Memory, and Joe Brainard's "I Remember": a guest blog by Blair Roddan

My brother, Brooks Roddan, and I talk often as most brothers do. Our conversations cover a multitude of topics.

Recently, I was telling him how I was logging all, or at least most, remembrances in my life, from the time when I was a little kid to things that happened just yesterday.

I like to think that the brain is the most comprehensive computer of all time. This magnificient organ, that each one of us has, keeps providing us with more memory. It's true that with a computer you can add more memory for more storage space, but the human brain seems to have unlimited capacity.

After relating to my brother about the memories I was logging, I received a book in the mail from him the following week. Come to find out that he was going through his bookshelves and found "I Remember" by Joe Brainard. It's a simple and direct little book, with entries sometimes as modest as a short sentence, about what Joe Brainard, the individual, remembered. We all have our individual secrets, and Joe revealed his completely!

There are so many types of memories. Places, relationships, family, travel, emotions--and thoughts and feelings you used to have but don't have now. The list is endless. If one were seriously anal, one would categorize them. I'm not that organized. I get that feeling that Joe Brainard did as I am doing, jotting his memories down as they came to mind. The idea also came to me that maybe Joe thought he was actually writing a book about the brain, and how it works vis-a-vis memory; after all his last name is Brainard.

I'm continuing to add items to my remembrances, trying to be as honest as Joe Brainard was in his book. I still wrestle with some memories and whether or not I should write them down. When I come to the point of printing them out or emailing them to someone, part of my hope is that they too can dig deep enough into their own brains to reach memories of their own.

Before I sign off, I have to share a memory that just popped into my head. When I was learning to write I was taught to indent when starting a new paragraph. We don't seem to do that anymore. Now we just double space.

Blair Roddan is a young 65 casino dealer who is leading a wonderful life with his wife of almost 35 years in Las Vegas, Nevada. He enjoys remembering the past, and has an interest in vintage automobiles.