Mac): Command+tab to toggle between programs. (Command = that button next to the space bar with an apple on it)

twelve.dollar.soup said...

I feel like this is the first point in our friendship in which I feel okay with admitting to Celine Dion-inspired mnemonics. Sometimes it takes seven years to admit the most powerful truths.