Note To Self | porchlight - Indiana Public Media

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Note To Self

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Postcard of Granby Street, Norfolk, Virginia

Note-to-self: At last, a subject where I can claim legitimate experience. When the printing is on just one side, I will compulsively create scrap paper and almost as compulsively write things on it that I’m hoping to remember.

My motto (which also serves as a handy excuse): Unless I write it down, it doesn’t exist. For me, there is no arrogance more shallow than my saying the sentence” “C’mon, I’m not going to forget that.”

But this particular episode will be about notes-to-self that comprise what’s already been completed. There is great satisfaction and also a fair amount of confusion that attends one’s personal memories in life. Why did I remember that specifically when it wasn’t funny, embarrassing, or even unique? Just happened one day and it somehow stuck around. Go figure. Better yet don’t even bother.

A more accurate expression of memory for most of us would probably be a collage, which encourages the scattered mind rather than trying to direct it. But sharing personal experiences with others always lends itself to words. Perhaps a note-to-self that someone else could relate to – if only for the joy of crossing things off the list you started with. For some of us, that journey from scattered to satisfied will never become familiar, and so it never really gets old.


Title, Artist, Album

Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More, Allman Brothers, Decade Of Hits

Things That I Used To Do, Guitar Slim, The Very Best Of

In My Life, Jose Feliciano, Feliciano!

I Could Write A Book, Sarah Vaughan, You’re Mine You

One Day I Walk, Bruce Cockburn, Circles In The Stream    

Changes, David Bowie, ChangesBowie

Down To Zero, Joan Armatrading, Track Record

These Are The Days, Van Morrison, Avalon Sunset

These Days, Jackson Browne, For Everyman

Remember, Nilsson, RCA Albums Collection

Remember Me, Todd Rundgren, Ballad Of Runt