right hand pointing

15: Remembering Lothar and the Hand People

 

Lothar and the Hand People

I have a good bit of trouble with my memory. I'm middle-aged, this is Century 21, and so memory problems that probably ought to be thought of as absent-mindedness now tend to cause my generation to worry about Alzheimer's. On the other hand, some of my memory issues tend to be, I think, just how my head is wired. I have, for example, poor "memory for events." It's a weird thing. I can recall that the obscure 1960's band that was among the early users of synthesizers was called "Lothar and the Hand People." I remember that home plate in major league baseball is 17 inches wide. But, I couldn't tell my wife if I went to the bank, say, two days ago or more like two weeks ago. ( I THINK I went to the bank.)

I felt empathy for the guy in "Memento" who couldn't remember anything past the last few minutes. Just about the ONLY thing I have in common with George W. Bush is that we both feel somewhat sympathetic for Atty General Albert Gonzales, who kept saying "I can't recall" during his congressional testimony. Most of the time I think political people are just going slimy when they do that. Gonzales, I suspect, really couldn't remember. His questioners seemed dumbfounded that he couldn't remember much about a meeting last November. I'm like, ARE YOU KIDDING?? I can't remember a meeting I had last week!
 

U.S. Attorney General Albert Gonzales

Tonight I can't find a check I got in the mail. I probably did something with it. I don't remember what. This memory is worth $125.

So, we go through our lives. LIke the chip in our digital cameras, we have a finite amount of storage. The data flows in, some sticks, some passes on through. Psychology and other even more mysterious processes influence what we keep and what we dump. Digital storage, however, is getting so vast, and so cheap, that people are already wondering if we're going to see the day that we record our entire lives.

Something about this issue reminded me of memory. I can't remember what.

Speaking of this issue, I'm delighted again by the work we're presenting. Most of these authors are appearing in RHP for the first time and we hope we'll see their work again. We have writers who have never published before, along with some who are widely published and a couple of poet laureates. Good, then.

And, I have this good news. Starting with our next issue, the fiction desk will be manned by F. John Sharp. Thanks to John for agreeing to be our fiction editor. He's already reading up a storm.

Enjoy the issue.


Dale