How well do you remember? What do you remember?

Jeruba just told me that I clearly remember my best friend Janet: her appearance, her personality, her birthdate, and the full address where I wrote to her for at least two years after she moved away from my street when we were both eight. I remember the name of every girl in my college freshman dorm and which room each was in. I remember the names of my landlord’s six children, in order, at the house I lived in 35 years ago. I can probably still name a third of the kids in my first-grade class, even though I was never in the same class with any of them again. I can even describe the dress Virginia Lyons wore the day she got sent home from school. I don’t know why.

First grade? I think there are maybe two people I would remember from all of high school. I certainly have no idea what happened to anyone. There’s only two teachers names that I remember from grade school. I don’t remember anybody’s name for very long. I don’t even bother to pay attention when I’m introduced. My brain doesn’t work that way.

I can’t remember the names of things, either. I don’t remember the names of statistical techniques I use, or of singers or other musicians, and I don’t remember all kinds of words any more. I know what I mean and I know there’s a word for it, and thank God for dictionaries because I wouldn’t recover any of those words, otherwise. You have no idea how many times I turn to a dictionary while writing my answers here.

I do remember what things do and how things work. I may not know what to call it, but I can describe what it does, and everyone else knows what I mean, and they tell me the word. That’s about it. I barely remember events. The past is blank to me, unless I look at pictures or pick up one of the many memory objects in my possession. Maybe I’m the ultimate infogeek. I don’t bother to remember anything any more. I trust the internet to be able to retrieve it for me. Maybe I’d remember more if there were no internet. Dunno.

So what are the strengths and weaknesses (if any) of your memory? What kinds of things do you remember, and what kinds of things do you forget?