Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Mnemonics of SOPA and PIPA

I have been finding "Moonwalking with Einstein" to be incredibly interesting. I went out of my way to learn the 'mind palace' thing and tried to get the list in my head that Edgar tried to make the author learn. My images are crass though and cannot be shared in polite company. Seriously, some of them are disgusting and embarrassing. Let's just say 3 elk sausages, skin colored cat suit and even Paul Newman film got pretty risque. Before class I was going to make a 'palace' for the muses, but then I discovered Wikipedia was down because of SOPA, and I got pissed and decided to incorporate Wikipedia with Clio somehow. Well, I'll try. Let's start at my grandparents house. Calliope is in the driveway fighting off a giant beaver with a meat cleaver until a wild kamikaze grizzly bear tackles the water creature and explodes himself. Calliope stands up, covered in sweat and muck, and grabs my hand. You have seen nothing yet, friend, she says. The 9 muses have taken over your grandparents' house. I run up the stairs and run into Clio, who tries to tell me what happened. She is covered in ancient texts and Wikipedia articles. Euterpe is at the door. She is singing Hakuna Matata and dressed as Pumba from Lion King--what a twerp, I think, Eutwirpe.

The first thing I see upon entering the front door is tragedy--I just realized that this may have actually become a tragic story at this point. I see Ronald McDonald dead. Melpomene stands over him in a sad clown suit and Terpsichore stands off to the side playing the duh-da-da-duh-I'm-loving-it song on her Lyre and dancing--she is playing a stupid score, a twerpiscore. Erato, well, I can come with some truly gross things for that one so maybe I'll keep it to myself. Less to say that she is atop the kitchen table as I run to the backdoor. Polyhymnia is actually in the kitchen singing Ava Maria as I notice the house is on fire. A comet had fallen in the backyard, causing the surrounding wild life to mutate. The comet is from Uranus and Urania is juggling alien monkey skulls in her hands. Finally Thalia comes out from the backyard. It was all a joke--a comedy all along. I forgot it was my birthday today and this was an elaborate set up by my friends and family. Anyway, that's my story to remember. I am still having a hard time recalling Melpomene's name and how to pronounce Terpichore, but for the most part they are there.

I was talking to a Turkish student the other day. Strangely enough when I asked him where he was from he said Adana, where they invented the Kabob. I don't know how accurate this is, but it reminded me of mnemonics because he was trying to give me a way to reference it in the future. It's like when Foer mentions in his book that remembering someone's last name is Baker is way harder than remembering they are a baker. Now when ever I think of Adana, Turkey, I will think of Kabobs. Likewise, if someone asks me where I am from I will now say: I am from Billings, where a guy got ran over by a speeding car and exploded. It actually sort of happened near where I live. I know SOPA is a big thing today and I can't help but think that name was used for a reason. SOPA is an acronym for Stop Online Piracy, but when you put it as SOPA, it sounds clean and happy. Soap is soft, feels nice, and makes me smell not stinky. And PIPA. Makes me think of Easter and candy. Though I hate peeps, still makes me smile. marshmallows, pink and light blue, eggs, little baby chicks--PIPA (Protect IP Act). awwwwwwwwwwwwww. Now I want it to be Easter.

and one more thing: Simonides=Simon Says?

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