Wasted Space

The more useless the fact, the more likely it is to stay in my head for all eternity. A dubious blessing. For example:

1) Ulan Bator is the capital of Mongolia.

2) Dracunculus medinensis is the scientific name of the Guinea worm, which is the 'snake' wrapped around the staff in the logo of a lot of medical groups (the American Medical Association for one.) Feel free to look up why this worm is wrapped around a stick and why that image might have become a symbol of the medical profession, but I highly recommend that you not do it while you are eating. You've been warned.

3) There are four pairs of sinuses in the human head: maxillary, frontal, sphenoid and ethmoid. And I remember where all of them are.

4) A group of gnus is called an "implausibility." Not making that up. A group of peacocks is called an "ostentation," too.

As I get older, I am coming to believe that we all (or at least I) have a limited amount of brain space. Once it fills up, forget it: no more is going in. Even if what is there is left over from a Parasitology class taken in 1994 or so (see point 2 above) and will never EVER be needed again, it will not be replaced with new and actually USEFUL information. The neurons are engraved, and that's it.

That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it. Why else would I be able to remember that the forint is the currency of Hungary, but not that Thing One has soccer practice on Wednesdays??

Don't bet against me in trivia games, though.