ABallantineBookPublishedbyTheRandomHousePublishingGroupCopyright©1974byHarryLorayneandJerryLucasAllrightsreserved.

PublishedintheUnitedStatesbyBallantineBooks,animprintofTheRandomHousePublishingGroup,adivisionofRandomHouse,Inc.,NewYork,anddistributedinCanadabyRandomHouseofCanadaLimited,Toronto.

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eISBN:978-0-307-81406-7

v3.1

Praisefor

TheMemoryBook

“Amostunusualbookaboutmemorytraining…absorbingmaterialtopracticeanduse.”

—LosAngelesTimes

“Will enable you to remember anything from long-digit numbers towhereyouleftyourcarkeys.”

—NashvilleBanner

“It’seasy,it’sfun…itworks.”—TheColumbusDispatch

Contents

CoverTitlePageCopyright

FOREWORD:JerryLucasFOREWORD:HarryLorayne1SomeHistoryoftheArt2IntheFirstPlace:Association3TheLink4SubstituteWords5LongWords,AppointmentsandErrands,ShoppingLists6Speeches7ForeignandEnglishVocabulary8NamesandFaces9Absentmindedness10Long-DigitNumbers11ThePeg12StyleNumbers,Prices,TelephoneNumbers13PlayingCards14WeeklyAppointments;DaysoftheWeek15Anniversaries,theZodiac,HistoricalDates16TheAlphabetandPicturingLetters17StartYourChildren18Sports19TheStockMarket20Politics21TheArts22MusicforBeginners

23Reading24TheMemoryGraph25Potpourri26Look,I’maGenius27Finally

DedicationOtherBooksbyThisAuthor

FOREWORD:JERRYLUCAS

Asachild, Ihadapeculiarlybusymind. Icanneverrememberatimewhenmymindwasn’t occupiedwith some sort of activity,whether itwas communicating directly with someone else, or being activelyinvolvedwithamentalgameofmyowninvention.BythetimeIwaseightyearsold,Ihadsomuchnervousenergythatit

was hard forme to sit still. On lengthy automobile tripsmy constantfidgeting, tapping, and so on got onmy parents’ nerves. It got to thepoint where I became used to requests from them to “calm down alittle.”Just after one such request, I remember looking at an oil company

billboard and saying to myself, “What would ‘SHELL’ look like if theletterswerearrangedinalphabeticalorder?”Imentallyrearrangeditto“EHLLS,” and Iwashooked.Ever since then, Ihavememorizedwordsalphabeticallyaswellasnormally.Thankstothismentalhabit,Icouldspellamazinglywellasachild.If

youcanrearrangeawordinstantlyandspellitinalphabeticalorder,youknowthatwordverywell.Togivesomeexamples:CATbecomesACT,MEMORY becomes EMMORY, JERRY LUCAS becomes EJRRY ACLSU,and HARRY LORAYNE becomes AHRRY AELNORY! Once I’vealphabetizedaword,Icanrememberitinthatform—whenyoureadthechapter on how to remember English and foreign vocabulary, you’llunderstandhowIdothis.Iapplythesamesystem,sinceanalphabetizedwordislikeaforeignword.I soon followed this alphabetical spelling game with various other

kindsofmentalgames.Youmight think Iwasabitcrazy if I took thetime to explain all of them, so I won’t, but they did require a lot ofcounting,cataloging,andrecallonthepartofaveryyoungboy.As I grew older, my mental games and activities became more

complex.Ibegantodevelopsimplememorysystemstohelpmewithmy

studies in school. Tome, schoolwork always seemed to be at least 90percent memory work, and I wanted to make it easier and less time-consumingformyself.Thesesystemsworked,andIbegantoexpandandsophisticate them. They worked well for me throughout junior highschoolandhighschool,whereIwaspracticallyastraight-Astudent.Iwouldliketoimpressuponyouthatallofthismentalactivitywasofaprivatenature.NolivinghumanbeingknewthatIhadtheability,forexample,toalphabetizeanywordfasterthanmostpeoplecouldspellitnormally,nordidanyoneknowhow involved Iwaswithothermentalactivitiesandmemorysystems.AnimportantchangetookplacewhenIenteredcollege.IreadoneofHarryLorayne’sbooks andusedmanyofhis systemsor ideas in areaswhereIthoughthiswerebetter,orsimpler,oreasiertoapply;othersIadaptedtomyown.Hebecamesomethingofanidoltome,andIwassoon to find out how the combination of his systems andminewouldhelpmeinmycollegestudies.MyroommateatOhioStateUniversityduringmyfreshmanyearwasJohn Havlicek, the great professional basketball star of the BostonCeltics.Johnbecamethe firstperson toknowaboutall the things thatwentoninmymind.Myfirstcollegeclasswastraumatic.Ienteredtheclassroomandsatinthebackrow,knowingotherstudentswouldbeunable toseeovermysix-foot-eightframe.ItwasanAmericanhistoryclass.Theprofessorspentaboutfifteenminutestellinguswhatheexpectedofusandhowtheclasswouldbeconducted.Hislaststatementbeforeheexcuseduswassomethingtotheeffectthat“Anyathletewhoexpectstobeinmyclass,sit inthebackrow,donothing,andgetgoodgradesissadlymistaken.Youareexcused.”I told John Havlicek what had happened and shared with him mydetermination to use memory systems to my best advantage in thisparticularclass.“Whatsystems?”heaskedme,anditallbegantoflowoutforthefirsttime.ItoldJohnhowIhadbeguntospellalphabeticallyasachildandIdemonstrateditforhim.Hecouldn’treallybelievewhathewashearing.Iexplained,asbestIcould,howmymindworkedandallthementalactivityIwasinvolvedin.I’msurehethoughtIwasalittlecrazy,buthechallengedmetospell

somewordsofhis choosingalphabetically, andwhen Idid,hewishedmewellintheuseofmysystems.AsformyAmericanhistoryclass,thesystemsworkedbeautifully.Onthefirstexam,mygradewas99;theclosestgradetominewas77.Fouryears later, I graduatedPhiBetaKappa—havingput in something likeone-fourththestudytimethatmoststudentsused.Manyyears later,afterIwastradedtotheNewYorkKnickerbockersbasketball team, I looked up Harry Lorayne. Our first meeting lastedovereighteenhours!Obviously,wehadmuchincommon,andwelaterbecameassociatedinourendeavors—includingthisbook.Itis,infact,acombinationofsomeofourideas,thoughtson,systemsof,memory.Believeme, ifyoureadaboutthesesystemsandactuallyapplythemasyougo,thereisnolimittohowgreatyourmemorycanbe.

JERRYLUCAS

FOREWORD:HARRYLORAYNE

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to receive a formaleducation. I didn’t complete the first year of high school. My grades,during that short time,were among thehighest inmy class.Whywasthisso?MyIQwasaverage,andmy“natural”memorywasnobetterorworse thanmost people’s. As amatter of fact, I originallywas one ofthosemanypeoplewhothinktheyhavetheworstmemoryintheworld.I receivedgoodgrades foronereason—Iappliedmemorysystems to

myschoolwork.It’sassimpleasthat.Jerry has told you how he got hooked on alphabetizingwords as a

child.Well,asaveryyoungboymyburninginterestwascardmagic. IsupposeIdrovemostofmyfriendsupthewall,askingthemto“pickacard,anycard.”Oneofthe“tricks”Iperformedduringthoseyearswasn’treallyatrick

at all, it was a memory stunt. It consisted of memorizing an entireshuffleddeckofplayingcards,inorder.Allthecardswerecalledofftomeonce,andIwouldknowthepositionofeverycardinthedeck!Istillperformthisstunttoday,butatthetimeitwastheonlymemorytrickIknew.Oneday,thethoughtstruck—ifIcouldapplyasimplesystemtohelp

me remember playing cards, why couldn’t I do the same to help merememberanythingIwantedto?Thatsinglesimplethoughtstartedmeonalifetimecareer.First I compiled a bibliography of all the material available on the

subject of memory training. This started me thinking about and thendevisingmyown systems.Years later, I started to perform for groups,organizations, conventions, and so on. My performance consisted ofmemory feats and demonstrations only. During these early years,literally thousands of people approached me after a performance toexpresstheirinterestinlearning“howtoremember.”

Thatiswhatledmetowritemyfirstbookonthesubject.Iteventuallysold over a million hardcover copies and was translated into ninelanguages.Otherbooksandcoursesontheartofatrainedmemoryfollowedthisfirstbook.IhavecartonsfullofthelettersIreceivedfrompeoplewhosememories improved dramatically, thanks to my systems. One of theseletterswasfromJerryLucas,thenafreshmanatOhioStateUniversity.Wecorrespondedovertheyears.Hehaddevisedsystemsofhisown,andhisinterestinthesubjectknewnobounds.Hemanipulatedsomeofmysystems,changedsomeofthemtofithispurposes,appliedthemtohisschoolwork.Icouldnothavehadabetterormorededicateddisciple.Iwentonwithmywork,Jerrywentonwithhis.Ieventuallyfoundedthe Harry Lorayne School of Memory; Jerry became a championshipbasketballplayer.Westillcorresponded.Afewyearsago,Jerrystartedtodemonstratesomeofhismentalabilitiesonnationaltelevision.Ihadbeendoingthesamethingfortwentyyears,includingrememberingthenames and faces of up to five hundred people in the studio audience.Nobody,atthattime,knewofanyconnectionbetweenJerryandmyself.When Jerry was traded to the Knicks, we finally met. That firstmeeting,asJerryhastoldyou,lastedverynearlyaroundtheclock.Evenwith our trainedmemories, Jerry and Iwouldhave beenhardputtorememberallthethingswetalkedabout.Andso,atonepoint,wedecidedtorunataperecorderaswespoke.Throughoutthebook,you’llbe reading small portions of that dialogue.Most, but not all, of theseconversationsweretakenfromthattapeofouroriginalmeeting.Thiswillsoundimmodest,butitismytruefeeling—Ienvyyou!Ienvyyouthediscoveriesyou’reabouttomake,thenewareasyou’reabouttoexplore,thepleasureoflearningandenjoyingatthesametime.IwishIwereinyourplace,rightnow.

HARRYLORAYNE

1SOMEHISTORYOFTHEART

Memorysystemsdatebacktoantiquity.Intheancientworld,atrainedmemory was of vital importance. There were no handy note-takingdevices,anditwasmemorytechniquesandsystemsthatenabledbardsandstorytellerstoremembertheirstories,poems,andsongs.Early Greek and Roman orators delivered lengthy speeches with

unfailing accuracy because they learned the speeches, thought forthought,byapplyingmemorysystems.Whattheydid,basically,wasassociateeachthoughtofaspeechtoa

part of their own homes. These were called “loci,” or “places.” Theopeningthoughtofaspeechwould,perhaps,beassociatedtothefrontdoor,thesecondthoughttothefoyer,thethirdtoapieceoffurnitureinthefoyer,andsoon.Whentheoratorwantedtorememberhisspeech,thought for thought, he actually took a mental tour through his ownhome.Thinkingof the frontdoor remindedhimof the first thoughtofhis speech. The second “place,” the foyer, reminded him of the nextthought; and soon to theendof the speech. It is from this “place”or“loci”memorytechniquethatwegetthetime-wornphrase“inthefirstplace.”AlthoughSimonides(circa500B.C.)isknownasthefatheroftheartof

trainedmemory,scrapsofparchmentdatingbackathousandyearsorsobeforeSimonidesstatethatmemorytechniqueswereanessentialpartoftheorator’sequipment.Cicerowrotethatthememoriesofthelawyersandoratorsofhistime

wereaidedbysystemsandtrainingandinDeoratorehedescribedhowhehimselfappliedmemorysystems.It’s important to realize thatoratorywasan importantcareerduring

thoseearlydays.“Weshouldneverhaverealizedhowgreatisthepower[of a trained memory],” wrote the philosopher Quintilian, “nor howdivineitis,butforthefactthatitismemorywhichhasbroughtoratory

toitspresentpositionofglory.”Theancientsalsoknewthatmemorytrainingcouldhelpthethinkingprocess itself. From a fragment dated about 400 B.C. we learn that “Agreatandbeautifulinventionismemory,alwaysusefulbothforlearningand for life.” And Aristotle, after praising memory systems, said that“thesehabitstoowillmakeamanreadierinreasoning.”IfSimonideswastheinventoroftheartoftrainedmemory,andCiceroitsgreatestearlyteacher,St.ThomasAquinaswastobecomeitspatronsaint, instrumental in making the art of trainedmemory a devotionalandethicalart.During theMiddle Ages,monks and philosopherswere virtually theonly people who knew about and applied trained-memory techniques.The systems, whose use wasmostly limited to religion, were basic tosome religions. For example,memory systemswere used tomemorizeVirtues and Vices, and some priests and philosophers taught thatmemorysystemsshowed“howtoreachHeavenandavoidHell.”In1491,PeterofRavennawroteThePhoenix,whichbecamethebestknownofallearlymemory-trainingbooksandbroughttheartoftrainedmemory out into the lay world. During the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies,manyotherbookswerewrittenonthesubject.KingFrancisIofFranceusedmemorysystems,asdidEngland’sHenryIII.Shakespeareisheldtohaveusedtrained-memorysystems—hisGlobeTheater was called the “memory theater.” Philosophers of theseventeenthcentury taughtmemory systems (FrancisBaconhasone inhis book The Advancement of Learning), and some scholars insist thatLeibniz invented calculus while searching for a memory system thatwouldaidinmemorizingnumbers.So you see, there’s nothing really new about trained-memorytechniques.Unfortunately, the techniques fell intodisuse for centuries.Somepeoplewhodidpracticethemwereactuallyregardedaswitches.It’s true that memory systems remained in use as a source ofentertainment for others—in our own century, vaudeville players usedmemory systems to perform “mental tricks” onstage—but they wereseldomifeverusedforpracticalpurposesorseriouslearning.Hereandthere someone would try to bring the systems to the fore again, butwithoutsuccess.Inabook titledMemory,WilliamStokes, aphilosopher andmemory

teacherofthe1800’s,summarizesthedegreeofpublicinterestintheartoftrainedmemory:It is true … that notwithstanding the records of the past and theachievements,triumphs,andtrophiesofthepresent,the“educated,”theintelligentmasses—theworld—knownotandseemnottocaretoknowits wondrous worth. The adoption of the science by a few paltrythousands cannot be regarded as anything when we consider thecountlessmyriadspeoplingtheearth—whenwerealizethefactthatitisas essential to the proper exercise and full development of ourintellectualexistenceasproperbreathing is toourphysicalwell-being;inspiteofallthathasbeensaidanddone,wemaysaycomparatively—almostabsolutely—thattheartisathingunknown!There can be little doubt that before long, it will be generallyrecognizedasanestablished science; andposteritywill lookback, andregard … this plea on behalf of memory … as an indication of theintellectualdarknessofthisageofboastedenlightenment.…Letushopethatthedaywillcomewhenitshallbeconsideredasgreatadisgracenottousememorysystemsasitisatpresentnottoread!Stokes’sbookwaspublishedin1888.Nearlyacenturylater,itisourpleasuretobringtheartoftrainedmemorybackintotheforeground—notonlyby teachingmemorysystems,butbybringing themtoa levelthat the ancient (and not-so-ancient) thinkers would never haveconceivedasbeingwithintherealmofpossibility.

2INTHEFIRSTPLACE:ASSOCIATION

HL: Can’t you picture those ancient orators, wandering around thestreetsofacitylookingforotherbuildingstouseas“places”?

JL:Andthesearchmadethemmoreknowledgeable,notjustbetterableto remember what they needed to. Eventually, they realized that anyinformationthatwasalreadysequentialcouldbeusedas lociorthingstoassociatewithotherthings.

HL: So when a searcher came across something like the signs of thezodiac, and realized that here he had twelve “places,” he had to learnthemfirst.Andmuchlater,somepeoplerealizedthatpartsoftheBiblecouldbeusedasplaces,sotheyhadtolearnthatfirst.

JL:Acaseofknowledgebegettingknowledge,wouldn’tyousay?

•

Allmemory,whethertrainedoruntrained, isbasedonassociation.Butthat’s stating it too simply. You will be taught many systems ofassociation in this book, but it goes much deeper than that. You see,whenpeoplesay,“Iforgot,”theydidn’t,usually—whatreallyhappenedwasthattheydidn’trememberinthefirstplace.How can you forget something that youdidn’t remember, originally?

Turnthataround,andyouhavethesolutiontoremembering—ifyoudoremembersomethingoriginally,howcanyouforgetit?Thatbringsyoutoforcingyourselftorememberoriginally.Howcanyoudo this?The simple systemsofassociationyou’ll learn

herewilldoitforyou,automatically!OneofthefundamentalsofatrainedmemoryiswhatwecallOriginal

Awareness. Anything of which you are Originally Aware cannot be

forgotten. And, applying our systems of associationwill force OriginalAwareness. Observation is essential to Original Awareness—anythingyouwishtoremembermustfirstbeobserved.Usingassociationwilltakecareofthat,too.Buthowintheworlddoyouassociatesomethingthat’sintangibleorabstract? That question leads to another fundamental of trainedmemory.Itisalwayseasiertorememberthingsthathavemeaningthanitistorememberthingsthatdonot.You’llsee,asyougetabitdeeperinto our methods, that nothing is abstract or intangible so far as thesystemsareconcerned.Youwilllearnhowtomakeanyintangiblething,anyabstractpieceofinformation,tangibleandmeaningfulinyourmind.Once you’ve mastered that simple technique, all remembering andthereforealllearningwillbeeasierforyoufortherestofyourlife.We’d like to insist right here that virtually all learning is based onmemory.Educatorsdon’t like toadmit it,but theyknow it’s true.Andanystudentknowsthatthemoreheremembers, thebettergradeshe’llgetfromtheteacherwholikestoputdown“memorization.”Webelievethat thereare threebasic learningskills:1) thesearch for information,2) remembering the information,and3)applying the information.Thesearch is up to the educators and the sources of knowledge, theapplicationisuptoyou.We’lltakecareofstep2.Let’sbeginwithassociation.Firstofall,youshouldrealizethatyou’veused association all your life. The problem is that you’ve usuallyassociatedsubconsciously,withoutrecognizingtheassociationforwhatitwas.Anythingyouclearlyassociated,evenifsubconsciously,issuretohavebeeneasilyremembered.Butsinceyouhavenocontroloveryoursubconscious, association has been a hit-or-miss kind of thing all yourlife.Here’s a basicmemory rule: You Can Remember Any New Piece ofInformation if It Is Associated to Something You Already Know orRemember.Doyourememberthelinesonthemusicstaff,thetrebleclef,E,G,B,D,andF? Ifyour teacherever toldyou to thinkof the sentenceEveryGoodBoyDoesFine, then you do remember them. Your teacher wasfollowing thatbasicmemory rule, probablywithout realizing it.Heorshewashelping you to remembernew (and abstract) information, thelettersE,G,B,D,andF,byassociatingthemtosomethingyoualready

knew,oratleastunderstood—thesimplesentenceEveryGoodBoyDoesFine.Obviously,itworked.Teachersintheearlygradeshavebeentellingtheirstudentsforyearsthatit’seasytorememberhowtospellpieceifyouthinkofthephrase“apieceofpie.”Sincemostyoungstudentsalreadyknowhowtospellpie,associating that old knowledge to the new—the spelling of “piece”—solvestheproblem.Again,thebasicrulehasbeenfollowed.VeryfewpeoplecaneasilyremembertheshapeofRussia,orGreece,oranyothercountry—except Italy, that is.That’sbecausemostpeoplehavebeentold,orhaveread,thatItalyisshapedlikeaboot.There’sthatruleagain—theshapeofabootwasthesomethingalreadyknown,andtheshapeofItalycouldnotbeforgottenoncethatassociationwasmade.Thesearecommonexamplesofassociation,subconsciousorconscious.And so it goes: medical students use mnemonics (a technique forimprovingthememory)tohelpthemselvesrememberthecranialnerves;other students picture homes on a great lake to help themselvesrememberthatthefiveGreatLakesareHuron,Ontario,Michigan,Erie,andSuperior;otherspictureaquartetbeingstabbed(stabgivesyoutheinitial letters of soprano, tenor,alto, and bass) to remember the fourvoices in a quartet. People have remembered that Mount Fujiyama is12,365feethighbyassociatingittoacalendar(12months,365daysinayear).The trouble with such examples is that they work only for thosespecific things; they’re limited. The systems of trained memory you’lllearn in thisbookareapplicable toanything.Theyare limitedonly totheextentthatyourwillingnesstousethemislimited.Thepointisthis:If you know how to consciously associate anything you want toremember to something you already know, you’ll have a trainedmemory.It’sassimpleasthat.Andyoucanlearntoassociateanythingyoulike—quicklyandnaturally.The trained-memory systems you’ll be taught in this book are notunnaturalinanyway;theymerelysystematize,orpatternize,anaturalprocess. Many times during your life you’ve heard or seen somethingthatcausedyoutosnapyourfingersandsay,“Oh,thatremindsme.…”And,usually,thethingthatremindedyouofsomethinghadnothingtodo with what it reminded you of. Somewhere back in your mind anabsurdorrandomassociationhadbeenmade.

Why,whentheoratorsofancienttimescouldusetheirownhomesas“loci”toremindthemselvesofthethoughtsofaspeech,didtheysearchforotherbuildingstogivethemmore“places”?Itwasn’tthatthesamehomeorbuildingcouldn’tbeusedoverandoveragain—itcould.(“Theloci,”saidonethinker,“arelikewaxtabletswhichremainwhenwhatiswrittenonthemhasbeeneffacedandarereadytobewrittenonagain.”)No,theproblemwasthatthe“home”locibecametoofamiliaraftera

while—afterall,astaircaseisastaircase,andafoyerisafoyer.Butanimportant memory principle simply never occurred to the ancientorators: It isn’t necessary to associate the thoughts of a speech, oranythingelse,toplaces—thethoughtsmaybeassociatedtoeachother,sothatonethoughtwillremindyouofthenextthought.ThatsimpleideaisthebasisoftheLinksystemofmemory.First,we’ll

showyouhowtouseittohelpyoumemorizetangibleitems.Lateron,whenyou’velearnedhowtopicturethoughtsorconcepts,you’llseethattheideacaneasilybeappliedtointangibles.Rightnow, let’s apply thebasicassociation rule to remembering ten

unrelated items. But we’ll change the rule, slightly, by adding oneimportant phrase. The revised rule: In Order to Remember Any NewPiece of Information, ItMustBeAssociated to SomethingYouAlreadyKnoworRememberinSomeRidiculousWay.Theadditionofthatsimplefour-word phrase accomplishes quite a few things. It will force theOriginalAwarenessthat’snecessarytorememberanything,itwillforceyoutoconcentrateanduseyourimaginationasyouneverhavebefore,anditwillforceyoutoformassociationsconsciously.Assume you wanted to memorize these ten items, in sequence:

airplane, tree, envelope, earring, bucket, sing, basketball, salami, star,nose. All right, picture an airplane in your mind. There’s no way toapplyourmemoryruleyet.Butnowwecometothenextitem:tree.The rule can now be applied, if we make the assumption that you

already know, or remember, airplane. The new piece of informationthat you want to remember is tree. All you need to do is to form aridiculouspicture,orimage,inyourmind’seye—anassociationbetweenthosetwothings.Therearetwostepsinvolved.Firstyouneedaridiculous—impossible,

crazy, illogical, absurd—picture or image to associate the two items.Whatyoudon’twantisalogicalorsensiblepicture.

Anexampleofa logicalpicturemightbe:anairplaneparkednearatree.Thoughunlikely,thatisnotridiculous,itispossible—therefore,itprobably won’t work. A ridiculous or impossible picture might be: Agigantic tree is flying insteadofanairplane,oranairplane isgrowinginsteadofatree,orairplanesaregrowingontrees,ormillionsoftrees(as passengers) are boarding airplanes. These are crazy, impossiblepictures. Now, select one of these pictures, or one you thought ofyourself,andseeitinyourmind’seye.Wedon’t,ofcourse,meantoseethewordsairplaneandtree.Youareto actually see the action you’ve selected—and most ridiculousassociations between any two itemswill be actions, like the examplesgivenhere.See thatpicture, thataction, inyourmind fora split second.You’renotdoinganythingunusual;you’vebeenseeingpicturesinyourmindallyourlife.Actually,youcan’tthinkwithoutseeingpictures.Aristotlesaidit, centuries ago—one of his books opened with this sentence: “It isimpossibleeventothinkwithoutamentalpicture.”Seeingpictures,orimages,inyourmindisalmostlikehavingamoviescreeninyourhead.Ifyoureadthewordshusband,child,car,etc.,youcannotthinkofanyofthosepeopleorthingswithout“seeing”apictureof them—even if it’s only for a split second. Try not to picture anelephant;don’tseeanelephantinyourmind.Whathappened?Itbecameimpossiblenottosee,orpicture,anelephant!Allright, then.Choosearidiculousassociationbetweenairplaneandtree,andseeitinyourmind’seye,rightnow.Once you’ve tried to do that, stop thinking about it. The “trying,”however, is quite important. We tell our students that even if oursystemsdon’twork,theymustwork!Thatsoundssilly,butit’strue.Justtryingtoapplythesystemsmustimproveyourmemory,whetherornottheyreallywork.Thefactthattheydowork,andworkbeautifully,willimproveyourmemorytoanunbelievabledegree.Thenextitemonthelistisenvelope.We’llassumethatyoualreadyknow, or remember, tree. The new thing to remember is envelope.Simply formaridiculouspicture,orassociation, inyourmindbetweentree and envelope. Youmight seemillions of envelopes growing on atree,ora tree is sealingagiganticenvelope,oryou’re trying to sealatree in an envelope. There aremany other suggestions we could give

you,butallyouneedisoneridiculouspicture.Selectoneofthese,oroneyouthoughtofyourself,andseeitinyourmind’seyeforaninstant.Youneedn’tlaboroverseeingthatpicture.Allittakesisafractionofa

second.It’stheclarityofthepicturethat’simportant,nothowlongyouseeit.Soseeit,clearly,forjustasecond.The next item to be remembered is earring. The thing you already

knowisenvelope.Formaridiculousassociationbetweenenvelopeandearring.Youmightseeyourselfwearingenvelopesinsteadofearrings,oryouopenanenvelopeandmillionsofearringsflyoutandhityouintheface.You’remuch better off, incidentally, thinking up your ownpictures.

When we suggest the ridiculous pictures, we’re taking away some ofyour Original Awareness. We’ll keep on giving you suggestions, butwhetheryouuseoursoryourown,besuretoseethepicturesclearly.Select oneof our associations between envelope and earring, or one

youthoughtofyourself,andseeitinyourmind’seye.Bucket is the new thing to remember. Associate it to earring. You

might see yourself wearing buckets instead of earrings. Or a giganticbucket is wearing gigantic earrings. See one of these pictures in yourmind.Thenextthingtorememberissing.(Thisisnotanobject,notanoun,

and it’shereonly toshowyouthat thisdoesn’tmatter—anassociationwillstill remindyouof it.)Associatesingto the last thingyoualreadyknow—bucket. If you seeagiganticbucket singing, thatwilldo it.Oryoumightseeyourselfsingingwithabucketoveryourhead.That’snotimpossible,butit’scertainlyridiculous.Justbesuretoseeyourpictureclearly.The next item is basketball. Associate that to sing. Picture a

basketballsinging.Orsomeoneissingingandmillionsofbasketballsflyoutofhismouth.Salami.Pictureagigantic salamiplayingbasketball.Orabasketball

player (Jerry Lucas, who else?) is dribbling a salami instead of abasketball.Star.Pictureagiganticsalamitwinklinginthesky.Oryou’reslicinga

star,insteadofasalami!Seethepicture.Nose.Picturesomeonewitha twinklingstaronhis face insteadofa

nose.Orastarhasalargenose.Seethatpicture.

Ifyou’vetriedtoseeallthepictures,youwillknowalltenitems.Thefirstitemistheonlyoneyoumayhavetroublewith,becauseyoudidn’tassociateittoanythingtoremindyouofit.Thiswillbestraightenedoutforyousoonenough.Ifyouknowtheitem,fine.Ifnot,itwasairplane.Try to think of the items before you read them in the paragraphs tofollow.Now,thinkofairplaneforamoment.Whatdoesthatremindyouof?Tree,ofcourse.Thinkof tree—that remindsyouof…envelope.Thinkof envelope,

which should remind you of… earring. Think of earring, and it willremindyouofbucket.Whatsillythingwasthebucketdoing?Singing,of course—and that reminds you of sing. What else was singing? Abasketball. Thinking of basketball for a moment will remind youof…salami.Salamishouldmakeyouthinkof…star.And,finally,starwillremindyouof…nose.How did you do? You should have known all of them. If you had

trouble with one or two, if you think you forgot any, it’s probablybecauseyoureadthewordherebeforeyouhadthechancetothinkofit.Youdidn’t“forget” itatall. Ifyou’reconvincedthatyoudid,thenyoudidn’t really remember it in the first place—go back to that item andstrengthenyourassociation.Thatis,besurethepictureisridiculous,and,moreimportant,besuretoreallyseeitinyourmind.Ifyoutakepaperandpencilandtry itnow,onyourown,you’ll see

thatyoucanlistthetenitems,insequence,withoutmissingany.Tryitandsee.Now,tryitbackward!Thinkofnose;thatwillmakeyouthinkof … star. Star will remind you of … salami. That reminds youof … basketball. Basketball to … sing, sing to … bucket, bucketto … earring, earring to … envelope, envelope to … tree, and treeto … airplane. Try this with your own list, and you’ll be proud ofyourself—you’ll be able to remember any list of items, in sequence,backwardandforward.

3THELINK

HL:Ofcourse,everyoneknowsthatmotivation isan importantpartofmemory. The systems themselves can actually provide enough interestandchallengetoadduptomotivation.

JL:Withoutmotivation,nobodywouldaccomplishanything.WhenIwasaseniorinhighschool,IwasnamedtotheParademagazineHighSchoolAll-American Team.Wewere brought to New York City to be on the“SteveAllenShow”alongwiththeAll-AmericanCollegeTeam,ofwhichWiltChamberlainwasamember.Duringtherehearsal,IwaswithWiltinthelobbyofthetheater,wheretherewasahighledge—itmusthavebeenabouttwelvefeethigh.SomeoneapproachedWiltandsaid,“Hey,Wilt,canyoujumpupandtouchthatledge?”Wiltsaidhethoughthe’djustforgottenhowtojump.“ButI’lltellyou

what,”hesaid,“I’llbetyouifyouthrowahundred-dollarbillupthere,I’drememberhowtojumprealquick!”

Whatyou’velearnedintheprecedingchapterisatinypartoftheLinksystem of memory.We call it the “Link” system because what you’redoingwhenyouapplyitislinkingoneitemtoanother,formingthelinksof a memory chain. One item must lead you to the next, if you’reassociatingproperly.HavingappliedtheLinksystem,youcanretainanylistforaslongas

youlike.It’sreallyhypotheticalatthemoment.WhenyoustartapplyingtheLinkforpracticalreasons,you’rememorizingalistofthingsbecauseyouintendtousethatlist.It’sthepracticalusethatsetstheretention—andprovidesthemotivationtorememberitinthefirstplace.You’llseethatthisissojustassoonasyoulearntoapplyitpractically.Although there’s no reasonwhy you should feelmotivated to retain

thelistyoumemorizedintheprecedingchapter,youcanifyouwantto.

Simply go over it tomorrow; go over itmentally, that is,while you’redrivingoreatingorwhatever.Gooveritagainthreedayslater,thengoover it a week later, and you’ll still know all the items in sequence.You’llknowthemforaslongasyouwanttoknowthem.The Link system is used to remember things in sequence only, andthere are many things that must be remembered, or learned, insequence.Aspeechisasequenceofthoughts,aformulaisasequenceofcomponents,anynumberwithmorethantwodigitsisasequence.(Youcan’tapplytheLinksystemtonumbersnowbecauseyoudon’tyetknowhow to picture numbers. Later, you’ll be using the Link to rememberlong-digitnumbers.)TheoneproblemyoumayhaveinLinking,onlyatfirst,isinmakingyourpicturesridiculous.Therearefoursimplerulestohelpyoudothisrightfromthestart.TheeasiestruletoapplyistheruleofSubstitution.That is,pictureoneitem insteadof theother. Intheprecedingchapter,wesuggestedthatyoumightseeatreeflyinginsteadofanairplane.WeweretryingtoforceyoutoapplytheruleofSubstitution.AnotherruleisOutofProportion.Trytoseetheitemslargerthanlife.Check our suggestions again and you’ll see that we used the word“gigantic”quiteoften.ThiswastoforceyoutoapplytheruleofOutofProportion.AnotherruleisExaggeration.Whenevertheword“millions”wasused,itwastoforceyoutoapplythisrule.Trytosee“millions”ofanitem.And, try to get Action into your pictures. Action is always easy toremember.Onesuggestionwastoseemillions(exaggeration)ofearringsflyingoutofanenvelopeandhittingyouintheface.Hittingyouwastheaction.Applyingoneormoreof these rules to anypicturewill help you tomake that picture ridiculous. After a short while, you won’t have tothinkaboutapplyingthem;you’lldoitautomatically.It does take some imagination to form ridiculous pictures in yourmind. It’s unfortunate that those “wheels” of imagination, observation,curiosity,enthusiasm,etc.,thatturnedsoquicklyandsmoothlywhenwewereyounghavesloweddownbythetimewe’readults.Societytendstodo that, somehow. Children never have any problem forming silly orridiculouspictures.Theydoiteasilyandnaturally.You’ll find that our systems will start turning those wheels again;

perhapsslowlyatfirst,butturningnevertheless.Yourimaginationneedsexercise,that’sall.Theimportantpointisthatsimplytryingtoapplyoursystemswillautomaticallygiveyouthatexercise.Yourimaginationmustimprove,aswillyourpowersofobservation,asyoukeepworkingwiththe systems. In a shortwhile, you’ll find that itwill be the ridiculous,illogicalpicturethatfirstcomestomindwheneveryouthinkofanytwoitems.Makingthepicturesridiculousiswhatenablesyoutoreallyseethem;alogicalpictureisusuallytoovague.Onceyoureallyseetheridiculouspicture, it does register in your mind. Research carried out by thedepartmentofbasicandvisualscienceattheSouthernCaliforniaCollegeof Optometry indicates that when you actually see something, anelectrical impulse reaches the vision center of the brain. They’ve alsodiscovered(rediscoveredscientifically,really,sinceancientphilosopherssaid the same thing) that there is not much physiological differencebetween the electrical signals that are activated by the mind’s eye andonesthatareactivatedbytheeyeitself.Sodon’tfeelbadif,atfirst,youhavetoapplysomeeffortinordertocomeupwiththoseridiculouspictures—atleast,tocomeupwiththemquickly.Thatextraeffortat first isgood. It forcesyoutobeOriginallyAware.Wecan’tsayitanybetterthanitwassaidonparchment,inthescrollscalledAdHerennium,overthreethousandyearsago:

…Nownatureherselfteachesuswhattodo.Whenweseeineverydaylife things that are petty, ordinary, and banal, we generally fail torememberthem,becausethemindisnotbeingstirredbyanythingnovelor marvelous. But if we see or hear something exceptionally base,dishonorable, unusual, great, unbelievable, or ridiculous, that we arelikelytorememberforalongtime.Accordingly,thingsimmediatetooureye or ear we commonly forget; incidents of our childhood we oftenremember best. Nor could this be so for any other reason than thatordinary thingseasily slip fromthememorywhile thestrikingand thenovelstaylongerinthemind.

Again, the idea, or the realization, is not new; it has just beenneglected, or overlooked. Be sure, then, to make all your pictures

ridiculous ones. In that way, and again fromAdHerennium, “Art willsupplement nature.” That’s exactly what happens. When somethingassaultsoursensesinanunusual,great,unbelievable,orridiculousway,it“stirs”themind.Itisusuallyretainedwithouteffort.Itistheordinary,everydaythingsthatwehavetroubleremembering.Formingridiculouspictureshelps tomake themoutstanding,novel, ormarvelous.Theart(of trainedmemory) is supplementing nature, and all our systems arebasedonthisfact.IfyoucanapplytheLinkandmemorizetenitems,thenyoucanuseit

toremembertwentyorthirtyitems.Ofcourse,itwilltakemoretimetorememberthirtyitemsthanitwilltorememberten.ButthatwouldbesowhetheryouappliedtheLinksystemornot.Thereisreallynolimittothenumberofitemsyoucanmemorizethisway.Westronglysuggestthatbeforeyoucontinuetothenextchapteryou

tryaLinkonyourown.Havesomeonegiveyoufifteenorsoitems,andyouformtheLink.Ortryitonyourown.Makealistofitems,andthenLinkthem.Afteryou’vepracticedawhile,whenyoufeelfairlyconfident,showoffforafriend.Have him call off fifteen or sixteen items, as many as you feel

comfortable with. Let him write them down as he calls them. If hedoesn’t,hewon’tbeabletocheckyoulaterbecausehewon’tremembertheitemshimself(unlesshe’sreadthisbook).Also,hiswritinggivesyouthe moment you need to make your association. For the time being,don’tlethimcalloffintangibles;he’stochooseconcretethings,nounsoractiveverbs.Whenhe’scalledthefifteenorsixteenitems,youcallthemrightback

tohim,bymemory.Ifyoumissoneortwo,there’snoproblem.Simplyaskhimwhattheyare,strengthenthatparticularassociation,andthencallofftheitemsbackward!And howwill you be sure to remember the first item called?Well,

once you start using the Link for practical purposes, that won’t be aproblem.Thesubjectyou’rememorizingwillstartyourLink.Butevenfornowtheproblemisreallyahypotheticalone.Ifyouthink

of any itemnear the start of yourLinkandworkbackward, youmusteventually come to the first item. And, to save you even this smallamountoftime:Whenyourfriendcallsthefirstitem,justassociateit—tohim.

Takethelistintheprecedingchapter.Ifyourfriendcalled“airplane”asthefirstitem,youmightlookathimandseeanairplaneonhishead.That’sall ittakes.Thenextitemisassociatedtoairplane,andsoontotheendoftheLink.When you’re ready to call off the list of items, simply look at yourfriend. You’ll “see” the airplane on his head, and that associationwillleadyouthroughtherestofthelist.Again, we suggest that you try a few test Links before continuing.Show off for your friends, or make your own list and show off toyourself.Wesuggestshowingoffonlybecauseweknowthateachtimeyoudo,you’llgainconfidence.You’llseethatthesystemworks!

4SUBSTITUTEWORDS

HL:I’venevermetanyonewhohasn’tattimescomeupwithasimilar-sounding word or phrase when thinking of something completelydifferent—like“can’telope”and“cantaloupe.”

JL:Iknowoneexamplethatwasevenusedinasong—“chickeninacar,andthecarcan’tgo—that’showyouspell‘Chicago’!”

HL: My favorite is children saying the Lord’s Prayer who don’tunderstandtheword“temptation.”IntheNewYorkarea,thephraseislikelytocomeout:“LeadusnotintoPennStation!”

•

ThestatesoftheUnitedStatescaneasilybememorizedinalphabeticalsequence.Ofcourse,youprobablycouldn’tcarelessaboutknowingthestatesinsequence.That’snotthepoint.Thepointistoshowyouhowtopicture abstractions, like names. Again, once you understand how tomake an intangible tangible and meaningful, it becomes easy toremember.ThiswillbeagoodexercisefortheLink,anditwillalsostartyouontheSubstituteWordsystemofmemory.TheSubstituteWordconceptcanbeappliedtoanyseeminglyabstract

material.Basically,it’sthis:Whenyouhearorseeawordorphrasethatseemsabstractorintangibletoyou,thinkofsomething—anything—thatsoundslike,orremindsyouof,theabstractmaterialandcanbepicturedinyourmind.Ordinarily,thenameofaperson,thing,orplacecannotbepicturedin

themind.Mostnamesareintangible,whichiswhythey’resodifficulttoremember.Forexample,therewouldseemtobenowayto“picture”(orassociate)Minnesota.Youmight,however,easilypictureaminisoda,asmallbottleofsoda.MinisodasoundslikeMinnesota,andmustremind

youofit.Andyoucanassociateminisodatoanythingyoulike.Ifyouweretryingtomemorizethestatesintheiralphabeticalorder,youmightassociateminisodatoMrs.sip;perhapsamarriedladyissippingalittlesoda. This would remind you that Mississippi follows Minnesota,alphabetically.Ordinarily,youcouldnot“picture”MarylandandMassachusetts.ButyoucouldpictureagirlnamedMary(orabride,marry)landingamongamass of peoplewhochew and sit.Marry landmust remind you ofMaryland,andmasschewsitwillcertainlyremindyouofMassachusetts.Now,youmaybewonderinghowyou’dknowwhichofthetwoitemsinyour picture comes first. Well, aside from the fact that they’realphabetical in thisparticularexample,whichcomes first isaproblemonlybecausewe’rediscussingtwoatatime.WhenyouactuallyLinkallofthem,ormorethantwo,it’snoproblem.That’sthewholepointoftheLink;oneitemmustleadyoutothenext.Torepeat,youdohavetouseabitofimagination,andthemoreoftenyou formconsciousassociations, theeasier itwillbecomebecauseyouwill be improving your imagination as you improve yourmemory. AsAristotleexplainedinDeanima,Theperceptionsbroughtinbythefivesenses are first treated orworked upon by the faculty of imagination,and it is the images so formed which become the material of theintellectualfaculty.Imaginationistheintermediarybetweenperceptionandthought.Itistheimage-makingpartofthemindwhichmakestheworkofthehigher processes of thought possible. Hence the mind never thinkswithout a mental picture. The thinking faculty thinks of its forms inpictures.Noonecouldeverlearnorunderstandanything,ifhehadnotthe faculty of perception; evenwhen he thinks speculatively, hemusthavesomementalpicturewithwhichtothink.

