Anyone who knows me would agree I have a pretty good memory, particularly a head for trivia and minutiae. But I have my blind spots, and they seem more stark because of the company I keep. Poke around on the quizbowl-related blog links at left. You'll see a lot about past game and sports experiences. Myself, though, I'm particularly bad about details of non-artistic events I've attended. A sports highlight of my life was going to two ALCS games, and I could tell you more about skipping school to wait in line for tickets than I could about either game. I only know Jack Morris was one of the opposing pitchers because we chanted his name for 3 hours. Curling? I almost got eight-ended twice this season, but I couldn't relate the details to you. Then there's quizbowl, where I do take notes during matches, but there's still little recall about a game that's all recall.

And then this extends to poker. I played in the weekly not-for-cash game at lunch today, and forgot all about it by mid-afternoon. Because I don't retain anything about my hand I wonder if I'm doomed to mediocrity, since I'm not analyzing my play and looking to improve it. On the other hand, I'm never going to bend your ear with tales of bad beats. So thank goodness for small favors.