I was looking around on my hard drive for a very random file (too random to explain at this juncture, but let’s just say it involved a lot of words copied out of a library book, and I had some plans for them).

Instead, I found this, from summer of 2000:

5 Interesting Things I Saw on a Walk Around Madrid, and Having No Pen and Paper, Developed a Mnemonic System for Remembering

1) Small window display for wig shop containing slightly small-scale man’s head, nearly bald, from behind which came a mechanical arm that slowly placed, then removed, a toupee [imagined a bald head with ONE hair]
2) Pesetas abbreviated as pts., so that I felt like I must play skeeball before I could buy anything [imagined rabid basketball fan shouting, TWO points!]
3) Bulk frozen foods on sale in covered market, all displayed in a deli case–crinkle-cut fries, carrot/raisin salad, peas and carrots, etc. [imagined THREE-bean salad in icy deli case]
4) Dusty, dark, unmarked liquor store selling drinks over the counter–samples, perhaps? [one more FOUR the road]
5) Poster advertising: Live in Concert, Deep Purple, the Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra, and Ronnie James Dio [FIVE rhymes with “live”; counted on absurdity of line-up to stick in my head]

An example of why, no matter who you’re traveling with, it’s always fun to walk around by yourself for at least an afternoon. The funny thing is, even just about a month ago, I thought about these very items. Or the idea of these very items–I could no longer remember the actual things I’d seen. Vague memory of something about a funny heavy-metal poster…and maybe a shady-looking storefront. Ah, Madrid.

The one thing I did remember was something that wasn’t on this list: Calle Lechuga (Lettuce Street), which seems like where I wouldn’t mind living if I were ever to live in Madrid. (Our friend Bob has ruled out many an apartment based on a preposterous street address: “Petunia Avenue! As if!” I don’t blame him.) Even weirder is that I recall I tossed C/ Lechuga from my list because I couldn’t think of a solid mnemonic for it. Yet here it is, still rattling around my brain.