Aristotlewentontosaythatallmencanthinkbecause“itispossibletoputthingsbeforeoureyes,thewaythosewhoinventtrained-memorytechniquesteachustoconstructimages.”We are teaching you, now, how to “construct images” withintangibles. The pictures (SubstituteWords, thoughts, or phrases) thatyouusemustremindyouoftheintangiblematerial.And,again,simplytrying to apply the idea must better your memory. Trying to find a

SubstituteWordforanythingforcesyoutothinkaboutit,toconcentrateonitasyounormallywouldnot.If,duringanyoftheexamplesinthisbook,theSubstituteWorddoesnot remind you of what you wanted to remember, it’s undoubtedlybecauseyouusedour suggestion for theSubstituteWord,whichdidn’tworkforyou.Usually,itwill—butyou’recertainlybetteroffthinkingupyourownSubstituteWords,thoughts,orphrases.Again,ourgivingyousuggestions does remove the necessity for you to use your ownimagination,therebydiminishingyourOriginalAwareness.Still,wehaveno choicebut to giveyou suggestions formostof theexampleswe’llbeusing.Ifyouwanttousethosesuggestions,fine.Butbesuretoformgood,clearpicturesinyourmind.Getting back to the states, do you see now that if you make up aSubstituteWordorphrase for each state and thenLink them,you canmemorizethemall?It’seasytodo,andit’sfun.Ifyoudon’twanttomemorizethemallinsequence,tryitwithsomeofthem—justforthepracticeandthe(imagination)exercise.Linkingallof them would be excellent practice for forming Substitute Words orphrases,andformingpicturesandassociationsforyourLinkHereareallthestates,listedalphabeticallyandnumberedfrom1to50.Later,afterlearning the Peg system, you can turn back to this page and trymemorizingthembynumber.AsyouLinkthem,pauseaftereverytenorsotoreviewmentallythepicturesyou’veformeduptothattime.1.Alabama2.Alaska3.Arizona4.Arkansas5.California6.Colorado7.Connecticut8.Delaware9.Florida10.Georgia11.Hawaii

12.Idaho13.Illinois14.Indiana15.Iowa16.Kansas17.Kentucky18.Louisiana19.Maine20.Maryland21.Massachusetts22.Michigan23.Minnesota24.Mississippi25.Missouri26.Montana27.Nebraska28.Nevada29.NewHampshire30.NewJersey31.NewMexico32.NewYork33.NorthCarolina34.NorthDakota35.Ohio36.Oklahoma37.Oregon38.Pennsylvania39.RhodeIsland40.SouthCarolina

41.SouthDakota42.Tennessee43.Texas44.Utah45.Vermont46.Virginia47.Washington48.WestVirginia49.Wisconsin50.Wyoming

Trying to memorize these from the top, you start by thinking up aSubstituteWordthatremindsyouofAlabama.Albumwilldonicely.Analbumcanbepictured,whereasAlabamacannot.Ifyou’reoldenoughtorememberasongcalled“I’mAlabamyBound,”whichhadtodowithatrain,youmighthavethoughtof thatandpicturedatrain.ForAlaska,youcanpicturetheflamingdessertbakedAlaska,orI’llaskher,oralast car. Now start your Link: You might picture a gigantic albumservingbakedAlaskatootheralbums.ForArizona,youcanuseairzoneastheSubstitutephrase.PictureagiganticpieceofbakedAlaskafloatingintheair,overasafetyzone.ForArkansas,youmightseeyourselfsawinganark;associatethatpicturetoairzone.Pleasebearinmindthatanythingcanbepictured,anoun,anaction,whatever.Remember, singwas used in the first sample Link—and youcould,anddid,picturesingaswellasanyoftheotheritems,whichwereallnouns.ForArizonaandArkansas,anarkandasawfloatingintheairoverasafetyzonewoulddothetrick.ForCalifornia,howaboutcallafawnasa Substitute Word? To associate that to Arkansas, you could pictureyourselfcallingafawnintoanark.WhateverSubstitutephraseyouuse,besuretoreallyseethepictures.CaliforniatoColorado(coloratoe).Youmightseethatfawnpainting(coloring)oneofhistoes.Colorado to Connecticut (connect a cut). You cut the colored toe,

thenconnectthetwoparts.ConnecticuttoDelaware(Dellawear).AgirlnamedDellaiswearing

flowingrobesasshebendsovertoconnectacut.DelawaretoFlorida(flowerthere).Dellathrowsthoseflowingrobes

tothefloorandagiganticflowergrowsthere.FloridatoGeorgia(George).Thegiganticflowerisnamed…George!

Or,millionsofflowersaregrowinginagorge.If you’ve made these or your own associations and have seen the

picturesinyourmind,youknowthefirsttenstatesjustasyouknewtheten items in the first sample Link. There are, of course, many otherSubstituteWordsyoucouldhaveused.IfyouthoughtoftheEvergladeswhen you thought of Florida, picturing its swampswouldhave servedthe purpose for you. Remember that Linking is individual, personal—what you think of is usually best for you. And, most often, the firstSubstituteWordthatcomestomindisthebesttouse.If you want to practice some more, review the first ten states in

sequence and then continue your Link with the next ten. Perhaps,Georgetohowareya;howareya to Idahoeorpotato; potato to illnoise; illnoise to Indian; to Ioweher; tocansass; tocan’ttalk; tolose Anna; to water main (pipe); to marry land. We’ll leave theassociationshereuptoyou.Review theLink, the twenty states, thencontinuewith thenext ten,

and so on. If you can provide your own Substitute Words for theremaining states, without using the suggestions that follow, all thebetter.Michigan, mix again; Missouri, misery; Montana, mountain;

Nebraska, new brass car; Nevada, never there, gambling; NewHampshire,hamster; New Jersey, Jersey cow;NewMexico,Mexicansombrero;NewYork,newcork,EmpireStateBuilding;NorthCarolina,carryliner.(Makeupa“standard”fornorthandsouthandusethemallthe time. For example, you might use snow to represent north, andmouthtorepresentsouth.Apictureofsomeonecarryingaliner[ship]in a snowstorm would therefore remind you of North Carolina.) Tocontinue Substitute Words: North Dakota, decoder; Ohio, oh, hi!,higher!; Oklahoma, homer; Oregon, are gone; Pennsylvania, pencil;Rhode Island, rode; South Carolina, carry liner (perhaps carrying alinerinyourmouth);SouthDakota,decoder;Tennessee,tennis(see);

Texas, taxes; Utah, you tear; Vermont, vermin; Virginia, virgin;Washington,wash;WestVirginia,bestvirgin;Wisconsin,wisecousin;Wyoming,roaming.If you’ve gone down the list of states ten at a time, using the

combinationofSubstituteWordsandLinking, then reviewingeach tenoncelearned,youshouldbeabletoreeloffallfiftystateswithhardlyastumble.Try it—and if youmiss a few, simply go back and strengthen those

particularassociations.You’llbesurprisedathoweasyitistoremembersomethingmostpeoplewouldfinddifficult,ifnotimpossible.

5LONGWORDS,APPOINTMENTSAND

ERRANDS,SHOPPINGLISTS

JL:So,Simonides,whowasattendingalargebanquet,wascalledouttoreceiveamessage,andthebuildingcollapsed.Allthedinerswerekilled.Simonideswasabletoidentifyeverymangledbodyforburialpurposes.Whenhewasaskedhowhe’ddoneit,hesaidthathe’dusedamemorysystem.

HL:Thebanquetmayhavebeenlarge,butLuciusScipiowassupposedlyable to remember the names and faces of all the citizens of ancientRome.

JL: I’llbetyou’vemetand rememberedmorepeople than that inyourcareer,Harry.

HL:That’s true—at the last count I’dmetand remembered somewherearoundtwentymillionpeople.Icanstartmyowncountry!

JL:Duringhisnewsconferences,GeneralGeorgeMarshallusedtolistento reporters’ questionswithoutbreaking the continuityofhispreparedstatement.When he finished the statement, he’d look at each reporterandanswerhisquestioninturn.Whathedidwas,heassociatedthekeyword or thought of the question to the reporter’s name or face. AndJamesFarley’sfantasticmemoryfornamesandfacessupposedlyhelpedelectFranklinD.Roosevelttohisfirstterm.

HL:DidyouknowImetDavidRoth?Andhisfameasamemoryexpertgoesbacktotheearly1900’s.ThelasttimeIspoketohim,hetoldmethathislocalRotaryClubwasgivingaluncheoninhonorofhisninety-

sixthbirthday.Hetoldme,“Iwon’tdomuch,Harry—I’mjustgoingtoremembereverybody’stelephonenumber.”Andthereweretwohundredpeoplethere!

JL:Somaybepeoplewith trainedmemories live longer.Using trained-memory systems certainly does keep a person more alert and aware.Whichmighthavesomethingtodowithlongevity.

HL:Let’shopeso!

•

ThefamouschessplayerHarryPillsburywasalmostaswellknownforhis memory as for his skill at chess. He was once challenged by twoprofessorstomemorizeuptothirtywordsorphrases,readtohimonlyonce.Pillsbury repeated them in correct sequence, and then in reverseorder.Healsoknewthemthefollowingday.Thisgarneredquiteabitofpublicity forPillsbury,yet the feat is fairlyeasy toaccomplish—ifyouapplytheLinkandtheSubstituteWordsystemsofmemory.Now,thewordsandphrasesthatwerereadtoPillsburywerenotquiteso easy tograspas a list of everyday itemsor the statesof theunion.Theywere:antiphlogistine,periosteum,takadiastase,plasmon,threlkeld,streptococcus, staphylococcus, micrococcus, plasmodium, Mississippi,freiheit, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, athletics, no war, Etchenberg,American, Russian, philosophy, Piet Potgelter’s Rost, salmagundi,oomisillecootsi, Schlechter’s Nek, Manyinzama, theosophy, catechism,Madjescomalops.Youcanrememberthemall,insequence,byapplyingthetwosystemsyou’vealreadylearned—theLinkandtheSubstituteWord.Auntieflogasteinwould remind you of antiphlogistine. Associate that silly pictureto,perhaps,peareatasteam(periosteum).Youmightseeyourauntie(or any little old lady—whatever auntie conjures up in your mind)flogginga(beer)steinassheeatsagiganticpearthat’ssteaminghot.Trytoseethatpicture.Peareatasteamto,perhaps,tackadaisdaze.Agiganticpearthat’seatingasteam(radiator)istackingupadais(platform);thepearisinadazeashedoesit.Forthenextassociationyoumightseeaplasticman

(plasmon)tackingupadais.Now,plasticmantothrillcold(threlkeld),tostraptocock(rooster)andass(donkey),tostaffillofcarcass,tomicrocockass,toplacemydime,toMrs.sip,tofryheight,tofilladellforya(orPhiladelphiabrandcreamcheese),tosinsinattea,topeopleperformingathletics,tonowar,toetchin’(ice)berg,toamerrycan,toRussianroulette,tofillasofa,topieet(ate)pot(of)galtearsrust,tosellmygunD,toooh,mysillycoatsee,tosh,letusneck,tomanyinsummer,toteaowesafee,tocatkiss’im,toMadge’scombelopes.Thismay seem likea lotofwork toyou.Well, itwill certainly takemoretimeandeffortthan,say,rememberingtwenty-sevensimpleitems.Butjustthinkofhowmuchworkitwouldbetomemorizetwenty-sevenwords like this without a system. Not only would that require anenormous amount of time and effort, but you’d probably neveraccomplish it. Forming Substitute Words, phrases, or thoughts, andLinking,ontheotherhand,isfun;itforcesyoutouseyourimaginationandtoconcentrate;andaboveall—itworks!WhateveranySubstitutephraseconjuresupinyourmindiswhatyoushoulduse for thepicture.ForsellmygunD, youmight seeyourselfsellingyourguntoagiganticletterD.(Inanotherchapter,you’ll learnhow lettersof thealphabetcan themselvesbepictured,concretelyandeasily.) Youmight have thought of sailormygundie—a sailor takesyour(my)gunandkillshimselfwithit.Whateveryouthinkofandseewillworkforyou.Takeafewmomentstoseeifyoucanrememberallthewordslistedabove.IfPillsburycoulddoit,socanyou!Youmaybesurprisedatthefacilitywithwhichyoucandoit.Linkingdifficultwordsislikeswingingtwobatstohelpyouswingonebetter.Itisn’toftennecessarytorememberwordslikethat.ButtheideaoftheLinkcan,ofcourse,bewonderfullypractical.Lateron,we’llshowyouhowto remember specificweeklyappointments,bydayandhour.For now, if you need to remember simple errands and appointmentsduring most normal days, you can use a simple Link; usually noSubstituteWordsarenecessary.Assume it is important that you remember to pick up a lamp youordered. You also must remember to buy a package of typing paper.StartaLink;associatelamptopaper.Perhapsyouseeyourselfputtinga

lightedlamp,insteadofpaper,intoyourtypewriter.Or,agiganticsheetofpaperisonyourbedsidetable,youpullastring—anditlightslikealamp.Selectoneof thesepictures,oroneyouthoughtofyourself,andseeitinyourmind.Youdon’twanttoforgettopickupyoursuitatthecleaners.Continue

theLink;perhapsyou’rewearingsheetsoftypingpaperinsteadofasuit.Youpromised tocall aboutarranging for swimming lessons foryour

child.Seeasuit,withnobodyinit,swimmingordivingintoapool.For days, you’ve been meaning to buy some lightbulbs. Picture

giganticlightbulbsswimming.Youmustremembertovisita friendat thehospital.Pictureyourself

puttingyourfriend,insteadofalightbulb,intoasocket.You want to pick up a roll of stamps before the post office closes.

Picture your sick friend lying on (and sticking to) a gigantic stampinsteadofahospitalbed.Oryou’relickingyourfriendandstickinghimonanenvelope.If you’ve actually visualized the silly pictures, you’ll remember the

things youmust do. Start with lamp—that should remind you of thenext chore or errand, and so on.When applying this idea practically,you’d form your Link the night before. Then, in the morning, you’dsimplygooverthatLinkwhilegettingdressedorhavingbreakfast.Ifyouthinkofsomethingelseyouwanttoaccomplishthatday,tackit

on to the endof yourLink. It’s important togooveryourLinkbeforeyou leave, because thinking of the chores will remind you to takewhateveryouneedfromyourhomeinordertoaccomplishtheerrand.For example, if you need a receipt in order to get your suit from thecleaners,thinkingofthesuitwillremindyoutogotoyourdeskandgetthereceipt.During the day, go over your Link every once in awhile—orwhile

you’rewalking, eating,whatever.Anytimeyou thinkofanerrand thatyouhavenot yetdone, you’ll know it; simplygoanddo it.As a finalcheck,goovertheLinkbeforeyoupreparetogohome.This practical use of the Link will save you plenty of time and

aggravation.Theworstthatcanhappenisthatitwon’tworkcompletelyandyou’llforgetanerrand.Well,youhaven’tmuchtolose—you’vebeendoingthatallyourlife!Exactlythesameideacanbeappliedtorememberingashoppinglist.

Granted,rememberingashoppinglistisnotthemostimportantthingintheworld.Butpeoplewhomakeoutashoppinglistonapieceofpaperofteneitherforgettotakeitwiththem,orforgettolookatituntiltheygethomeagain.Simply Link the items you want to purchase. Be sure to make thepicturesridiculous—you’repeelinganorangeandthere’sacontainerofmilk (or a cow) inside it; you’re milking a cow and slices of bread,insteadofmilk,comeout,etc.Onceinsidethesupermarket,justgooveryour Link every once in awhile. If you do this, youwon’t forget anyitems.

6SPEECHES

JL:AfterIgraduatedfromOhioState, Iwasbookedtospeakatahighschool athletic banquet. I got plenty of applause, but just as everyonewas leaving, this kid comes up to me and says, “Mr. Lucas, I enjoywatchingyouplaybasketball—butIthoughtthatwastheworstspeechIeverheardinmylife!”Well,hismotherwasrightbehindhim,andofcoursesheheard.“Oh,

Mr.Lucas,” she said, “pleasepaynoattention tohim.Heonly repeatswhathehears!”HL:Igotzingedbya“repeater”beforeaspeech,once.Ialwaystellthechairman of the group how to introduceme. To save time, I make itshort and simple, and I always say it in exactly the same way. Thisparticulartime,whenIwastheafter-dinnerspeaker,Itoldthechairmantosay,“Ladiesandgentlemen,wehaveasurpriseforyouthisevening,somethingdifferent,unique,blah,blah,blah.You’veseenhimonTV,etcetera,etcetera.”HetooknotesasIspoke.We finished our meal, and the chairman went to the lectern to

introduceme.He said, “Ladies and gentlemen,we have a surprise foryou this evening, something different, unique, blah … blah … blah.You’veseenhimon…”!

•

Probablytheworstmistakeyoucanmakeistotrytomemorizeaspeechword forword. First of all, it isn’t really necessary. The assumption isthatifyou’vebeenaskedtodeliveraspeechonaparticularsubject,youknowsomethingaboutthatsubject.Secondly,memorizing the speechword forwordwillmake it sound

that way when you deliver it—memorized. And, finally, when youmemorizeaspeechwordforword,you’retakingthechanceoffumbling

overonewordyoucan’t remember.Why take that chancewhen thereareprobablydozensofotherwordsthatwoulddo?Readinga speechdoesn’tworkeither,becauseyouwant tohold thegroup’s attention, and reading to them is likely to put them to sleep.Evenifyouoccasionallylookupatyouraudienceasyouread,itwon’thelpmuch.Asamatteroffact,that’sthemomentwhenyou’relikelytoloseyourplaceandstarthemmingandhawingasyoutrytofindit.The best way to deliver a speech is to talk it in your own words,thoughtforthought.Aspeechisasequenceofthoughts;ifthethoughtsareout of sequence, the speechwon’tmakemuch sense. Now, you knowhowtousetheLinksystemtorememberthings insequence.TheLink,plusoneotheridea,willhelpyoutorememberyourspeechthoughtforthought.First,writeoutortypeyourspeech,includingallthethingsyouwanttosayaboutalltheideasyouthinkareimportant.Readitovertogetthegist of it. Now for that “other idea”: Select a Key Word from eachthoughtthatwillremindyouoftheentirethought.This is easier to do than it might seem. There is rarely a thought,whether it is to be expressed in one sentence or two paragraphs, thatcannotbebroughttomindbyonewordorphrase.ItistheseKeyWords(orKeyThoughts) thatyouLink—atwhichpointyouhave the speechmemorizedthoughtforthought!Here are some excerpts from a talk delivered at a convention to agroup ofmerchants anddealers selling the same line of products. Thespeakerwasaskedtotalkaboutasharpdropinprofitsovertheprevioustwoyearsandtosuggestwaysofdoingsomethingaboutit.The talk originally took thirty-fiveminutes todeliver. ExcerptshavebeenculledfromittodemonstratetheKeyWordsorThoughtsthatthespeakerwantedtogetacross.

Theproblemisanobviousone.We’reall selling justasmanyof theproduct as we always have, but our profitmargin has been drasticallyreduced. The reasons, too, are obvious. The cost of material andmanufacturehasgoneup,andsohaveourprices.Thetroubleisthatifweraiseourpricesanyhigher,we’ll losesales.Whatwehave todo isfindwaystoraiseourprofitmargin.…Wehave togetmorepeople towalk in toour stores.Obviously, the

morepeoplethatwalkintoourstores,themoreopportunitieswehavetomakesales.Perhapswecanorganizecontests,etc.…An important part of each of our businesses depends on building agoodname ineachofour localareas.Therearemanyways todo this;relaxingour“noreturn”policy.…Our products are nationally advertised, but we haven’t been takingadvantage of that at all. At least, not tomy knowledge.We’ve got toplanlocaladvertisingtomeshwithnationaladvertising;blowupsofthenationaladsinourwindowsshouldbeconsidered,and.…Thenewline,Starbright,Holly,BabySoft,Meteor,andHoneymoon,isreallygood,andshouldhelptostirupsomefreshbusiness. It’sbeenalongtimesincewehadanynewlineofproductatall.…Wealsomustworkhardertoturnbreadandbuttersales.Whyshouldacustomer walk out after buying only the item she came for? A littlethought,andeffort,wouldhelptowardfindingwaystoalmostforcethecustomertobuyatleastoneotheritem,perhapsjustanaccessory,togowiththeoneshebought.Atwo-for-onesalemightwork,or.…Andhowcanwemakecustomerscomeback tothestore?Howmanyofyoufollowupasale?Howmanyofyoutakeadvantageofthenamesandaddressesonyoursalesreceiptsthataregatheringdustinyourfiles?Usethosenames—sendnotesandnoticesofsales.…

TheKeyWordshavebeenitalicizedwithineachofthethoughtsofthistalk. Let us emphasize that the speaker knew what he wanted to sayabouteachthought—thatwasn’thisproblem.Whathewantedtoavoidwasomittinganentirethought.FormingaLinktakescareofthat.Therearetwowaystodothis.YoucaneitherlistorunderlinetheKeyWords, and then Link them; or you can Link them as you go. As youbecomemore proficient, you’llmost likely Link theKeyWords as yougo.Now. The first Key Word or Thought is profit margin. Use aSubstituteWord to remindyouof it. Perhaps yourMa is drinkingginandbeingpaidforit—she’smakingaprofit.Thatwillcertainlyremindyou of the thought; if youwere delivering this talk, eitherMagin orprofitalonewouldsuffice.ThenextKeyWordiswalkin.AssociateMaginand/orprofittothat;asillypictureofyourgin-drinkingMawalkingintoastorewilldoit.

ThenextKeyWordisgoodname.ContinuetheLink;youmightseeaname(picturegiganticlettersofyourname,oragiganticbusinesscard)that’sgood,walkingintoastore.Goodnametonationallyadvertised.Youmightseeyourgoodname

beingonthecoverofanationalmagazine.Nationallyadvertisedtonewline.Seea ridiculouspictureofa long

lineofnationalmagazineshotoffthepress—they’renew.Newlinetobreadandbutter.Seealonglineofbreadandbutter.Bread and butter to come back. Picture yourself calling a gigantic

pieceofbreadandbuttertocomeback.Forming such a Link accomplishes two things. It forces you to

concentrateon (tobeOriginallyAwareof) the thoughtsof the speech,and it will give you the sequence of thoughts. Knowing that youdefinitely have that sequence also gives you a confidence that youwouldn’totherwisehave.Thinkingof the first thought,Magin, isallyouneed toremindyou

thatyouwanttotalkaboutthereductionoftheprofitmargin—sotalkaboutit,sayitinyourownwords.Whenyou’vesaidallyouhavetosayabout that, you’ll automatically be reminded of walk in. Since youwrotethespeech,you’llknowjustwhatwalkinrefersto;itwillremindyouoftheentirethought.Justsaywhatyouwanttosayaboutgettingpeopletowalkintothestore.If youmade the ridiculous association, theKeyWordwalk inmust

remind you of good name. Talk about that; then good name willremindyouofnationallyadvertised,atwhichpointyousaywhatyouhavetosayaboutthatthought.Andsoon,totheendofyourspeech.Youneedonlytrythisideatoseethatitwillworkforyou.Youmight

bewonderingwhat you’d do if youhad a few facts to remember thatpertainedtoaparticularthought.Forexample,taketheproductnameslistedwithin thenewline thought—you simply form an “offshoot” or“tangent”Link.Thatis,afteryou’veformedyourbasicLink,gobacktonewlineandformanoffshootLinkofthenames.Youmightseeapictureofalonglineofbrightstars;brightstarsare

formingahollywreathonyourdoor;you’reholdingahollywreathinyourarmslikeababy—it’sverysoft;ababyisshootingacrosstheskylikeameteor;twometeorsaregoingonahoneymoon.You’llsee,whenyou’redeliveringthespeech,thatnewlinewilllead

you right through the offshoot Link, reminding you of the productnames. Then, you’ll still be reminded of the thought you originallyassociated to new line in the basic Link—bread and butter. If theproducts have style numbers, you can Link them, too—once you’velearnedhowtopicturenumbers.If,forsomereason,youwanttorememberthespeechvirtuallywordforword,you’llfindthatsimplygoingoveritafewmoretimeswilldothetrick.Sinceyouwrotethespeechyourself,yourownwordswouldbethemostlikelyonestocometomindasyouvoicedeachthought.This same system—a combination of the Link and the Key Thoughtideas—canbeapplied to readingmaterialor lectures inalmostexactlythesameway.SimplyLinkKeyWordsasyoureadorlisten.Appliedtoreading material, the idea forces you to read actively, withconcentration;appliedtolectures,itdoesthesamething.It’sdifficulttoallow your mind to wander when you’re listening for Key Words toremindyouofthoughts.Thenexttimeyouwanttoremembermoreofreading or lecture material than you usually do, try applying whatyou’velearnedhere.You’llbesurprisedathowmuchyouretain.The systemcanalsobeapplied to song lyrics and scripts.Apply thesame idea, then go over the material a few more times. It’s stillnecessary to remember thematerial thought for thought first; thenyouworryaboutwordforword.Thelanguageitselfisamemoryaid—thereare certain ways to say certain things. Once you definitely know thesequenceofthoughts,thewordstendtotakecareofthemselves.Ifyouknowthethought,theworstthatcanhappenisthatyou’llsaythelineabitdifferentlyfromthewayitwaswritten;it’swhenyoudon’tknowthethoughtthatyoucanreally“goup”(havenoideawhatcomesnext).One famous, award-winning actress has for some time applied theseideas toallherdifficult-to-memorizescripts. Ina letter, shewrote thatthesystems“makewhatisausualdrudgerypartofthecreativeart!”We’llbegivingyoumorehelpinrememberingreadingmateriallateroninthebook.Fornow,youmightwanttoapplythesamebasicideatohelp you remember jokes and anecdotes. Twomemory problemsmayhave to be solved: remembering the joke in the first place, andrememberingtheideaofthejoke,itspremiseandpunchline.Torememberjokes,manyprofessionalcomediansLinkaKeyWordorthought of one joke to the Key Word of the next, and so on. The

comedianknowsthejokes;hesimplyneedsremindersofthejokesandtheirsequence.So,aLinkoforangetopoliticstoelephanttogaspumpwouldbeenoughtoremindacomediantotell the jokeaboutoranges,thentheoneaboutpolitics,andsoon.Remembering the idea and punchline of a joke is just as easy. Let’s

rememberthisoldgag:“HowdoyoumakeaVenetianblind?”“Stickafingerinhiseye!”Simplyformasillyassociation.Pictureavenetianblindwithonelarge

eye on yourwindow—see a gigantic finger going into that eye. That’sall.You’llremembertheideaandthepunchlineofthejoke.

7FOREIGNANDENGLISHVOCABULARY

JL:WhenIplayedontheUnitedStatesbasketballteamduringthe1960OlympicsinRome,ourfirstgamewastobeagainsttheJapaneseteam.IaskedoneoftheinterpreterstoteachmeacoupleofJapanesephrases,soI’dbeabletosaysomethingtotheJapaneseplayersthenextmorning.I had no trouble with the phrase “good morning,” because it’s

pronouncedohio inJapanese,andofcourseIassociatedit tomyhomestate.Ieasilylearnedafewmorephrasesbyapplyingthesystems.Thegamewasscheduledfor9:30A.M.Justbeforeitwasabouttostart,

I looked over at my opponent and said, “Ohio, gozai mosk,” whichmeans,“Goodmorning,howareyou?”Hegavemeabigsmile,happytohavefoundsomebodyfromAmericawhocouldspeakhislanguage.Well, he backed out of the jump circle and began to bow to me,

rattling off Japanese as fast as he could. This created quite a scene,because he was so engrossed in this conversation he thought he wasgoing to carry on with me that he forgot he was there to play abasketballgame.OnerefereewasfromRussia,theotherfromFrance,andIspokeonly

English.TheJapaneseplayerandtheofficialseachspokeonlytheirownlanguages. So therewere the four of us trying to talk to each other—nobodyknowingwhattheotherwassaying.Theyhadtocalltimeout,wehadtogobacktothesidelines,andwehadtostartthegamelater.ThentheplayerrattledJapaneseatmethroughouttheentiregame.Ofcourse I didn’t know the Japanese words to tell him I didn’t knowJapanese, so Imusthave said“Goodmorning” tohimdozensof timesduringthatgame!Hecouldn’thavebeenmorepleased.

HL:HadyouhadthetimetoapplythesystemstoJapaneseforaweekbeforethatgame,you’dhavehadplentyofthingsbesides“ohio”tosaytohim.

JL:Sure,butthenhe’dhavegottensoexciteditmighthavethrownhisgameoff!

•

Now that you’ve learned how to apply the Substitute Word idea tointangiblewordsandnames—andLinkthem—youcangoastepfurther.Insteadofassociating,say,onestatetothenextinordertoformaLink,youcanassociateastatetoitscapitalcity.Youcanalsoassociateawordtoitsmeaning,whetherit’sanEnglishwordoraforeignword.This brings us to an important point.Most often, wherememory isconcerned,anentityconsistsoftwothings.Eventhemostcomplicated-seemingmemorychorescanusuallybebrokendownintoentitiesoftwo:aname to a face, an address to apersonor company, apriceor stylenumber to an item, a telephone number to a person or company, adefinitionormeaningtoaword,andsoon.EvenwhenformingalongLink,you’restillbasicallyworkingwithonlytwoitemsatatime.The capital city of Maryland is Annapolis (that’s right; it is notBaltimore); if you form a ridiculous association of a bride (marry)landing on an apple, you’ll find it difficult to forget. The capital ofWyoming is Cheyenne; you might picture a shy girl, named Ann,carrying a large letter Y and roaming. Michigan’s capital is Lansing;associatemixagain to landsing. California’s is Sacramento; associatecall a fawn to sack cement toe. Tennessee’s is Nashville; associatetennis tognashingyour teeth (seea tennis racket gnashing its teeth).Vermont’sisMontpelier;associatevermintomountpeeler.Applythisto any statewhose capital you’d like to remember, andwhenever youthinkofthestate,thecapitalcitywillsurelycometomind.The same system can be applied to Presidents and Vice-Presidents.AssociatetheSubstituteWordforthenameoftheonetotheSubstituteWord for thenameof the other. For example, PresidentRutherfordB.Hayes’sVice-PresidentwasnamedWheeler.Associatehay towheel inordertorememberthat. Ifyoupicturethehaysaying,“oh,hi,”tothewheel,you’llalsoberemindedofthefactthatHayeswasfromOhio.

JL:I’veappliedthesystemstoJapanese,Polish,Russian,andafewotherlanguages, but never to Portuguese—for the simple reason that I’ve

neverbeentoPortugal.

HL: I spentmost of one summer there, and I knew even before I gottherethatPortugueseisadifficultlanguagetolearn.Anyway,theyhaveterrificclamsinPortugal,andIloveclams.IntheveryfirstrestaurantIvisited, I found out that the Portuguese word for clams is amejues,pronounced ah-mezz-you-iz. I immediately saw a picture of a giganticclamapproachingme,alldrippyanddirty,andIsaytoit,“Whatamessyouis!”SobeforeIlearnedhowtosay,“Doyouhave,”whenthewaiterapproachedIjustsaid“amejues”andgotthem.

JL:Whichisallyouwereinterestedinatthemoment.

HL:Exactly.Peoplewhoneedadoctorinaforeigncountrydon’thavetobeabletosay“Pleasecalla”or“Takemetoa.”Butthey’dbetterknowthewordfordoctor!

TheSubstituteWordideacanbeappliedtoanywordofanylanguage.There is no word that does not sound like, or make you think of,somethinginyourownlanguage.TorememberthemeaningofasimpleFrenchwordlikepère(father),youmightpictureagiganticpearbeingyourfather.Forpont(bridge),youmightseeyourselfpuntingabridgeinsteadofafootball.The idea applies to any word, short or long. The French word forgrapefruit is pamplemousse. Picture huge yellow pimples all over amoose; each pimple is actually a grapefruit. If you try to see any ofthese silly pictures, the system must work—for reasons you alreadyknow: You’re forcing yourself to be Originally Aware, you’re reallyconcentrating on the word, and you’re forcing yourself to use yourimagination.TherejustisnowaytoapplytheSubstituteWordsystemtoa foreignwordwithout concentrating on or being Originally Aware ofthatword,andusingsomeimagination.Andfinally,applyingthesystemremindsyouofthetwothings(thatentityoftwomentionedbefore)youmust know: the pronunciation of the foreign word, and its Englishequivalent.If you used our or your own SubstituteWord and saw a ridiculouspicture, thenext timeyouhearorseepamplemousse, itmustmakeyou

thinkofamoosewithgrapefruitpimples.Whenyouhear,see,orthinkgrapefruit, the same thing will happen. Students of ours do this withtwentyforeignwordsinanevening,everyevening,andrememberthemall easily—simply because the intangible, abstract conglomeration ofsoundsoftheforeignwordischangedtoadefinite, tangiblepictureinthemind.Since Portuguese has been mentioned, let’s use a few Portuguese

words as examples.Walnut in Portuguese is noz, pronounced nawsh.Simplypictureagiganticwalnutbeingnauseous,oryoueatagiganticwalnut and itmakes younauseous. See that picture. The word for awoman’s skirt is saia, pronounced syer. Picture a skirt sighing—it’s asigher.Apeachisapêssego,pronouncedpess-a-goo.Seeagiganticpeachaskingyoutopassthegoo.Awoman’s purse is a bolsa. Picture a gigantic purse made of balsa

wood,oralargepieceofbalsawoodcarryingapurse.Theword fordinner is jantar, pronounced John-tar (then is really a

nasalsound).PictureJohneatingtarfordinner.Handkerchief is lenço,pronounced leng-ssoo (theng is anasal sound).

Picture yourself lending Sue your handkerchief; make the pictureridiculous;perhapsyou’re lendinghermillionsofhandkerchiefsoronegiganticone.Fatherispai,pronouncedpie.Agiganticpieisyourfather.A strawberry is a morango, pronounced moo-ran-goo. See a gigantic

strawberry,ormillionsofthem,eatingmeringuegoo.The word for socks is peúgas, pronounced pee-oo-gesh. You might

picture a gigantic sock that has a terrible odor; you say, “Peeyoo, itsmellslikegas.”Bear in mind that if you were trying to really learn a particular

language, you’d be aware of the basic sounds and letters. In the lastexample,“true”memorywouldtellyouthatgasispronouncedgesh,withasoftshsound.Ofcourse,youwouldalsobeusingtheSubstituteWordyou thought of—the one that would remind you of the properpronunciation because you thought of it. That’s why our helping withsuggestions for SubstituteWords is not really helping you—youmighthaveusedgashinsteadofgas.At this point, why don’t you try something? Go back to the first

examplesofforeignwordsandreally formtheassociations.Thensee if

youknowthewordsandtheirmeaningsbyfillingintheseblanks.Don’tworry about spelling—whenyou’re in a foreign country, youneed thepronunciationsandmeanings,notthespelling.

Nowtryitthisway(withoutlookingattheabove,ofcourse):

If youmisseda few, simplygoback and strengthen thoseparticularassociations.Thentestyourselfagain.Mostlikely,you’llgetthemall.The method is applicable under any circumstances. If the Englishequivalent isnottangible,youcanuseaSubstituteWordorphraseforthat English equivalent. The Siamese word for August is singhakom.Ordinarily, August is difficult to picture, because it’s intangible. But agustofwindblowingoverasingingcombisnot.Seethatpicture,andyou’vegotit.Thesystemwillworkevenifaforeignwordcontainssoundsthatwedon’toftenuseinEnglish(likethesoftshinPortuguese).Thewordforsquirrel in both French and German contains unfamiliar sounds. InGerman,thewordisEichhörnchen;thechisaback-of-the-throat,gutturalsound—almost as if you’re clearing your throat. We do not use thatsoundinEnglish,yetthesystemapplies.IhornkinmightremindyouofEichhörnchen;or,perhaps,Icornkin.UseeitheroneforyourSubstitutephrase,butbesureyougetasquirrelintoyourpicture.Tohelpyounot

just approximate the pronunciation but pronounce theword correctly,youmightaddclearingyourthroattoyourpicture.TheFrenchwordforsquirrelisécureuil.Wedonothavetheeuilsound

in English. But egg cure oil can certainly get you close to thepronunciationofthatdifficultword.Youmightpictureasquirrellayingasickegg,anditcurestheeggwithoil.TheGreekwordforscissors ispsalidi.Thep is pronounced.Associate

pass a lady to scissors, and you’ll have memorized both thepronunciationoftheforeignwordanditsmeaning.Thegrammarofalanguagewillusuallyfallintoplaceasyoulearnthe

vocabulary,althoughthesystemisapplicabletoanykindofword.Itisalsoapplicabletophrases—whyshouldn’titbe,sincephrasesaremadeupofwords?TheFrenchphraseriendegraveisidiomaticforIt’snothingor It’snothing serious.Associateran thegrave to It’snothing in someridiculouswayandyou’vememorizedit.

Whenyouflytoaforeigncountry,you’reusuallyarmedwithamoneyconverteranda“conversation”booklet inthat language.Whatyouseein those booklets is the English equivalent, followed by the foreigntranslation.Thetranslationisthenspelledphonetically(aswedidwiththePortugueseexamples)togiveyouthepronunciation.All verywell.Only,whenyouarrive, youendup searching through

the booklet (feeling like an idiot), trying to find a word or phrasewheneveryouwant tounderstandorbeunderstood.Nowhere in thesebooklets does it tell you how to remember the words, phrases,pronunciations,andmeanings.Whatwe’reinterestedinishavingyouspendthesix-plushoursona

transatlanticflightwithsuchabooklet,onlyrememberingenoughsothatwhenyoudisembarkyou’llbeabletoaskaportertogetyourluggage,findyoua taxi, tell the taxidriverwhere togo,etc.And to rememberenough,duringthatflight,tohelpyouthroughafewweeks’stay.Applywhatyou’relearninghere,andyouwilldojustthat.Obviously,you’lllearnmoreifyoualsoapplythesystemsduringyour

stay. And we’re assuming you are neither a linguist nor are youdeterminedtospeaklikeanative.(Thesystemsareextremelyhelpfulforthosepeople, too,butwe’re concernedat themomentwith thosewhowould simply like to make their way more easily during a visit to a

foreigncountry.)The Portuguese examples were used to teach you the idea, in a

languagethatisn’tfamiliartomanyAmericans.HereareafewexamplesinFrench—really,aminiin-flightFrenchlesson.IfyouintendtovisitFrance,youcertainlyneedtobefamiliarwiththe

French words for many foods. In restaurants heavily patronized bytourists,youmayfindEnglishtranslationsonthemenu—andfoodthatmakes you wonder what all the shouting is about when it comes toFrenchcuisine.In small restaurants, out-of-the-way restaurants, special restaurants,

youmaynotfindtranslations,norwillyoufindEnglish-speakingwaiters—whichmakesitalittledifficulttofindoutwhatawordonthemenumeans.We asked four volunteers who had no knowledge of the French

language(butsomeknowledgeofoursystems) toapply thesystemstothe following words. In less than twenty minutes, they all knew theEnglishmeaningwhenwesaid theFrenchword,andviceversa.See ifyoucandoitinthattime.Theonlywaytodoitthatquicklyistothinkofpicturesforthesuggestionsandreallyseethem.

