Is memorization intelligence? What is the point of memorizing random strings of numbers, unrelated words, decks of cards? Isn’t this a skill better mastered by computer?
The acquisition of knowledge involves many functions, memory being one of them. To become an intelligent person, you do not necessarily need to memorize. What you do with information is much more important.
As a young pianist, my teachers believed in the memory of muscles. That it was important to get the shape of the music in your hands, the notes in your memory at a young age. As you mature, you will be able to add experience to your performances of this repertoire.
So, I dutifully memorized my way through Preludes and Fugues by Bach, Etudes by Chopin and -
32 Beethoven Sonatas.
Why bother?
If you ask me what I have on my iPod, you would see right away I am a classically trained pianist. An unapologetically opinionated lover of piano repertoire.
I have recordings of the four Chopin Ballades by several great pianists performed live and in the studio at various points of their careers. Arturo Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Lang Lang. Bach’s Goldberg Variations by Glenn Gould, both versions. Anything by Granados performed by Alicia De Larrocha.
Obviously, it is not their prowess in memorization that is impressive. The ability to memorize is a given. The power to touch souls is something much greater.
Go ahead, impress me
You can learn some cool tricks to help you memorize all kinds of things. I, who did OK in high school for a lazy Asian kid growing up in Queens, did not have the talent for standardized testing that my brother and sister had. I had to find ways to stuff incredible amounts of – at the time, meaningless – data in my head for short periods of time. I used “memory palaces”, chunking, visual associations, all kinds of tricks and shortcuts that you will probably find in Joshua Foer’s book, Moonwalking with Einstein.
What you will be able to do is memorize poems.
That is really wonderful.
Especially if you want to impress someone on a first date.
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When I started writing Ghostmistress, I asked Sky what he liked to read and why in a post about what thirteen year olds like to read. He shrugged and said,
“I dunno. Whatever.”
He was, however, thoughtful enough to suggest that I put together a writing elective with his teacher and work with a group of kids, not him of course, to find out for myself what appeals to young readers.
Ghostmistress is the result of this journey and it is the place where close to fifty members of my Boo Crew read my weekly serial ghost story, comment, and post their own writing. We are at Week 5 and heavy into character development and figurative language. I am amazed and truly appreciative of the feedback I get from this group and I love their boldness in their thinking and their own creative writing.
We were out on the town for a night of flamenco and a Greek dinner. Seth, me and my mom. A triple date.
The American Bolero Dance Company presented a Tablao Flamenco in a packed auditorium in Astoria. Disclaimer: This group received a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts and we were invited to the performance as site auditors. My mother loves to dance and if you haven’t seen my little video of her cha cha class, here it is. She was delighted to have the chance to sit knee to knee among flamenco lovers at cafe tables to watch this passionate group of dancers. In fact, she has volunteered to do more of these performance audits.
“I could bring my dance class. They would love to see other dancers. And in Queens!”
Why Look Outside Your Own Backyard?
What did Dorothy discover at the end of the Wizard of Oz?
That’s right. There’s no place like home.
And if you live in Queens like I do, boy is that ever true. Not only is it home for me, it is home for people from over 147 different countries.
Do the math. That is 147 different types of cuisines, culture, music, art …
What a moveable feast!
Here’s What You Do
Gus and his brother Chris buy the wine and beer for Sanfords in Astoria. They have one of the most intriguing menus and drinks to go with it. You can usually find Gus holding court with local impresarios and characters in the back booth from the late afternoon to evening. When his dad, the original proprietor of the original Sanfords in its black and white photo days, is not cruising around Greece, he is also part of the character set of this very eclectic and uniquely Astoria establishment.
Check out Sanfords after work. Have a seat at the bar in the back and order a glass of Tres Picos. That’s what Gus put in my hands the last time we were there.
Delicioso!
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I’m not sure what happened but I really thought I had embedded this video in yesterday’s post. This is Rockaway in all of its wintry windswept splendor – the setting for Ghostmistress, my online writing project for thirteen year old writers.
Anyway, here it is.
Enjoy!
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Thirty twelve and thirteen year old kids said yes to my question and are now members of my Boo Crew. Every week I post a new scene from my ghost story, Ghostmistress, and they comment, respond to my challenge questions and post their own stories on Ghostmistress.com.
Why Six Words?
This is a fabulous way to get to the most important words of your story. I challenged them to read the story I posted in Week 2 called The Strange Incident at the Hotel Mystique and distill it down to six words.
I gave them a few examples:
Unsolved mystery and tea in diner
Ghostmistress drinks tea and plots revenge
And here are a few gems from my Boo Crew:
Spooky hotel, death… and scrambled eggs
Death on a bun is filling
Murder, mystery and revenge for Ghostmistress
Suspicious, malicious and oh so vicious
Murder with a side of tea
Do you know what you can do with a six word ghost story?
When you are in the elevator with a Hollywood movie producer you can turn to him or her and say, ” Have I got a movie idea for you. Here it is – “.
As you are waiting at the bar for a drink, you can smile at the publisher fumbling with his or her cell phone and wineglass and say, ”Oh, let me help you with all that. By the way, you look like someone who enjoys ghost stories. I have one you will love – ”
At the launch of your wildly successful book tour, the crowd presses against the table you are seated at signing copies of your book and you have run out of books but never fear, your assistant hurtles through the store clutching a box to his chest and lands at your feet with the grace of a linebacker landing in the endzone. You rip open the box and triumphantly hold up what your clamoring fans are reaching for.
A sexy black T shirt that says,
“I’ll have tea, gossip and mystery.”
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