I pass long hours of surveillance by memorizing the digits of pi. There is no use whatsoever to me for these knowing these digits in their proper endless sequence other than just stretching my brain out and opening more drawers for storage. I think practicing memory skills is important, especially now, and especially while I've been experiencing a massive digital purge. But also because our brains are changing and we haven't anything near the memory and story-telling ability of generations ago.
Over the summer I developed an acute aversion to the whole concept of documenting, both written and visual, and I'm not sure where to go from here. It's not due to a lack of events or stories, but the extreme over-documentation of everything by everyone all the time. Party photos make me dizzy, Twitter makes me angry, and blogs are disgustingly self-indulgent. Facebook has ruined the photograph for me to the point where taking photos has turned into an awkward act and feels rude - I don't want to be that guy instilling panic in party guests that the photos are going to end up on Facebook. I erased completely old blogs and YouTube accounts because I didn't want possible future employers or boyfriends' ex-girlfriends to find them. It's hard to know what version of yourself you are going to want to edit in the future when our lives are being lived out online.
It felt really good at the time but now I've got a backlog of events and stories that are slipping from memory so smoothly even I barely notice it and no pictures or writing to refresh my memory. I wish I had documented the year better in some way...I just haven't yet figured out what that way is. I keep forgetting the past is happening right now and as it turns out, memorizing 103 digits of pi might help you remember grocery lists but it doesn't bring back the colours of a midsummer night quite like a photograph.