Bread—pain(pan).ThehandleofapanisaloafofFrenchbread.Butter—beurre(buhr).Alargebarofbutterisfullofburrs.Mushrooms—champignons (shahn-peen-yawn). A gigantic mushroomdeliversamonstrous,championyawn.

Beans—haricots(ah-ree-koh).Millionsofbeansarewearinghairycoats.Chicken—poulet(poo-leh).You’repullingthelegofagiganticchicken.Watermelon—pastèque(pass-tehk).Agiganticwatermelonpassesadeckofcardstoyou.

Snails—escargots(ess-cahr-go).AgiganticsnailiscarryingacargoofS’s—Scargo

Ham—jambon(zhan-bown).Youjamaboneintoagiganticham.Duck—canard(ka-nar).Someonethrowsacanhard,andyouduck.Lobster—homard (oh-mar). Your mother is disguised as a lobster; yousay,“Oh,Ma.”

Water—l’eau(low).Yougounderthetable(low)todrinkwater.Garlic—ail(eye).Agiganticpieceofgarlic(smellit)fallsinyoureye.Cake—gâteau(gah-toh).Agiganticbirthdaycakehasgotyoubythetoe.Icecream—glace(glas).You’reeatingglassinsteadoficecream.Check—l’addition (lah-dish-yawn). A dish yawns as it hands you thecheck.Tip—pourboire(poor-bwahr).Youtipoverapoorboy.

Lookatthemonceagain,andgoover(see)yourassociations.

Bread—pain(pan)Mushrooms—champignons(shahn-peen-yawn)Chicken—poulet(poo-leh)Snails—escargots(ess-cahr-go)Duck—canard(ka-nar)Water—l’eau(low)Cake—gâteau(gah-toh)Check—l’addition(lah-dish-yawn)Butter—beurre(buhr)Beans—haricots(ah-ree-koh)Watermelon—pastèque(pass-tehk)Ham—jambon(zhan-bown)Lobster—homard(oh-mar)Garlic—ail(eye)Icecream—glace(glas)Tip—pourboire(poor-bwahr)

Now,eithertestyourselforhavesomeoneelsetestyou.

Remembertoapplythesystemtophrasesjustasyoudotowords.TheFrenchforHowmuchisit?isCombienest-ce?(kawn-byen-ehss).YouseeacombthatcanchangeandbeanS(combbeanS);youwantit,soyou

askhowmuchitis.“Comebeanass’wouldalsodo.Ofcourse,ifyouonly say “Combien?” themerchant will knowwhat youmean. Pictureyourself asking how much it costs to comb Ben. When you get theanswer,youmaywanttosay,“That’stoomuch”(ortooexpensive):C’esttrop cher (seh-troh-shehr)—youwant to sit androw in achair,but it’smuchtooexpensive.Please: s’il vous plaît (seel-voo-pleh). Picture a seal playing by yelling“Boo”;youask it toplease stop.Sealbooplaywill remindyouof s’ilvousplaît.Ineed: ilme faut (eel-muh-foh).Agigantic eel isyour foe (eelmy foe)andcomingtohurtyou—youneedhelp.If some of the SubstituteWords or thoughts used as examples seemfarfetched to you,make up your own. But it doesn’tmatter if they’refarfetched;they’llstillserveasreminders.Ifyoutrytoactuallyseethesuggestedpictures,you’llseethattheyservequitewell.Except for l’eau and l’addition, we’ve omitted the articles, which inmany languages are “masculine” or “feminine.” In French, le ismasculine, la is feminine, and les is plural for either gender. All youreallyneedisastandardforoneofthem.Forexample,youmightdecideto use singing (la, la) as the standard for the feminine article. Anypicture that has singing in it tells you that the item is feminine; if itdoesn’thavesinginginit,theitemismasculine.Or,seeadressonanynounthattakesthefemininearticle.Forexample,taketable(pronouncedtabluh).That’sawordyouwon’tneed a Substitute for because it’s spelled exactly like the Englishequivalent, table. Let’s assume you do want to remember whether it’smasculineorfeminine.Ifyoupictureatablesingingtoyou,andsingingisthestandardyou’vechosenforfeminine,youwon’tforgetthattableislatable,notletable.Ontheotherhand,restaurant(anothereasyone)ismasculinebecausetherestaurantyoupicturedoesn’tsing.AnEnglishwordthatyouneverheardbefore is really thesameasaforeignword; it’s foreign to you, anyway.Apply the system in exactlythe same way. The English word peduncle means a flower stalk. Seeyourself havingpaid youruncle with flower stalks instead ofmoney,andyouhavebothareminderofthepronunciationofthenewwordanditsmeaning.Theomphalosisthenavelorbellybutton.Omphalossoundslikearm

fellloose.Seethispicture:Yourarmfellloose—wherediditfall?Rightintoyourbellybutton,ofcourse.A factotum is a handyman. Picture a handyman (whatever that

conjuresupinyourmind)paintingfactsonatotempole.Ifyou’reacrossword-puzzlenut,you’dsavetimeifyouremembered

that the clue “sun god”usually refers toRa. Picture the sun cheering,“rah,” and you’ll probably never have to look it up again. The clue“Chinese pagoda” usually refers to taa. Associate pagoda to tar, andyou’llhaveyourreminder.Theideaappliestoanykindofterminology.Toamedicalstudent,the

SubstituteWordforfemurcouldbefeemore;forsacrum,sackrum;forpatella,patElla;hypoglossal,aglossyhypodermicneedle;andsoon.Apharmaceuticalstudentmightpicturesomeoneputtingalargebell

down over his head as he throws pine trees from under it—torememberthatatropine(Ithrowpine)comesfromthebelladonna(belldown)rootorleaf.Aswith the foreignwords, if you goback a bit and really form the

associationsfortheEnglishwords(insteadofjustreadingpassively)youshouldbeabletofillintheseblankseasily:

Itmightinterestyoutoknowthat,asfarbackasthe1600’s,childrenweretaughtlanguagebymeansofpicturesandpicturesinthemind.Itmusthaveworkedprettywell—thinkofall thepeople thenwhocouldspeakLatin,Greek,andotherlanguages.There’s one point that should be stressed: We have yet to find the

memoryproblemthatthesystemstaughtinthisbookcan’tmakeeasierto handle. You’ll see that, with a slight twist or manipulation, thesystemsmust apply. It doesn’tmatter how difficult the problem is; infact,themoredifficulttheproblem,themorevaluablethesystems.When we teach students how to remember foreign language

vocabulary, there’s usually one who’ll say, “Great, but what aboutlanguages like Chinese?”Well, what about them? Of course it’s moredifficult to learn Chinese or Japanese than French or Spanish—but it

always will be, whether or not you use our systems. Applying thesystemswillstillmakethechorelessofachore,andtakethedrudgeryoutofwhatcanbeenjoyable.If we show a student how to remember things in sequence, and he

says, “Okay, but I have hundreds of things I must remember insequence,”histhinkingisabitinverted.It’sbecausehehashundredsofthingstorememberthatheneedsthesystems.Ifhehadonlyfourthingstoremember,hewouldn’tneedthematall.

8NAMESANDFACES

JL: I had agreed to help one of CoachWoodyHayes’s football playerswith his studies, so Iwent over to the player and said, “Hi, I’m JerryLucas—what’s yourname?”Hedidn’t sayanything formaybeahalf aminute,justseemedtoberapidlycountingonhisfingers.Thenhesaid,“Bob.”Iheardhim,butIwascurious.“I’msorry,”Isaid,“whatdidyousayyournamewas?”Hewent through the same routine again, beforefinallysaying,“Bob.”Ofcourse,Ihadtoaskhimwhyhedidthat.“Well,” he said, “I have a terrible memory—I even find it hard to

remembermyownname.So,whatIdoissingtomyself,keepingtimeonmy fingers, ‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happybirthday,dear…Bob!”

HL: That’s about the best “worst memory” story I’ve ever heard. ItremindsmeofthelateRichardHimber,themusicianandmagician,whowas a good friend of mine. During the early years, when I was firststarting,hewasgoingtogetmeonthe“EdSullivanShow.”HedraggedmetothestudioduringarehearsalandcorneredSullivan.

“Ed,” he said, “this guy is fantastic. He’ll meet everyone in youraudience. Then, during the show, he’ll call each person’s name.As hedoes,eachpersonwillstandup—untiltheentireaudienceisstanding!”AswasoftenthecasewithDickhehaditmixedup—allthepeopleI’vemetstand,thensitdownasIcalltheirnames.Anyway,SullivanlookedatDickforamoment,andsaid,“Icanhave

thebandplay‘TheStar-SpangledBanner’andgetthesameresult!”

JL:Well,hecouldgetthingsmixeduptoo.OneyearIwasnamedSportsIllustratedSportsmanoftheYear,andtheannouncementwastobemadeon the Sullivan show—you know, Ed was to introduce me from theaudience.

So, near the end of the show, he says, “Ladeez and gentlemen, wehaveinouraudiencetheSportsIllustratedSportsmanoftheYear.WouldyoupleasegiveabigwelcometoMr.Jerry…Lewis!”

Mostofusrecognizefaces(didyoueverhearanyonesay,“Oh,Iknowyourname,but I don’t recognizeyour face”?). It’s thenameswehavetrouble with. Since we do usually recognize faces, the thing to do isapplyasystemwhereinthefacetellsusthename.Thatisbasicallywhatoursystemaccomplishes,ifitisappliedcorrectly.Thefirstproblemisthename.Well,thatoneiseasilysolved—simplyapply the Substitute Word system of memory. You won’t need it formany names that already have meaning—names like Hayes, Howe,Carpenter, Fox, Paige, Coyne, Paynter, Gold, or Knott immediatelycreatepicturesinyourmind.Other names may not have meaning, but will still remind you ofsomething tangible. For example, the names Hudson, Jordan, andShannonwill probablymake you think of a river, and the nameRuthmightmakeyouthinkofbaseball.The vastmajority of names, however, have nomeaning at all. Theyare conglomerations of sound, just like a word in a foreign language.That’swheretheSubstituteWordsystemcomesin.Beforewegiveyou someexamples,you shouldbeawareof thefactthatmost people don’t really forget names. They just don’t rememberthem in the first place—often, they don’t really hear them in the firstplace. Just think back and remember the many times you’ve beenintroduced to someone,whenallyouheardwasamumble.There’snowayonearthtorememberamumble!Forsomereason,peopleareusuallyembarrassed tosimplysay,“I’msorry, I didn’t hear your name.” There’s nothing to be embarrassedabout.Sinceaperson’sname isoneofhismostprizedpossessions, it’sflatteringtomakeeventheslightestfussoverit.Askinghimtorepeatitshowsthatyou’re interestedenoughinhimtowanttobesureyougethisnameright.Thentherearethosewhodon’tbotheraskingthepersontorepeathisnamebecause they feel that they’llprobablynevermeethimagain, sowhatdifferencedoesitmake?Ofcourse,theyoftendomeetthatpersonagain—which iswhyhalf theworldseems toaddress theotherhalfas

Darling,Buddy,Fella’,Mac,Champ,Honey,orSweetheart.Notbecause“Honey” is so special to them, but because they don’t know who inblazes they’re talking to! Which is probably all right, because thechancesare that “Honey”and“Buddy”don’tknowwho they’re talkingto,either!Anyway, if youwould like to remember names and faces, there arethree steps involved; the first step takes care of the name, the secondtakes care of the face, and the third locks the two of them together.Whatyouhavetodoisassociatethenametothefaceinsomeridiculousway.Butfornow,let’stalkaboutthefirststep,rememberingthename.Ordinarily, there’d be no way to picture a name like Bentavagnia(pronounced bent-a-vane-ya). But you can picture, say, a bent weathervane.AndbentvanehastoremindyouofBentavagnia!The Substitute Word system will work beautifully to help youremembernames.Applyingitwillforceyoutolistento,payattentionto,concentrateonthatname—tobeOriginallyAwareofit.Youcan’tcomeupwith a SubstituteWord for amumble. You simplymust be sure tohearthename,evenifyouhavetoaskthepersontorepeatit.BeforeyoulearnhowtoattachaSubstituteWordtoaface,youshouldbe convinced that there is no name, no matter how long or odd-sounding, for which you cannot find a Substitute Word, phrase, orthought.Itmightevenbeathoughtyoucan’tputintowords.Butyou’llalwaysbeabletothinkofsomethingthatcanbepictured,andthatwillremindyouofthename.The name Antesiewicz seems formidable. But it’s pronounced ante-sevage,andit’seasyenoughtopictureanti-savageorAuntiesaveitch.Suddenly, thenameseems less formidable.Pukczyva (pronouncedpuk-shiva) isanothernamethatordinarilywouldgoinoneearandouttheother because, subconsciously or consciously, you’d think, “I’ll neverrememberthat,anyway—whytry?”And,ofcourse,you’dberight;you’dneverrememberit.Butifyoupictureahockeypuckshiveringbecauseit’sonice,youcanpicturethatname.For the name Barclay, you could use bar clay or bark lay; forSmolenski, a small lens (camera) skiing; for Caruthers, a car withudders;forKrakowitz,crackerwits;forFrankesni,frank(hotdog)hasknee; for Esposito, expose a toe; for Dalrymple, doll rumple; forKolodny, colored knee; for Androfkavitz, Ann drop car witch; for

Giordano,jawedonO;forVirostek,virilestick;andsoon.TheSubstituteWordorphraseyouuseneedn’t containall theexact

soundsofthename;coverthemainsoundorelements,andyou’llhavethereminderyouneed.“True”memorywillfillintherestforyou.Aswithmost anything else, itwill become easier and easier as you

practice applying the idea.You’ll develop standards for certainnames,prefixes,suffixes,andevensounds.Herearethreestandardswementionto our students: For Smith, always picture a blacksmith’s hammer; forCohen,anicecreamcone;forGordon,agarden.Forthesuffix-son,youmightalwaysseeasmallerversionofthemain

thingyou’repicturing.Forexample,forRobinson,youcouldseearobinanda smaller robin—its son.Or, you coulduse the sun in the sky asyourstandard.ForMc-orMac-,youcouldalwayspictureaMacktruck;for-itzor-witz,picturebrains(wits);for-berg,seeaniceberg;for-stein,picture a beer stein; for -ton, see the itemweighing a ton; for a -gerending, we usually picture either a wild animal growling (grr), or acigar.Once you use something for any name, prefix, suffix, etc., you’ll

probablyuse it automaticallywhenyouhear that soundagain—itwillbecomeastandardtoyou.Here’s a list of nearly six hundred of the most common names in

America, plus suggestions for SubstituteWords or phrases for each ofthem.(Namesthatalreadyhavemeaning,likeStorm,Bell,Paine,Brown,Wolfe,etc.,arenotlisted.)Takethetimetogoovertheseatleastonce;somestandardswillstartformingforyou.Youcanusethelistasadrill,ifyoulike.CovertheSubstituteWordsuggestionswithyourhandorapiece of paper, and see if you don’t come up with some of the samewords or phrases we’ve listed. It will help you becomemore familiarwiththeidea,andit’sagoodimaginationexercise.

Aarons runonair,airruns

Abbott anabbott,Ibought

Abrams rams,aperams

Abramson ramson

Adams figleaf,Adam’sapple,adam

Adler paddler,addlaw

Alexander licksand,licksander

Allen alley,allin

Altman oldman

Anderson handandson

Andrews Anndraws,Anndrools

Anthony handton,MarkAnthony

Applebaum applebum

Archer archer,ahchair

Arnold armold

Ashburn ashburn

Atkins hatkin

Atkinson hatkinson

Bailey baleE

Baldwin baldone,baldwin

Barnett barnet

Barry bury,berry

Bartley boughtlay,barredlea(meadow)

Barton barton

Bauer bower

Baxter backstir,backstear

Beck back,peck

Bennett bendnet,bendit,Tony

Benson bendson

Bentley bandlay,Englishcar

Berman barman(bartender)

Bernstein burnstein

Blair blare,lair

Blake flake,lake

Borden milk,boarding

Bowen bowing

Boyd bird

Bradley bradlay

Brady braidE

Brent rent,bent

Brewster brewstir,rooster

Brody broadE

Bruce ruse,bruise

Bryant buyant,buoyant

Buckley buckle

Burke berg,perk

Burton buyton,burrton

Callahan callahand

Cameron cameraon

Campbell soup,campbell

Carroll Christmascarol,carryall

Carson carson,Johnny

Carter cartear,carther

Chadwick shadowwick,chatwick

Chandler chandelier

Chapman chappedman,chopman

Charles char,quarrels

Chester chesttear,jester

Chilton chillton

Chisholm chisel

Christenson Christianson

Christopher Christgofar

Clark clock,clerk

Clinton cleanton

Cochran rooster(cock)ran

Coleman coldman,coalman

Collier collar,callya’

Collins collie,TomCollins

Connolly conalay

Connor counter,conher

Cooper chickencoop,coopair

Craig crack

Crandall randoll,cranedoll

Crawford crawlFord,Joan

Crawley crawllay,Raleigh

Crosby crossbee,Bing

Crowley crowlay

Cunningham cunningham

Curtis curt,Tony

Daley daily,day

Daniels Danyells

Davis Daviscup(tennis)

Davison Daviscupandson

Dawson doorson

Denton dentton

Deutsch touch,German

Dixon Dick(Tracy)son

Donahue donahue(color)

Donald Duck,darnold

Donovan donavan

Doran doorran

Dougherty doughintea,dockhertea

Douglas dugglass,dugless

Doyle doily,toil,oil

Driscoll drizzle

Dudley dudlay,deadlay

Duffy thefee

Dugan doagain,dueagain

Duncan dunkin’

Dunlap downlap,downlip

Dunn dun,down

Dutton button,theton

Dwyer wire,dryer

Eaton eatton,eatin’

Eberhardt everhard

Edelman adullman

Edwards wards(off)

Egan hecan,again

Ehrlich airlick,oillick

Elliott lot,LEhot

Ellis Lass,Alice

Engle angle,andgull

Epstein ebbstein

Evans heavens

Farber farbar,farbear

Farrell farrail,barrel

Feinberg fineberg

Feldman fellman

Ferguson furgoson

Feuer foyer,fire

Finney fishy,fini

Flanagan fanagain

Fleming flaming,lemming

Fletcher fetchher,lecher

Flynn flyin’,Errol

Foley fallE,foal

Forbes fourbees,orbs

Forman boss,fourmen

Forrester forest,foresttear

Foster forcedher

Frazer freezer,raiseher

Freedman freeman,reedman

Fried freed

Friedlander freeland

Fuller full,brush

Gallagher gal

Gardner gardener

Garrison carryson

Gaynor gainher

Geller gala,gallaw,killher

Gelman killman

Gerber gobare,babyfood

Gibson vodkagibson,giveson

Gilbert killbed

Ginsberg ginberg

Gladstone gladstone

Gleason gleeson,Jackie

Goodwin goodwin

Gorman goreman,doorman

Graham cracker,grayham

Gregory gory,Peck,graygory

Griffin gripfin

Griffith gripfish

Grover rover,grow

Gulliver giant,gullliver

Gunther guntore,gunnedher

Hahn hone

Hamilton hammerton

Hansen hansomcab,handsome

Harper harp,hopper

Harrington herrington,herrington

Harris harass,hairy

Harrison hairyson

Hartman heartman,hardman

Haupt hopped,hoped

Healey healE

Heller hello

Helman hellman,heldman

Henderson henson

Hendricks hentricks,handtricks

Henry hen

Herman herman

Hicks hicks,hiccups

Hirsch Hersheybar

Hirshfeld Hersheyfell

Hobart wholebar,hopehard

Hodges hedges

Hoffman huffman,halfman

Hogan hoecan,wholecan

Holden holdin,holdden

Hollis hollers

Holt halt,hold

Hooper hoop

Hopkins hopkin

Hornsby hornsbee

Horowitz horrorwits

Houlihan holdahand,hooligan

Houston houseton,useton

Howard howhard

Hoyle hurl,oil

Hubbard OldMother(Hubbard),hophard

Hughes hues,use,ewes

Hyman highman

Isaacs eyesacks,iceaxe

Israel isreal,StarofDavid

Jackson jackson

Jacobs cobs,Jacob’sladder

Jaffe café,coffee

James aims

Jansen SenSen,janitor’sson

Jerome chairroam

Johnson johnson,Lyndon,yawnson

Jones owns,john

Kagan Kagain

Kahn can,con

Kaiser guysore,geyser

Kantor cantor,can’ttear

Kaufman coughman

Keegan keycan

Keller callher,killher,color

Kelly callE,killE,green

Kennedy canaday,canofD’s

Kenny canknee,penny

Kent can’t,canned

Kerr car,cur

Kessler castlaw

Klein climb,Kline

Knapp nap,knapsack

Koenig king,Knick,coinnick

Kornfeld cornfell

Kramer grayMa,creamer

Krieger regal,crygore

Lafferty laughtea

Lambert lambbutt

Lang long

Langer longer,languor,linger

Larkin larkin,larkkin

Larson arson,larceny

Lawrence lawants,lowerants

Lawson lawson

Lawton lawton

Lederman leaderman,letterman

Lee lea

Lehman layman

Leonard leanhard

Leslie lesslie

Lester lesstear,jester

Levine thevine,livein

Levinson levelson,leavin’son

Levy levee,Levi’s

Lewis lose,loose,whois

Lieberman laborman,leaveherman

Lindsey lintsea,lindyhop

Logan lowcan,lowagain

Loughran lockran

Lund land

McCarthy Mackcarttea

McCoy mecoy,decoy

McDonald MackandDuck(Donald)

McGee mykey

MacLeod Mackloud,Mackcloud,mycloud

McMann Mackman

Mahoney Maholdknee,mywholeknee,myhoney

Malone alone

Manning manink,manning

Marcus markus

Marshall marshal,Mashall

Martin Matin,martin

Mason mason,myson

Maxwell makeswell,mixwell

Mayer mayor

Mead meat,meet

Merrill merryill

Metcalf metcalf

Meyer mire,myear

Michaels mikecalls,mikekills

Middleton middleton

Mitchell shell,mittshell

Monroe manrow,Marilyn

Moore moor,more

Moran Maran,moreran

Morgan morecan

Morris Morrischair,Mais,morerice

Morse moss

Morton mutton,moreton

Muller mullingitover

Murphy myfee,morefee,morphine

Nash gnash

Neill kneel

Nelson kneelson,wrestlinghold

Nichols nickels

Nixon mixon,nickson

North storm,wind,compass

Norton noton

Nussbaum nosebum,nutsbum

O’Brien ohburn,brine

Ogden eggden,eggedon

Oliver olive

Olsen oldson

O’Neal kneel,Okneel

Oppenheim openhome

Owens owes,owns

Padgett patchit,pageit

Paley pale,pail

Palmer palm,palmMa

Parkington parkington

Patrick pattrick

Patterson patason

Paul pull,pall

Pawley pulley,pullE

Paxton packston

Pearce pierce

Pearson pierceson,pearson

Perkins perking

Perlman pearlman

Perlmutter pearlmutter

Perry bury,pear

Peters petersout,fades,Ptears

Phillips fulllips

Pincus pincushion,pinkass,pinkS

Powell dowel,towel,power,Pawell

Quinn win

Rafferty rapfortea

Raleigh rolllea,rawlea,rollE

Randall randoll

Rappaport raponport

Ratner ratknee,ratonher

Raymond rayonmount,rainmount

Reiss rise,rice

Resnick restnick

Reynolds ranold,rainold,rainholds

Rhodes roads

Richards rich

Rigney rigknee

Riley ryelea,rileE

Roberts robbers

Robeson robeson

Rogers BuckRogers,roger(affirmative)

Rosen rosein

Rosenberg rosein(ice)berg

Ross rose,raws

Roth wrath

Rubin ruby

Ruppert ropepat,rudepit

Russell rustle,wrestle

Rutherford rodeaFord,rudderFord

Ryan cryin’,rind,Rhine

Samuels somemules

Satenstein satinstein

Sawyer sawya’

Saxon sackson

Scher chair,share,sheer

Schmidt blacksmith’shammer,shymitt

Schneider sheneither

Schoenberg shine(ice)berg,shoneberg

Schultz shields,shoots

Schuster shoestir,shoestore

Schwartz warts

Scott scotch,Scot

Sears burns(sears),SearsRoebuck

Seiden sidein

Seward steward,seaward

Sexton sackston,sexyton

Shaeffer shavefour,shaver,beer

Shaw shore,pshaw

Shay shade,say,shave

Sheehan sheen

Shelton shellton,shelter

Sherman showman,sureman

Siegel seagull,seegal

Simmons simmers,seeman,mattress

Simon sighman,Simple

Simpson simpleson,simperson

Sitron sitrun

Skidmore skidmore

Slade slayed,slate

Sloan loan,slow

Slocum slowcomb

Snead need,snood,Sammy

Solomon wiseman,soloman,solemnman

Sommers summers

Spector spectator,ghost,inspector

Spencer expenseher,pinsher,pensore

Squire wire,square,choir

Stacey staysee,tasty

Sterling silver,starling

Stern stern(fatherfigure)

Stevens stevedore,steepfins

Stewart steward

Sullivan JohnL.,soldavan

Sussman shushman

Swanson swanson

Sweeney sweetknee

Talmadge tallmidget,tallMadge

Tate tight,teaate

Taub daub,tub

Teitelbaum titledbum

Terry cloth(towel),tearE

Thatcher thatchair,thatcher

Thomas tomtom,tomask

Thompson tomtomson,thumpson

Tipton tipton

Tobias toebias,toebuyus

Todd toddle,toddy

Tracy traceE

Travers travels,traverse

Treadway tread,dreadway

Trent rent

Tucker tuck’er,tuckcar

Tuttle turtle

Tyler tiler,tileher

Udall youdoll

Unger hunger

Victor winner,Victore

Vincent wincent

Wagner wagher,wagoner

Wallace walllace,wallis,wallace

Walsh waltz

Walters walltears,falters,Barbara

Warner warnher

Warren warring,warin

Wasserman bloodtest,waterman

Watkins wattkin

Watson wattson,whatson

Watts watts,lightbulb

Waverly waveearly,waverlea

Wayne wane,John

Weber web,webbar

Webster webstir,dictionary

Weeks calendar,weak

Weiner frankfurter,weenie

Weintraub winetrap

Weiss wise

Welch grapejuice,welsh(onabet)

Wellington wellinkton

Whalen whalin’,whale,wailing

Whitney whiteknee,whittleknee

Williams willyams,yams

Wilson willson,whistle

Winston winston,Churchill

Woolsey woolsee,we’llsee

Worthington worthinkton

Wright write

Young baby

Zimmer simmer

Zuckerman suckerman,manwithall-daysucker

Ifyou’vegoneoverthislistevenonce,you’llfindthatmanyoftheseSubstitute Words will come to mind the next time you hear some ofthesenames.AndwhenyoucomeupwithyourownSubstituteWordorphraseforaname,you’reevenmorelikelytorememberitwheneveryouhearthename.

JL:ThefirsttimeIsawyouontelevision.…

HL:Iknow,youwerejustalittleboy!

JL:Well,notquite.Anyway,Iknewsomethingaboutmemorysystems,but I’d never heard of anyone remembering four hundred names. Icouldn’tbelieveit.

HL:Thefunnythingisthatnobodyelsebelievedit—orsoitseemed.MyfirstnationaltelevisionexposurewasontheoriginalJackPaar“TonightShow.”Heputmeonforabouteightminutesneartheendoftheshow,andIguessImusthaverattledoffclosetofourhundrednamesinaboutsevenminutes.Twodayslater,someonefromPaar’sofficecalledme.Itseemsthey’d

receivedhundredsofcalls,letters,andtelegramstotheeffectthatwhatI’ddonewasimpossible,noonecouldrememberthatmanypeopleinsoshortatime—theymusthaveallbeenfriendsofmine!

JL:Whatdidyousaytothat?

HL:Isaid,“Whotheheckhasfourhundredfriends?!”

•

Nowforsteptwo.You’vejustbeenintroducedtosomeoneandyou’vemadeupaSubstituteWordforhisname;whatdoyoudowithit?Well,what youhave todo is look at that person’s face and selectwhatyouthinkisitsoutstandingfeature.You’ve accomplished one of the two important steps by forcing

yourself tobeOriginallyAwareof thename.Now,bysearchingforanoutstanding feature, you’re accomplishing the second important step—you’reforcingyourselftolookat,beinterestedin,concentrateon,thatface!Whatyouselectcouldbeanything:hairorhairline;forehead(narrow,

wide,orhigh);eyebrows(straight,arched,bushy);eyes(narrow,wide-spaced, close-set); nose (large, small, pug, ski); nostrils (flaring,pinched); high cheekbones; cheeks (full or sunken); lips (straight,arched, full, thin); chin (cleft, receding, jutting); lines, pimples,warts,dimples—anything.First impressions are usually lasting impressions, and what is

outstandingonsomeone’s facenowwill,most likely, seemoutstandingwhenyou see that faceagain.That’s important;butmore important isthe fact thatyou’ve really lookedat that face.You’reetching that faceintoyourmemorybyjusttryingtoapplythesystem.What you selectmaynot bewhat someone elsewould select, but it

will work for you. We all think and see differently—fine, that’s as itshouldbe.Whatyousee,whatyouselect,isbestforyou.All right;you’vedecidedonanoutstanding feature,andyoualready

hadaSubstituteWordforitsowner’sname.Nowwecometostepthree—youassociatetheSubstituteWordtotheoutstandingfeature.Ifyoudothisproperly,itwillalmostbelikehavingtheperson’snamewrittenonhisface!Evenifstepthreedidn’twork(whichitdoes),justapplyingstepsone

andtwomustimproveyourmemoryfornamesandfaces,becauseyou’vedonewhatmostpeopledon’tdo—you’vepaidattention; you’ve listenedandlooked.But it isstepthreethatgivespurposetostepsoneandtwo—it locks

the name and face together for you. Form a ridiculous associationbetweenyourSubstituteWordand theoutstanding featureof the face;that’s all. And, you’ll find that it’s almost impossible not to make thepictureridiculous;itwillhappenautomatically.Look,you’vejustmetMr.Crane.Apictureofalargecrane,asusedby

construction workers, comes to mind; or perhaps the storklike bird.You’ve looked at his face and decided that his high forehead is theoutstandingfeature.Youlookatthatforehead,andreallypicturemanylargecranes flyingout of it; or, you can see themattacking thathighforehead!Orperhapstheentireforeheadisonegiganticcrane.Aswithany association, you havemany choices as to the kind of picture youvisualize.Youmustbesure—force itat first—toreallyseethatpicture.ThenexttimeyoumeetMr.Crane,you’llknowhisname!IfMr.Bentavagniahasa largenose,you’d seeabentweathervane

where the nose should be. Mr. Pukczyva has bulging eyes; really seethoseshiveringhockeypucks flyingoutofhiseyes,hittingyouintheface. Or, his eyes are shivering hockey pucks. Mr. Antesiewicz has anoticeablecleftinhischin.Seesavageschargingatyououtofthatcleft;you’redefendingyourselfagainstthem—you’reanti-savage.Mr.Cohenhas deep character lines (they used to be called “worry” lines) on hisforehead.Picturethoselinesbeingdrippingicecreamcones;ormillionsofdrippingicecreamconesflyingoutofthoselines.You’vejustlearnedthebestsystemforrememberingnamesandfaces

—and theonlyone thatworks forany name. (A strong statement, butwe’llstandbyit!)Inourclasses,afterlearningthesystem,studentscalloff the names of twenty to forty other students, whose names they’veheardonce—thefirsttimetheytryit!Youcantryitrightnow,using“wordpictures.”Fiveofthesewerejust

usedasexamples.GobacktoMr.Crane,Mr.Bentavagnia,Mr.Pukczyva,Mr.Antesiewicz,Mr.Cohen,andreallyseethosepicturesinyourmind’seye.Fornow,sinceyou’retryingitwithoutrealpeopleorfaces,seejustthefeaturesthemselvesandtheridiculousassociations.Now,meetfourmore“people”(featuresandnames)anddothesamething.Mr.Collettihasverythicklips.Picturethoselipsandseemillionsof

cupsofteaorteabagscomingoutofthem;you’recallingoneofthosecupsorbags.Reallytrytovisualizethatsillyaction,andcallateawillremindyouofColletti.Asalways,youcanmakeupyourownSubstitute

Words and pictures. You might want to see yourself tasting the tea,spittingoutamouthful,andsaying,“Call’attea?”Miss Meisterman has very full cheeks. You might picture a man

comingoutofeachcheekandyoustirhim.Mestirman—Meisterman.Seethatcrazypicture.Dr. Caruthers has very long, wide sideburns. You might see those

sideburns being cars (or have cars driving out of them); the cars haveudders—you’re milking the cars. Car udders. See the picture. If youwant to remember that this is Dr. Caruthers, put something into thepicturethatwilltellyouso.Makeupastandardtorepresentdoctor—astethoscope, perhaps. As you see yourself milking the cars, picturestethoscopescomingoutoftheudders.Mr.Ponchatrainhasdeepcreases(characterlines)fromhisnostrilsto

thecornersofhismouth.Youcanseetrainsrunningalongthosetracks(creases);youpunchthem.Punchatrain.Now,ifyou’vereallyvisualizedeachofthosesillypictures,trytofill

inthenameforeachoutstandingfeaturelistedbelow,withoutworryingabout how the names are spelled. They’re not listed in the order inwhichyou“met”thepeople.

Ifyourememberedtoput“Dr.”and“Miss”wheretheybelonged,giveyourselfanextracoupleofmentalpoints.Doingthiswith“wordpictures”isnotaseasyasapplyingthesystem

torealfaces.Ofcourse,youcouldpracticewithnewspaperormagazinepictures.Cutoutpicturesoffaces,makeupnames,andwritethenamesonthebacksofthepictures.Thesystemwillworkwithone-dimensionalpictures.The best way to practice, however, is by applying the system from

nowon,wheneveryoumeetpeople.Youhavenothingtolose,andmuchto gain. The next time you’re at ameeting, a cocktail party—thenexttimeyou’rewithagroup—applythesystem.You’llprobablyremember

50percentmorenamesand faces thanyoueverhavebefore.Andthatpercentagewillincreaseeverytimeyouusethesystem.Whenyoudotryitat,say,aparty,besuretoreviewthenamesduringthe evening. If you’ve applied the system properly, each time you seeoneofthefaces,thenameshouldspringtomind.That’syourreview.Ifyoulookatonefaceandthenamedoesn’tcometomind,thinkaboutitforawhile. If itstilldoesn’tcometoyou,don’tbeembarrassedtoaskfor thenameagain.Thenstrengthenyourassociation.Whenyou leavetheparty,youshouldbeabletosaygoodnighttopeoplebyname.Tryitandseeforyourself.Now,meetingpeople ingroupsandrememberingtheirnames isonething, butwhat if you’re in a businesswhere, perhaps, three people adayvisityourstore,office,showroom—andyoudon’tknowwhen,orif,they’ll evercomeback?Ofcourse, if theydocomeback,you’d like tocallthembyname.Manyasalehasbeenclinchedthatway.This is the only instance where we suggest that you write downinformation. Assume you’ve met three new people today, and haveappliedthesystemyoujustlearned.Later,writethosethreenamesdownonapadyoukeepforjustthatpurpose.Writing each name is a review. You can’t write the name withoutthinkingof it,and, ifyou’veappliedthesystem,youcan’t thinkof thenamewithoutthefacebeingconjuredupinyourmind.That’sthewaythesystemworks—thinkofthenameandyou’llvisualizetheface;thinkofthefaceandyou’llvisualizethename.The next day, read those names. Three days later, read them again,and a week later read them oncemore. Then forget about them. Thenexttimeoneofthosepeoplecomesintoyourplaceofbusiness,you’llknowthatperson’sname!If you meet, say, three people every business day, you mayoccasionallybereading(reviewing)fifteentoeighteennamesatatime.Ittakesafewminutes.Youhavetomakethedecision—isitworthafewminutes, every once in awhile, to be able to remember the names ofpeoplewhomayormaynotvisityouagain?Mostpeoplethinkitis.Nowforsomemoretipsonnamesandfaces.To remember titles, come up with standards like the stethoscope inyourpictureforDr.Caruthers.Youcanmakeupawordtorepresentanytitle;thenjustgetitintothepictureasareminder.Forjudge,picturea

gavel;forcaptain,pictureacap,andsoon.For first names,make up a SubstituteWord for the name and get itintoyourpicture.Onceyoumakeoneupforanyname,itwillbecomeastandard for you. You might use all in for Alan, robber for Robert,cherryforJerry,floorantsforFlorence,bride(marry)forMary,shieldforSheila,hairyforHarry,gymforJim,andsoon.Youcanputanythingyoulikeintoyouroriginalpicture—theperson’sbusinessaffiliation,spouse’sname,children’snames,hobby,howmuchmoneyheowesyou—whatever.Ofcourse,itwilltakelongertoformtheoriginalpictureorassociation,butitwouldtakelongertorememberallthatinformationinanycase.SayyoumeetaMr.BillGordon,whoisasalesexecutivewithUnitedStatesSteel;hiswife’snameisRenée;hehasasonnamedJack;andheplaysgolf.BillGordonhasverybushyeyebrows.Whenyoufirstmeethim,youmight seehiseyebrowsbeingagarden; therearedollarbillsgrowingthere.Asyoutalk,youfindouttheotherbitsofinformation.Puttheminto the picture. See an American flag (U.S.) that’s made of steelgrowinginthegarden.Theflagissellingsomethingtotheflowersinthegarden.The flowers start to run; they say, “Want to seemerun, eh?”(Renée).Hydraulicjacks(Jack)arealsorunninginthegarden—they’reswinginggolfclubs.It takes time and space to explain these pictures; thinking orvisualizingthemtakesmuchlesstime,andyoudoitduringyourinitialconversation. Don’t lose sight of the fact that trying to form theseridiculous pictures is forcing you to be Originally Aware; you’reregisteringthatinformationinthefirstplace.Also,rememberthatafteryou’veused the informationa fewtimes,whether it’s just thenameorinformation about a person—it all becomes knowledge and theridiculouspicturesfade;they’renolongernecessary.Some final points: Yes, you’ll be using high foreheads, big noses,bushy eyebrows, over and over again. Don’t worry about it—inrememberingthenameofeveryperson inanaudience,wemayuseasmany as thirty high foreheads! The system still works. It still worksbecause,again,you’vehadto lookat that facewith interest,attention,andconcentrationinordertodecidethattheforeheadistheoutstandingfeature.That’swhatreallymakesthesystemwork.Similarly, itdoesn’t

matterifyoualwaysuseablacksmith’shammertoremindyouofSmith,Smythe, and Schmidt. You’ll know the difference because you had tolistencarefullyinordertoapplythesystem.Occasionally, a studentwill tellus thatheor shemet someonewhohadnooutstanding feature.That’salmost impossible,particularlyafteryou’vebeenusingthesystemforawhile—becauseyou’llbenoticingandobservingmore.Butif,atfirst,thisseemstobeaproblem,decideononefeaturetouseinallsuchcases.Perhapsyou’llalwaysusethenose,ifyoufindnooutstandingfeatures.Thesystemwillstillworkbecauseyoustillhave to really look at that face in order to decide that it has nooutstandingfeature.Youmighttrysomethingnow.Turnbacktothelistoffeaturesusedinthe“wordpictures.” Ifyoumadetheassociationsoriginally,you’ll stillknowthenamethatgoeswitheachoutstandingfeature.

9ABSENTMINDEDNESS

JL:When Iplayedbasketball inhigh school, Ihada teammatenamedBobCole—really one of the greatest shooters I’ve ever seen, before orsince.Troublewas,Bobhadatendencytobeabsentminded.Hewasastarter,ofcourse,andatonegameIrememberwe’dfinished

ourwarm-upandwereallstandingaroundthecoach,readytogooutonthefloor.Westartedtopulloffourlongwarm-uppants;Bobpulledhisoff,andhehadnothingonunderthem—Imean,nothing!He’dforgottento put on his uniform, and didn’t know he was stark naked until heheardallthegiggles!

HL:That’sembarrassing,ofcourse,butinmostcasesabsentmindednessisannoying,reallyaggravating.Andit’snotaproblemthathasmuchtodowithintelligence.We’veallheardoftheabsentmindedprofessorwhowindsup thecat,putshiswifeout for thenight, andkisses thealarmclockgoodnight!Andhe’sintelligent.

JL: On the other hand, I know “idiot savants”—people with fantasticmemories who are really dumb. Which further supports the idea thatintelligenceisn’tnecessarilyafactorinmemory.

