Friday, October 31, 2008

Diode and Baba

It is November tomorrow, and I am far from Internet, on a very winding road which leads us towards some snow capped mountains. I shall continue my blog on my laptop and load it in later…

Thursday night was spent in a tiny cheap motel room, breathing in the fumes of wet dog as I tossed and turned, sleepless in the dark, listening to the gentle rhythm of Mysweet’s breathing.
When I am mildly manic, I only sleep 3 or 4 hours a night, and my brain has trouble shutting down. And what was I worrying about?
The American election, my children, my work, money?
No. The name of a singer.
I couldn’t remember it.
She had a bland sort of voice which had found favour with the British public, and had a couple of hits a few years ago…won some awards.
Mmm. One word. Like Duffy…but not…
I tried to think of the song titles. That might help.
Something to do with a ship sinking.
Hours passed, and finally he woke up at about 6.30.

Who was that singer? You know the bland one with a name like diode, I said, with a burst of electrical inspiration.
“Ah you mean Dido”, he said immediately, turned over and went back to sleep.

Now this would not usually have mattered too much, had I not noticed further signs of brain deterioration today. The white mountains are getting a bit closer now, the road is getting more and more extremely winding, the dog is looking very green and is panting loudly, generating a lot of bad breath. I hope that she will hold back and not be sick quite yet.

A song is playing on the radio

It’s an old version of the Bjork song zing boom (it’s oh so quiet or something)….
And I can’t remember the title.
“It sounds like that pianist from the sixties” I say…”You know the one with the little girlie voice… O god its happening again I cant remember her name…but its something like Baba diddlyblob…Her first name is like honey or baby or something?....

“You don’t mean Blossom Dearie do you?”
"Ah yes" I sigh… relieved that I won't be awake all night trying to remember.

I spend the rest of the journey wondering why my brain had filed Dido under electrical components. I was able to remember the first letter and number of syllables…but that’s all.
And how did Blossom Dearie become Baba diddlyblob?

7 comments:

Lesley said...

I know exactly what you mean!

Zhoen said...

Actually, all of those associations make sense. I bless Oogle and wiki for saving me many a lost hour of sleep for crap just like that.

I wish it were a name gone missing that had been running the hamster wheel of my mind last night, much easier to resolve.

Mike said...

My wife and I play this little game which is becoming more frequent. When searching for a particular word, we say the first thing that pops into our heads.

For example, the other day I wanted the Saran Wrap. I started to ask her to hand it to me but could not for the life of me think of the word "Saran Wrap," so I asked her instead for the ceramic tile.

This might sound crazy, but she handed me the Saran Wrap. Somehow it all works.

I think.

amy said...

It's wonderful to have someone so close to you that they can make sense of otherwise meaningless words and phrases.

looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip - hope the dog held up okay!

Ms Mac said...

I once was trying to remember the name of an actress. I didn't know how to describe her to my friend except as, "An extreme version of Marisa Tomei"

My mate said, "Debi Mazar?" and that was exactly who I was thinking of.

Anonymous said...

How? It's called stress.

Mike

Lucy said...

I really liked Dido for about five minutes and now find I have not only forgotten her name but have forgotten all about her too.

No great loss.