Mnemotechnics

So ... if we need to remember something, how do we go about it? That's the question with which tomorrow's class will begin (after a quick introduction to Mnemosyne, and perhaps a glimpse at Robert Fludd's Memory Theater, and his literalization of what it means to have something "in the mind's eye"). I've always been a great believer in The Notebook - my unsophisticated, but tried, tested, and adored mnemotechnic of choice. These are just the ones that I scooped together on my desktop a minute or so ago: little heaps of them from the past are, of course, being gathered together and safely archived in the basement. The "to do" elements are neatly out of focus here, lest anyone spies their name 0n the "write - " list, and wonders why they haven't yet heard from me. For putting something on a "to do" list is small guarantee that it will actually happen - but it is, when settled there on the page, more likely to nibble away at one's conscience. Today I find that gmail wants to prioritize my emails (so far, with some success) - but should I use the mnemotechnology of starring the email as well as logging it into the "more tasks ... to do" column? And will I remember to look at either of these? That's the problem - not writing a note of something, even in a current notebook, but remembering to consult it at all ...