HL:Misplacingsomethingmeansnotrememberingwhereyouplacedit.When you don’t know if you locked your door, you don’t rememberwhetherornotyoulockedit—absentmindednessisbasicallyamemoryproblem.

•

You are absentminded when your mind is absent; when you performactionsunconsciously,withoutthinking.We’vediscussedthedifferencebetween seeing and observing—we seewith our eyes, butwe observe

with ourminds. If yourmind is “absent” when performing an action,therecanbenoobservation;more important, therecanbenoOriginalAwareness.Absentmindedness is probably the most widespread of minor self-annoyances. Although it plagues most of us, it seems particularly toaffect the elderly.The techniqueswe’ll discussherehave succeeded ineliminating absentmindedness for countless people, including theelderly.Tosomereaders,absentmindednessmayseemtobeatrivialproblem.Perhapstheydon’trealizehowmuchtime,energy,andaggravationtheyspendonsearchingforitemsthey“justputdownforamoment,”oronworryingaboutwhethertheyhaveturnedofftheoven,lockedthedoor,unpluggedtheiron,oronretrievingitemstheyhaveleftintrains,buses,cars,offices,andfriends’homes.Thesolution to theproblemofabsentmindedness isboth simpleandobvious:Allyouhavetodoistobesuretothinkofwhatyou’redoingduring themoment inwhich you’re doing it. That’s all, but obviously it’seasiersaidthandone.Howcanyoubesuretoforceyourselftothinkofaminoractionatthemomentyou’redoingit?There’s only one way, and that is by using association. SinceassociationforcesOriginalAwareness—andsincebeingOriginallyAwareisthesameashavingsomethingregisterinyourmindinthefirstplace,atthemomentitoccurs—thenforminganinstantassociationmustsolvetheproblemofabsentmindedness.You’rewritingatyourdeskandthephonerings.Asyoureachforthephone,youplacethepencilbehindyourear,orinyourhair.Thephonecallisfinished—thattookonlyafewminutes—butnowyouwastetimesearchingforthepencilthat’sperchedbehindyourear.Wouldyouliketoavoidthataggravation?Allright,then;thenexttimethephoneringsandyou start to place the pencil behind your ear,make a fastmentalpictureinyourmind.Actually“see”thepencilgoing intoyourear—alltheway.Theideamaymakeyoushudder,butwhenyouthinkof thatpencil,you’llknowwhereitis.Thatsillyassociationofseeingthepencilgointoyourear forcedyoutothinkof twothings inafractionofasecond:1)thepencil,and2)whereyouwereputtingit.Problemsolved!Solved, that is, if youmake an association each time you put down

yourpencil,whereveryouputit.Justmakeitahabit.Keeptheideainmind the first few times, force yourself to form the associations, andafterthatitwillbecomehabitual.Ifyouplaceyoureyeglassesonyourtelevisionsetasyouleaveyourlivingroom,“see”theantennaofthetelevisionsetgoingrightthroughthe eyeglass lens, shattering it. This association is made withoutbreaking stride, as you walk. We’ll guarantee that the next time youthinkofyourglasses,you’llknowwheretheyare.Fortworeasons:First,you thought about itwhen you put themdown; and second, the thingthatmadeyouthinkaboutit,theassociation,alsoremindsyouofwheretheyare.Ifyouplaced theeyeglassesonyourbed,youcanpictureagiganticpair of glasses sleeping in your bed. If you stuck them into a pocket,picture the lenses breaking in your pocket and tearing it. Or you’rereachingintogettheglassesandyourhandisbadlycut.All thesameidea; the association, nomatter what it is, forces you to think of theactionatthatmoment.Alwaysdoitatthemoment;ifyouputoffdoingit, you’ll forget to form the association and you’ll forget where yourglassesare!Manypeopleareplaguedbymisplacingtreasureditems.Youusuallyputtheiteminaparticularlygoodhidingplace—andthenneverseeitagain. (Ifyoudo, it’s likely tobewhenyoumove,andemptyallyourdrawersandclosets.)Thisproblem,too,canbesolvedbymakinganinstantassociation.Sayyouhaveanexpensivefountainpenthatyouwanttokeepforachildorgrandchild. You place it in a drawer beneath your good sweaters forsafekeeping.Asyouplaceitthere,seeapictureofthepenleakinginkallover those sweaters, ruining them. Be assured that the next time youthinkof that pen, nomatterhow long after you’veput it away, you’llknow that it’s under your sweaters. You need only associate an itemyou’reputtingawaytoitshidingplaceoncetoseethattheideaworksbeautifully.If you want to be sure not to leave your umbrella at your friend’shouse, associate umbrella to the last thing you’re sure to noticewhenyouleave.Ifyou’rewearingacoat,andit’scoldoutside,youknowyouwon’tforgetthecoat.Associateumbrellatocoat;youmightseeyourselfputtingonagiganticumbrellainsteadofacoat,orusingacoatinstead

ofanumbrellatoprotectyoufromtherain.Theprincipleisthesame—onethingremindsyouoftheother.Ifyourpictureisaclearone,andaridiculousone,thecoatmustremindyouoftheumbrella.Ifyouwanttomake extra sure, and if you’re driving, associate umbrella to your car.You might picture yourself opening the car with an open umbrellainstead of a key. Now, if the coat doesn’t remind you to take thatumbrella,thecarcertainlywill.Do you often leave your umbrella at the office instead of taking it

home?Asyouarriveandputyourumbrellaaway,associateittothelastthingyounormallyseeordoasyou’releavingtheoffice.Ifyoupunchatimeclock,seeyourselfplacingtheumbrellaintheslotinsteadofyourcard.Or, ifyourideanelevator,pictureanumbrellaoperating it.Youmight also associate the umbrella to something you always see justoutsidetheofficebuilding—ifoneassociationdoesn’tremindyoutotakeitwithyou,theotherwillremindyoutogobackandgetit.Perhapsyou’reoneofthosepeoplewhowriteanimportantletterand

thenforgettotakeitoutofthehouseandmailit.What’sthelastthingyoudoasyouleaveyourhouseorapartment?Perhapsyoucheckyourdoorknob tomake sure thedoor is shut,orperhapsyou lock thedoorwithakey.Simplyassociate letter toeitherdoorknoborkey—orboth.(Ifyouassociateletterto,say,doorknobafewtimes,youprobablywon’thavetodoiteveragain.Everytimeyoulookatthatknob,itwillmakeyouthinkof letter,andifyou’ve leftoneinsideyou’llgobackandgetit.)Youcanalwaysuseasecondpictureasinsurance.Perhapsyouoften

take out some garbage when you leave your home. See yourselfthrowingmillionsoflettersintoyourgarbagecanorincinerator.Thiswillhelpyouremembertotaketheletter,butyoumaystillleave

itinyourpocketorpurseforafewweeks!Onewaytoavoidthatistoholdtheletterinyourhanduntilyouseeamailbox.Anotherwayistoassociate the person or company that the letter is addressed to, to amailbox. If it’sgoing to someoneyoucanpictureorvisualize, see thatperson’sheadcomingoutofamailbox.Ifit’sgoingtoacompany,useaSubstitute thought. For example, if it’s an electric bill, see electricity(lightning)shootingoutofamailbox.Ineithercase,thenexttimeyounoticeamailbox—and sooneror lateryouwill—you’ll be reminded totakethatletteroutofyourpocketorpurseandmailit.

Awomaninoneofourclassestoldusthatsheoftenburnedtheroastthat she put in the ovenbecause she simply forgot about it.Well, shecouldavoidthisbyputtingasmallerroastintotheovenalongwiththeregularone—when she smelled the smalloneburning, she’dknow theotheronewasdone!Thepriceofmeatbeingwhatitis,however,therehastobeabetterway.Makethisahabit—everytimeyouputsomethingintheoven,placeasmallfryingpansmackinthecenterofthekitchenfloor!Howcanyoupossibly forget about the roast now? Each time you see (or trip over)thatfryingpan,you’llberemindedoftheroastintheoven.Uponhearingthisideaonemansaid,“That’sfine,exceptthatwhenIput a roast in the oven, I usually go into another room to watchtelevision. Then I can’t see the reminder.” The solution for him wasobvious,ofcourse—totakethefryingpanalongandputitontopofthetelevisionset.Insteadofafryingpan,youcanuseanythingthatlooksoutofplaceonthefloor(ortelevisionset):apotholder,aplate,ahunkofcheese.The idea isbasedon the standard ruleofmemory—one thing remindsyouofanother.It’snotanewideabyanymeans;it’ssimilartotyingastringonyourfinger,wearingyourwatchonthewrongwrist,turningyourringtofacethe wrong way, or putting a crumpled dollar bill in with your coins.Each of these “out-of-place” things is supposed to remind you ofsomethingyouwanttoremember.Theproblemisthattoooftenthey’llremind you that you wanted to remember “something,” which isn’tmuchhelpifyoucan’trememberwhatthesomethingis.Thefryingpanonthekitchenfloor,ontheotherhand,mustremindyouoftheroastintheovenbecausethat’sallyou’llbeusingitfor.Ifyouinsistontyingastring around your finger or wearing your watch on the wrongwrist,now you have away tomake it definite. Go ahead and tie the stringaroundyourfinger,butatthesametimebesuretoassociatewhateveritisyouwanttoremembertothestring.Nowyouhavethetwoessentials:firstthereminder,thenwhatitisyou’rebeingremindedof.Why ruin your evening out because you spendmost of it worryingabout whether or not you turned off the oven, locked the door, orunpluggedtheiron?Formthehabitofmakingaquickassociationatthemomentyoudothesethings.Asyoushutofftheoven,pictureyourself

(or just your head) in the oven! Really see that picture, and you’veconsciouslythoughtabouttheactionforasplitsecond.Lateron,whenyouthinkabouttheoven,you’llknowyoushutitoff.Asyoulockyourdoor,seeyourselflockingitwithyourheadinstead

ofakey.Whenyouunplugyouriron,seeyourheadcomingoutofthesocket.Thepictureyouchooseisunimportant—anypictureforcesyoutothinkoftheactionatthatmoment.Do you sometimes find yourself going to your refrigerator, opening

thedoor,andthenstaringinsideandwonderingwhatitisyouwanted?Justmakeanassociationthemomentyouthinkofwhatit isyouwantfromtherefrigerator.Ifyouwantaglassofmilk, seeyourselfopeningtherefrigeratordoorandgallonsofmilkflyingoutandhittingyouintheface!Trythisidea,andyou’llneverstareintoarefrigeratoragain.That’sallthereistoit.It’slikegrabbingyourmindbythescruffofthe

neck and forcing it to think of a specific thing at a specific moment.Forceyourself todo it at first, and itwill becomehabitualbeforeyouknowit.Forming these associations may strike you as a waste of time. You

won’tfeelthatwayonceyou’vetriedusingtheidea.You’llsee,afterashortwhile,thattheridiculouspicturesareformedinhardlyanytimeatall.Evenmoreimportantisthetimethatyou’llbesaving.

•

JL:The“out-of-place”ideahassavedmewhenitcomestogettingoutofbedinthemornings.Yousee,ifthealarmclockiswhereitbelongs,I’lljustreachoverwithmylongarm,shutitoff,andgorightbacktosleep.So I keep it across the room—andwhenever I pull out the alarm-set Ipicturethatlittleknobgoingrightthroughmythumb,nailandall.

HL:Whichforcesyoutothink,atthatexactmoment,aboutthefactthatyouaresettingthealarm.

JL:Idothiseverynight,andIneverhavetogetoutofbedafterI’mintocheckwhetherornotIsettheclock.

HL:All right.Now,yousawthatpicture lastnight,andyou’ll thinkof

theclockafteryou’reinbedtonight.Doeslastnight’spictureevercomeback to you, making you think you set the alarm when you actuallydidn’t?

JL: Never has happened. “True” memory tells me the truth. MostimportantistheOriginalAwareness.IfIhaven’tmadethesillypictureonanynight,I’llknowIhaven’tsettheclock.

HL:Iknowitcan’tgowrong—I’veuseditforyears,justasI’veusedthe“out-of-place”ideaforyearstoremindmeinthemorningofsomethingIthoughtofduringthenight.

JL:Youmeanwhenyou’vehadthatmillion-dollaridea—

HL:Whichisusuallyworth$1.63inthemorninglight.Still,Ialwaysfeltthatideahadtobeimmortalized.SoatfirstI’dputonthelights,findapadandpencil,andwriteitdown—then,sinceIinvariablywokeupmywife, I started keeping a padonmynight table andwritingdown theideainthedark.

JL:Couldyoureadyourwritinginthemorning?

HL: Not too well.Which was fine, because that inspiredme to reallysolvetheproblem.Now,wheneverIgetanidea,Ireachoutanarmanddo something thatwill be sure to catchmy attention in themorning.Usually,Idumpallmycigarettesonthefloor—whenIgetoutofbedinthe morning I can’t miss stepping on those cigarettes and beingremindedthatIhadanideaduringthenight.

JL:Doyoueverhavetroublerememberingwhattheideawas?

HL:Notusually.ButifIdofeelIneedareminderofthethoughtitself—

JL:YouassociatetheKeyWordoftheideatocigarettes.

HL:Right!AndifIevermanagetostopsmoking,I’llreachoverandturnmyclockfacedown,orputitonthefloor,orpushabookoffmynighttable.

JL:Anythingthat’soutofplace,thatforcesyoutolookatitandthink,“Whatintheworldisthatdoingthere?”willdo.

•

If you’ve been applying the systems, you’ve not only improved yourmemory,you’veimprovedyoursenseofimagination,concentration,andobservation.Bynow,youmustrealizethatinordertorememberanything,youmustpay attention to it—it must be observed. Applying our systems willautomaticallysharpenyourobservation.Having a better sense of observation is almost like taking an“awarenesspill.”You’llbeabletoreallynotice,andbeawareof,thingsthatordinarilywouldmakeonlyavagueimpression.Mostpeoplewe’vetalkedtoadmitthattheywouldhavetakenan“awarenesspill,”ifthereweresuchathing,whenevertheytraveledtonewplaces.Afterthetripor visit, they never could clearly visualize the beautiful things they’dseen—hadn’treallynoticedorobservedthem.All the ideas in this chapterhavebeen intended to forceyou topayattention, to observe. You cannot sharpen your observation withoutapplying some effort at first, as is the case withmost of thememorysystems. But observation, too, will become habit if you practice itconsciouslyandconscientiously.

Uptonow,youprobablyhaven’thadtoexpendmucheffortinlearningand applying our systems. Names and faces, errands, foreign words—whateverthememoryproblem,thesolutionhaslargelybeenamatterofgraspingasimpleideaandusingjustabitofimagination.Butnothingworthwhilecomestooeasily.You’reabouttoembarkonsome entirely new ideas.Although they remain simple, applying themwill take a little more effort on your part—but only until thefundamentalsarelearnedandabsorbed.As you move into remembering the more challenging material thatfollows,worktoapplythesystems.Youmayfeelthatapplyingmemorysystemstoitseemslikealotofwork.Again,that’sthinkingnegatively.Anynewartorskillseemsdifficultandcumbersomeatfirst—butonlyatfirst, only until you’ve grasped the fundamentals of the skill. It is rote

memory that’s reallya lotofwork—andusually fornaught,because itjust doesn’t work too well or too often. Applying the systems, onceyou’velearnedthebasics,mustsaveyoumuchtimeandwork.Sobesuretotakethetimetolearnthebasicsthatfollow.Youwon’tregretit!

10LONG-DIGITNUMBERS

91852719521639092112

ABeautifulNakedBlondJumpsUpandDown

HL:Themostdifficultcategorytoremember?Ithastobenumbers.

JL:Noquestionaboutit.Numbersarecompletelyintangible,they’rejustdesigns.

HL:Theyalsohappentobethemostimportantthingssomepeoplehaveto remember—addresses, telephone numbers, prices, style numbers,formulas,equations,computercodes,statistics,creditcardnumbers,andsoon.

JL:Thosewhomostneedtoremembernumberslikethesehavetroubleforthesamereasonmostpeopledo—itseemsimpossibletopicturetheminthemind.

HL:And,ofcourse,it’snotatallimpossibletolearntopicturenumbers,evenlongones.Like,say…

JL:91852719521639092112!

•

Theproblemofrememberingnumbers,probablythemostdifficultofallmemorychores, canbe solvedby learninga simplephoneticalphabet,consisting of just ten pairs of digits and sounds. They are not at alldifficulttolearn,evenifyouuserotememory—whichyouwon’tneedtodo.Wewant to eliminate rote, not find uses for it. You’ll be given a

simplememoryaidforeachpair,andifyouconcentrate,you’llprobablyfindthatyouknowthemafteronereading.First, to break down the idea for you, there are ten digits in ournumericalsystem:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,and0.Therearealsotenbasicconsonantphoneticsounds.(Technically,ofcourse,therearemorethanten,butthetenbasiconeswillserveourpurposeadmirably.)Thinkoftheletterstanddforamoment.Althoughtheyaredifferentletters, and fall indifferentparts of the alphabet, theymake the samephonetic sound.Yourvocalapparatus (tongue, teeth, lips) is inexactlythe same position when making the t sound as when making the dsound.Thetsoundisabitharderthanthed,that’sall.Forourpurposes,they’llbeconsideredthesame.The rule—thevocalapparatusbeing in the sameposition—willholdtrueforotherconsonantsounds.Forexample,althoughfandv(andph)aredifferentletters,theyformthesamephoneticsound;again,theonlydifference is that one is harder than the other, and, again, your lips,tongue,andteethareinthesamepositiontoformeitherone.P andb arephonetically the same forourpurposes. Soare j, sh, ch,andsoftg—yourtonguecurlsthesamewaytosoundanyoneofthem.Thehissingsounds,s,z,softc,arealsothesamephoneticsound,andsoarek,hardc,andhardg.All right, then.Thereare tenof thesephonetic sounds, and it is thesoundswe’reinterestedin,notthelettersthemselves.Allwe’vedoneisto pair a sound to each digit, and there are only ten pairs for you tolearn.That’s thephoneticalphabet.Learn it;onceyoudo,you’lluse itfor the rest of your life—itwill never change.Don’tworry nowabouthow itwill be used; just learn it. It can be useful to you inways youcouldn’timagine.Payattentiontothememoryaids;they’resillybutthey’llenableyoutolearnthephoneticalphabetinminutes.Thesoundthatwillrepresentnumber1willalwaysbethesoundmadebytheletterstord,andviceversa.Thememoryaid,whichyou’llneedforonlyashortwhile,isthis:Atypewrittenthasonedownstroke.Thinkofthatforjustamoment.Thenumber2willalwaysberepresentedby thesoundmadeby theletter n. The memory aid is: A typewritten small letter n has twodownstrokes.Thinkofthatforamoment.Number3willalwaysberepresentedbythesoundmadebytheletter

m; 3 = m and m = 3. The small typewritten letter m has threedownstrokes,oryoumightthinkofthe3MCorporation.Again,itisthesoundwe’reinterestedin,nottheletter.Number4willalwaysberepresentedbythesoundmadebytheletterr.Thesimplestmemoryaidforthisisthattheword“four”endswithanr.Number5willalwaysberepresentedbythesoundof l.Thememoryaid: Spread the five fingers of one hand, thumb straight out, and thethumbandforefingerformtheletterl.Number6willalwaysberepresentedbythesoundsj,sh,ch,andsoftg(asingentle);theyallmakethesamephoneticsound.Thememoryaid:Thedigit6andacapitalletterjarealmostmirrorimages .Number7will alwaysbe representedby the soundsk,hardc (as incap),hardg(as inglide).As thememoryaid,youcan formacapitalkwithtwo7’s,onerightsideupandtheotherupsidedown,likethis: .Number8willalwaysberepresentedbythesoundmadebythelettersforvorthesoundph.Tohelpyourememberthisquickly,an8andahandwrittenfarebothmadewithtwoloops,oneabovetheother .Number9willalwaysberepresentedbythesoundmadebythelettersporb.Thenumber9andtheletterparealmostexactmirrorimages .And, finally, the zero (0) will be represented by the hissing soundmadebythelettersz,s,orsoftc(as incentury).Thememoryaid:Thefirstsoundintheword“zero”isz.If you’ve read the last few paragraphs with some degree ofconcentration,theoddsarethatyoualreadyknowall,ormost,ofthem.Butlookatthischartforamoment:1=tord.Atypewrittensmallthasonedownstroke.2=n.Atypewrittensmallnhastwodownstrokes.3=m.Atypewrittensmallmhasthreedownstrokes.4=r.Thewordfourendswithanr.5=l.Thefivefingers,thumbout,formanl.

6=j,sh,ch,softg.A6andacapitaljarealmostmirrorimages .7=k,hardc,hardg.Youcanmakeacapital withtwo7’s .8=f,v,ph.An8andahandwrittenflooksimilar .

9=porb.A9andaparemirrorimages .0=z,s,softc.Thefirstsoundinthewordzeroisz.Afewrules:Thevowels,a,e,i,o,u,havenovaluewhatsoeverinthe

phoneticalphabet; theyaredisregarded.Soare the lettersw,h, andy.Theonlytimethathisimportantiswhenitfollowscertainconsonants,changingthesound.Also,althoughthisisrarelyused,thethsoundwillforourpurposesbethesameasthetsound:th=1.Silentlettersaredisregarded.Thewordkneewouldtransposeto2in

the phonetic alphabet, not 72. Remember, we are interested in thesound,nottheletter.Thereisakinthatword,butitissilent;itmakesnosoundandthereforehasnovalue.Thewordbomb transposesto93,not 939; the last b is silent. The beauty of this, if you’ll forgive oursayingso, is that itdoesn’tevenmatterwhetherornotyoupronounce(orread)awordcorrectly.Ifyouhappenedtospeakwithanaccent,andpronouncedthatfinalbinbomb,youwouldtransposethatwordto939.But sinceyou’dalwayspronounce it thatway, the systemwouldworkjustaswellforyou.Thisleadstotherulefordoubleletters.Thewordpattertransposesto

914, not 9114. Yes, there are two t’s in the word, but they arepronouncedasonet.Thewordbellowwouldtransposeto95:b=9,l=5;theowhasnovalue.Theruleissimpleanddefinite;alwaysconsiderdoublelettersasmakingonlyonesound.(Except,ofcourse,wherethetwo lettersareobviouslypronounceddifferently—as in“accident.”Thedoublecheretransposesto70.)Finally, the letter x will almost never be used, but it transposes

accordingtothewayitispronouncedinaparticularword.Inthewordfoxthefis8,andthexis70.(Thexmakesthekssoundsinthatword.)In the word complexion, however, the x would transpose to 76.Pronouncecomplexion slowlyandyou’ll seewhy.As for the letterq, italwaysmakesthesamesoundask—soittransposestothenumber7.Thephoneticalphabet shouldbecomesecondnature toyou.That is,

wheneveryouhearor see thesound r,youshould think,4.Whenyouhearorsee2,youshouldthink,n.Youmustknowthemquicklyandoutoforder.Gooverthemmentallynow;youprobablyalreadyknowthem.Those simple little memory aids make the phonetic alphabet easy toremember. Don’t continue reading until you’re familiar with the ten

pairsofdigitsandsoundsandhavereallypracticedtransposingsounds(notletters)tonumbers.

Now.Without turning back to the first page of this chapter, do yourememberthe long-digitnumberthat isat thetopof thatpage?Ifyouare likemost people, the answer has got to be, “Are you kidding?Ofcoursenot.”Butthink:Doyourememberthesentencethatappearsrightunderthelong-digit number? Again, if you’re among the majority, you dorememberthatsentence:“Abeautifulnakedblondjumpsupanddown.”That’seasytopicture,andifyousimplythoughtofthepicturewhenyoufirstreadthesentence,you’dhaverememberedit.Well,lookatthatsentence,orthinkofit.Whatisthefirstconsonantsound? The b in beautiful. What digit does b represent? You shouldalreadyknowtheanswer—9.Thenextconsonantsoundist;youknow,bynow,thattalwaysrepresentsthenumber1.Use paper and pencil and put down the digits for all the consonantsounds in that sentence. You already have 91. The word beautifultransposesto9185.Ifyou’vetransposedtheentiresentence,youshouldhave 91852719521639092112.Which is the number at the top of thefirstpageofthischapter.Andyouthoughtyoudidn’trememberit!Havewemade the point? It ismuch,much easier to remember thetangiblesentence,whichmakessense,thantheintangiblenumbers.Hadthe sentence been “A pretty girl is like amelody,” the numberwouldhavebeen941745057351.Youdon’t,however,havetotrytomakethephoneticsoundsofalongnumber forma sentenceor cliché inorder to remember thenumber—thankstoouroldfriendtheLink.Takethisnumber:

941140494275

Thenumberhasbeenbrokenintogroupsof threedigits for teachingpurposes only. Ordinarily you wouldn’t break a number into equalgroupslikethat.Trytothinkofawordthatwouldphoneticallyfit941.Therearemanysuchwords;parrot,bread,proud,apart,berate,pirate,brat,board,bored, to name only a few. The first one you think of is

usuallythebestforyoutouse.Nowlookatthenextgroupofthreedigits,140.Whatwordwouldfit

thosephonetically?Tears,throws,throes,dress,duress…Thinkofoneyourself.Now,startformingaLink;yourassociationmightbeagiganticparrot

wearing adress. Be sure to see the picture. The next three digits are494: robber, rubber, or arbor would fit phonetically. Continue yourLink; youmightpictureagiganticdress (just the dress; no lady in it)being a robber. See the picture; either the one suggested here or oneyouthoughtofyourself.The last three digits are 275; nickel, knuckle, or angle would fit.

Select one and continue your Link; associate robber or whatever youused for 494) to nickel. You might see a gigantic nickel catching arobber,orbeingarobber.You’ve just formedashortLinkofonly fourwords.But ifyouknow

those four words, if you know the Link, you also know the twelve-digitnumber:thatis,ifyoualsoknowthesounds.SimplythinkofthefirstwordofyourLink,andtransposeittodigits.

If you used parrot, parrot can only break down to … 941. Think ofparrotforamoment;thatmakesyouthinkof—what?Dress,ofcourse;andthatcanonlytransposeto…140.Dressleadstorobber,androbbertransposes to… 494. And, finally, robber reminds you ofnickel, andnickelcanonlybe…275.Therearenodecisionstomakehere; ifyouknow the fundamentals—in this case, the sounds—any word breaksdown,ortransposes,toaspecificgroupofdigits.Tryitwithoutlookingatthebook;seeifyouknowthenumber.When

you’ve tried it at least once, try it backward. Simply think of the lastwordofyourLink; transpose it todigitsandwrite,orsay, thosedigitsbackward.Thatwordwill remindyouof thenext-to-lastword, and soon.Nickel,robber,dress,parrot,musttellyou—572494041149.DoyouseehowapplyingboththeLinkandthephoneticalphabethas

enabledyoutomemorizealong-digitnumber?Whatwe’vedoneisshowyouawaytoturnabstract,intangiblenumbersintotangibles.Nowyoucanpicturenumbersinyourmind!The only problem youmay have had is transposing from sounds to

numbers. If that slowed you down, it’s because you don’t know thesounds aswell as you should—youhaven’tmade them second nature.

Obviously, thebetteryouknow the sounds, the fasteryou’llmemorizenumbers.Let’stryalongeronethistime:

74123212539001414952

Not at all impossible to remember—not now. Again, the number isbrokenintogroupsoffourforteachingpurposesonly.Lookatthefirstgroup; if you simply say the sounds to yourself, you’ll almostautomaticallyformaword.Saykrtn;youmayhavethoughtofcurtain,carton,cretin,orgarden—anyoneofwhichisperfect.Lookat3212:mntn. Ifyouvoice those sounds,you’ll immediately

thinkofsomethinglikemountainormaintain. Ifyoupictureacartonaslargeasamountain,that’sthestartofyourLink.Justbesuretoseethe picture. You needn’t use our suggestions, of course; use whatevercomestomind—aslongasthewordsfitthenumbersphonetically,andyourpicturesareridiculous.Now,5390: lmps.Youmayhavethought lamps,limps,or lumps.

(No, lambswouldn’tdo.Thatwould transpose to530; theb is silent.)Associatemountain to, say, lamps;youmightseemillionsof lamps(itmustbemorethanonelamptoremindyouoftheplurals)piledashighasamountain.Seethatpicture.0141:strt.Street,start,orstoreitwilldojust fine.Youmightsee

manylampswalkingdownastreet,orstartingarace.Seethepicture.4952:rpln.Youprobablythoughtofairplane,andthat’sasgoodas

any.Associatestreetorstarttoairplane;perhapsagiganticairplaneisparkedonyourstreet.Besuretoseethepictureinyourmind.You’veLinkedonlyfivewordsandthosefivewordswillremindyouof

a twenty-digit number.Try thisonyourown.Startwithcarton andgothrough your Link, to airplane. Transpose the consonant sounds intonumbersasyougo,andyou’llseethatyouknowthenumber!Haveyou tried it? Ifyouhave,youshouldbepleasedwithyourself.

Goastepfurther—tryitbackward.And,perhapsevenmoreimpressive,thinkofparrotandyou’llseethatyoustillrememberthefirst(twelve-digit)numberthatweusedasanexample.Inamoment,we’llgiveyousomenumberstopracticewith.Butfirst:

There’s no rule that says that you must use a noun to represent any

groupofdigits;normustyouuseonlyonewordforagroupofdigits—aphrase is just as good. In fact, thereare somegroupsofdigits thatnosingle word would fit, but you can always find a phrase to fit. Forexample,wecouldn’tfindawordfor989,butpuffup,piefib,orbeefpie will serve the purpose. And although a phrase consists of two ormorewords,it’saseasytopictureasoneword.Onceyoubecomefamiliarwiththeidea,youmightlookat01414952,the last eight digits of the last example, and think straight airplane.Thatwouldhavemadetheentirenumbereasierandfastertomemorize.Linking carton to mountain to lamps to straight airplane would havedone it. And straight airplane (an airplane standing straight up on itstail)isonepictureinyourmind,althoughitconsistsoftwowords.For a four-digit number like4312, youmightuse rawmutton, ramtin,roomed in,rhymetone,andsoon.Allcanbepictured,andall fitphonetically.Evenaparticularlysillyphrase,likeroomdienow,canbepictured.Simply seea roomdyingnow. Ifyou thoughtof it, it canbepictured.Don’t lose sight of the basic idea. Aside from making numberstangible, you’re also forcing yourself to be Originally Aware of anumber.Simplytryingtocomeupwithwordsorphrases forces you toconcentrateonthatnumberasyou’veneverdonebefore.There are some standards that you can start using as you keepapplyingtheidea.Forexample,wheneveryouseeazero,simplytrytopluralizewhatcomesbeforeit.For975,youmightusebuckle;ifyousee9750,simplyusebuckles.For27,alwaystrytousethe-ingending;for97527, use buckling. When you see a 4, you can try to use the -erending;9754couldbebuckler.And for1,youcanuse thepast tense;9751wouldbebuckled.For85,alwaystrytousethe-fulending.Thedigits92mightbepain,and 9285 would easily make you think of painful. Aside from thesestandards,youcanuseanythingyouliketoremindyouofanygroupofdigits. Always use the first thing that comes to mind and fitsphonetically,nomatterhowmanydigitsitincludes,andLinkonethingtotheother.Onemoreexample:

94301491846108732198420315

Here are only some of theways to handle it: brooms, tripped over,jets,vacuum,knot,bufferins,metal.Pram,strip,tougher,jetsoff,comein, tip, frowns,my tail. Bear,master, pit, forage, toss off, commando,buffer,nosummit,hill.Onyourown,tryyourfantasticnewmemoryfornumbersonthese:83902719583027410121650718430137540381930136586926349379205927153640293846104529585736102654619103481254027452

If you’ve really mastered the phonetic alphabet and practicedtransposing, this formidable list isn’t formidable for you. It’s takenconcentration,practice,and time toget to thispoint—well,we saidatthe outset that remembering numbers is themost difficult ofmemorychores.Butagain,thinkoftheeffortitwouldhavetaken(assumingyoucouldhavedoneitatall;fewpeoplecould)torememberone long-digitnumberwithoutasystem.It’struethatmostofyouwon’teverneedtorememberatwenty-digitnumber.Well, laterwe’ll give you specific helpwith remembering theshort-digitnumbersyoudo need toknow.But fornow,you canenjoythe fact that anyone who can remember 91852719521639092112 isunlikelytoforget,say,atelephonenumber.Ifyouhaven’tyetmasteredthephoneticalphabet,youshouldtakethetimetoreallyabsorbthosetendigit-soundpairs.Playingamentalgamewillhelpyoudothisfaster:Wheneveryouseeanumber—anaddress,alicense plate number, whatever—mentally transpose the digits intosounds.Wheneveryouseeawordonasignorbillboard,transposetheconsonantsoundstodigits.Dothisforawhile,andthesoundswillbecomesecondnature.Therearetwotrapstoavoid:transposingaccordingtoletterinsteadofsound,andconsideringadouble letteras two sounds insteadofone.The s inthewordenvisiontransposesto6,not0;thesmakesasoftshsound.Thesameistrueforthetinthewordposition;ittransposesto6,not1.Thewordpatterntransposesto9142,not91142—adoublelettermakesonesoundonly.

Playthismentalgameforawhile;learnthesoundsreallywellbeforeyou go on to the next chapter. Once the sounds have become secondnature,you’rereadyforanamazinglyusefulmemorysystem—thePeg.

11THEPEG

HL:Thestudentchallengedme—hethoughthecouldrememberalong-digit number faster than I could. Another student wrote down thenumberandtimedus.Well,Ibeathimbyjustafewseconds.(Iwouldn’ttellthestoryifhehadbeatenme!)Indiscussingit,werealizedthatwehadusedprettynearthesamewordsandphrasesforthenumbers.Wewerebothfacedwith0384atonepoint.Hesaidthatthiswaswherehelost the few seconds, he couldn’t think of a word or phrase quicklyenough.HeaskedmewhatIhadused,andIsaid,“Somevere.”Hesaid,“Somevere!?Whatkindofwordisthat?”Well,someverewouldn’tmeananythingtoanyoneelsebutme.WhenIwasgrowingupinatenementontheLowerEastSideofManhattan,myneighborwasasweetoldmanwith a heavy accent. He always pronounced the word somewhere assomevere.Thisoldgentlemanwaslikeafathertome,andleftalastingimpression.SowhenIsaw0384,Ithoughtofsomevereandpicturedhim.

JL:It’sagoodstory,butofcourseyoucouldhaveusedsamovar.

HL:Nowyoutellme.Andbesides,Idon’tknowwhatasamovaris.

•

Having memorized a list of items in sequence, using the Link, howwouldyouknow,say,the8thiteminstantly?Youwouldn’t;you’dhavetogoovertheLinkandcount,eithermentallyoronyourfingers.There’sa much easier way, using Peg Words that are based on the phoneticalphabet.ThisisthePegsystemofmemory.Ifyouknowthesoundsof thephoneticalphabet,andyoushouldby

now,thiswon’t takemuchtimeoreffort.We’llstartbygivingyoutenPegWords,thenwe’llshowyouhowtousethem.Sincethenumber1isalwaysrepresentedbythesoundtord,thePeg

Wordfor1mustcontainonlythatsound.Manywordscouldfitforanynumber,buttheoneshereareeasytopictureandservethepurposeaswellasany.The word for 1 will always be tie. The word tie contains only oneconsonantsound,andthatsound(t)canonlyrepresent1.So,amentalpictureofaman’snecktiewillalwaysrepresent1.Thenumber2isalsoasingledigit,sothePegWordmustcontainonlyone consonant sound—but now, that sound must be the sound thatrepresents2,whichisn.Theword(name)thatwillalwaysrepresent2isNoah. Picture whatever you like, probably a man with a long graybeard,orjustthebeard.ThePegWordfor3willalwaysbeMa;pictureyourmother,oralittleoldlady.4:rye.Thatwordcouldonlyrepresent4becauseitcontainsonlyoneconsonant sound, r. Picture a loaf of rye bread, or a bottle of ryewhiskey.5: law.Picturewhatever lawrepresents toyou;wealwayspictureapoliceman.6:shoe.Shoecontainsonlytheshconsonantsound,whichrepresents6.Pictureashoe.7:cow.Pictureacow,ofcourse.8: ivy. The v sound can only represent 8, therefore ivy can onlyrepresent8.Pictureivyclimbingonawall.9:bee.Picturethestinginginsect.The number 10 contains two digits, therefore the PegWord for 10musthavethesoundt(ord,for1)ands(for0)inthatorder.Thewordistoes;toescanonlyrepresent10.Pictureyourtoes.ThosearethefirsttenPegWords.Theyareeasytorememberbecausethe phonetic sounds practically tell you what the words are. Look atthemagain;thenseeifyouknowthem.You’llknowthemoutoforderbecauseyouknowthesoundsoutoforder.Andtheywillneverchange;onceyouknowthem,they’llalwaysbeuseful.1.tie2.Noah3.Ma4.rye

5.law6.shoe7.cow8.ivy9.bee10.toesGoovertheseafewtimes;youshouldbeabletothinkofanynumberfrom1 to10andknowthePegWordalmost immediately. IfyouhearoneofthePegWords,youshould,justasinstantly,knowthenumberitrepresents.Whenyouknowthemfairlywell,you’rereadytolearnhowtousethesePegs.Let’sassumethatyouwanttoremembertenitemsinandoutoforder,bynumber.Let’salsoassumethatyouhandletheseitemsinahaphazardorder.You must remember that number 8 is cracker. There would,ordinarily, be no problem picturing a cracker, but how would youpicturethe8?Well,it’seasyifyoulearnedthefirsttenPegWords—thenumber 8 is … ivy. Simply associate cracker to ivy; see a ridiculouspicturebetweenthosetwoitemsinyourmind’seye,perhapsmillionsofcrackersinsteadofivygrowingalloverabrickwall.Now.Youwanttorememberthatnumber3willbescissors.Associatescissors to your PegWord for number 3,which isMa. Youmight seeyourself cuttingyourMa inhalfwith a gigantic pair of scissors. (Thatpicture maymake you shudder, but you won’t forget it.) For each ofthese,besuretosee thepictureyouselect;wewon’tbotherremindingyouagain.Number5willbefish.AssociatefishtoyourPegWordforthenumber5,law.Perhapsapolicemanisarrestingagiganticfish,oralargefishiswalkingthebeatlikeacop.Number 1 is pen. You might see yourself wearing a gigantic pen,insteadofatie(yourPegWordforthenumber1),aroundyourneck—seetheinkdrippingalloveryourshirt.Number10isteeth.AssociateteethtoyourPegWord,toes.Perhapsyouwanttopicturelargeteethonyourfeetinsteadoftoes,orteetharebitingoffyourtoes.

Number4istelephone.YourPegWordisrye;youmightseeyourselftalkingintoaloafofryebreadinsteadofatelephone,oralargebottleofryewhiskeyismakingaphonecall.Number7 iscar.Associate car toyourPegWord for thenumber7,

cow.Seeacowdrivingacar,oryou’remilkingacowandcarscomeoutinsteadofmilk.Number2isarticle.YourPegWordfor2isNoah;youmustassociate

articletothat.Thisisbeingusedherepurposely.Ifyouwanttopicturemillionsofarticlesfallingoutofalonggraybeard,fine.Ifyoufeelthatarticleistoovaguetopicture,useaSubstituteWordtoremindyouofit.Youmightuseahtickle,oranewspaperarticle.Usewhateveryoulike,butbesuretoassociateittobeard,orwhateveryou’reusingtorepresentNoah.Number 9 is pillow. Associate that to bee, your Peg Word for 9.

Perhapspillows,insteadofbees,areswarmingalloveryouandstingingyou;oryou’resleepingonagiganticbeeinsteadofapillow.Finally,youmustrememberthatnumber6isballoon.ThePegWord

for6isshoe.Seeyourselfwearingballoons insteadofshoes,oryou’reblowing up a shoe instead of a balloon.Use one of these, or one youthoughtofyourself,andseeitinyourmind’seye.Ifyou’vemadealltheassociationsandvisualizedthemclearly,there’s

nodoubtthatyouknowthetenitems.Tryit.ThinkofthePegWordfornumber 1: tie.What does tie remind you of?Whatwere youwearinginsteadofatie?Apen,ofcourse.

ThinkofNoah(2).Thatremindsyouof…article.ThinkofMa(3).Thatremindsyouof…scissors.Thinkofrye(4).Thatremindsyouof…telephone.Thinkoflaw(5).Thatremindsyouof…fish.Thinkofshoe(6).Thatremindsyouof…balloon.Thinkofcow(7).Thatremindsyouof…car.Thinkofivy(8).Thatremindsyouof…cracker.Thinkofbee(9).Thatremindsyouof…pillow.Thinkoftoes(10).Thatremindsyouof…teeth.

Aside from the fact that the items were given to you in an out-of-sequence order, you haven’t really accomplished toomuchmore than

youcouldhaveaccomplishedwiththeLink.Butthereisadifference.Ifyouwanttoknowwhatnumber6is,simplythinkofthePegWordfor6(shoe)andyou’llinstantlyknowthe6thitem!It’s…balloon,right?That’s not all. If you think of any item, you’ll instantly know itsnumerical position. Where was the telephone? Well, telephone makesyouthinkrye,andryeisthePegWordforthenumber4,sotelephonehastobe4.If you’d like to test yourself, see how quickly you can fill in theseblanks:

(cow)7=_____(Ma)3=_____(toes)10=_____(bee)9=_____(tie)1=_____(law)5=_____(shoe)6=_____(Noah)2=_____(ivy)8=_____(rye)4=_____

Andthese:

scissorsis_____telephoneis_____fishis_____articleis_____pillowis_____balloonis_____crackeris_____caris_____teethis_____penis_____

Andthese:

10is_____3is_____1is_____

8is_____4is_____caris_____fishis_____articleis_____pillowis_____balloonis_____

Are you impressedwith yourself? You should be.Having read themonlyonce,you’verememberedtenitemsforward,backward,andinsideout.ThePegWordsareanextensionoftheplacesor“loci”ideamentioned

at the beginning of the book. You’ve arrived at them slowly, step bystep.Thesimplememoryaidshelpedyoutorememberthesoundsofthephonetic alphabet, the sounds themselveshelpedyou to remember thePegWords, and thePegWordsmade it easy to remember ten randomitems.Obviously,thebetteryouknowthePegs,thefasteryou’llbeabletomemorizeaPeglist,asyoujustdid.Butwhatifyouhavetorememberelevenitems,ortwelve,ortwenty?

Noproblem.KnowingthephoneticalphabetenablesyoutomakeupPegWords for any number. You can’t picture the number 11, but you canpicturea tot, a young child. And theword tot can only represent thenumber11,becauseithasthetandtsounds,1and1.ThePegWordfor12istin;pictureatincan,orseetheitematthat

positionmadeoftin.

Thencome:

13.tomb;pictureagravestone.14.tire15.towel16.dish17.tack18.dove19.tub

20.nose

Goovertheseonceortwiceandyou’llknowthem.Nowyoucanreallyshowoff.Havesomeonenumberapaperfrom1to20andlethimcallanynumberandanyitem,untileachnumberhasanitemnexttoit.Youmakegoodstrongassociations,ofcourse,ofPegWordtoitem.Next,callthe items off from1 to the last number. Then let your friend call anynumber—youtellhimtheitem—followedbyanyitem,whereuponyoutellhimthenumber!AlistofPegWordsupto100follows.Theyreallyareeasyto learn,

and there’s no rote memory involved. Had the words been selectedhaphazardly, the idea would still work, but that would entail rotememory. As it is, the words all fit the pattern you’ve learned, andanythingpatternizediseasiertoremember.Thesoundsofthephoneticalphabetmakeitafairlyeasytask.We won’t tell you that it’s important for you to know them all

thoroughly.Youshouldknowtwentyorsoperfectlyhowever,andwedosuggestthatyouatleastbecomefamiliarwithallofthem.Gooverthem,withconcentration,afewtimesandyouwillbefamiliarwiththem.And,itcan’thurtyouintheleasttoreallylearnthemall.Afteryou’vegoneoverthewordsafewtimes,youcanusethislistasa

drill. Put your hand or a piece of paper over the words, look at thenumbers,andseeifthewordcomestoyou.Ifyoulike,youcanmakeupflash cards, but that isn’t really necessary. If you’re stuck on a word,thinkoftheconsonantsounds,thenstickvowelsinthereuntilthewordcomestoyou.Itwill,soonerorlater.

1.tie2.Noah3.Ma4.rye5.law6.shoe7.cow8.ivy

9.bee10.toes11.tot12.tin13.tomb14.tire15.towel16.dish17.tack18.dove19.tub20.nose21.net22.nun23.name24.Nero25.nail26.notch27.neck28.knife29.knob30.mouse31.mat32.moon33.mummy34.mower35.mule36.match37.mug

38.movie39.mop40.rose41.rod42.rain43.ram44.rower45.roll46.roach47.rock48.roof49.rope50.lace51.lot52.lion53.loom54.lure55.lily56.leech57.log58.lava59.lip60.cheese61.sheet62.chain63.chum64.cherry65.jail66.choochoo

67.chalk68.chef69.ship70.case71.cot72.coin73.comb74.car75.coal76.cage77.coke78.cave79.cob80.fuzz81.fit82.phone83.foam84.fur85.file86.fish87.fog88.fife89.fob90.bus91.bat92.bone93.bum94.bear95.bell

96.beach97.book98.puff99.pipe100.disease

Afteryouusethewordsforawhile,you’llseethatit’sthepicturethatwillcometomindwhenyouseeorhearanumber,nottheactualword.Whathappenswhenweseeorhear,say,36?Weactuallyseeamatch,not thewordmatch.Thiswillhappenautomatically if youuse thePegWords—andyouwillusethem,asyoucontinuereading.You’lllearnmanyusesforthePegWords.Goingbacktothelong-digit

numbers in the preceding chapter, for instance, when you’re stuck onone or two digits in a number you can simply use the PegWord andkeeprightongoing.Itsavestime.Occasionally,you’llcometotheendofalongnumberandstillhaveoneortwodigitstotakecareof.UsethePegWordforthat.And incidentally, if you see a group of like digits, don’t worry—

usually, like digits actually make a number easier to remember. Take000000inthemiddleofalongnumber—well,Souza’ssizewouldtakecareof fivezeros;zoossueSouza’ssiswould takecareofeightzeros.Youwon’tevenhave todo that if therearedigitsbeforeandafter thezeros—9000000941, passes (poses, possess) Souza’s sport (or spirit)woulddoit.If you’re worried about the ridiculous pictures staying with you,

runningaround inyourmind forever,don’tbe.Oneof thebeautiesofthesystemsisthefactthatallofthemaremeanstoanend.Oncethatendisaccomplished,themeansfadeanddisappearbecausetheyarenolongernecessary.When the information isuseda few times,youknowthat information—what you won’t remember are your original sillypictures!That’s one reasonyou canuse the samePegWordsover andoveragain.

•

JL:ThePegWordsarethehandiestthings—they’vehelpedmegetridof

somehostilitieswithoutanyoneknowingwhatI’mtalkingabout.

HL:Doyoumean thenamesyou sometimesyell outon thebasketballfloor?

JL:Right.WhenarefereemakeswhatI thinkisanunfaircall,andhisnumber is thirty-three, I’ll yell something like, “You, you—mummy!”Or if a playerwhosenumber is nineteen sticks an elbow inmy ribs, Imight call him “You tub, you!”—nevermind some of theother namessomenumbersremindmeof!

•

You’vejustlearnedthethirdofthethreebasicsystemsofmemory:theLink, the SubstituteWord, and now the Peg.We haven’t been able tofind anymemory problem that could not be solved—made easier—byapplying one of these three, or one in conjunctionwith another. It issometimesnecessarytotwistormanipulatethesystemssomewhat,buttheywillstillmakeanymemorychoreeasiertohandle.Let’sgobackabit.Earlieryoulearnedtomemorizethefiftystatesin

alphabetical sequence; you also realized that you could associate aSubstituteWordforthestatetoaSubstituteWordforitscapitalcity.Torememberthestatesinsequence,youwouldusetheLinksystemandtheSubstituteWordsystem.Butnowyoucanmemorizethembynumber,inand out of order, by using the Substitute Word system and the Pegsystem.YousimplyassociatetheSubstituteWordorphraseforthestatename

tothevitalPegWord.Onceyouformaridiculouspictureinyourmindbetween, say, tie and album, it will be easier to remember than toforgetthatthefirst(tie)stateisAlabama(album),andviceversa.Picture a con (prisoner) being awhiz (whizcon)with a rope (49),

andyou’llknowthatthe49thstate,alphabetically,isWisconsin.Pictureyourselfplaying tennis (Tennessee) in the pouring rain (42), and youhavetheinformationyouwant.Anewbrasscar(Nebraska)isdrivingaroundandaroundyourneck

(27); millions of gigantic pencils (Pennsylvania) are seeing amovie(38); there arepeaches (Georgia) growing between your toes (10); a

sassy can (Kansas) is in a gigantic dish (16); a nun (22) ismixingsomething again and again (Michigan); a bride (marry) lands(Maryland) on your nose (20); a gigantic bottle of gin, wearing awestern ten-gallon hat (West Virginia) is jumping off a roof (48); anIndian(Indiana)iswearingatire(14)asaheaddress;andsoon.Now you can remember not only nouns, but anything—by number.

WhatworksforthestatescanbeappliedtothePresidentsoftheUnitedStates.Youmightwanttotrytomemorizethemallbynumber,justforthementalexercise. It shouldn’t takemore thana fewminutes.Findalist of the Presidents and apply the SubstituteWord and Peg systems.(Hereyou’llbemakingupaSubstituteWordforaperson’snameratherthanforaplacename—nodifference,really.)Someexamples:The11thPresidentwasPolk;youseeyourselfpokingyour finger throughatot;the30thPresidentwasCoolidge,amouseiscoolonabuildingledge;a(blue)cannon(Buchanan)isfiringtowels(15)insteadofcannonballs;you’repiercing(Pierce)atire(14);agigantictub(19)isfullofhay,orhaze(Hayes);youpourinkonadoorknob(29)andtheinkgetshard(Harding);andsoon.The Peg and Substitute Word systems can be applied to concepts

almost as easily. Suppose you had to learn the amendments to theConstitutionoftheUnitedStates,bynumber.Selectoneword,phrase,orthought from the amendment—the word, phrase, or thought that youthinkwillremindyouoftheentireamendment.Andusually,whatyouselectwill remind you of the entire concept. (This is theKeyWord orThought ideathatwediscussed inChapter6.)Now,associate thatKeyThoughttothePegWord.That’sallyouhavetodo.It’sreallythesameas what you did with states and Presidents, except that here theSubstitute Word—the Key Thought—will remind you of much moreinformation.We’reassumingthatifyou’reinterestedinlearningtheamendments,

or any material, you basically understand what it is you’re studying.Whatyouneedarereminders.For example, the seventh amendment to the Constitution gives the

citizensoftheUnitedStatestherighttotrialbyjury.Associatecow(7)tothat;allyoureallyneedtodoistoseeyourselfinacourtroom,beingjudgedbyajuryofcows.Thefourthamendmenthastodowithprotectionagainstunreasonable

searchandseizure.Seeagiganticloafofryebread(oragiganticbottleof whiskey) coming into your home to search it; you can’t stop himbecausehehasawarranttodoso.Pictureatombbeingaslavedrivertoremindyouthatthethirteenth

amendmentabolishedslavery.Thesixteenthamendmentistheonewe’dratherforget—theonethat

establishedtheincometax.Seeyourselfpayingyourtaxeswithdishesinsteadofmoney.TheeighteenthamendmentstartedProhibition—pictureadovetrying

togetintoaspeakeasy.Thereis,ofcourse,nowayforustouseexamplesthatwillnecessarily

zeroinononeofyourspecific,personalmemoryproblems.Whatwe’retrying to accomplish is to make you aware of the variety of ways inwhichthesystemscanbeapplied.Bythetimeyou’refinishedwiththebook, you should have all the necessary weapons to face, attack, andsolveanymemoryproblem.

12STYLENUMBERS,PRICES,TELEPHONENUMBERS

HL:IimaginethefirstthingmostpeoplewhoknowthatyoumemorizedthefirstfewhundredpagesoftheManhattantelephonebookwonderis,“Whyonearthwouldanyonewantto?”

JL:Iftheyaskedme,I’dtellthemthetruth—forthepublicity.Actually,Imemorized only the first column of every page. And the names andnumbersdon’tstartuntilpage22.

HL: That’s still … let’s see … maybe thirty thousand names andtelephonenumbers?

JL:At least.Anyway, Idon’tknowthemanymore.Thestuntserveditspurpose—topublicizethesystemsthatenablepeopletoremembershortnumbers, like telephone numbers, instantly. And to keep onrememberingthem,aslongastheywantto.

•

Theabilitytopicturenumbersviathephoneticalphabet,plustheabilitytouse theSubstituteWord systemofmemory isall that’snecessary tohelpyourememberstylenumbers,prices,andtelephonenumbers.Torememberastylenumber,associatethenumbertotheproduct;it’s

that simple. If the style number of a typewriter is 691, associatechoppedorchippedtotypewriter.Ifyou’reinthetypewriterbusiness,thenyou’dhavetoassociatethestylenumbertothedistinctivefeaturesof each machine, since you’d have many styles of typewriters. (Somestylenumbersincludeletters;you’lllearnhowtohandlethat,too.)The same approach works for prices. Here are a few examples of

differentitemsandprices.Formthesuggestedridiculousassociations,oruseyourown,thenyoucantestyourselfandseeifitworks.A lamp sells for $40.11; picture a rested or roasted lamp. See thatpicture.Acamerasellsfor$19.18;pictureagiganticcamerabeingtippedoffatable,oracameratakingapictureoftapedivy.Televisionset,$142.05;seeagigantictelevisionsetridingthetrackslikeatrain;ithasasailonit(trainsail=$142.05).Toaster, $34.95; see a giganticmarble toasting bread, or a toasterpoppingupmillionsofmarbles.Car,$3,102.86;youmightseeacartakingadoseofmedicinefromafish.Ifyou’vetriedtoseethesesillypictures,nowtrytofillinthecorrectprices:

When it comes to telephone numbers, there’s no question thatrememberingthemmustsaveyoualotoftimeandaggravationoveralongperiod.Allyouneeddoiscalculatetheminutesittakestolookupanumberordial the informationoperator,redialbecauseyoudialedthewrongnumberfirst,etc.,tobeconvinced.To remember a telephone number you simply associate a word orphrase that tells you the number (phonetically) to the person orcompany, or to a Substitute Word for the person or company.Eventually,thephonecompanywillbeusingtheANC,AllNumberCode,and there will be no exchange names. At the present time, someexchangenamesarestillinuse.Rememberinganall-digitphonenumberisthesameasrememberingany number. If your doctor’s number is 940-8212, associate doctor(stethoscope,perhaps)topressfountain,orbrassfountain, orpricefountain.Ifyou’drather,youcanassociatethenumbertohisname.If you’d like to have your electrician’s number at your fingertips,associatehisnumbertoelectric.Ifthenumberis862-9421,youmightsee an electric plug fishin’ and drinking brandy, or you could use

fashionbrand.There’snorulethatsaysyourwordsmustcoverthefirstthreedigitsandthenthelastfourdigits.Useanywordstocoveranyofthe digits; it doesn’t matter. If a word that contains all the necessarysoundscomes tomind—use it.For720-5127,youmight thinkofcanslooting,whichisfine,butconsultingalsowouldtellyouthenumber.As for exchange-name telephone numbers, there’s a simple way tohandle them.Thefirstword inyourassociationmust tellyouboththetwoexchangelettersandtheexchangenumber.Youthenuseanywordorphrasetotellyoutheremainingdigits.If thenumberyouwant to remember isRA3-9110, thephrase rampotatoeswoulddoit.Thewordrambeginswithra,and theverynextconsonantsoundism,for3;RA3.Thisbecomeseveneasierwhenyourealizethatthatfirstwordneedn’tcontainonly the two lettersandtheoneconsonantsound.Itmustbeginwiththat—thenallfollowingsoundsare disregarded. So, you could have used rampart potatoes for thisnumber,becauserampartwouldstillrepresentRA3.The word, or picture, burn would represent BU 4; cigarette wouldrepresent CI 7, plan or plant would represent PL 2, and so on. Forexchanges like TN and LW (New York exchanges), with which it isimpossibletoformwords,makeupastandard.ToncouldrepresentTN,and lowcouldrepresentLW.For those,you’dknowthatapicture liketoncowmarkedrepresentsTN7-3471.Lateron,whenyoulearnhowtopicture individual lettersof thealphabet,you’ll seehow thatwouldalsohelptosolvethisproblem.ThepublicityofficesofStein&Day,thepublisherofthisbook,hasthenumber PL 3-7285; we remembered it by associating a beer steinshining like the sun (day) to plum can full; the shining stein waspouringoutenoughplumstomakeacanfull.Ofcourse,wecouldhavechanged the exchange letters to digits, making the number 753-7285,andusedclimbcanfull,orcolumncanfall.Thisexamplebringsustotwopoints.First,whenyouusetwowordsforthelastfourdigits,usingthebasicPegWords,itmaycauseaslightconfusion. Ifwe had usedcoin file, howwouldwe know, at a futuretime,thatitwascoinfile,andnotfilecoin?Itdoesn’tmatterthatmuch—afteryou’vedialedanumbera few times, thepictureyouoriginallymade isn’t necessary anyway, you’ll know the number. But, you cansolvethisminorproblembyusinganywordbutabasicPegWordforthe

secondword. If youmake a habit of doing that, you’ll know that thebasicPegWord always comes first. So, for the four digits 5230, youwouldn’tuselionmouse,you’duselionmess,moss,ormoose.Thesecondpoint is thatyoucaneliminate thenecessity for forming

words tocover theexchangenamebyeliminating theexchangename.Youcanlookatatelephonedialandtransposetheletterstodigits,andtheproblemissolved.Sinceatelephonedialisn’talwayshandy,thebestthing to dowouldbe tomemorize it.Once you’vedone that, you caninstantlytransposeanyexchangenameorletterstodigits.Makeupawordorphrasethatremindsyouofthethreelettersateach

digitonadial,andassociatethattothedigit(PegWord).Herearesomesuggestions;reallyseethepictures,andyou’llhavememorizedthedialinnotime.2—ABC:PictureNoahlearninghisABC’s.3—DEF:PictureyourMabeingdeaf.4—GHI:SeeaGIdrinkingrye,oryou’redrinkingryeandgettinghigh.5—JKL:Pictureajackalbeingapoliceman(law).6—MNO:Pictureashoesaying,“Me?No”;orashoebeingmeantoanO.

7—PRS:Seeacowcarryingagiganticpurse.8—TUV:Pictureivybeingtough(enoughtoremindyouofTUV).9—WXY:Abeeiswaxy.Allthatremaintobediscussedareareacodes.Theareacodesimply

changesa seven-digitphonenumber toa ten-digitnumber.Makeupaword to represent the area code, put it into your original association,andyou’ve got it. IfMr. Smith’s telephonenumber is (201)648-9470,you might see a picture of yourself smashing a nest (201) with ablacksmith’shammer;asheriff(648)breaks(9470)yourhammer.SteinandDay’smainofficesarelocatedinWestchesterCounty(area

code914).Thetelephonenumberis762-2151.Apictureofalargeslabofbutteronacushionthatisnettled(ornotlight)woulddoit.Ifyoumakemanyout-of-areacalls,youmightwant toprememorize

someareacodes;justassociateareacodetoplace.Thenyou’llhavethemallreadywhenyouneedthem.Youcanmemorize thecodes formajor

citiesonly,ifyoulike.It’seasyenough.TheareacodeforManhattanis212;that’salmostreadymadeforyoubecause Indian represents 212 phonetically, and everyone knows thatweboughtManhattanfromtheIndians.Or,youcouldassociateIndiantomanhat.Associateno timeto lostangels inorder to remember that theareacodeforLosAngelesis213.The area code for all of Wyoming is 307; associate Y roaming tomask.AllofDelawareis302;associateDellaweartomason.Nevadais702;associateneverthereorgamblingtocousin.WestVirginiais304;associateabottleofgin,wearingawesternhat,tomiseryormiser.Clevelandis216;associatecleavelandtonotouch.Chicago is 312; associate chick (car go) to my tan, median, ormutton.Again, you’ll need the silly pictures only until the numbers becomeknowledge. Best of all, you’ll have liberated yourself from misdialedcalls,telephonebooks,andtelephoneoperators!

13PLAYINGCARDS

JL:I’veseenyouhandleadeckofcards—Idon’tblamecasinosfornotwantingtodealblackjacktoyou.

HL:Thereare sixwhowon’t, that Iknowof.But, they’renotbeingassmartastheythink.Sure,I’llprobablybeatthehouseatblackjack,butthenIlosethatandmoreatthecraptables.

JL:Memorysystemswon’thelpyouthere.

HL: No, but a combination of memory systems and knowledge of thegame really works for blackjack. It’s actually the only casino gamewhere you can better the odds, sometimes even the odds, or changethemsothatyouhaveabitofanedge.

JL:Isthatbecauseyoucandoubleyourbetafterthehandhasstarted?

HL:Right.Andrememberingexactlywhichcardshavebeenplayedisagreathelpinknowingwhentodoubleyourbet,andwhentostoporhit.Ihavetotellyou,it’snotsoeasynowadays.Thankstopeoplewhoknowour systems, most casinos use more than one deck—and never dealdowntotheend.

JL:Toobad,Harry,you’llhavetoworkforyourmoney!

•

Playing cards are difficult to remember because they are abstractions;they’re like numbers. There’s really nowaymost people can picture acard, so again the concepthere is tomakean intangible tangible.Thetrick is tohaveeachcardofadeckrepresentedbyadefinite,concrete

item—justasyoudidwithnumbers.Oncethat’saccomplishedyou’llbeable topictureplayingcards,andthen theycanbeassociated tootherthings just as numbers can. There’s a different, very easy way toremembercards—the“missingcard”or“mutilation” idea—whichwe’llgettoshortly.Incidentally,youshouldlearntheideasinthissectionwhetherornotyouplaycards.Youneverknow,youmaybecomeinterestedincardsinthe future—but more important, trying the ideas is a great mentalexercise.Thepatternusedisalmostobvious.TheCardWordforeachcard(upto the 10’s) will begin with either C, H, S, or D—for clubs, hearts,spades,anddiamonds.Theverynextconsonantsoundinthatwordwillbe the sound that represents the value of the card. So, the word cancouldrepresentonlythe2C.That’sthepattern,andonceyouunderstandit, there are no decisions or choices to make. Can represents the 2CbecauseitbeginswithaCforclubs,andthenextconsonantsoundisn,for2.Theword (or picture) sailmust represent the 5S, because it beginswithans (forspades)and is followedby the l sound, for5.The4H ishare;6Disdash;4Ciscore;8Sissafe;9Disdeb;ADisdate(aceis1);6Ciscash;andsoon.Besureyoufullyunderstandthesefewexamplesbeforeyoucontinuereading.ThenlookattheCardWordsonthispage.Asyoulookthemallover,you’ll see that the jacks,queens,andkings representadeparturefromthepattern,whichwe’llexplainmomentarily.Thessoundisusedtorepresentthe10’s.Sincethereisnozeroofanysuit, wemight as well use that sound for the 10’s. So, the pattern orsystemholdsforallthecardsfromaceto10.Don’tworry about the ds in suds, for the 10S. It’s really one sound—dz, which represents 0. And even if you break it into two sounds,that’sd-s,whichis1-0.Itcanrepresentonly10.

AC—cat AH—hat AS—suit AD—date

2C—can 2H—hen 2S—sun 2D—dune

3C—comb 3H—hem 3S—sum 3D—dam

4C—core 4H—hare 4S—sewer 4D—door

5C—coal 5H—hail 5S—sail 5D—doll

6C—cash 6H—hash 6S—sash 6D—dash

7C—cake 7H—hog 7S—sock 7D—dock

8C—cuff 8H—hoof 8S—safe 8D—dive

9C—cup 9H—hoop 9S—soap 9D—deb

10C—case 10H—hose 10S—suds 10D—dose

JC—club JH—heart JS—spade JD—diamond

QC—cream QH—queen QS—steam QD—dream

KC—king KH—hinge KS—sing KD—drink

Besides, the words up through the 10’s fit the pattern and can bepictured, thecourtcardwordsalsocanbepictured—sotheword itselfisn’tthatimportant.It’sthepicturethewordcreatesinyourmindthatmatters—after some use, you shouldn’t think theword but simply seethepictureitcreates.Once you’ve seen a picture in your mind for any word, that’s thepictureyoushould(andwill)seeeachtime.Afewsuggestions:Forcore,picture an apple core; for cuff, trousers; case, either a briefcase or acrate;hem,adress;hash,corned-beefhash;hoof,ahorseshoe;hoop,abasketballhoop;hose,nylonsoragardenhose;suit,aman’ssuitjacket(thisistodistinguishitfromcuff);sum,anaddingmachineorasheetofpaper covered with numbers; sash, a window sash or just a window;suds,atubfullofsudsywater;date,thefruitoracalendar;dune,asandhill; dam, Boulder Dam or a waterfall; dash, a track star running the100-yard dash; dock, a pier; deb, a debutante; dose, a spoonful ofmedicine—wesimplypictureaspoon.For the picture, or court, cards we could have stayed within thepattern,butitgetsalittlestickytocomeupwithwordslikehated fortheJH(sincejackis11,queenis12,andkingis13),andcottonforthe

QC.Itcanbedone,andwe’llgiveyoualistofwordsthatstaywiththepattern,sodon’tdecideyetwhichmethodyou’lluseforthecourtcards.Weprefer touse theCardWordsas listed.For the jacks, simplyuse

thesuitwordsthemselves;theyeachhavemeaning—aclub,aheart(theorgan,oraValentinecard),aspade(shovel),andadiamond.FortheQHandKC,weusethewordsqueenandking,respectively.Justbesurethatyou differentiate between the two pictures since they’re similar, bothroyalty. For queen, picture a lady wearing a crown and a gown on athrone;forking,picturethecrownbutbesurehe’swearingtrousers.Thewords for the remaining queens and kings each beginwith the

vital suit letter, but then each word rhymes as closely as possible toqueen and king. They’re not exact rhymes (except for sing), but closeenough.Don’tworryaboutthese;you’llprobablyrememberthemeasilybecausetheyareexceptions.Forsteam,picturearadiator;fordream,abedorsomeonesleeping.AswasthecasewithPegWords,ifyougoovertheCardWordsafew

timesyoumaybesurprisedathowquicklyyou’llknowthem.Now. As promised, here are thewords for the court cards that stay

withinthepattern.Youhavechoicesforallofthem,andyou’llhavetodecide whether you want to use these or the ones we use. Again, itdoesn’treallymatter.Wehadtousephrasesforthreeofthekings,andtakeabitoflicensewiththeJHandQH,buttheywillworkjustaswellbecausetheydocreateapictureinthemind.

JC—cadet,coatedJH—hothead,hated,hooted,hoodedJS—steed,staid,satedJD—dotted,doted,deadhead,deadheat,dated

QC—cotton,codeineQH—hootin’,heatin’,hatin’,headin’,Hayden(Planetarium),hoedown

QS—satan,satin,sitin,sadden,sedan

QD—detain,deaden,dotin’KT—cuteMa,caddieme

KH—headhome,highdome,hitme,hightime,hideme

KS—steam,stemKD—deadaim,teatime(thetwillstillremindyouofdfordiamond)

Makeyourdecisionastowhichmethodtouseforthecourtcards,andthenputinalittletimelearningallthewordsorphrases.You’llfindtheCardWordsjustaseffectiveanaidforrememberingplayingcardsasthePegWordsareforrememberingnumbers.Obviously,theycan’tbemuchhelpuntilyouknowthemfairlywell.AswastrueofthePegWords,anywordswouldservethepurpose.Butbecausethesearepatternized,youeliminate rote memory. If you know the pattern and the phoneticsounds,thechoreishalfdone.Ifyoulike,youcaneasilymakeupadeckofflashcards.SimplywritethecorrectCardWordonthebackofeachcard.Shufflethemandlookatthemoneatatime—eitherbackorface.Ifyouseetheface,callouttheCardWord,thenturnthecardovertoseeifyou’reright.Ifyouseetheback,theCardWord,calloutthenameofthecardandturnitovertocheck.Whenyougettothepointwhereyoucandothiswithallfifty-twocards,withouthesitation,youknowtheCardWordsfairlywell.All right, assuming you know the Card Words, how do you applythem?Well, now you can remember cards as easily as you rememberitems.YoucanusetheLinktoremembercardsinsequence.ALinkofagigantic apple core taking a drink, a doll drinking, a gigantic cakerocking a doll in its arms, a cake acting as the sail of a sailboat, asail(boat)shininginthesky likethesun, thesunhavinglongearsandhoppingabout likeahare,agiganticcuphopping likeahare,a largecupwearingsocks,andagiganticsockbeingaradiator(steam),wouldhelpyourememberthe4C,KD,5D,7C,5S,2S,4H,9C,7S,andQS—insequence,forwardandbackward.OryoucanusethePegsystemtoremembercardsbynumber,inandoutoforder.Thisisquiteanimpressivememorydemonstration,becauseyou are memorizing two abstracts, numbers and cards. You need toknowtwothings—thePegWordsfrom1to52,andtheCardWords.Youcandoitwithafulldeck;butit’sjustasimpressivewithhalfthedeck,

oreventwentycards.Justtoshowyouhowitworks,assumeafriendshufflesthecardsand

callsofftenofthem,fromthetop.Maketheseassociationsoruseyourownpictures:

You’rewearingalargehorseshoe(hoof)insteadofatie.Aman’sbeard(Noah)ismadeupofmillionsofdollarbills(cash).YourMaissingingattheMetropolitanOpera.Ahenislayingabottleofryeinsteadofanegg,orit’sdrinkingfromabottleofrye.

Agiganticcombiswearingauniform;it’sapoliceman(law).Agiganticshoeissittingonathrone,wearingroyalrobes;it’stheking.It’shailingcowsinsteadofhailstones.Millionsofcups, insteadof ivy, aregrowingalloverawall;or, ivy isgrowingalloveragiganticcup.

Youopenasafe,andmillionsofbeesflyoutandstingyou.You’rewearingtoesinsteadofahat;orhatsaregrowingbetweenyourtoes.

Ifyou’vereallytriedtoseetheseoryourownpictures,andifyou’refairly familiarwith theCardWords,you’ll know tencardsbynumber.It’squiteeasy.Thinkof thePegWord fornumber1, tie.Whatdoes itmakeyouthinkof?Itshouldmakeyouthinkofhorseshoe,orhoof.Hoofcanrepresentonlyonecard,andthat’sthe8H.Tryitonyourown;thinkofeachofthePegWordsupto10.Eachone

shouldmakeyou thinkof aCardWord.Transpose that to a card, andyou’llhaverememberedthecardat thatposition.See ifyoucanfill intheseblanks:

Card 2(Noah) isthe_____.

Card 3(Ma) isthe_____.

Card 4(rye) isthe_____.

Card 5(law) isthe_____.

Card 6(shoe) isthe_____.

Card 7(cow) isthe_____.

Card 8(ivy) isthe_____.

Card 9(bee) isthe_____.

Card 10(toes) isthe_____.Since this is exactly the same as doing a regular Peg list, you also

knowthecardsoutoforder. Ifyou thoughtofcow (7), thepictureofhailingcowsshouldcometomind,andhailcanonlybethe5H.IfyourfriendcalledtheKS,you’dtransposethattoitsCardWord,sing,whichshouldmakeyouthinkofMa,andthattellsyouthattheKSisthethirdcard. Test yourself—number or card. If you made the associationsoriginally, you’ll know thepositionof each card, andwhich card is atwhichposition. If youdidn’t form the associations, goback anddo sonow.Otherwise,you’llneverknowwhetherornotthisreallyworks!KnowingtheCardWordsmakesthecardsofadecktangibleandeasy

topictureinthemind.Oncetheycanbepictured,theycanbeassociatedsothatyoucanbeOriginallyAwareofthem.Here’s somemorepractice foryou,althoughyoucaneasilydo iton

yourown.UsethePegWordsfrom11to20andrememberthefollowingcards.Thenyou’ll know twenty cardsbynumber.After you’ve formedtheassociations,testyourself.

11.4D(tottodoor)12.JS(tintospade)13.3H(tombtohem)14.8D(tiretodive)15.10C(toweltocase)16.6S(dishtosash)17.10H(tacktohose)18.7H(dovetohog)19.5D(tubtodoll)20.KH(nosetohinge)

Now that you’ve impressed yourself, you’re ready to learn afascinatingapplicationoftheCardWords.Neither theLinknor thePegwouldcome in toohandy inmostcardgames. For any “discard” game such as gin rummy, bridge, hearts, orcanasta,youneedthe“mutilation”idea.We’llteachittoyouasastunt,andthenwe’lldiscussitsuseindifferentcardgames.Assume that a friend shuffles a full deck of cards.He removes, say,fivecards,whichheputsintohispocketwithoutlookingatthem.Now,he calls off the remaining forty-seven cards.Whenhe’s done that, youtellhim,onebyone,thecardshehasinhispocket—inotherwords,youtellhimthenamesofthemissingcards.There’snoneedtousetheLinkorthePeginordertoaccomplishthis;it would takemuch too long. Themutilation idea is faster and easierbecauseallyouneedtoknowisyourlistofCardWords.Yousimplydothis:When you hear a card called, transpose it to its CardWord andmutilatethatword(thepicture,really)insomeway.SaytheKDiscalled,seeaspilleddrink;the4Hiscalled,pictureaharewithoutears;the5D,seeadollwithanarmorlegmissing;theAC,seeacatwithout a tail; the2S, see a cloudobliterating the sun, and soon.Simplymutilate the picture that represents the card in your mind, insomequickway.Thiswillbecomeeasierand faster todoasyoukeepdoingit,fortworeasons:You’llgettoknowtheCardWordsbetter,andonceyouseeamutilationofanyCardWord,you’llusethatsamepictureallthetime.Ithasbecomeaninstantaneouspictureinyourmind.This is probably the best example of pinpointed concentration andOriginal Awareness that we could demonstrate. That instantaneouspictureof themutilatedCardWordhasforcedyoutobeawareof thatparticular card at thatmoment, as clearly as is humanlypossible.Youcanprovethisbytryingit.Afteryou’vemutilatedthecalledforty-sevencards, all youhave todo is togoover all yourCardWords,mentally.Any Card Word that has not been mutilated will stand out like theproverbialsorethumb!Go over the Card Words in a specific order; we always use CHSD,whichiseasytorememberifyouthinkoftheword“chased.”Perhapsyou’dprefertheHSDCorder—thinkofthephrase“hisdeck.”Youmightwanttousethebridge,oralphabetical,orderofsuits(CDHS),itdoesn’tmatter. Always using the same suit order will save you the time and

possibleconfusionofpossiblygoingoverthesamesuittwice.Whytakethechanceofgoingover, say, theclubCardWords,calling theoneortwo club cards that are in your friend’s pocket, then the hearts—andthen not being sure which suits you’ve already done? Going over thesuitsinthesameordereverytimeeliminatesthatpossibility.Itdoesn’tmatterhowmanycardsyoutellyourfriendtotakefromthedeck. Actually, the more cards he removes, the easier it is for you;there’ll be fewer cards for you to mutilate. Five cards is a gooddemonstrationforpokerplayers; forginrummyplayers,havesomeoneremove ten cards. For a bridge demonstration, you can have someoneshuffleandthendealoutthefourhandsofthirteencardseach.Hethentakesthreeofthehands,shuffles,andcallsthemofftoyouacardatatime.Youshouldbeabletonameallthirteencardsinthefourthhand.Togainspeed,youshouldfirstworkatmakingtheCardWordssecondnature; the better you know them, the faster you’ll be able to do themissing-carddemonstration.After you’ve tried it a few times at a rateandspeedyoufindcomfortable,pushyourselfabit—haveafriendcallthe cards toyouata little fasterpace thanyou thinkyoucanhandle.Tellyourfriendnottoslowdownorstopforanyreason.Thenyouhavenochoicebutto“see”eachmutilationwithinthatparticularslotoftime.Wethinkyou’llfind,believeitornot,thatnotonlywillyoudothestunt(you’llknowthemissingcards),butyou’lldoitbetter.You’llbeforcingyourselftoseeeachpicturequicklyandclearly,andthat’s better than trying to think of or see each picture for too long aperiod.Thenexttime,tryitatanevenfasterpace,andsoon.Ifyouowna metronome, set it at the pace you desire and turn a card face upwheneverthatpendulumswingstooneside.Ifyouhaven’tasyet,youshouldtrythemissing-cardstuntbeforeyoucontinue.Takesomecardsoutofashuffleddeck,thenlookthroughtheothers—mutilating as you do. Then go over the CardWords mentallyandjotdownthecardsyouthinkarenotmutilated,ormissing.Checktoseeifyou’recorrect.Ifyouwanttosavealittletime,removethepicturecards, then you’ll be working with only forty cards. After you’vemutilated,you’releftwithonlytheCardWordsfromacesto10’stogoover.You may be wondering how you can repeat the missing-carddemonstration.Well, you shouldn’t repeat it immediately for the same

people. Once is enough; leave themwantingmore. You can repeat it,however,ifyouwantto.Ifyouusemutilationagain,ofcourse,itwouldbe confusing. This brings us to playing, say, gin rummy.Obviously, ifyou’reapplyingthemissing-cardprinciple,you’regoingtohavetodoitwitheachhandplayed.Allright;forthefirsthand,usemutilation;forthenexthand,usefire.

That is, see each Card Word burning. It’s a form of mutilation, butdifferent enough so as not to cause confusion. For the next hand, usewater;seeeachCardWordunderwater,ordrowning.Forthenexthand,see each Card Word being cut with a knife, and for the next hand,associate each CardWord to yourself. The idea is to force yourself toconcentrateoneachcardforthatonefractionofasecond,andeachofthe above-mentionedmethodswill serve—yet they’re all different, anddefinite,enoughtobedistinctinyourmind.Youneedonlytryittoseethatthisisso.Bythetimeyou’vereachedtheassociating-to-yourselfmethod,you’re

readytogobacktomutilationandstarttheentirecycleoveragain.Youcan, however, enlarge the cycle if you like. After associating the CardWordstoyourself,forthenexthandofginyoucanassociateeachCardWordtothePegWordfor1(tie),nexthandtoNoah,nexttoMa,andsoon.By then,you’ll surelybeable to start thecycleoveragainwithoutconfusion.In gin rummy, it is important to knowwhether or not it is safe to

discardanyparticularcard.Asyouplay,mutilate—orburn,orwhatever—eachcarddiscardedbyyourselfandyouropponent.Whenyouwanttobesurethatacard issafe,youdon’thavetogothroughallyourCardWords—thatwould take too long.Allyouneeddo is thinkof threeorfourCardWords.Sayyou’reabouttodiscardthe8H.Isitsafe?ThinkoftheCardWords

forthe7Handthe9H.Iftheyhaven’tbeenmutilated,don’tthrowthat8H—youropponentmaybeholdingaheartrun,andwaitingforthe8H.Ifthesurroundingcards(7Hand9H)havebeenmutilated,don’tthrowthe 8H yet; think of the CardWords for two other 8-spots. If they’vebeenmutilated,youknowit’ssafetodiscardthe8H.Ifandwhenyouropponenttakesadiscard,associatetheCardWordto

his,say,nose.Hetakesthe7S;seeasockhangingfromhisnose.Later,whenyouneedtoknowwhatcardshetookfromthediscardpile,you’ll

know the cards! Associating the CardWord to him in some silly waymakes youOriginallyAware of the card. You can do this during eachhand,withoutgettingconfused.Tryitandseeforyourself.Bridgeplayersusethis ideatogreatadvantage.Exactlyhowisupto

the particular player. Some are interested in knowing only the trumpcards that have beenplayed, so theymutilate only trump cards.Moreexperiencedplayersmaywanttoknowallthecardsthatareplayed,sotheymutilateeachoneasitfalls.Onceyouunderstandtheidea,applyitasyoudesire,andtoyourbestadvantage.For pinochle, which is played with a deck of forty-eight cards

containing only 9’s through aces, you need two CardWords for eachcardfromthe9’son.Onefastexample:Forthe9C,you’dusethebasicCardWord(cup)andperhapscapforthesecond9C;thepatternisthesame.Whenplaying,you’dmutilatecupwhenthefirst9Cisplayed,andcap when the second one is played. Always mutilate the basic CardWordfirst,thentheoneyoumadeupforthesecondlikecard.Forthecourtcards,useaword(forthesecondcard)thatthebasicCardWordremindsyouof.Forexample,drinkmightremindyouofglass,soyoucanuseglasstorepresentthesecondKD.Poker isnotadiscardgame,butamemoryofwhat’sbeenplayed is

certainlyhelpfulinmostgames.Goodpokerplayersdoknowpokerodds—thechancesofdrawingtoaninsidestraight,orwhatever.Andthoseoddsdochangeaccordingtocardsplayed.Soinanopen,orstud,pokergameitwouldbefoolishtokeepbettingbecauseyou’rewaitingfora9-spot,whenyouknow(remember)thattwo9’shavealreadybeendealtto other players. Players drop out and turn their cards down—a goodplayerwillrememberthecardsthathe’sseenduringthehand,andplayaccordingly.Eveninagamelikefive-carddraw,whereyouseenoneofthecards,

ourmemory systems canhelpyou to remember theodds forbetteringyourhand.Forexample,ifyouhavethreecardsofthesamesuitandyouwanttoknowwhetherornotitpaystostayinanddrawfortwomoreofthesamesuit(aflush),rememberingthattheoddsareapproximately23to1againstdrawingthatflushmayhelpyoutodecidenottodoit!The word flame, under these circumstances, would remind you of

flush-three cards. The first two letters of the word (fl) remind you offlush, and the next consonant sound reminds you of three cards.

Associateflame toname (23),andyouhaveyour reminder.Theoddsagainstdrawingonecard(youretainfour)toaflushareapproximately5to1.Associatingflare(flush,whileretainingfour)tolaw(5)willdoit.Many poker players will stay in the game holding a pair and a

“kicker,” then drawing two cards. Itmight help you to know that theoddsagainstmakingthree-of-a-kindthatwayare12to1.Pictureasheetoftin(12)kickingapear,andyou’llbeabletorememberthiseasily.Theoddsagainstmakingtwopairunderthesecircumstancesare5to1;apear kicking apoliceman (law) will do it. Your knowledge of thegamewill tell youwhether the odds pertain to three-of-a-kind or twopair;or,youcanputanotherwordintotheassociationtotellyouwhatitpertainsto.Inbridge,thechancesofdrawingthirteencardsofanyonesuitare1

in to love, climb, move up, poses! The chances of drawing thirteenspadesare1inshowmule,steam,lilyup,chases!Andinpoker,theodds against drawing one of the four possible royal flushes are sharpcampto1.Don’tbetonanyofthese!Theoddsagainstrollinganeleveninonerollofthediceare17to1.

That’swhythehousehastheedgeatthecraptablewhentheyoffer10or15to1oneleven.Ofcourse,noamountofmemoryofodds,orcardsplayed,willhelp

youmuchifyoudon’treallyknowthestrategyofthegamethatyou’replaying.Wedon’twanttomisleadyouintothinkingthathavingagreatmemorywillmakeyouawinner; itwon’tunlessyou’reagoodplayer.Werelinquishallresponsibilityforyourlosses—butyoucansendus10percentofyourwinnings!

14WEEKLYAPPOINTMENTS;DAYSOFTHEWEEK

HL: Remembering the time and place of appointments is obviouslyimportant,bothinbusinessandsocially.

JL:Ofcourse,youcanremembertherightplaceandtime,andstillgetfouledup.InBoston,oneplayermadeadatewithagirlandhewastomeetheroutsideherhotel,afterthegame.Itwastwodegreesbelowzerothatnight.

Someofusweregoingtoarestaurantafterthegame,andwesawhimwaitingthere.Whenwefinishedeating,wewentbacktothehotel,andhewasstillstandingthere!Aswepassedhim,heasked,“Isthisthefrontorthebackofthehotel?”

•

Inanearlierchapter,youlearnedthataLinkwouldhelpyouremembersimpleerrandsandappointmentsforthefollowingday.Thatideaalonewillsufficeformanypeople.However,youmayhavetoremembermorespecificappointments,bydayandtime,andforthefollowingweek.It’seasyenoughtodo;youalreadyhavethenecessaryknowledge.The

problem is familiar to you—howdo you picture a day and time? Thesolutionisjustasfamiliar.Setupapatternthatenablesyoutocreateapictureforanydayandtime;tomaketheintangibletangible.Inpatternizingdayand time,we’ll considerMonday the firstdayof

theweek.Sinceitisthefirstbusinessdayoftheweek,thismakesmoresense to most people. If you’d rather consider Sunday the first day,simply do so and change everything accordingly; itwon’tmatter onceyou understand the idea. Otherwise, go alongwith us.Monday is the

firstday,Tuesdayissecond,andsoontoSunday,theseventhdayoftheweek.Thursday at 7:00 can now be thought of as a two-digit number.Thursday is the fourthday,so the firstdigit is4, torepresent theday.Theseconddigitrepresentsthehour—therefore,thetwo-digitnumberis47.Withinthispattern,47canrepresentonlythefourthday(Thursday),seventhhour(7:00).Ordinarily,itwouldbejustasdifficulttopicture47asitwouldbetopictureThursdayat7:00.ButyouhaveaPegWordfor47thatcanbepictured—rock. And so, within this pattern, rock must representThursdayat7:00.The Peg Word knife could represent only Tuesday (second day) at8:00.Lilymustrepresentthefifthday(Friday)at5:00.Evenifyoudon’tknow the PegWords, the sounds give you the necessary information.Thiswillworkmuchmoresmoothly,ofcourse,ifyoudoknowthePegWords.Tryafewyourself—mentallytransposethesePegWordstodayandhour:name,chain,knob,net,dish,Nero,coal,mower.Thereareafewminorproblemsremaining.Howdoyouhandle10:00,11:00,and12:00?WhataboutA.M. and P.M.?What aboutminutes?And,howdoyouusethePegWords?Let’s take care of 10:00, 11:00, and 12:00 first. Remember ourdiscussionof playing cards—just as there is no zeroofhearts, there isalsonozeroo’clock.So,usethessoundtorepresent10:00.MousewillrepresentWednesdayat10:00;toes,Mondayat10:00;rose,Thursdayat10:00;nose,Tuesdayat10:00;case,Sundayat10:00;andsoon.It isnecessarytomakeupawordforeachdayoftheweekat11:00and12:00.Thereare twoways tohandle this: the first is tostickwiththe pattern and use a word containing the proper sounds. The wordmitten, for example, is Wednesday at 12:00 (312); and rotate (411)couldrepresentonlyThursdayat11:00.Hereisalistofwordsfromwhichyoucanselect.Makeupyourown,ifyou’drather.

Selectthewordsyouwant,andusethem.Afterafewuses,theywillbe like PegWords—for this pattern. You’ll know them because you’veusedthem.Here’sanotherwaytohandle11:00and12:00:Simplyconsider11:00and12:00as1:00and2:00,butwithoutusingthebasicPegWordssinceyou’realreadyusingthem.Useanyotherwordthatfitsphonetically.Forexample,thePegWordmatrepresentsWednesdayat1:00,butthewordsmeat ormoat could represent Wednesday at 11:00. The PegWord moon represents Wednesday at 2:00—use man or moan torepresent Wednesday at 12:00. Once you select the words, they willworkperfectlywell.You’llknowthatthebasicPegWordsrepresent1:00and2:00,andthatanyotherwordsthatfit1:00and2:00(foranyday)wouldrepresent11:00and12:00.If all yourappointmentsweremadeon thehour, you’dbeall set toapplythesystem—byassociatingtheappointmentitselftothewordthatrepresentsthedayandhouroftheappointment.IfyouhadtogotothelibraryonSaturdayat1:00,you’dformaridiculousassociationbetweenlibrary,orbooks,andsheet.That’sall.Whynotmakethatassociationnow?Thenwe’lllistsomemore,justto

showyouhowitworks.Later,we’llget totheminutes,andtoA.M.andP.M.Thesehypotheticalappointmentswillbegiven toyouhaphazardly,since that’showappointmentsusuallycomeup.Form theassociations,becausewe’regoingtotestyou.OnTuesdayat9:00,youhaveadentalappointment.Transposetheday

andhourtothePegWord,knob,andassociatethattodentist.Perhapsthedentist ispullingadoorknobinsteadofatoothoutofyourmouth.Oragiganticdoorknobisyourdentist.Besuretoseethepicture.Mondayat2:00,youhaveameetingat thebank.Associate tin (first

day, second hour) to bank. Perhaps you’re depositing sheets of tininsteadofmoney;orthebanktellersarealllargetincans.Saturdayat8:00,youmustremembertoleaveyourcaratyourgarage

for repairs. Associate chef to car. Youmight see a gigantic chef’s hatdrivingacar,oracariswearingthechef’shat.Wednesdayat5:00,youhavetopickupapairofeyeglasses.Associate

muletoglasses.Thesillypictureofamulewearinggiganticeyeglasseswoulddoit.Seethatpicture.Fridayat2:00,youhavealuncheonappointmentwithMr.Vaikovitch.

Associatelionto,perhaps,vaguewitch.Seealionabouttoeatawitch,onlythewitchstartstofade;itgetsvague.Or,alionistryingtowakeawitch.Thursday at 10:00, you want to remember your karate lesson.

Associaterose tokarate.Perhapsyou’regivingagiganticroseakaratechop,oragiganticroseisusingkarateonyou.Tuesday at 5:00, there’s ameeting of the volunteer fire department.

Associatenailtofire.Perhapsagiganticnailisstartingafire.Besuretoseethispicture.Nowtrythis.GooveryourPegWordsforMonday—tot,tin,tomb,up

totoes.(Ifyoustilldon’tknowthePegWords,turnbacktothelistandread them. Picture each one as you read.) Now,when you come to aword that has been associated to something else, you’ll know itinstantly!You’veonlygottotryittoseethatthisisso.Justnow,whenyouthoughttin,thatshouldhavemadeyouthinkof…bank.After you’ve done Monday, go over Tuesday’s words—net, nun,

name, etc. Then Wednesday’s, Thursday’s, Friday’s, Saturday’s, andSunday’s.Thinkofthewordsuptozero(10:00)only,sincethereareno

11:00and12:00appointmentsusedintheexample.Ifyoudothis,you’llprobablyrememberalltheappointments!Just exactly how would you apply this idea? Well, assume it’s thefollowingMonday.Inthemorning,gooverMonday’sPegWords;thereareonlytwelve.You’llberemindedofthethingsyoumustdothatday.Duringtheday,whileyou’rehavinglunch,walking,etc.,simplygooverthosewords.You’ll have a constant reminder of your appointments. Ifyou’d rather know what it is you have to do the next day, go overMonday’s words on Sunday night. That’s all there is to it. No morelookingforyourappointmentbook,whichyouprobablyleftathomeorattheofficeanyway.Fortheminutes,simplyaddonewordtothePegWordpicture.Ifyouhave a plane to catch on Friday at 5:20, lily is the Peg Word thatrepresents Friday at 5:00. You couldmake 5:20 lily nose—nose tellsyoutheminutes.There’soneproblemhere;nextweek,howwouldyouknowwhetherit’slilynoseornoselily?(Ifyouthoughtitwasnoselily,you’dgototheairportthreedaystoosoon!)The problem is easily solved by not using a basic Peg Word torepresent minutes—use any other word that fits phonetically (just aswiththeideafor11:00and12:00).Fortheaboveexample,usenooseorniece. A ridiculous picture of a gigantic lily with a noose around itsneck, flying like an airplane, would do it. This solves the problembecauseyou’dknowthatthebasicPegWordalwaysrepresentsdayandhour,andanyotherwordalwaysrepresentstheminutes.Frankly,werarelyusetheminuteidea.Ourappointmentsarealmostneverthatprecise.Allwereallyneedisareminderforaquarter,ahalf,and three-quarters past thehour.Weuse a standard to represent eachone.Atwenty-five-centpiecealwaysrepresentsaquarterpastthehour,ahalfgrapefruitrepresentshalfpastthehour,andapiewithonelargeslice gone (three-quarters of a pie) represents three-quarters past thehour.Usethesestandards,ormakeupyourown.Thestandardsworkforus,becauseevenifwewanttoremember,say,a6:19appointment(anairplanedepartureoratelevisiontaping),we’llconsideritas6:15.Theworst(orbest)thatcanhappenisthatwe’realittle early for the appointment. If the appointment is for 2:38, weconsideritas2:30.The A.M.-P.M. question is really a hypothetical one. You usually know

whether any particular appointment is A.M. or P.M. If you really had aluncheonappointmentwithMr.Vaikovitchat2:00,you’dhardlyassumeitwas2:00A.M.!You’dalsoknowthatyour9:00dentalappointmentisinthemorning,unlessyouhaveaveryunusualdentist.You can, however,make the association as definite as youwant to.

YoucanuseaimtorepresentA.M.Or,youcanusewhitetorepresentday(A.M.), andblack to representnight (P.M.).Allyou reallyneedis one ofthem. To remember that an appointment is in themorning, getwhiteinto the picture; ifwhite isn’t in the picture, then you know it’s a P.M.appointment.IntheexampleofbringingyourcartothegarageonSaturdayat8:00,

you could have pictured the car being sparkling white, or aiming atsomething,toremindyouthattheappointmentwasat8:00A.M.

•

JL:Harry,thetruthnow—didyouevermissanengagementbecauseyouforgot about it, and just didn’t showup? I’ve heard something to thateffect.

HL:Itmakesagoodstory,butno.Yearsago,Iwasscheduledtoappearat a Rotary Club luncheon, and I had quite a drive to get there.Somebodytoldmethatitwasatwo-hourdrive,anditendedupafour-hourdrive.WhenIgotthere,alltheRotarianshadleft.Therewasquiteastoryinthenextday’slocalpaper,headed,MEMORYEXPERTFORGETSTOSHOWUP!

JL:Thatsoundsasifitmightreallyhavehappened.

HL:Itdid.Anyway,youshouldn’tbringupthingslikethat.Ifyoukeepitup,I’llhavetotellpeopleaboutthetimeyouweredrivingthroughtheexact-change booth at a tunnel, threw the half-dollar, andmissed thebucket!

•

In the next chapter, we’ll discuss how to remember monthlyappointments, birthdays and anniversaries, and historical dates. We’ll

even touchonabitofastrology.But first,an idea thatmaymakeyouwonderwhyyoudidn’tthinkofityourself.Supposesomeoneyou’retalkingtosays,“I’llbeawayduringmostof

March,whydon’twehavelunchonAprilninth?”(We’reusingtheyear1974 in these examples.) And you immediately say, “Sorry, that’s aTuesday,andIplaygolfonTuesdays.”HowdidyouknowthatApril9fallsonaTuesday?Well,here’samethodyoucanusetofigure,almostinstantly,thedayoftheweekforanydatewithinthecurrentyear.Lookatthistwelve-digitnumber:633752741631.Ifyoumemorize

thatnumber,you’llbeabletoknowthedayoftheweekforanydatein1974.How?It’ssimple;thosetwelvedigitsgiveyouthefirstSundayofthemonthforeachof thetwelvemonths.ThefirstSundayinJanuary,1974,isthe6thofthemonth;thefirstSundayinFebruaryisthe3rd;thefirstSundayinMarchisthe3rd;thefirstSundayinAprilisthe7th;andsoontoDecember,thefirstSundayofwhichisthe1stofthemonth.By now, you should have no trouble memorizing a twelve-digit

number. Youmight Link shame him to clown to cart to jammed, orwhateverwordsorphrasesyoucomeupwith.Onceyou’vememorizedthenumber,knowingthefirstSundayofthe

month enables you to easily calculate the day of theweekof anydayduringthatmonth.Let’sassumeyouwanttoknowthedayoftheweekfor August 21. Check the twelve-digit number: The first Sunday ofAugustfallsonthe4th.Simplyadd7’stothatnumber(becausetherearesevendaysinaweek).IfthefirstSundayisthe4th,thenaddinga7tellsyouthatthe11thisalsoaSunday.Add7to11,andyouknowthatthe18th isaSunday.Thenthe19th isaMonday, the20th isaTuesday—andthe21stofAugustfallsonWednesday!Ofcourse,there’snoneedtoaddthe7’sonebyone.Addamultipleof

7;intheaboveexample,you’dsimplyadd14to4rightaway,andtakeitfromthere.Thelargestmultipleof7you’lleverhavetoaddis28.Supposeyouwant toknowthedayof theweekonwhichChristmas

Dayfalls.ThefirstSundayofDecemberisthe1st;add21,andyouknowthatthe22ndofDecemberisalsoaSunday.Sothe23rdisMonday,the24thisTuesday,andChristmasDayfallsonaWednesday.Occasionally,you’llworkbackward.Forexample,findthedayofthe

weekforJune14.ThefirstSundayinJuneisthe2nd.Add14,andyouknow that the16th is also a Sunday.That tells you that the15th is a

Saturday,andthe14th,ofcourse,fallsonaFriday.Nowtryafewonyourown.Findthedayoftheweekforthesedatesin1974:April15,November7,January12,May27,March5,October26,February13,andSeptember8.Breakingthetwelve-digitnumberintogroupsofthreemakesiteasierforyoutogettoaparticularmonthquickly.Afteryouusetheideaforashorttime,wheneveryouthinkofamonthyou’llalsothinkofthewordorphrasethatincludesthatmonth.Ifyoudon’tcareaboutthat,Linkthenumberanywayyoulike(chum,mug,linger,dishmatwoulddoit).Whenyougetto1975,it’seasyenoughtomemorizethenewtwelve-digitnumberatthebeginningoftheyear—butyoudon’thaveto.Inthenumber for 1975, you’ll see that each digit is one less than for 1974.Look:

1974—6337527416311975—522641637527

Don’tletthose7’s(beneaththe1’s)throwyou.Sincethereisnozeroday,whenyou subtract 1 from1 the answermust be 7.What’s reallyhappening is this:You’re subtractingaday fromSunday,whichbringsyoutoSaturday.So,for1975,youcanusethesamenumberas1974andsimply push your answer ahead one day. You’ll be correct! If for anyreason itwouldhelpyou toknow thedayof theweek for thecurrentandthefollowingyear,you’dknowbothautomatically—exceptforleapyears.AnotherwayistousethesamenumberandconsiderthedigitstorepresentMondays.Again,you’llbecorrect!There isawaytokeepusingthesamenumber intoa leapyear, like1976,butwedon’twanttotakethespacetoexplainthathere.Youcanwork it out yourself if you study thenumbers for other years that arelistedbelow.Youcansimplymemorize thenewnumbereachyear.Oryoucanusethesamenumberforthreeyears(thethirdyear,you’dpushyour answer forward two days, or consider each digit to representTuesdays),memorizethenewoneforaleapyear,thenmemorizeanewone,whichyoucanuseforthreemoreyears.Herearethenumbersupto1983.

Before leaving this idea,weekdayswithinyears, there’sanotherwaytohandleit.MakeupaSubstituteWordforeachmonth,andassociatethattoaPegWordthattellsyouthefirstSunday.ForJanuary,apictureof a janitor might serve as the Substitute. For the year 1974, see agiganticshoebeinga janitor.February?Fiborfob,andassociate it toMa.ForMarch,seeyourMamarching.Youmayfeelthatthismethodisfaster,ormoredefinite.Thechoiceisyours.Here’sasuggestionortwofortheremainingmonths:

April—ape,fool(AprilFool),orshowers(Aprilshowers)May—MaypoleJune—bride,orchewin’July—jewel,orfirecracker(July4)August—gustofwindSeptember—scepter,orsippedOctober—octopus,oroboeNovember—ember, new member, or turkey(Thanksgiving)December—Christmastree

Whatevermethodyouuse,knowingthedayoftheweekafuturedatefallsoniseasy,andit’sfun.Testyourselfnow—lookatthetwelve-digit

numberfor1983andsayoutloud,almostinstantly,thedayoftheweekyourbirthdayfallsoninthatyear.

15ANNIVERSARIES,THEZODIAC,HISTORICALDATES

Thesamebasicideathatisusedforrememberingadayandhourworksfor rememberingamonthandday.Anydate that fallswithin the firsttendaysofthefirstninemonthsoftheyearbreaksdowntoabasicPegWord. The dateMay 4would transpose to54 (lure)—5thmonth, 4thday.March8transposestomovie,August10tofuse,January6todish,September3tobum,andJuly4tocar.Anydaypastthe10th,andanymonthpastSeptember,transposetoa

three-digitnumber.Inmostcases,whatyou’ddoismakeupawordtorepresent that three-digit number. For example, October 8 couldtransposetotossoff(10thmonth,8thday);December3todenim;andsoon.Buttakeanotherlookatthatlastexample.Denimtransposesto123,

whichcouldrepresentthe12thmonth,3rdday.Itcouldalso,however,representthe1stmonth,23rdday.There are, as usual, ways to solve the problem. The one we use is

simply to put a zero in front of any single-digit date. December 3, asingle-digitdate,isthereforerepresentedbythedigits1203,not123.Nowtherecanbenoconfusion;thedigits123canrepresentonlythe

1stmonth(January),23rdday.November7transposesto1107,not117,because117representsJanuary17.Allyouneeddoisthinkupawordorphraseforanythree-orfour-digitnumberordate.You’llfind,ifyouapplythisidea,thatthezeroisn’talwaysnecessary.

YoucouldtransposeMay4to504(loser,laser),butsince54couldonlyrepresentMay4,youmightjustaswelluselure.You’llhavetodecidewhethertoalwaysusethezeroforsingle-digitdates,ortousethatzeroonlyinthoseinstanceswhereit’sneededtoavoidconfusion.So.Anydatecanbemadetangibleby firstbreaking itdownto two,

three, or four digits and then coming up with a word or phrase torepresent those digits phonetically. Once you understand that, all youhave to do in order to remember a person’s birthday or weddinganniversaryistoassociatethewordorphrasetothatperson.Oneway todo this is to associate thewordorphrase to thepersonphysically.Forexample,picturingyourwifeasapianotunerwouldhelpyoutorememberthatherbirthdayisJanuary24.(Thiswouldn’tconfuseyouintothinkingthatthedateisDecember4;thatwouldtransposeto1204,anddancercouldrepresentitphonetically.)OryoucanassociatethewordorphrasetoaSubstituteWordfortheperson’s name. To remember that Mr. Gordon’s birthday is April 3,associate ram to garden. Mr. Pukczyva’s birthday is March 2—see ahockeypuckshiveringasitshines,insteadofthemoon,inthesky.Once you’ve visualized the silly picture, whenever you think of theperson,you’llberemindedofthedate.(We’reassumingthatifyoucareenough about someone to want to remember the birthday oranniversary,thenyoudothinkofthatpersoneverysooften.)Ifyouthinkyou’llhavetroublerememberingwhether it’sabirthdayor anniversary date, put something into the picture to represent thecorrectone.Acakewithcandlesonitwoulddoforabirthday.Anydatescanberememberedbyusing thisbasic idea.We’lldiscusshistorical dates in a moment, but first we’d like to show you how toapplytheideatothesignsofthezodiac.Somanypeopleareinterestedin astrology these days that it sometimes seems everyone is askingeveryoneelsewhatsigntheywerebornunder.Andmanypeoplehearabirthdateandthenfinditdifficulttorememberthesignforthatdate.But as you’ll see, dates can be associated to other information—anyinformation.Here are the signs of the zodiac, the date spreads, and somesuggestionsforchangingthosedatesintotangiblepictures:

Ifyouwanttorememberallthesigns,simplyLinkthem.Eithermakeup a SubstituteWord for the sign, or, if you know themeanings, usethem—theyallcanbepictured.ForAries,youcanusearrows,airE’s,or simplypicturea ram.At thispointyoushouldbeable towork thisouteasilyforyourself.Ifyoudon’tknowthemeaningsofthesigns,associateonetotheother—signtomeaning.Mostofthemareobvious,ofcourse;butifyouhadtoyoucould,say,associategem(Gemini)totwins.To remember the sign and date spread in each case, associate aSubstitute Word for the sign, or its meaning (see Aries-ram exampleabove),toaphrasethatwillgiveyouthevitaldates.Forinstance,asillypictureofaramsuckingagiganticmintas itrunsgivesyouboththesignandthedatespread.Apictureofacornwearingacap,oragoatlivinginyourhomeasatenantandalways totingthingsup(toteup)tells you that Capricorns are born betweenDecember 21 and January19.Asusual,youcanputanythingyoulikeintoyourassociation.Ifyou

seeapictureofabull(Taurusortoreass)beingarunt(smallbull)andverystubbornlybreakingagigantic lens, youhave a reminder of thesign,thedatespread,andoneofthecharacteristicsofTauruspeople—stubbornness.*Nowforhistoricaldates.Again,youalreadyhavethenecessarybasic

knowledge. All you have to do is transpose the intangible date to atangiblepictureandassociatethatpicturetotheevent.We’llstartwithoneyoualreadyknow—thedateofthesigningofthe

DeclarationofIndependence.AKaiser(ifyou’reusingthezeroinfrontof single digits) or a car (7th month, 4th day, July 4) signing theDeclarationandreceivingplentyofcash(’76)forsigningitwilltellyoutheeventandthedate.Theassumptionisthatyou’dknowthecenturydigits,butyoucanputareminderintotheassociationifyoulike.Takecashwoulddoit.Usually, it isn’t necessary to put the century figures into the

association.Youprobablyknowthat thegreatChicagofireoccurredinthe1800’s.Soapictureofacot(’71)startingagreatfiretellsyouthatthedateis1871.Napoleonwascrownedemperorin1804;pictureamanwith his hand in his jacket (Napoleon)wearing a large crown—it’s soheavy,itmakeshisheadsore(’04).(Ifyoulike,youcanpictureadoveflyingout of the crown, to remindyouof18.)TheTitanic sank in theyear 1912. Picture a large sheet of tin sinking; or, if you want thecenturyfigures,seeitsinkinginatub.Having used the states and the Presidents as examples earlier,we’ll

continue using themnow—you can include a picture to represent anydateinanyofyouroriginalassociations.PerhapsyouwanttoremembertheyearinwhichastatewasadmittedtotheUnion.Nothingcouldbesimpler.Indianawasadmittedin1816;getdishordovedishintoyouroriginal association. You can’t talk (Kentucky) because there’s a dogboneinyourthroat—thispicturewouldremindyouthatKentuckywasadmittedtotheUnionin1792.PresidentGrantwasbornonApril27,1822.Picturea largepieceof

granite(SubstituteWordforGrant,oruserant)puttingaring(427=April27)onanun’s(’22)finger.Ifyouseethissillypicturetakingplaceon a ship, that will help you remember that President Grant wasinauguratedin1869.William Shakespeare’s baptismwas recorded onApril 26, 1564. See

yourselfshakingaspear ina tall jar (1564)onaranch (April 26). Ifyouwant to remember only themonth and year, rattle jar, or retailchair(4-1564)wouldsuffice.Ifyoualreadyknowthecentury,rasherorreacherwouldremindyouofApril,’64.ThefirstmantostepontothemoonwasNeilArmstrong,andhediditonJuly20,1969.Apictureofamanwithastrongarm(orjustastrongmusculararm)holdinghundredsofcans(720,July20)wouldtellyouthemonthandday.Seetheman(orthearm)comingoutofaship,andyouhavea reminderof theyear. If youwant to remember themonthandyearonly,associatetheSubstituteWordforArmstrongtoketchup(7-’69).If you formed an association of a stevedore dressed in lace andwrestling a bear, it would help you remember that Robert LouisStevenson(stevedore)wasbornin1850(lace)anddiedin1894(bear).Nowyoucanrememberanydatebychangingittoatangiblepictureandassociating that to theperson,place,or event.Again,onceyou’veused the memorized information a few times and it has becomeknowledge, the system has served its purpose—the ridiculous picturesfadebecauseyounolongerneedthem.

*C.f.HarryLorayne.

16THEALPHABETANDPICTURINGLETTERS

HL:Arteriosclerosis!

JL:Aceeiiloorrrssst!

HL:Soyou’vebeenalphabetizingwordssinceyouwereeightyearsold—itstillamazesme.What’sthestory,Jerry?

JL:I’mscrewy.No,seriously,IbasicallyusetheSubstituteWordsystem.Whenawordisalphabetizeditbecomesanonsenseword,soIassociatea Substitute thought for the nonsense word to the regular word.“Telephone”alphabetizedis“eeehlnopt,”somyoriginalpicturewaseelnappedonatelephone.Thatdoesn’tgivemealltheletters,butitdoesgivemethenonsenseword. I’llknowthat thereare threee’s,andthattherehastobeanhintheresomewhere.

•

Mostpeopledon’tknowthealphabetaswellastheythinktheydo.Fewpeopleknowthenumericalpositionsoftheletters.Notthatit’sofgreatimportance,butit is interestingthatpeopleusethesetwenty-sixlettersall their livesandstilldon’tknow,instantly,thenumericalpositionof,say,PorK,orM.We’regoingtoshowyouhowtopictureletters.Butfirst,here’saquick

wayoflearningthenumericalpositionsofalltheletters.It’snotjustanexercise—knowingthemcanbeimportantifyouneedanextraPeglistofwords,orpictures.Onceyouknow thenumericalpositionsandcanpictureeachletter,you’llautomaticallyhaveatwenty-six-wordPeglist.We’re assuming that you know the basic Peg Words from 1 to 26.

Now,youneed the“adjective” idea.Makeupaphrase thatconsistsoftwo words—the first word is an adjective that begins with the letterwhosepositionyouwanttoknow;thesecondisthePegWordthattellsyouthatposition.Lookatthesephrases:

AwfultieBraveNoahCuteMaDeliciousrye

Each phrase gives you the two things you need, the letter and itsposition. “Delicious rye” tells you that the letter D (first letter ofdelicious) is the fourth letter (rye) of the alphabet. You’re better offmakingupyourownadjectives,because theonesyou thinkofwillbeeasierforyoutoremember.Herearejustafewsuggestions:jaggedtoes,kindtot,plasticdish,vivaciousnun,X-rayedNero,zigzagnotch.When you’vemade up all the phrases, go over them once or twice.Here, it isn’t necessary to form a ridiculous association—the logicalaspectofthephrasewillbeamemoryaid.Beforelong, ifyouthinkP,thephrase“plasticdish”will come tomindandyou’llknowthatP isthe16thletterofthealphabet.Andbeforemuchlonger,youwon’tneedthephrase—you’llsimplyknowthenumericalpositions.That’sallthereistoit!Now. To visualize each letter of the alphabet—to make each lettertangibleandmeaningfulinyourmind—makeupawordthatsoundsliketheletter.ThisisanoffshootoftheSubstituteWordsystem.TheletterA,forinstance,cannotbepictured,butyoucanpictureanape.Andsayingthe letter A out loud almost has to remind you of ape, because apesoundslikeA.YoucanmakeupyourownAlphabetWords,oryoucanusethelistthatfollows.

1.A—ape2.B—bean3.C—sea4.D—dean

5.E—eel6.F—half,oreffort7.G—jeans,orgee8.H—ache,age,oritch9.I—eye10.J—jay(bird)11.K—cake,orcane12.L—el(elevatedtrain),elf13.M—ham,hem,oremperor14.N—hen,orend15.O—eau(water),orold16.P—pea17.Q—cue(stick)18.R—hour(clock),orart19.S—esscurve,orass20.T—tea21.U—ewe22.V—veal23.W—Waterloo(Napoleon)24.X—eggs,exit,orXray25.Y—wine26.Z—zebra

WeusedbeanforBonlybecauseyoualreadyknowbeeasthebasicPegWordfornumber9.Being able to picture any letter is important if you ever have tomemorizeanything thatcontains letters—formulasandequations, stylenumbers,stocksymbols,whatever.Now,ifforsomereasonyouwantedtorememberalicensenumber,say,146A29C4L,youcouldLinktorchtoape,apetoknob,knobtosea,seatorye,andryetoelevatedtrain.If you know the numerical position of every letterand the alphabetword,youalsohavethattwenty-six-wordPegListwementioned.IfyouknowthatNisthe14thletter,anythingassociated tohen is the14thitem.Anythingassociatedtopeaisthe16thitem,anythingassociatedtoesscurveisthe19thitem,andsoon.Nowyoucanmemorizetwolistsofitems—bynumber,andinandoutoforder—atthesametime.UsethebasicPegWordsforonelistandtheAlphabetWordsfortheother.Thefactthateachlettercanbepicturedcanbeusefultoyouinmanyareas. If you’re oneof themanypeoplewhohave trouble spelling theword insurance because you’re never sure whether it’s -ance or -ence,picture an ape selling insurance and you’ll always remember thatinsuranceisspelledwithana.Thewordaudibleisspelledwithani(it’s

not “audable”). Form a silly picture of your eye making sounds—it’saudible—toremindyouofthei.Thewordgrammarisoftenmisspelled“grammer.” Picture anape speakingwith perfect grammar, and you’llrememberthata.There are otherways to handle letters. For example, if all the style

numbersofanycompany’sproductsconsistofaletterfollowedbydigits,thenawordthatbeginswiththelettersolvesthememoryproblem.ForA41,usearid;forB12,button;forC915,capital;forR92,robin;andsoon. Each word would then be associated, of course, to the product itrepresents.Finally, a nonearthshaking piece of information: If you form a Link

fromzebratowinetoeggs toWaterloo,all thewaytoape,you’llbeabletorecitethealphabetbackward!

17STARTYOURCHILDREN

JL: My son and daughter—Jeff’s nine, Julie’s eight—can rememberthings in sequence and by number, quickly and easily. And they’rehavingaball.

HL:WhenmysonBobbyturnedfivethisyear,Itriedhimontenitems,with the Link. First time out, he remembered them—no hesitation,forwardandbackward—andhethoughtitwashilarious!Notlongago,ItriedthePegonachildren’sTVshow—theaverageage

ofthestudioaudiencewasseven—andthekidsrememberedtenitemsinandoutoforder,bynumber.

JL:Beforemydaughterwasawareofthesystems,shehadtroubletellingher left hand from her right. I’d ask her, “Which is your right hand,Julie?” She’d stand up and start reciting the Pledge of Allegiance,putting her right hand over her heart. Then she’d raise that hand andsay,“Thisone,Daddy!”

•

Very young children have no trouble using their imagination andformingridiculouspictures.Theynotonlydoiteasily,theythinkit’slotsoffun.Ifyouhavechildren,acquaintthemwithsomeoftheideasinthisbook; you can harness that lively imagination and help them sharpentheirsenseofconcentration—withouttheirrealizingwhatyou’redoing,ofcourse.Makeagameoutof theLinksystem.Duringanautomobile trip,see

whocanrememberalistofitemsfaster,orwhocanrememberthemostitems.Itisfun—andthechildrenarelearningausefulskillatthesametime.Ifyouwanttoplaythegameofrememberingitemsbynumberwitha

childwho’s tooyoung to learn thephoneticalphabet, there’saway toteachhim tenPegWordsalmost instantly.They’reeasy to learn—theyrhyme with the numbers, and most of them come from a song yourchildrenprobablyknow.

1.one—run2.two—shoe3.three—tree4.four—pour5.five—hive(picturebees)6.six—sticks7.seven—heaven8.eight—gate9.nine—sign10.ten—hen

Someofthewordsfromthesonghavebeenchangedtowordsthatareeasier for a child to picture. Teach the youngster to picture the itemrunning,for1(run);beingpouredoutofsomething,for4(pour);inthesky,for7(heaven);andsoon.Thenumber-wordrhymesmakeiteasyforachildtolearnthewordsinminutes.Oncehehasbeentestedonthem,andknowsthem,hecanbe taught to associate (don’t use that word; the children won’t knowwhatyou’retalkingabout)anyitemtoanyofthesePegs.Ifyoumentionbanana for number 6, the childwill think sticks and, perhaps, see abunchofbananas tied likeabunchofsticks.Givehimasuggestionortwothefirstfewtimes.Here’sanotherwaytousetheLinkasagame.Placeeightorsoitemsonatrayandcoverthemwithacloth.Firstremovetheclothforashorttime(aminuteorso),thenreplaceitandhaveeveryonetrytolistalltheitems.Eachplayerreceivesonepointforeachitemlistedcorrectly;themoreaplayerlists,thebetterhisscore.Or you can show the items for amoment, then remove a couple ofthem without letting the players see which ones have been removed.Youexposethetrayofitemsagainfortensecondsorso.Thefirstplayer

whocorrectlyliststhemissingitemswins.Boththesegamesarefunforchildrenandteachthemtostartusingsomeimportantmentalpowers—observation,memory, and concentration. They alsowork as incentivesforthechildtotrytoapplyasimpleLink.Youcanalso starthelping thechild to rememberwords through theSubstituteWordsystem.Whenfive-year-oldBobbyLoraynekeptsaying“caterlipper” for caterpillar, he was told to picture a cat chasing thecrawlingthingupapillar(orpillow).Itworked!Surely every parent has used something of this sort at one time oranother.Butnowyou can take itmuch further.Use SubstituteWords,withthechild, forEnglishor foreignwords. It’samazinghowwell thesystemworkswithchildren.Here’s anothergame that childrenenjoy. In thisone,pairsof lettersare called or written, and each pair is assigned a hiding place. Forexample,PNiscalled,andthehidingplaceisthefishtank;FXishiddenintheTVset;CP in thewindow;TRin the flowerpot,andsoon.Thechildwhoremembersthemostpairsofletterswins.Tell thechild to thinkofaword thatbeginsandendswith thevitalletters and then associate, in a silly way, that word (or thing) to thehiding place. The childmight picture a giganticpin swimming in thefish tank, a fox jumpingoutof theTV screen, a giganticcupcrashingthroughawindow,andtaroverflowingfrom,andruining,aflowerpot.Anywordcanbeusedthatwillremindthechildoftheletters.IfthelettersareBN,binisfine—butbonewouldstillhelpthechildrememberthem.ForTR,tireortreewouldalsodo.Thegameencouragesthechildtothinkof lettersandwordsandgetthemright,helpshismemory,andisfuntoplay.Childrenlovetowin;they’lllearnjustbecausetheywanttoplayandwin.Youcantakethisparticulargameastepfurtherbyusingtwolettersplusanumber from1 to10.Use the ten rhymingPegs for this. IfyoucallPTandnumber5,hiddeninthekitchensink,thechildmightseearidiculouspictureofhimselfturningthefaucetinthekitchensink,andmillionsofpitsandbees(hive-five)comingoutofit.There’sanoldgameinwhicheachplayeraddsanitemtoalist.Thefirst playermight say, “I’m going to Indianapolis to get a bottle.” Thenextplayersays,“I’mgoingtoIndianapolistogetabottleandadesk.”Thethirdplayersays,“I’mgoingtoIndianapolistogetabottle,adesk,

andafish.”Thegamecanbeplayedwithanynumberofplayers,eachofwhommustrepeatalltheitemscorrectlyandaddoneitem.Iftherearefour players, the first person’s turn comes up again after the fourthperson.Thefirstplayerwhomissesanitemis“out”;thelastperson“in”wins. The application of the Link to this old game gives it a newdimension. With a little thought, any game can be changed or mademorechallengingbyusingsuchmemorysystemsastheLink,SubstituteWords,andPegWords.Starting young children off on some of the principles of a trained

memoryisoneofthemostusefulthingsyoucandoforthem.Imaginehow helpful the systems can be to them for play, in school (mostschoolworkisbasedonmemory),and,later,sociallyandprofessionally.

18SPORTS

JL:Notjustanyprofessionalbasketballplayer,regardlessofhisabilities,could play for the New York Knickerbockers. The Knicks winchampionshipsbecausewe’reateaminthetruesenseoftheword—thefiveplayersontheflooratanygiventimeplayforthegoodofallandnot for themselves. That’s really the onlyway to keepwinning in probasketball.

HL:You’reasmartteam,too—intelligencemustbeafactor.

JL:Sureitis.Thebasicintelligenceofourplayers,andtheirbasketballsavvy,areactuallymoreimportantthanmostpeoplerealize.We’renotanoverpoweringtypeofteam,sowehavetodependonotherassets—likeplayingunselfishly,playingintelligently,andgenerallyoutthinkingouropponents. Inorderforustowinconsistently,thefivemenonthefloorhavetothinkandactalmostasoneperson.Thismeansthateachplayermustknowwhathis teammatesaregoingtodoinalmosteverysituation.Agoodpartofthisisknowingtheplayswe’llberunning—ifaplay is called and one or two of the players don’t remember it, theresultscanbedisastrous.

HL:Howoftendotheplaysgetcalled?

JL:Weattempttorunabasicplayeverytimewecomedownthefloor,unlesswehaveanobviousbreakawaysituationthatwillleadtoaneasybasket.Thisstrategygivesusmuchmoreconsistency—andleavesusinbetterdefensivebalanceifwemisstheshotandtheotherteamreboundstheball.

HL:You’re really saying thatnoneofyoucanperformwellunlessyouremember the playswell. I know how you remember them—butwhat

aboutyourteammates?

JL:Fundamentally, theotherplayersuse rotememory.Weall gooverandovertheplaysthroughouttheyear,tomakesureeverybodyknowsthem.AndfortheKnicks,that’smaybeatotaloffortyplaysandoptions.

HL:Howwelldoesthemethodwork?

JL:Thismayseemhardtobelieve,butI’veneverplayedonabasketballteamat any level including the professional levelwithout at least oneplayer forgetting several of the plays all the way through the season.Manytimes,thereareseveralplayerswhodon’trememberthem.Atsomecrucialpointinagame,thecoachwilltelltheplayersduringa time-out what play he wants to run, why it’s important that eachplayer know exactly what his assignment is and carry it out. So. Webreak,wedon’t take threeor four stepsouton the floor,andaplayertapsmeontheshoulder—heknowsIrememberalltheplays—andsays,“Whatarewedoing?Whatplayarewecalling?”Andthathashappened,anddoeshappen,overandoveragain.

HL:Obviously, those players aren’t very aware.And just as obviously,since they turn to youwhen they forget, the systemswork for you inbasketball.

JL:Iusethemtorememberallourplays.Andanyplayercouldusethemtorememberwhathe’ssupposedtododuringanyparticularplay.

•

Forobviousreasons,we’llbeginourdiscussionofmemoryinsportswithbasketball. First, a play we’ll designate play number 6. Most plays inbasketballarecalledoutbynumber,andit’sasimplemattertoassociatethatplaytothebasicPegWord.Thediagramonthefollowingpageshowswhatplaynumber6mightlooklikeafteracoachhasexplainedit:Ifyou ignoreall thearrows,dashes,and lines in thediagram,you’llsee the basic positioning of a team. C is center; LF and LG are leftforwardandleftguard;RFandRGarerightforwardandrightguard.

Now.Adotted line ( ) isapassmadewith theball; asolid line ( ) is thedirection inwhich theplayermoves;thesolidshortlines( )arepicksorblocksbyoneoftheplayers.RGstartswiththeball.HepassesittoLGwho,inturn,passesittoLF.LFthenpassestheball toC.Ifyoufollowthedottedlinesandarrows,youcanfollowtheball’sprogressasitisbeingpassed.AssoonasLFpassestheballtoC,hestartstomovetowardthemiddleofthecourt.Atthesametime,LGstartstomovetowardtheendofthecourt.BothLFandLGarealsomovingtowardC.Now,LFmomentarilystopstopickorblockLG’sopponentandthencontinuestothemiddleofthecourtwherehepicksRF’sopponentasRFmovestowardthemiddleofthecourttojoinLF.LF then turns and moves toward the basket after he picks for RF.Whileallthisisgoingon,LG(ifhehasn’tgottentheballfromC,forashot)circlesunderthebasketandbacktowardthemiddleofthefloor.RG moves away from the action in order to keep his opponent frominterferingwiththeplay.Chasseveraloptionsduringthisplay.Thefirst is topasstheball toLGwhenLFpicksforhim.ThesecondoptionistopasstoRFwhenLFpicks for him. The third is to pass the ball to LF as hemoves to thebasket after he has picked for RF. Finally, if none of these options isavailable,Ccanturnandshoottheballhimself.

In thisonebasicplay,youcansee that thereare severaloptions for(hopefully) good open shots during its execution. Each player hasspecificdutiestoremember:

C—Gettobasicposition.ReceiveballfromLF.PassballtoLG,RF,orLF.Ifplaydoesn’twork,shoot.

LF—ReceiveballfromLG.PassballtoC.MovetowardCandpickforLG.MovetowardmiddleandpickforRF.Movetobasket.

LG—ReceivepassfromRG.PasstoLF.MoveoffLF’spick,tothebasket.Ifnoshotdevelops,circlebackunderbaskettooriginal

position.RF—Move off the pick by LF to center of floor. Look for

passfromCandshootifopen.RG—PasstoLG.Moveawayfromplay.

It would be a simple task for each player to Link, or associate, hisduties to shoe (6). All he need do is make up a few standards torepresent thepositions.Anywordscontaining theproper letterswoulddo. C could be core (picture an apple core. It beginswith c, and alsomeanscenter);LFcouldbeleaf;RFcouldberoof;LGcouldbelog;RGcouldberug.The best way to memorize the play described above is to use onepicture;noLinkisnecessaryforsoshortaplay.Ccouldpictureashoemovingtoabasicposition.(Hecouldsimplyseeitmovingtohisbasicposition,orhe couldputbase,sick, or both, into thepicture.)A leafthrowsaballtotheshoeandtheshoelooksaroundatalog,asteeple(roof),andagiganticleaf,tryingtodecidewhichonetothrowitto.Itcan’tdecide,soitshootsitself!Check back to C’s duties for this play, and you’ll see that this sillypicturewillquicklyremindthecenterof them.Whenhe’sonthe floorandaplayerorcoachcalls“Six,”he’llinstantlyknowwhathehastodo.(Bearinmindthatthisisalltheplayersneed—reminders.)LFmightpictureashoereceivingaballfromalog;theshoethrowstheballatanapplecoreashemovestowardthatcore,andpicksupalogandaroof;heplacesashoeintoabasket.(Weconsiderthistobeonepicture.ALinkwouldworkaswell:shoetologtocoretopicktologtorooftoshoetobasket.)LG:ashoecatchesaballthrownbyarugandimmediatelythrowsittoaleaf;itpicksuptheleafasitmovestowardabasketincircles.RF:ashoemovesoffapickheldbyaleaf;itmovestothemiddleofthefloor;anapplecoremakesapassattheshoe;theshoeshoots.RG:ashoethrowsaballtoalog,thenmovesoutofsight.The player would form associations or Links like these in order tooriginally remember all the team plays. After a few uses, the pictureswillfadeasusual;he’llsimplyknowtheplays.

In football, theplaysaremorecomplicatedbecause thereareelevenmenonateam.Butaplaystillinvolveseachman’srememberingwhat

he himself is supposed to do during any called play. The exceptionwould be the quarterback,who should prettymuch be aware ofwhateachofhisteammatesissupposedtodo,andwherethey’resupposedtobe.Tohelphimoriginallymemorizetheplay,hisLinkswouldbeabitmoreinvolved.The same kind of associations or Links will help any player to be

OriginallyAwareofhisduties.This iswhatadiagramofplaynumber14,the“dive-option”play,mightlooklikeonacoach’sblackboard:

Herearethebasicdutiesofthethreekeymeninthisparticularplay:

QB(quarterback)—Openpivot,ridetheFB,readfirstmanoutsidetackleforhandoff,optiontheendmanonthelineofscrimmage.

FB (fullback)—Dive over the guard, mesh with the QB. If ball isreceived,runtodaylight;ifnot,fakethroughlineandblock.

TB(tailback)—Takecounterstepandrunoptioncoursemaintaining7-yardrelationshipwithQB.

Originally,eachplayermighthaveformedaLink,startingeitherwithadive—ifthequarterbacksimplycalledfor“diveoption”inthehuddle—orwithtire,iftheplaywascalledbynumber.Aplayermightsimplyneedtoknowthatplay14isthedive-optionplay.Inthatcase,hewouldoriginallyhaveassociatedtiretodive.QB’s Link could be: A tire (or dive) is opening a ballet dancer’s

(Substitutethoughtforpivot)costume;anemptycostumeisridingona

gigantic watch fob (FB); a gigantic fob is reading a hand (handoff)that’s throwing fishing tackle outside; the hand is trying to decide(option)whoisthelast(end)maninaline(ofscrimmage).The FB’s Link:A tire dives over aguardrail, into amess (mesh) of

quarters(QB);itgrabsaquarterandrunstowardalight—itdropsthequarter(doesn’treceivetheball)ontoafakelineofblocks.The TB’s Link: A tire steps on a counter (or someone steps on a

counter in order to dive) and runs up a chin (option) to meet hisrelation, a gigantic cow (7-yard relationship); the cow is givingquartersinsteadofmilk.

Inbaseball, abattermust remember that the signal for, say,hitandrun,isthecoachrubbinghiselbow.He’dsimplypictureanelbowhittingsomeoneandrunningaway.Eachday,theplayerhastorememberthatday’s“key”signal,thesignalthatmeans,“IfIdothis,thenthenextsignisreally tobe followed.” If thecoachdoesn’tusethe“key,” theplayerignoresanyothersignal.So.Theplayercouldsimplyassociateakey towhateverthekeysignalisforthatday.Theremightalsobea“wipeout”signal,asignthatmeans,“IgnorethesignalIjustgaveyou.”Samething;theplayerwouldassociatewipeorwipeouttothesignal.Oneannouncerata trotters trackused the systems foryears tohelp

him call the races.Heneeded to knowhorses’ names, jockeys’ names,horses’ numbers, and colors for every race. He associated all theinformationtoeachhorse’snumber,startingaLinkwiththenumber.Heusedastandardforeverycolor—abullmightrepresentred,anorangecould represent orange, abanana could represent yellow,grass couldrepresentgreen,agrapecouldrepresentpurple,andsoon.Inthisway,evencolorscanbepictured.

We’vebeenusingexamplesfromtheparticipant’spointofview.Butifyou’re a sports fan, you can apply the same ideas to whateverinformation or statistics you want to remember. Babe Ruth’s careerhome-run record is 714. Picture a gigantic baby playing a guitar athome; or, the home is in the gutter. See a green iceberg that’smaimed,andthatpicturewillhelpyourememberthatHankGreenberghit331homersinhiscareer.Who was the world’s heavyweight boxing champ in 1936? You’ll

remember James Braddock if you associatematch (36) to, perhaps,haddock orbaddock. Associatemummy tocarnival orcarnear toremind you that Primo Carnerawas the heavyweight champ in 1933.Pictureabearusinga lawnmower to tellyou thatMaxBaerwas the1934champ.Inwhat yearwas the famous Dempsey-Firpo fight? Associatedampsea and fir pole toname—1923. If youwant to remember the exactdate,usebuttername:9-14-23.Asyoucansee, thememorysystemscanbeapplied justaseasily tosportsastoanythingelse.

19THESTOCKMARKET

HL:Muchoftheinformationpeopleinthemarketneedtoknow,suchasstock symbols, is purely and simply a memory problem. A student ofmineoncewantedtoleavehismenial jobandobtainapositionwithabrokerage house. He used the Substitute Word and Alphabet Wordsystemtomemorize thesymbolofevery stocktradedontheNewYorkStockExchange—about1,600atthetime.He applied for the job, and found he had plenty of competition.

During the interview, he handed the stock exchange listings to hispotential employer and asked him to call off any company or symbol.Whichever was called, he named its counterpart instantly—withoutmissingaone.

JL:Iassumehegotthejob.

HL:The interviewer toldhim, “Therearepeoplewho’vebeenworkinghere for years, and not one of them knows all the symbols—you’rehired!” Today, that former student of mine is co-owner of his owncompanyintheput-and-callarea.

JL:I’llrememberthatwhenI’moverthehillforbasketball!

•

Peopleinvolvedinthestockmarket(clientsandbrokers)mustbeabletoremember a great deal of information, including names of companies,their stock symbols, and, of course, prices. You should know how tohandle prices now. Make up a word or phrase for the price, thenassociate it to the name of the stock. That’s easy enough. The onlyadditionalprobleminvolvedisthatofhandlingthefractions.This problem is easily solved if you change all fractions to eighths,

whichisthecommondenominatorofstockmarketpricefractions.You’dbedealing,then,with:1/8,2/8(¼;),3/8,4/8(½;),5/8,6/8(¾;),and7/8.Thepatternyoufollow,basically,istomakeupawordthattellsyouthe dollars—a word whose last single consonant sound tells you thenumberofeighths(thefraction).Forastocksellingat29½;,picturetheword napper or nipper and you’ve got that price. The first twoconsonantsoundscanonlyrepresent29,thefinalconsonantsoundr(4)reminds you of the number of eighths—4, in this example, and youknowthat4/8is½;.Youmaybewonderinghowyouwouldknowthatnipperrepresents29½;,not294.Well,ifyouaren’tknowledgeableenoughtoknowthatastock that’s been fluctuating around $29 can’t be selling at $294 youshouldn’tbeinthestockmarket!So,yourknowledgeofthemarketplusyourcommonsensetellsyouthedifference.Ifyouhadassociated,say,racket to a gigantic telephone (AT&T), you’d know that racketrepresents471/8,not471.As usual, there are othermethods you canuse. If you like, you canalwaysuseaphrasetorepresentaprice; the firstwordfor thedollars,followed by a PegWord to tell you the number of eighths. Thatway,29½;couldtransposetoknobryeorniprye,and47⅛;toracktieorrocktie.Thismethodleavesyouwithnodecisionstomake.Ofcourse,youmaynotcareaboutthefractionsatall;youmayonlyneedtoknowthepriceindollars.Justforgetaboutthefractionsanduseawordtorepresentonlydollars.Whichevermethodyoudecidetousewillwork.AssociatethewordtothecompanynamebyusingaSubstituteWordor thought torepresentthe company—telephone would certainly remind you of AT&T. A carsalutingageneralmightbeyourSubstitutethoughtforGeneralMotors.A tinybottleof soda (minisoda)wearing aminers’ hat could remindyou of Minnesota Mining; spare a hand would do for Sperry Rand;polarhurtforPolaroid;MackroarE forMcCroryCorporation;andsoon.So. An association of aMack truck roaring at an E (or eel) that’ssittingonamelonwouldremindyouthatMcCrorystockwassellingat35¼;.What about remembering stock symbols? The stockbroker has a

machineonhisdeskthatwillgivehimcurrentpricesprettyquickly—ifhepunchesthecorrectsymbol.Abrokerwhocouldinstantlyrecallanystocksymbolheneededtoknowwouldhaveanadvantage.Now,youprobablydon’twantorneedtorememberall thesymbols.Butifyouwanttoremembersomeofthem,it’seasy.Justmakeupawordorphrasetorepresentthelettersofthesymbol.Therearetwowaystodothis—youcanuseawordthatremindsyouoftheletters,oryoucanusetheAlphabetWords.Forexample,thesymbolforPittwayCorporationisPRY.Youmightseeagiganticpitpryingitsway out of something—the association gives you the two pieces ofinformation you need, the name of the company and its symbol.Associating Pittway to apea on a clock (hour) drinkingwine wouldaccomplishthesamething.Picture a polly (parrot) being a Ma to a plum, and you have areminderthatthesymbolforPolymerCorporationisPLM.ThesymbolforShawIndustriesisSHX;youmightpicturemillionsofeggs (X) coming up on a shore—you say “Sh” to them. Whateverreminder you think of will work; you could have used “shucks” toremindyouofSHX.Anass(S)scratchingan itch(H)withanexit(X)signwouldalsodo.Pictureahenandaneeleatingahamonanewmountain tohelpyou remember that the symbol for Newmont Mining is NEM. If youreally think it’s necessary, include something in the picture to remindyouofmining.

Youcanformanassociationthat includesthenameofthecompany,the symbol, theaveragepriceof the stock (or thepriceyoupaid), thenameofthetopexecutiveofthecompany—whateveryoulike.The point is that now you can picture letters. Picturing either theAlphabetWords, or aword that begins and endswith or contains thevitalletters,istantamounttopicturingtheletters.The same ideas can be used wherever you find it necessary torememberlettersinconjunctionwithanythingelse.

20POLITICS

JL:It’stoobadwecan’tdropthenamesofsomepoliticianswhouseoursystems.HL:Theywouldn’tallowit—andyoucan’tblamethem.They’dneverbeable to get by with sitting in front of a congressional or Senatecommitteeandsaying,“Idon’tremember”!

•

It’sobviousthatbeingabletoremembernamesandfacesisanassettoany politician, just as it is to businessmen. But a politician should beabletorememberagreatmanyotherthings—certainlyheshouldhaveallthepoliticalinformation,atleastforhishomestate,athisfingertips.Mostofthisinformationisstatisticalandinvolvesnamesandnumbers.Thesystems,ofcourse,applytobothareas.Most people do not know the names of their representatives and

senators. If you’re among them, simplymake up a SubstituteWord torepresent senator—tore (picture tearing), centaur, or century woulddo.ThesenatorsfromNevada(electedin1970)areBibleandCannon.See

yourselftearingagiganticbibleandgettingshotbyacannonforyourcrime.Thatdoes it. If you’renot fromNevada,but stillwant toknowwhoitssenatorsare,getaSubstituteWordforthestateintothepicture.Youcantakeitfurther.Ifyouwanttorememberpartyaffiliations,makeupastandardtorepresenteachmajorparty.Obviously,youcanuseanelephant(R)oradonkey(D),sincethosearethepartysymbols.Or,usedean(D)andhour(R),theAlphabetWords,ordamforDemocratandpubforRepublican.Inthisexample,ifyou’reusingtheAlphabetWordsfor your standard, you’d get whatever you picture for dean into theassociationwithBibleandCannon,bothofwhomareDemocrats.

Many people have trouble remembering which symbol belongs towhich party. They’re reminded of the donkey and elephant symbolsduringnationalconventions,buta short timeafter theelection they’renolongersure.(It’sratherliketryingtorememberlastyear’sAcademyAward winners.) One fast association of, say, elephant to pub—andyou’ll always know that the elephant is the symbol of the Republicanpartyand,ofcourse,thedonkeyistheDemocraticsymbol.ThesenatorsfromOhio(alltheseexamplesareasof1970records)areTaft and Saxbe. You might see a daft (Taft) centaur playing asaxophone.That’sprobablyallyouneedtoremindyouofSaxbe,butifyoulike,youcanseeabeecomingoutofthesaxophone.They’rebothRepublicans,soyoucangetelephant,hour,orpubintothepictureforeachname.Supposeyouwanttorememberhowmanyrepresentativesyourstatehas. Using Ohio again as the example, it has 24 representatives—7Democrats and 17 Republicans. One easy way to apply the system tosuchinformationistoalwaysuseawordthatendswithadoranr forDemocrat and Republican—a word whose first consonant sound orsoundstellyouhowmanyDemocratsandRepublicansthereare.Good,goad,orcodwouldmean7Democraticrepresentatives;tiger,dagger, or ticker would tell you that there are 17 Republicanrepresentatives.Ofcourse,ifallyouwanttoknowisthetotalnumberofrepresentatives, just use aword that begins or endswith r. Once youdecidewhereyou’llplacethevitalletter,alwaysuseitthatwayandthewordwillworkforyou.ThewordrunnerwouldworkforOhioifyou’replacing the r first. The next consonant sound or sounds gives you thenumberofrepresentatives.You’dbesurprisedtoseehoweasilyyoucanrememberthenumberofrepresentativesfromeachstatethisway.Onceyou’vemadeupthewordthattellsyouthenumber,justassociatethattoyourSubstituteWordforthestate.Tryafew:NewYorkhas41representatives.Associatenewcorkor theEmpireStateBuildingtoroaredorreared.Oklahomahas6representatives.Associatehomertorashorroach.Alabamahas8representatives.Associatealbumtorooforrave.Nebraskahas3representatives.Associatenewbrasscar toroom orram.

Texashas43representatives.Associatetaxistorearmorrear’em.Pennsylvaniahas27representatives.Associatepenciltorinkorring.Tennesseehas9representatives.Associatetennistoropeorripe.Kentuckyhas7representatives.Associatecan’ttalktoragorrug.Massachusettshas12representatives.Seeamasschewingsomethingthat’srotten.IncludingOhio(highor“oh,hi”torunner),youhavetenexamples.Form the associations, then test yourself—you’ll probably know thenumberofrepresentativesfromeachofthosetenstates.If you’re involved (or just interested) innational politics, youmightfind it useful to know the number of registered Democratic voters inparticular states. No problem; just as you could remember thepopulationof,say,Tennesseebyassociatingtennistomabannertouch’er,ormoppin’redchair(3,924,164),youcanassociateastatetothenumber that represents the Democratic (or Republican, or both)registered voters. If you formed an association of a new brass cardelivering amessage to a new nail, itwould help you remember thatthereare306,225registeredDemocratsinNebraska.Getmylovejailerinto thepicture, alongwith eitherpub,elephant, orhour, and you’llknow that thereare358,654 registeredRepublicans. Ifallyouneed toremember is the total registration, make up a phrase to represent664,879andassociateittoNebraska.Atthispointyoushouldhavenodifficultyinworkingoutamethodtohelpyourememberthenumberofstatesenatorsand/orassemblymeninyour state. New York State’s state senate consists of 57 senators—25Democratsand32Republicans.Associatedenial(D,25)andRoman(R,32) to your SubstituteWord for state senate. If you’re doing thiswithmorethanonestate,getyourSubstituteWordorphrase forNewYorkintothepicture.Associatedecked,ducat,ducked(D,71)andrakeup,recoup,orragpie(R,79)toaSubstituteWordforassembly,andyou’llknow the affiliation breakdown of assemblymen. For California: statesenate, 21 Democrats (donut) and 19 Republicans (retap, or retape);state assembly, 43 Democrats (dream or drum) and 37 Republicans(remakeorroomkey).Inaquickcheckweaskedtwenty-fivepeople,fromeighteendifferentstates, if they knew how many electoral votes their home statescontrolledinapresidentialelection.Notonepersonknew!Andafewof

themwereinvolvedinpolitics.Allthat’snecessaryistoassociateastatetoaone-ortwo-digitnumber.Ifyou’rerememberingotherinformationaswell,getawordintoyour

associationorLink that tellsyou the two thingsyouwant toknow:1)thatit’selectoralvotesyou’reremembering,2)howmanyvotes.Eitherstart the word with an e for electoral or end it with an e, or an -el.Oklahomahas8electoralvotes;elforfuel,accordingtothepatternyouintendtouse,wouldgiveyouthatinformation.Let’sassumeyoudecidetostarteachwordwithane.For some two-

digit numbers, there may not be a word to fit. For example,Pennsylvania has 27 electoral votes. Finding aword that startswith eandwhose consonant sounds only represent 27maybe difficult if notimpossible.Simplyuseaword likeenclose—aswas the casewhenwediscussed letter-exchange telephone numbers. Since you know that nostatehaselectoralvotescomprisingthreedigits(thelargestisCalifornia,with45),you’dsimplyignorethesoundsthatfollowenc.Ifyou’refamiliarwithoursystems,you’llseewhenyousitdownwith

anymemoryproblemthatyoucaneasilypatternizetheproblemsothatoneoranotherofthesystemsapplies.Associatemix again to end and you’ll know that Michigan has 21

electoral votes. Sassy can to egg (Kansas, 7);high to enlarge (Ohio,25);whiz con toedit (Wisconsin, 11);wash toebb (Washington, 9);potatotoear(Idaho,4);caliphtoearly(California,45);andsoon.All the suggestions in this chapter have been just that—suggestions.

Thewayyoupatternizeanymemoryproblemisuptoyou.And,usually,themethodyouselect tohandleanymemoryproblemwillbe thebestforyou.

21THEARTS

Bynow,youshouldrealizethatthesystemsareapplicabletojustaboutany kind of memory problem. And, as you’ve learned, most memoryproblemsbasicallybreakdown to entities of two. If you’d like to gainsomeknowledgeofart,literature,ormusic,youmightwanttolearnandassociateartistandperiod,titleofpaintingandartist,literaryworkandauthor,orpieceofmusicandcomposer.IfyouwantedtorememberthatMarcelDuchampwasof thedadaist

schoolofpainting,youwouldassociateaSubstituteWordorphraseforDuchamptoaSubstitutethoughtfordada.Seeingatoechompingonababy crying for itsdadamight do it for you.Or, you could use twochampsorduechampstoremindyouofDuchamp.BraqueandPicassowere cubists. Seeyourselfbreakingwith a rock

(Braque)agiganticcubewithapickax(Picasso).MonetandRenoirwereimpressionists.Youmightpictureoldmoney

(Monet) being renewed (Renoir) to appear as an impressionist (onewhodoesimpersonationsorimpressions).Ofcourse,foreachofthelasttwoexamples,youcouldassociateone

artist at a time to the school or period. You’d simply associate firstBraqueandthenPicassotocubism.Rembrandt was a humanist. You might picture a ram branding a

human.VanGoghandCézannewerepostimpressionists.Onepictureofavan

goingtopressapostandseizeAnnwoulddoit.Or,usetwoseparateassociations; a van goes to press a post, and a post that’s pressingclothes(ironing)seesAnn.EdvardMunch(pronouncedMuhnk)wasanexpressionist.Picturethis:

You’retryingtoexpressyourselftoamonk.Dali is a surrealist. Picture a doll that’s “sure real.” Dali is often

consideredtobeasuperrealist,soyoucanseethatdollbeingrealand

eatingsoup.AnexampleofanonobjectivepainterisKandinsky.Youmightformasillyassociationofcandyskiingandthrowingobjectsatanun;orcandidskitononobjective.JacksonPollock’swork is consideredabstract-expressionist,oractionpainting.Picture a giganticpolelocked in a roomwhere itobstructs(abstract) all expression and action. Or, a pole with a lock on it isbeingveryactive(running)andobstructingexpresstrains.Rauschenbergisapopartist;picturearoachonanicebergdrinkingsodapop.Rousseau was of the primitive school of painting. Associate atrousseau or Ruth sew to primitive (see Ruth sewing primitiveclothes).One of Rousseau’swell-known paintings is “TheDream.”Getsomethingintoyourpicturetorepresentdream,andyou’llberemindedofthat,too.Mondrianwas a constructivist; perhaps you’d like to remember thatoneofhispaintingsistitled“BroadwayBoogie-Woogie.”Pictureamandryin’ a huge construction as he dances the boogie-woogie onBroadway.Picturingalotofbluepoles(colorblue,orsadblue)thatarelockedupwillremindyouthatPollockpainted“BluePoles.”Seeagiganticdollsittingonaflyinghorse(Pegasus)toremindyouthat Dali did “Pegasus in Flight.” If you didn’t know the name of themythicalwingedhorse,youcoulduseapeaingaysauceforPegasus.Botticelli painted the “Birth of Venus.” Perhaps you’d picture thebottom of a cello (Botticelli) giving birth to a lady without arms(Venus). Select your own Substitute Words, of course. Bottle sell E,boughtacello,orboughtjellywouldalsoremindyouofBotticelli,andwean us or the planet would remind you of Venus. Botticelli alsopainted “Calumny.” Associate your Substitute thought for Botticelli tocolumnknee.

Inmusic appreciation, the approach is basically the same.Now thatyou have the idea, you won’t need so many examples of ways toassociatecomposerandcomposition.Schönberg’s “ViolinConcerto”:Aconwho’s stolen aviolin bangs itagainstachaironashinyiceberg.

Wagner’sTannhäuser: Someone crashes awagon into a townhouse.WagneralsocomposedLohengrin.AssociateyourSubstitute thought forWagnertolowandgrinorlonegrin.Associatestrawwinski topet rushcar andabirdon fire tohelpyou remember that Stravinsky composed “Petrouchka” and “Firebird.”Getwriteoffspringintothepicture,andyou’llalsorememberthathecomposed“RiteofSpring.”Youcan,ofcourse,formaLinkstartingwiththe composer and including as many of his works as you want toremember.Thesamemethod,ofcourse,worksforpaintings.Picturearosegrowingoutofyourkneeandputtinga largeOonatotem pole, and you’ll remember that Rossini wrote “Largo alFactotum.”Picturethatrosegettingitshaircutbyabarberwhoiscivil(orjustbarber)toremindyouthatRossiniwroteTheBarberofSeville.Lisztwrote“LaCampanella”;seealistcampingonElla.Picturethatlistbeingverygrandandmarchingwithacrowonamattorememberthathealsowrote“GrandeMarcheChromatique.”Grieg’sPeerGynt:seeyourselfpeering(withasquint,ifyoulike)intoacreek.Brahms’s “HungarianDances”: Picturebrahma bulls (orbare arms)doingHungariandances,ordancingeventhoughthey’rehungry.The“Hungarian Dances” were written as piano duets; you can see thedancingbeingdoneon twopianos.Associate thebullsorbarearms tolead,bestleader,orjustbestleadertoremindyouthatBrahmswrotethe“Liebeslieder”waltzes.Debussy’s “LaMer”: Youmight see aD beingbusy (orbossy) to allama.

You can associate a book title to its author just as you associatedartiststoperiodsandpaintings,orcompositionstotheircomposers.TheInvisibleManwaswrittenbyRalphEllison.Theauthor’slastnameisusuallyallyouneed,butyoucanputbothnamesintoyourpictureifyouwant to. Youmight picture a large, rough (Ralph) letter L beingyourson(Lisson),andfading(becominginvisible).For The Magic Barrel, written by Bernard Malamud: See yourselfmailingmudinabarrelthat’sperformingmagictricks.Forareminderofthefirstname,getburnhardintoyourpicture.ForDanglingMan(SaulBellow):Seeyourselfbellowingatadangling

man.Or,seeyourselfbelowadanglingman.ForRabbitRun(JohnUpdike):Picturearabbitruningupadike.ForCatcherintheRye(J.D.Salinger):Abaseballcatcher issailin’a

jawinryewhiskey.For The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene): Picture a graham

cracker turninggreen as it uses all itspower to lift anAmerican flag(OldGlory).OneofRobertLowell’sbest-knownpoemsis“SkunkHour”;ifyousee

a letter L sinking low and sniffing a clock (hour) that smells like askunk,youshouldn’thaveanytroublerememberingit.ToremindyouthatT.S.Eliotwrote“TheWasteLand,”youmightsee

a gigantic cup of tea (T) driving an ess curve (S) around a huge lotthat’sawasteland.Pictureaburroeatinganakedpersonforlunch,andyou’llknowthat

WilliamBurroughswroteTheNakedLunch.Seeagiganticflywithgoldinkalloveritbeingthelordoftheother

flies,andyouwon’tforgetthatWilliamGoldingwroteLordoftheFlies.

And soon.Theonly reasonwe’ve included somanyexamples is foryour use, if you like, as a drill or test. You can, as usual, include anyinformation in an association: dates, names of characters, plot, theme,whatever. It doesn’tmatter how difficult thematerial seems to be; solongasyoucancomeupwithSubstituteWordsorphrases,you’llfinditeasiertoremember.Wherealotofinformationisinvolved,formaLink.Forexample:One of Euripides’ plays isAlcestis. First, associateyou ripD’s toAl

saysthis.ThesettingoftheplayisoutsidethepalaceatPherae.StartaLink—associateAlsaysthistoafairyoutsideapalace.ThecharactersareApollo,Death,thechorus(theoldmenofPherae),Alcestis,Admetus,Eumelus,Heracles,Pheres,amanservant.YoumightcontinueyourLinkthisway:fairytoapplelowtodies(Death)tochorusofoldmentoAlsaysthis toaddmy toes toyoumail us tohairy keys to ferries toservant.Howyouusethesystems—andwhatyouapplythemto—hastobeup

toyou,ofcourse.Ifyou’reinterestedintheartsandwanttorememberall sorts of information, the systems will be invaluable time-savers. Ifyou’re not that art-minded but you would like to remember certain

names,titles,andperiods—whynot?Memorizewhateverfactsyoulike,andyou’llbeableto“talk”artknowledgeably.

22MUSICFORBEGINNERS

HL:IwasabouttosaymusicisGreektome,butthat’snottrue.IknowsomeGreek, and I know absolutely nothing aboutmusic—I can’t sing“HappyBirthday”onkey.I’vefounditdifficulttogetmusicalmemoryexamples for students. I ask professional musicians, and it’s hard forthem to bring their minds back to the beginning, when memory wasimportant.

JL: Iknowwhatyoumean,because Idon’tknow the first thingaboutmusiceither.AndI’msureitwouldbehardforaprofessionalbasketballplayertosetdownthefundamentalsofthegameforabeginner.

HL: Right. A professional performs by instinct. If he had to stop toremember, he’d be in trouble. But at the beginning, when he’s firstlearningthefundamentals,memorymustcomeintoplay.

•

Thischapter isdedicatedtoall thosechildren—andadults—whoneverlearned the fundamentals ofmusic because learning them involved somuchdrudgeryandboredom.Musicteachersandprofessionalmusicianstell us that most beginners who give up music do so because of thememorychores—theydropoutbeforemusicbecomesfun.Whetheryouteachthesememoryideastoachildorusethemyourself,you’llseethatthey make the study of music easier and more fun at the beginning.Althoughwe’llbetouchingononlyafewfundamentals,you’llalsoseethattheideascanbeappliedtothemall.To play a basic, three-note chord, you have to remember two notes

alongwiththenoteyouwanttoplay.Thereareonlysevenbasicnotestoremember. This may not seem like much of a problem, but it issomething you must know (remember) at the beginning. Every

fundamental is basically a memory problem, hence the cliché amongsome music teachers: At the beginning, you learn “rote to note.” So,althoughthememoryproblemmayneverbediscussed,it’sthereallthesame.Let’s startwithpiano.Weassumehere that you’re familiarwith thepatternofblackandwhitekeysonthepianokeyboard; thatyouknowthekeyboardisdividedintooctaves,eachbeginningandendingwithC,andsoon.First,youneedtoknowthesevenbasic(white)notesonthekeyboard—easy to remember because they’re alphabetized: CDEFGAB. Butrememberingwhere,say,Fisonthekeyboardisamemoryproblematthe beginning. It must be, or memory aids like the following onewouldn’thavebeendevised:

AlltheGandAkeysArebetweentheblackthrees

And’tweenthetwosarealltheD’s;Thenontherightsideofthethrees

WillbefoundtheB’sandC’s;Butontheleftsideofthethrees

ArealltheF’sandalltheE’s.

Abetterwaywouldbetoassignnumberstokeys.MiddleCisatthecenterofthekeyboard.Inthisdiagram,we’venumberedtheblackkeysas well but will, for the moment, use only whole (white) notes asexamples.Allyouhavetodonowistoassociateanote(letter)toanumber,andyou’ll rememberwhichkey tohit for thatnote.Picturehalf(AlphabetWordforF)ashoe,andyou’llknowthatFisthekeynumbered6onthekeyboard.Or,makeupawordthatstartswith thenoteandendswiththe number; fish for F, dam for D, and so on. Chords can beremembered the same way; picture the sea (Alphabet Word) with agigantic tealeaf on it, and you’ll know that playing keys 1, 5, and 8givesyouaCchord.

Try this method with the other white notes, and you’ll soon knowthem—thenumbersandassociationswillfadefromyourmind.Onceyoudoknow thepositionof thenotes, there’s an easyway tomemorizechords.ToplayaCchord,you’dhavetoremembertoplayC,E,andG.We’regoingtolistthemostcommonmajorchords,alongwithsuggestionstohelpyouremembereachofthem.Inthelist,you’llnoticethesymbol#forsharp;F#isF-sharp.(Sharpinganotemakesithigher,butnotashighas thenexthighestnote—F#ishigher thanF,butnotquiteaG.)Now.Torememberthesechordseasily,youformaridiculousassociation foreach—butyou’ll alsoneed toadda standard to remindyouofsharp.Aknife,orcutting,willdo.Herearethesevenbasicmajorchords:

C—CEGAssociateocean(sea=C)toegg(eggwillremindyouofEG).

D—DF#ADean,half(F)aknife(#),ape.(Adean,holdinghalfaknife,fightsanape.)

E—EG#B Eel,jeanscutbyaknife,bean.Or,anegg(EG)

beingcut(#)byabean.

F—FACPicturehalfaface.Or,halfanapegoesintothesea.

G—GBD Seeapairofjeansgoingbad.

A—AC#EAnacewithaknife,cuttinganeel.Or,anapejumpsintoaseafullofknivestocatchaneel.

B—BD#F#

Abedbeingcutbyhalfaknife.Or,agiganticbeanisbeingcutbyadeanwithhalfaknife.Or,agiganticbeanisdeaf;ithasaknifestuckintoeachear.

Onceyouknowthemajorchords,youalmostautomaticallyknowthesharpandflatchords. Inwriting,amajornote is flattedbyaddingtheflatsymbol(b)toit,whichlowersitslightly—BbislowerthanBbutnotquiteanA.Asharpnoteisflattedbysimplyremovingthesharpsymbol.Amajornoteissharpedbyaddingthesharpsymbol,andasharpnoteissharpedbyaddinganothersharp.Thesymbolforadoublesharpis .So.IfyoualreadyknowthataDchordisDF#A,aD-flatchordisDb

F Ab (you’ve flatted each note); a D-sharp chord is (you’vesharped each note). Musicians have told us that our systems come inhandy for remembering chord progressions. Once you know how topictureachord,youcanformaLinktoremindyouof theprogression(sequence)ofchordsforanypieceofmusic.Amateurswhoplayfortheirown and others’ entertainment—often “by ear,” or without readingmusic—findthesystemsparticularlyuseful.Onestudentwhoplayedpianoinanightclubloungeyearsagohadan

interestinggimmick.Wheneveranypublishedsongtitlewascalled,he’dplaythesong.Therearemanythousandsofsongs,andheknewthemall—all he neededwas a reminder of the first four or so notes.Once heplayedthose,hisfingersautomaticallyplayedtherestofthemelody.Hismemoryproblem—“HowdoIassociatethetitleofasongtothefirstfewnotes?”—had been solved by assigning a number to each note on the

staff.Oneglanceatthefollowingdiagramwillmakethisclear:

Onceyoufamiliarizeyourselfwiththenotes,locations,andnumbers,the solution is obvious. Any four notes will transpose to a four-digitnumber;anysevennoteswilltransposetoaseven-digitnumber.And—youalreadyknowhowtomemorizenumbers.Thefirstsevennotesof“MaryHadaLittleLamb,”playedinthekeyofC, are EDCDEEE. Look at the diagram, and you’ll see that these notestranspose to3212333.Anassociationof a lamb on amountainwouldremindyouofthefirstfournotes.Ifyouneededareminderofallseven,youmight see that lamb on a mountain, singing “MyMammy.” Anywordsthatgiveyouthepropernumbersphoneticallywilldo.Theassociationwillremindyouofthetwothingsyouneedtoknow—thetitleandthefirstfewnotes.Onemoreexample:Thefirstsevennotesof “Begin theBeguine” areCDEGEDE, and they transpose to1235323.Pictureatinmulebeginningsomething,andyouhaveyourreminderofthe first fournotes. (Abeedrinkinggin, abiginn, orbeak inwouldalso remind you of the song title.) To remember the first seven notes,youmightusetinmulemyname.Asusual,itistheideathat’simportant,nottheKeyWordyouselectorthephraseyoumakeupforthenumbers.IftheKeyWordremindsyouof the title and the word or phrase fits phonetically, the system willwork.Ifyou’reatall familiarwith themusic staff,knowingwhichnumberrepresentswhich note is amatter of a fewmoments’ concentration. If

youneedsomehelp,applythesystems.AnassociationofAlphabetWordtoPegWordwilldoitinstantly.Associateseatotie,deantoNoah,eeltoMa, half to rye, jeans to law, ape to shoe, and bean to cow. Todistinguish the octaves, youmight then associate sea to hive, dean tobay,eeltotease,halftotote,andseatoton.(You’dknowthatthewordsthatarenotbasicPegWordsrepresentthehigheroctavenotes.)

Ifyou’vereaduptothispoint,andunderstandhowthesystemsapply,thenyouobviouslyknowmoreaboutmusic thanwedo,andyou’llbeabletopatternizetheideastofityourparticularproblem.

Onabasicbeginner’s (six-string)guitar thereare twelve frets.Whilelearningthefundamentals,you’drarelygopastthethirdfret.Inplayinga particular note, the basic memory problem would be to know, orremember,whichfingerpresseswhichstringatwhichfret.Thisdiagramshowsthenotesforopenstrings(nofingerpressingdownonanystring):

ToproduceahighC,you’dpressyour first fingeron the second (B)stringatthefirstfret.Alwaysthinkinthatorder:finger,string,fret.Anassociationofsea(C)totentwouldgiveyoutheinformation.Youdon’treallyneedthelastdigit—atthebeginning,thefingerandfretdigitsarethesame—sotinwouldsuffice.You’dknowthatthefirstdigittellsyoufingerandfret.ToplayahighG,you’dpressyourthirdfingeronthefirststringatthe

third fret; see a pair of jeans (G) being a doormat. For lowC: thirdfinger, fifthstring,thirdfret;associate lowsea tomule.FormiddleE:secondfinger,fourthstring,secondfret;associateeeltoNero.Asusual,there’sanotherwaytohandleit;forlowC,youcouldsimply

associatesea tocamel; or,youcould just thinkcamel.The first lettertellsyouthenote,andthenexttwoconsonantsoundstellyoufingerandstring. All that remains is for you to decide on a standard picture forhigh,low,andmiddle,andyou’reonyourway.(Ifyouknowthestringsby note, you can use the letter to represent the string; for high C,associateseatotub—firstfinger,Bstring.)The same idea can be applied to the violin; it’s even easier because

there are no frets, and there are only four strings. If you want toremember that to produce an F note you have to place your secondfingeronthesecondstring(atthetopoftheviolinneck;asyourfingersmove down the neck, different notes are produced), associate half orefforttonun.ToproduceaBnote,thefirstfingerisplacedonthethirdstring;associatebeantotomb.Or,aswiththeguitar,useonewordorphrasetotellyounote,finger,andstring:fineinnorfannin’forF,andbet’imorbeat’emforB.There’snoreasonwhythesystemsshouldn’tworkforanyinstrument.

Forexample,abeginneronthetrumpetwouldhavetorememberwhichvalves topushdownforwhichnote.Sincethereareonly threevalves,thenotewouldbeassociatedtoawordthatrepresents,say,12,13,23,123,etc.Ofcourse,anyinstrumentbecomesmorecomplicatedasyouprogress.

With a trumpet, the propermethod of blowing is also essential.Whatwe’ve tried to do in this chapter is to show you how the systems canmake the fundamentals easier to grasp. That way, you get to theexcitement—andthefun—ofplayingamusicalinstrumentsooner.

23READING

Thetermspeed-readingisacommonone,yetitreallydoesn’tmeanwhatitsays—notthewayit’sbeingusedtoday.Peoplewhosaythey“speed-read”arenotreallyreading,they’re“idea-culling.”Andwhensomeonetellsyouhis reading speed is, say,1,500wordsperminute, rememberthis: Authorities on reading have effectively demonstrated that it isphysiologicallyimpossibletoreadmorethan800wordsaminute!Themisconceptiongoesdeeper.Whenwe’veaskedpeoplewhoclaim

tobeabletoreadthousandsofwordsperminutewhethertheyrememberwhat they’ve read, there’s usually a moment of slightly embarrassedsilence.And,slowreadingisusuallyamemoryproblem.Mostoften,itisregressionthatslowsyoudown.Theveryslowreaders

arehorizontal regressors.That is,by the time theyget to theendofasentence,they’veforgottenorhaven’tgraspedwhatwasatthebeginningof that sentence—so their eyes must go back, horizontally, to thebeginning. The vertical regressors are a little better off. They’re thereaderswhowill get to the third or fourth paragraph and forgetwhatwas in the first—their eyes must go back, vertically, to that firstparagraph.Don’t misunderstand; there are ways to reasonably improve your

readingspeed.But,inouropinion,thereisonlyonewaytoreadbetter,faster,andmoreeffectively—andthatistoreadatyournormalrateofspeed and remember as you read. The goal is to be able to read anymaterialonlyonce,andknowit!Eventually,achievingthisgoalwillalsoincreaseyour“normal”readingspeed.ToparaphraseeducatorMortimerJ.Adler:When it comes to readingmaterial, thepoint isnothow fastyoucangetthroughthematerial,buthowmuchofthematerialcangetthroughtoyou.You now have the necessary knowledge to remember any reading

material, as you read. The facts in reading material are usually

sequential, so youwould apply, basically, the Link systemofmemory.Withinanyreadingmaterial,youmaycomeacrossnames,wordsyou’renot familiarwith, numbers, letters, facts, concepts, whatever. None oftheseneedhangyouup,becauseyou’velearnedhowtomemorizethem.Youknow the SubstituteWord system,whichwill help you rememberthenames,words,facts,andconcepts.YouareawareoftheKeyWordorthought idea,which, alongwith the Link,will help you to keep thesethings insequence.Youknowhowtopicturenumbersand letters,andthattakescareofrememberingthemasyouread.All you have to do is apply the systems you’ve learned to readingmaterial.Let’sassumeyouwant to remember the facts inanews itemlikethisone:

In the history of railroading, few tracks have been laid faster thanthoseof theTanzamRailway inZambia.At thismoment, it ismovingfromtheportofDaresSalaamtoZambia’scopperbelt.The1,162-mileline isbeingbuiltbyChinese laborers,withthehelpofa$402-millionloanfromChina.Alreadycompletedare21tunnelsand200bridges.Theentire line is expected to be completed about 18 months ahead ofschedule.Thisnews item is aboutZambiaand its railway, soyou should starttheLinkwitha“heading”picture,aSubstitutethoughtthatwillremindyou of Zambia. The one we used is zombie. Sam be here, some behere,Sambee,orSambeawouldalldoaswell.Theoneyouthinkofyourselfisusuallybestforyou,butwe’llassumeyou’reusingzombietostartyourLinkforZambia.Before going into the Link, we want to be sure you realize thatalthoughweneedalotofwordstodescribethem,thesillypicturesareformedasfastasthought.Allrightthen.Pictureazombiewalkingveryfastalongarailroadtrack;thesunissohotthatittans’im.Thissillypicture will remind you of the first few facts: You’re reading aboutZambia,therailwaytracksarebeinglaidveryquickly,andtherailwayistheTanzamRailway.Beforeyoucontinue,besuretoseethatridiculouspicture.Now,tocontinuetheLink:Thereissalami(DaresSalaam)fallingonthe zombie’s copper belt. See a silly picture of millions of pieces ofsalamifallingonthezombie’scopperbelt.Salamiisprobablyenoughto

remind you of Dar es Salaam but, if you like, you can see yourselfpointingtothehugesalamiandsaying,“Thereissalami.”Youcanalsoput inanassociation forport—portwinewoulddo.Most important isthatyouactuallyseethepicture.See the zombie’s copperbelt (or the salami, since either one canbeconsidered as being the last thing in your mind) turning into a tautchainthatstretchesformiles.Thispictureremindsyouofthenextfact:tautchaintransposesto1,162,andthepicturetellsyouthattherailwaywill be 1,162miles long. Youmay have thought ofdud chain, tightchin,ordidshine,butwe’llassumeyou’reusingtautchain.Continuing: You might picture many Chinese people (picture theslantedeyes, or see themwith shinyknees) laboring to hold up thattaut chain. Each one is getting a gigantic raisin (402) from a giantChineseman. This silly picture reminds you that Chinese laborers arebuildingtherailwaywiththehelpofa$402-millionloanfromChina.Forthenextfewfacts:Seeagiganticraisinrunningthroughatunnelasittiesaknot(21)orthrowsanet(again,21)aroundthebridgeofitstwonoses(200).Thiswillremindyouthat21tunnelsand200bridgeshavealreadybeen completed. See thatpicture. (Remember that if youthink up your own silly pictures, you’remoreOriginallyAware of theinformation. Just trying to form the associations is half the battle—you’reconcentratingonthematerialasyouneverhavebefore.)Finally,see a gigantic dove (18) flying ahead of the raisin—the railway isexpectedtobecompleted18monthsaheadofschedule.

Afastreview:Thatdove,whichisthelastthinginyourmind,isflyingahead of the raisin (18 months ahead of schedule) that is runningthroughatunnel,tyingaknotaroundthebridgeofitsnoses(21tunnelsand200bridgeshavebeencompleted);agiganticraisin isbeinggivenor loaned to Chinese laborers by a giant Chineseman (the railway isbeing built by Chinese laborers with the help of a $402-million loanfromChina);manyChinese laborersareholdingupmilesof tautchain(therailwayis1,162mileslong);thetautchaincomesfromazombie’scopperbeltuponwhichsalami is falling(therailwayruns fromDaresSalaamtoZambia’scopperbelt);thezombieiswalkingquicklyalongatrack as the sun tans ’im (track for the TanzamRailway in Zambia isbeinglaidquickly).

Ifyou’vereallytriedtoseethepicturesclearly,youshouldbeabletofillinthefollowingblanks:

Whatcountryisbeingdiscussed?_____.Whatisthenameoftherailway?_____.Therailwayismovingfromport_____to_____’s_____belt.Therailwaywillbe_____mileslong.It is beingbuilt by _____ laborers,with thehelpof a $_____ loan from

_____.Alreadycompletedare_____tunnelsand200_____.Thelineisexpectedtobecompleted_____monthsaheadofschedule.

Eventhoughyou’vemadeaLink,whichisusedtorememberthingsinsequence,you’llknowanyfactwithouthavingtogothroughtheentireLink.TrytoanswerthesewithoutgoingovertheLinkinyourmind:

Howlongwillthecompletedrailwaybe?_____miles.WhatisthenameofZambia’srailway?_____.HowmanymillionsdidChinaloanZambia?$_____.

The first few times you apply the systems to technical readingmaterial,theywillslowdownyourreadingrate.Ontheotherhand,youwon’thavetospendtimegoingoverthematerialagainandagain.Andas you apply the system, you’ll see that you’ll eventually be readingclosetoyournormalrateofspeed—andreadingthematerialonlyonce.Andasyourproficiencyincreases,sowillyour“normal”readingspeed.In our example, every fact from the news itemwas included in the

Link.Obviously,whenyou’redoingthisonyourownyou’llbeselective—you’llLinkonlywhatyoufeelyouneedtoremember.Theideaisapplicabletoanykindofreadingmaterial—andthemore

technicalthematerial, themoreusefultheideas.Asyouread,youcanrememberthenames,places,andeventsofahistoricalnovel,thenamesandapplicationsofnewdrugsinamedicalmagazine,thestylenumbersandpricesinabusinessreport,thenamesandlegalprecedentsinalawjournal.Anything!

If you wish, you can even remember the page number on which a

particularfactorquoteappears.SimplyassociateaKeyWordfromthefactorquotetothePegWordthatrepresentsthatpagenumber.IfyouhavenoPegWordforthepagenumber,makeoneup—itwillworkjustas well. This idea can be used to remember, say, biblical orShakespeareanquotes.Theassociationwillhelpyourememberboththefact and the page number—and, if you like, the book title. You canassociatechaptertitles,sectionheadings,orfactstopagenumbers.Youcan, forparticular intentsandpurposes,effectivelymemorizeanentirebookthisway!

24THEMEMORYGRAPH

TheMemoryGraphwillhelpyou remember locations, aswell as otherinformation.Theideaisbasedontheletter/numbercombinationsoftenusedtohelpyoupinpointanylocationonamap.Therearelettersdowntheleftsideofthemap,andnumbersacrossthetop;whenyoulookattheguideforaparticularcity,youmaysee“C4”nexttothatcity.IfyoulookacrossrowCanddowncolumn4,you’llfindthecorrectvicinityforthecity.There is a way to pinpoint locations in your mind; a way to make

themtangible.Althoughtheideamaybeextendedtoanylengths,we’lluseahundred locationsas anexample. Lookat thegraphon thenextpage.Obviously,ifyoucanpicture“C4,”makethelocationdefiniteinyour

mind,thatpicturewillalwaysrefertothatparticularspot—theboxthatfallsatC4.Anythingassociatedtothatboxwillbelongatthatlocation.Theway tomake all the locations tangible is to patternize them: A

wordwill represent each location; eachwordwill beginwith thevitalletter, and the very next consonant sound (any sounds that follow aredisregarded)willbethesoundthatrepresentsthevitalnumber.Inthispattern,thewordAtecanrepresentonlyA1—itbeginswitha,andthefollowingconsonantsound is t (1).ThewordCar could representonlylocationC4;itbeginswithac,andthersoundrepresents4.ThewordImpalerepresentsI3(thesoundsafterthemareignored).Thessoundrepresents10 in every case.All thevital (location)wordsgivenbelowcan be pictured, of course, so that they can be associated to otherinformation.Takealookatthelist.

Thepatternmakestheseassociationseasytoremember.Gooverthemafewtimes,andyou’llknowmostofthem.Onceyouknowthewords,you have a handy tool with which to solve any location memoryproblem.AllyouhavetodoistosuperimposetheinformationontotheMemory Graph, then associate the vital word to the information thatfallsintothatbox,orlocation.Oneofourstudents,apostofficeemployee,wantedtorememberthename,approximatelocation,andzipcodeofeverypostofficestationinManhattan!Afterlearningthe

Memory Graph idea, he memorized all that information without toomucheffort. Just so that you’ll seehow the idea is applied,here’s thewayhelaidoutthegraph:

Hecouldhaveextendedthegraphto,say,17—but,asyoucansee,itisn’t necessary. The way it’s laid out, he knew that H, I, J up to 3belongedtotheleftofthegraph,andthatH,I,Jfrom7to10belongedto the right of the graph. (In other words, the Trinity, Church Street,etc.,stationsaresouthof theVillageandPrincestations; theHamiltonGrange and College stations are north of the Manhattanville andMorningsidestations.)Someofthestationsarelistedinmorethanoneboxtoshowthattheycoveramoreextensivearea.HealsoknewthateveryzipcodeinManhattanbeginswith100,sohe

hadtorememberonlythelasttwodigits.Knowingallthis,youcanseethata ridiculouspictureof, say,agigantic tire (14) thatate anentirevillage gives all thenecessary information.Ate gives you the location(A1),tiregivesyouthezipcode(10014),andvillagetellsyouthenameofthestation.Thepictureofanun(10022)eatingmush(36thStreetStation)from

agiganticDish(D6)tellsyouallyouwanttoknow.(ThereasonfornotusingthePegWordmatchfor36thStreetistoavoidpossibleconfusion—youmightuse that to represent10036, if youwerememorizing thischart.)For A5, the student used this picture: Many clocks (times) were

drinkingAle(A5)bythelightofagiganticmatch(10036).SoyouseethatanassociationofaSubstituteWordorthoughtforthenameofthestation, the vitalword for the location, and the PegWord for the zipcodenumberareallyouneed.Once theassociationsaremade,all thenecessaryinformationisatyourfingertips.Actually, this is a simplified example. The student also wanted toremember the street boundaries for someof the stations.Heput themintotheproper locationsand includedthemin theassociationorLink.Forexample,thenorth-southboundariesoftheCollegeStationare134thand144thstreets.Heincludedtimerandtearer inhisoriginalpictureto remind him of this. The east-west boundaries are St. Nicholas andLenoxavenues;apictureofSantaClaus(St.Nick)ornickelsand leanoxwouldremindyouofthat.Any informationcanbeLinked to thevital (location)word.And theentireblocofinformationcanbeputonthegraphinanywayyoulike—theway that tells youwhat youwant to know. For this example, thestudent could have listedH, I, J stations in F, G, H and kept I and Jempty.Itwouldn’thavematteredatall.Virtuallythesameinformationcouldhavebeencondensedintoa4×4MemoryGraph,likethis:

Inthiscase,hecouldhaveusedaLinkof,say,Atetotrainatteaand

sash(Trinity,06)tochurchsack(07)tovillageandtire toshellseaand tot—or he could have made separate associations ofAte to eachSubstituteWord.Eithermethodwillwork.

Any tabular material can be placed on a Memory Graph. Anyschematicproblem,anylocationproblem,canbesolvedthisway.Ifyouwanttorememberthelayout(location)ofthevitalpartsofadissectedanimal, write them in the proper boxes, make your associations, andyou’llknowthelayout.Allyouhavetodoisgooveryourvitalwords—you’llknowwhereeachpartbelongs.Youcanlearntheapproximatelocationofallthestatesthisway.A3

×3MemoryGraphwill tellyou thenorthwestern (A1),western (B1),southwestern (C1), north-central (A2), central (B2), south-central (C2),northeastern(A3),eastern(B3),andsoutheastern(C3)states.Lookatamap,listthestatesinthepropersquares,formyourLinks(vitalwordstostates)—andit’sdone.Ofcourse,youcouldpinpointthelocationsmorepreciselybyusingalargergraph.Thesameideaworksforcitiesofstates,citiesofcountries,streetsof

cities,countriesofcontinents, riversofcountries,andsoon.You’dusethe Memory Graph only if you wanted to know locations; otherwise,simpleLinkswouldsuffice.Manypeoplehavememorizedtheentireperiodictableoftheelements

(chemistry,physics)bysuperimposingitontoaMemoryGraph.TheMemoryGraphalsoenablesyoutodoafantasticnumber-memory

demonstration.Layouta10×10graphandthentrytothinkupawordthat thevitalword for each squarewould logically remindyouof.Usewords that contain four consonant sounds, and try not to have anyrepeatsoffour-digitnumbers.Someexamples:Ate(A1)might logicallymake you think of burped (9491); an Awning (A2) is a sunshade(0261);youAim(A3)rifles(4850);anAvenue(A8)isastreet(0141);theAce(A10)ofclubs(7590);aBell(B5)rings(4270);Comb(C3)abaldhead (9511); aDish (D6) iscracked (7471); anEddy (E1) is awhirlpool (4595);Enter (E2)meanscomeon in (7322); aFur (F4)-bearinganimal(9427);Fake(F7)meansnotreal(2145);Fib(F9)andfibbing (8927);Gale (G5) and storm (0143);Hill (H5) andmountain(3212);Huff (H8) and puff (2198); Italy (I1) and spaghetti (0971);(y)Ipe(I9)andscream(0743);Jet(J1)andairplane(4952).

Afteryou’vedonethisforallthevitalwords,gooverthemafewtimesuntileachvitalwordautomaticallyremindsyouofthesecondaryword.ThenlayoutaMemoryGraphwithonlytheproperfour-digitnumberineach square. Now you can have someone call any letter/numbercombination—you will instantly (after some practice) name the four-digitnumberinthatsquare!IfI1iscalled,thatshouldmakeyouthinkofItaly; Italy makes you think of spaghetti, and spaghetti can only be0971.IfA3iscalled,you’dthinkofAim;aimremindsyouofrifles,andthat tellsyou thenumber4850.Themoreoftenyouperform this feat,theeasieritwillbeforyou.Afterawhileyouwon’thavetothinkaboutitanymore;whenyouhearaletter/numberyou’llalmostautomaticallyknowthefour-digitnumber.Youcanchangeanyofthevitalwords,ofcourse—aslongastheword

youselectfitsthepattern.This400-digit(100four-digitnumbers)featisvirtuallyimpossibleto

dowithoutthesystem.It’satoughonetotop.Youmayfeel,however,thatsomeofthestuntsyou’llbelearningdotopit.

25POTPOURRI

Duringoneofourclasses,agentlemansaidhehadamemoryproblemthatwasdrivinghimcrazy.Theentireclassleanedforwardtohearthisproblem.“Idineoutquitealot,”saidtheman,“andwheneverI’mreadyto leave therestaurant, Ialwayshave tospend timesearching throughallmypockets formycoat check!”Therewerea few snickers,yet theman was serious. His search for the coat check annoyed him,embarrassedhim,andwastedhistime—tohimitwasabigproblem.Wementionithereonlytomakethepointthatthesystemsreallydo

apply toanything.We told theman tonumberhispockets:number1,left front trouser pocket; number 2, right front pocket; number 3, leftrear;number4,rightrear;number5,leftoutsidejacketpocket;number6,rightoutsidejacketpocket;numbers7and8,insidejacketpockets.Now, each pocket could be pictured. We told him to form a fast

associationof thecoat check to thePegWord representing thecorrectpocket—at the moment he put the check into the pocket. If the coatcheckwasassociatedtorye,he’dknowwheneverheneededthecheckthatitwasinhisrightreartrouserpocket.If you’re wondering how he’d remember that the left front trouser

pocket is number 1, etc.—he’d know, sincehe numbered them.Or, hecouldsimplyseeatieintheleftfronttrouserpocket,alonggraybeard(Noah)inhisrightfrontpocket,andsoon.The principle, of course, is the same one discussed in the

absentmindedness chapter. The associationwould force him to think—for a moment, at that moment—about which pocket was involved.Anotherwaytodesignatespecificpocketswouldbetomakeupawordthat tells you the pocket. For example, for trouser pockets: leaf (leftfront),roof(rightfront),lure(leftrear),roarorrower(rightrear).Forthe jacket pockets, you might use jewel (jacket left) and jar (jacketright).Therearemanywaystopatternizemostproblems.

•

HL:It’san“unimportant”problem,butitmatterstome.Ilovebooks.Iwouldn’tdreamofdog-earingapagetotellmewhereIstoppedreading.Andbookmarksalwaysseemtofallout.So,IformaninstantassociationasIclosethebook.Ilookatthepagenumber,andifit’spage125I’llseethebookgoingthroughatunnel.Thenext timeIpickupthatbook, Iknowwhichpagetoturnto.SinceIsometimesreadmorethanonebookat a time, it’s even more helpful—I do it with each book, adding apictureforthetitletotheassociation.JL: This really is unimportant—I’m always counting things andremembering them. It’s screwy,but ithelpskeepmymindoccupied. Imaycountthecracksonabasketballfloor,orthenumberofpeopleinthestandswho’rewearingred,thetilesonaceiling,thenumberofstepsonastairway. I’veevencountedandrememberedthepaintedstripsofwhitehighwaylines—I’msureyou’llbethrilledtoknowthatthereare132brokenwhitelinespermileonmostmajorhighwaysinforty-sevenof the fifty states. Whenever I return to a basketball court, stairway,highway—I’llstillknowthenumberofcracks,steps,andstripes.This symbol, , in one of the shorthandmethods,meansprogress.Lookatthatsymbol—whatdoesitremindyouof?Usealittleimagination,anditlookslikeahook,acane,acandycane,orthesideviewofabobsled.Onceyou“see”something,associateittoprogress.Ifit looked like a hook to you, see yourself pulling on a gigantic heavyhook; finally, you move it—you’re making progress. The associationgives you the two things you need, the shape of the symbol and itsmeaning.Theideacanbetakentoanylengths.InaChinesedialect,thisisthesymbolthatmeansdragoninEnglish:

It’spronouncedlohn,whichisprettycloseto“loan.”Weworkedoutasilly picture, or story, thatmade it possible to visualize the charactersmakingupthesymbol:Someoneasksyouforaloan;you’resoangryat

thisrequestthatyoupushone-fifth( )oftheamountrequested,using

a stick (—), onto a ladder ( ). The ladder is so tall that when youclimb it you see a cupof tea being sippedby azebra onanelevated

train—the tea spills onto the zebra . The “spilled” tea reminds youthattheT ison itsside.Thezebrayells,“Ma!” (whichremindsyouofthethreeshortlines).TheletterL(eltrain)isenoughtoremindyouofThis may seem time-consuming, but try memorizing many Chinesesymbolsbyrote—you’llrecognizethesillypicturestoryfortheshortcutitreallyis.

•

HL:WhenIwasaprivateintheU.S.Infantry,Ifoundthatatthetime,1943, the Signal Corps scheduled three months for trainees just tomemorizetheMorseCodesymbols—anotherthreemonthswasallowedfor sending and receiving practice. I finally talked to the colonel incharge and boasted that I could teach the trainees to remember thesymbols—“in less thananhour.” Iwasall ready to explain the simplesystemIknewwoulddothetrick,butInevergotthechance.“Whatinblazes,”heasked justbeforehe threwmeout, “wouldwedowith themenfortherestofthethreemonths!”

•

We’vetouchedonChinesecharactersandshorthandsymbolstoshowyou that the systems apply to abstracts. Well, what could seemmoreabstract than dots and dashes? Yet if you patternize the problem, it’seasilysolved.Here’sasimpleformula:R=dot(•).T(orD)=dash(-).Onceyouhavethatinmind,youcanpictureeachsymbol. isthesymbolforA.There’snowaytopicture ,butaccordingtotheformula isRT;thewordRaT can be pictured and, within this pattern, rat can represent

only andnothingelse.The symbol for B is , and the word terror would tell you the

symbol(doubler’sandt’sdocounthere).Thesymbol representsCintheMorse(orContinental)Code;thewordtorture,tartar,ortraitorwouldrepresentthesymbol.You can make up your own words or phrases. Here are just a few

suggestionsforthetoughones:

Once you’vemade up thewords and phrases, you have to associatethemtotheirletters.OnewayissimplytoassociatethesymbolwordtotheAlphabetWord.Pictureanape(A)fightingwitharat( ),andyouhave the two things you need—letter and symbol. For B, you mightpictureagiganticbean(B)interror( ).Perhaps thesimplestway is touse theadjective idea.Awful rat,Big

terror,Crueltorture,etc.Onceyouconcentrateon“flat rear tire,”howcouldyouforgetthat istheMorseCodesymbolforF?“Flat”istheadjectivethattellsyouthatF is theletter,and“reartire”tellsyouthesymbol.So you see, no information is too abstract for the systems. If the

materialcanbewrittenorverbalized,thesystemscanbeappliedinoneformoranother.

Ataracetrack,airport,shoppingcenter,etc.,ifyouforgetwhereyourcarisparkedyoucanalwayswaituntileveryoneelsehasdrivenaway—the car remaining is yours! Perhaps you’d prefer to associate the car’slocation(rownumberandletter,usually)toyourcar.If you’re parking it in the street, associate the car to the nearest

address,ortothenearestcrossstreets.Ifyouparknear57thStreetandSeventhAvenueinNewYorkCity,seealowcakedrivingyourcar;for23rd Street and Third Avenue, see a newmummy in your car. If youparknear401FifthAvenue,seeyourcartakingarestonahill;andsoon. You know the principle—you’re forcing yourself to think of thelocationatthatmoment,andlockingitinwiththesillyassociation.

You can remember a person’s address in the sameway. Just as youcanassociateyourcartoanaddress,associatetheperson(orSubstituteWordfortheperson’sname)totheaddress.IfyouwantedtorememberthatHarryCooperlivesat401FifthAvenue,youcouldpictureahairy(chicken)cooptakingarestonahill,andyou’dhavetheaddress.YoucanrememberanyformulaorequationbyapplyingtheLinkandusing standards to represent the things that appear regularly. AnAmerican flag can represent the equal ( = ) sign (Americans are allequal); a miner or mynah bird can represent the minus (-) sign;applause can represent the plus (+) sign, a tree can represent thesquareroot( )sign,andsoon.Theformulaforfindingtheareaofaregularpolygonis:

Start your Link with a SubstituteWord for polygon; perhaps a parrot(polly) that’s gone (disappeared). Associate that to a quarter (¼;)kneelin’(nl2)onacot(cotangent)nearahenthat’sbeingattackedfromabove (over) by doves(180/n) If you wanted to, you could see thequarterthat’skneelin’lookingup,toremindyouthatthesuperscript2iswritten near the top of the nl. Of course, you could have used hen,elevated train, and Noah to represent nl2; or you could make up astandardSubstituteWordforsquared.See a phosphorous (glowing) ham reciting a poem (Ham Poem) tohelp you remember that the formula for phosphorous acid is H3Po3.AssociatepyreVicorpie rudeVic toComeHearSamorCombHairSometoremindyouoftheformulaforpyruvicacid:C3H4O3.

Whenyoudriveintoagasstationtoaskdirections,thefirstthingyouusuallyhear is, “Youcan’tmiss it.”Then,youknowyou’re in trouble!Butyoudon’thavetobe—youcanusetheLinktorememberdirections.First, you need a standard for right and left. You might use a punch(rightuppercut)andtheredCommunistflag(left).Then,formaLinkasyouhearthedirections.Ifyou’retoldtogotothe2ndlight,immediatelypictureNoah(manwithlongbeard).Makearightturn:You’repunching(right)Noahinthe

mouth. Go to the 4th light: You’re punching a gigantic bottle of rye.Turnleft:Agiganticbottleofryeiswavingaredflag(left).Andsoon.Tryit—youwon’tgetlostnearlyasoften.

Manycomputercodesarereallysimplenumbercodes.Foraparticularbusiness, the digit 1may represent “male,” the digit 2may represent“female,”thedigit3mayrepresent“earnsover$8,000.” Ifacomputeroperator punches onewrong digit, it could cost the company a lot ofmoneytostraightenouttheerror.Anassociationofdigit(PegWord)towhat thatdigit represents solves theproblem.AnassociationofMa tofaces Suemight be all the operator needs to remember that digit andfact.

Areyouadieter? Ifyouare, it’s easier tokeep trackofwhatyou’resupposed to eat if you knowhowmany calories (or carbohydrates, orboth) are contained in certain quantities of particular foods. If youassociateafriedeggtodisease,you’llalwaysrememberthatafriedeggcontains100calories.Associatingmayonnaisetobonewillremindyouthatatablespoonofmayonnaisecontains92calories,andsoon.

Thereisnolimittotheexampleswecouldinclude.Iftheproblemisone of memory, the systems apply. They can help you rememberanythingyouwanttoremember.

26LOOK,I’MAGENIUS!

HL:Renéeand Iwere flying toWashington, and Iwas tired—I’ddonesevenappearancesinafive-dayperiod.Isaidtomywife,“Ihopeit’sasmallaudience.”Ithadbecomearunninggagwithus,becauseIalwaysrememberedeverynameintheaudience,andsometimesIdidn’treallyfeellikeworkingveryhard.At our hotel, Renée went to check out the room where I’d be

appearing,andItookanap.WhenIwokeupshetoldme,“Relax,Harry—it’sreallyasmallaudience.”When I went to the room to start meeting the people for my

performance,Isawwhatshemeant.Iwasappearingforagroupcalled“TheLittlePeopleofAmerica”—itwasanassociationofmidgets!JL:That’sasmallaudience,allright.HL:Therewereabout threehundredof them,and it’s the first time inmylife—I’mfivefeetsix—thatIeverfeltlikeGulliver.JL:ToobadIwasn’twithyou—they’dhavecomeuptomykneecap.HL:There’sapunchlinetothestory.Theyallhadspecialstoolsattheirtables,sotheycouldreachthefood.Imetthemallduringdinner,andafter thedessert, Iwas introduced. Ialwaysbeginbyasking the“few”people I’ve met to stand up. Well, they all stood up—and they alldisappeared!Iwasstaringataroomfulofwhitetablecloths.JL:Youmean,whentheystooduptheywereallbelowtablelevel!HL:That’sit.Theystartedtopeekoverthetabletops,andwealllaughedfor something like fiveminutes. Finally, one of them called out, “Youreallyareamazing,Mr.Lorayne.That’sthefirsttimeanyone’severmadeawholeaudiencedisappear!”

•

Youmaynotbeabletomakeanentireaudiencedisappear,butthereare

many“amazing”featsyoucanperform,usingthesystemsyou’velearnedinthisbook.Take the “missing-card” stunt described in the card chapter—itactually derives from a “missing-number” stunt, which, if performedwithnumbers,hasthesameeffect.Havesomeonenumberapaperfrom1to50,or100.Tellhimtocircleanyfivenumbers.Thenaskhimtocallalltheremainingnumbersandcrossthemoutasthey’recalled.He’stodothishaphazardly,andasquicklyashelikes.Youcanbeacross theroomwhile this isdone;youdon’t,ofcourse,lookat thepaper.Whenallbutthecirclednumbershavebeencrossedout, you tell your friend which numbers he circled! The principle isexactlythesameasforthe“missing”cards;exceptforthisyoumutilatethebasicPegWordforeachcallednumber.Whenhe’sfinished,gooverthePegWordsmentally(from1to50,or1to100),andanyonethat’snotmutilatedinyourmindhastobeacirclednumber.IfyouknowthePeg Words well, and your friend crosses out and calls the numbersquickly,thisisanimpressivememorydemonstration.

If you know the Card Words, try this for a group of at least eightpeople:Letsomeoneshuffleadeckofcards.Thenspreadthedeck faceup,and,asyouapproachonepersonatatime,leteachonetakeanytwocards.Aseachpersontakesthetwocards,youformaridiculouspicturebetweenthetwoCardWords.Forinstance,onepersonmaytakethe10Cand the7S. Seea sillypictureof a largecasewearingsocks. Anotherpersontakesthe3CandtheAH;seeyourselfcombingyourhairwithahat,oryou’rewearingagiganticcombinsteadofahat.Theideaistodothisquicklywitheachperson’stwocards.Whenallthepeoplehavetwocardseach(youcandothisstuntwithup to twenty-sixpeople,ofcourse,but it’s justaseffectivewith tenorfifteen), ask each one to remember his or her cards and to hold themfacedown.Younowhaveachoiceofeffects.Youcanhaveanybodycalloutoneof their cards—you instantly name the other one. Easy, of course; ifsomeonecallsthe10C,youthinkofcase.Thatshouldmakeyouthinkofsock(7S).Or,youcanhaveonememberoftheaudiencecollectallthepairsofcards and shuffle them thoroughly. Now, make it look like a mind-

readingstunt;spreadthecardsfaceupandletanyonetakeoutoneofhiscards.Askhimtothinkofhissecondcard.Then,withagreatshowofconcentration,removeitandhandittohim.Samething;ifheremovesthe3Cyou’ll immediately thinkofcomb,andthatmakesyouthinkofhat.So,youremovetheAH.Youcantakethisideatomanylengths.Asonefinalexample,youcantakeone card from each person, andmix them.Hold them face downand distribute them, haphazardly, one card to each member of youraudience.Eachpersonholdshistwocardsfaceup.Now,ifyouknowthepeoplebyname(whichyoushould,ifyou’veappliedwhatyoulearnedin the section on names and faces), you can amaze them by rapidlygiving instructions until each person again has his original pair.Somethinglikethis:“Allright,Sally,givethateightofdiamondstoJim.Jim, you give your king of hearts toAl. Sally, take the four of spadesfromHarryandgiveittoSueinexchangeforhersixofclubs.…”Onceyou’veassociatedthepairsofcardsoriginallytakenbyeachperson,youcanperformmanydifferentcard-memoryfeats.

Anothercard-orientedmemorystunt:Letasmanypeopleasyouliketakeonecard.Eachpersonquicklycallshisorhercard,plusanysillyhiding place. For example, someonemay say, “The four of diamonds,undertheashtray.”AllyouhavetodoistoassociatetheCardWordtothehidingplace. Inthiscase,youmightseeagiganticashtraybeingadoor. Do this with each call. Now, if someone calls a card, you caninstantlytellwhereit’shidden.Ifsomeonecallsahidingplace,youcanjustasinstantlytellwhichcardishiddenthere.

Letterapaper fromAtoZ.Askyouraudience tocalloutany letter,followed by a three-digit number to be written next to that letter. IfsomeonecallstheletterLandthenumber489,formanassociationofanelfonaroofflyingup.TheletterPiscalled,plusthenumber541;seeagiganticpeabeingcaughtwitha lariat,oragiganticpeabeing lured.Onceevery letterhasbeengivenanumber, ifyou’vemadegoodclearassociationsyoushouldknowthenumber ifa letter iscalled,andviceversa.Thisisimpressivebecauseyou’rerememberingentitiesthatmostpeoplecan’tremember—lettersandnumbers.You must know your Alphabet Words, and you have to be able to

make upwords or phrases for three-digit numbers quickly. Your basicPegWordsand the“coupling idea”canhelpyouwith this.Makeupawordthatcancoupleeasilywithanotherword,oneforeachdigitfrom0to9.Here’sasuggestionforeach:0—hose;1—wet;2—on;3—my;4—hairy;5—ill;6—ashy;7—hack;8—wave;9—happy.Decideontheword,andhowtopictureit.Onceyou’vedonethat,you

can instantly remember a three-digit number: If 017 is called, you’dpictureatack (PegWord for17)wearinghose. If191 is called, seeawetbat.Here’soneexampleforeach“coupling”word.For236,pictureyourself puttingamatchon something; for619, see a tub turning toashasitburns;for752,seeyourselfhackingalionwithanax;for847,seeagiganticrockwavingatyou;for972,seeagiganticcoinlaughing(happy).UsethesamekindofpicturewithanyPegWord.Inotherwords,for

anythree-digitnumberstartingwith7,you’dalwaysseethePegWord(for the last twodigits)beinghackedwithanax; foranynumber thatstartswitha4,seethePegWordcoveredwithhair,andsoon.NowyouseethatifL-489iscalled,youcanpictureahairywatchfob

on an elf; for P-541, you’d associate an ill rod (fishing or curtain,whicheveryou’reusing)toapea.Thisletter-numberstunt,incidentally,isjustasimpressiveifdonewithhalfthealphabet,AtoM.

A really impressive memory feat is to memorize the highlights ofevery page in an entire magazine. Simply associate the PegWord foreach page number to the outstanding stories or photographs on thatpage.Ifthemagazinecontainsmorethanahundredpages,makeupPegWordstofit.Onceyou’vemadeyourassociations,youshouldbeabletorattleoff

the highlights for any page number called. You’ll even know thepositions of the photos, without making an effort to remember them.Eachassociationwillconjureupamentalpictureofthatentirepage.It’stheclosestthingtoaphotographicmemory—tryit,andyou’llsee!

Ifyouhaveafriendorrelativewhohaslearnedthephoneticalphabetandwhoiswillingtosithomeatthetelephonewhileyou’reouthavingagood time, you canperforma fascinatingdemonstration in “thoughttransference.” Tell your audience that you know someone who can

actually read thoughts from miles away. Give the audience the“medium’s”phonenumberbeforeyoubeginthedemonstration.Now,havesomeonewriteanythree-digitnumberonalargepieceofcardboard—“Make it difficult,” you say. “Don’t repeat any digits.”Everyone looks at thenumber and concentrates on it.Ask someone todial thetelephonenumberyougavebeforethethree-digitnumberwaseventhoughtof.Asthepersonreachesforthephone,yousay,“Oh,andaskforMr.Jones.”WhenthepersonaskstospeakwithMr.Jones,Mr.Joneswill tell him that he’s thinking of the number 620, andhe’ll becorrect!How?Becauseofthename,Jones!Youwillhavemadeupanyname that codes the three digits (via the phonetic alphabet) to yourassistant!Thereasonyoutellyouraudienceto“makeitdifficult”andnotrepeatanydigits isbecause it’s easier to comeupwithaname thatway. It’seasytocomeupwithalegitimate-soundingnameinanycase;“Lorayne”would code 542 and “Lucas” would code 570, but the name you useneednotcontainonlythreeconsonantsounds.Sinceyourassistantknowsthatyou’llalwaysaskforthreedigits,heorshewillignoreanyconsonantsoundafterthefirstthree.So,ifhehearssomeoneaskforMr.Cooperberg,heknowsthatthethreedigitsare794—he ignores “berg.” The name Bentavagnia codes 921. There is nothree-digitnumberthatshouldcauseanytrouble.Andyouhaveplentyof timeto thinkofanamewhileeveryoneelse isconcentratingonthenumber.The “medium” should not blurt out the number. It should be givenhesitantly,as ifheor shewerereally receiving thenumberviamentaltelepathy.Hemightgivethelastdigitfirst,thenthefirst,andfinallythecenterdigit—we’llleavetheshowmanshiptoyou.Thesameideacanbeusedwithplayingcards.IfyoutellamemberoftheaudiencetocallandaskforMr.Sanders,thatcodesthe2S.Thefirstletteralwaystellsthesuit,andthenextconsonantsoundtellsthevalue.ThenameHaggettwouldcodethe7H,Cavanaughthe8C,andsoon.You can’t, of course, repeat either of these demonstrations for thesame people—you’d have to tell them to ask to speak to a different“medium,”whichwould look suspicious. If you’re asked to repeat thestunt,claimmentalfatigue!We’ve just shown you how to use the systems to perform a few

“amazing” feats. If you’ve learned and applied the systems throughoutthebook,youmustrealizethatthereisreallynolimittothefeatsyoucan perform, provided you enjoy doing them and have a willingaudience.Justuseyour imagination toapplyonesystemoranother towhatever feat you thinkwill seem amazing. It’s fun—for you, and forthosewatchingyou!

27FINALLY

We live in the era of the “information explosion.” Each year, anextraordinary amount of new technical knowledge and informationcomestolight,andyouaregoingtohavetoremembersomeofit.In using many examples throughout the book, we’ve tried to keep

them general. Hopefully, some of them are things you’d like toremember right now. But it’s not important whether or not anyparticular example helps you remember something you need to know;what’simportantisthatyougrasptheidea.Thenyoucanapplytheideatothethingsyoudoneedtoremember.Thisisnotthekindofbooktoreadlikeanovel.Anovelisthekindof

book to read like a novel! If you’ve simply read through the book,noddingyourheadinunderstandingbutwithoutstoppingtotry,learn,and apply, you should go back to the beginning, the basics. Do thethingsyou’retoldtodoasyouread—reallylearnthosebasics.Thetimeyouspenddoingitwillsaveyouenormousblocksoftimeinthefuture.Then start applying the ideas. That’s really the only way they can

workforyou.

FOR

MywifeRenéeandmysonRobertHARRYLORAYNE

MysonJeffandmydaughterJulieJERRYLUCAS

ByHarryLorayne

HarryLorayne’sPage-a-MinuteMemoryBookTheMemoryBook