Why should I read if I won't remember everything?
The purpose of reading is not memorization; that's only of value if you're trying to train (as contrasted against teach) someone. A technique for managing animals rather than humans. We have the regimented factory-schooling methodology, so capably described by Charles Tips, to thank for even the thought that this approach is useful for anything educational. Forget that idea. Violently eject it from your mind and slam the door loudly. The purpose of reading - at least from the perspective of education - is insight. I always apologize to my students ahead of time for making them memorize any fixed "thing"... because the problem with memorizing things is that it takes a tremendous amount of effort to think about them again in any creative fashion. Most people fail to make that effort, so anything they "know" is forever fixed in their minds absent some cataclysm. My goal in teaching is to produce insight, curiosity, and a desire to understand more... anything but a brainless rote recitation of "facts". What I live for, as a teacher, is that moment of awakening: that spark in the student's eyes, a little shocked, a little angry, mentally engaged, and fully emotionally involved in the new discovery they've just made. Without it, no real learning has occurred. By that same token, if a book doesn't make you question some aspect of what you know - if it doesn't make you see, or consider things in a new way - if it doesn't shove your world at least a little askew, rock the foundations of the mass of data you've memorized, rip open the static pictures we all paint as our representations of the real world and expose some of the gritty, impossibly bright and crazy-colored gorgeous humming mechanism underneath - then it was a waste of your time. Throw it away, and grab another one. Fiction or textbook or art or comic book or sales brochure: if it fails that test, it's not for you. Read. Let it take you places. Let it change who you are. That's what it's really for.
Is 'Remember Me' based on a true story?
No. It just used a real event to sort of center the story around. Like the film Bobby - it was about the people at the hotel and not really about the assassination. Wiki makes no mention of Remember Me being based in whole or in part on any book or story or person. IMDB states when asked if it was based on a novel that, "No. Remember Me is based on an original screenplay by Will Fetters that was revised by Jenny Lumet." Original means original.
If I have read a nonfiction book 20 years ago but today I can't spontaneously recall a single thing about that book, how much of it have I retained?
Do you at least recall the title? It is a start.One can not tell who much or what was retained. Everyone thinks retaining is being able to recall and print out the text, like a photocopier.But that may not be the case. It may be how this has subconsciously molded your thoughts. You may have “retained” more in how it has affected you, and less in actual details from the text.One cannot know. But if walking down the street some day, you do or think something and ask yourself “Where did THAT come from?” I could be from one of those books, from long ago.
What will a 50 year old person remember from his/her life 25 years ago? Will he/she remember the books read, films watched, parties attended, places visited etc.?
I'm much older than 50. Some things that happened to me at 25 I can remember clearly, most of them are lost.Joan remembers her wedding clearly, I don't. I don't remember walking down the aisle.I hardly remember the ceremony.If I didn't have the menu, I wouldn't have any idea of what we ate.I wrote a story about my wedding dress and frankly I was shocked to see what it looked like. I didn't remember it looking like that at all.I've been looking at my wedding album and I have no clue who most of the people are.Now in my defense, lest you think senility has set in, if you read the story of my wedding dress, you'll see that it was all kind of a blur, happened very quickly and I wasn't really part of the planning.Most of our friends were on the west coast so the tables were full of my mom's friends. My parents are gone so I have no one to ask and I've been out here since 1970. (aka the Dark Ages.)Some memories still do stand out...I remember the man who broke my heart.I remember moving to Los Angeles to leave him behind.I remember meeting Steve, the love of my life who is still my husband after 42 years of marriage.I remember the little apartment we lived in. We called it, "The Casa de Crapa." We were so glad to move out of there.The really odd thing about memories from when I was 25, and let's be brutally honest, that was 43 years ago, is how my memories have changed. They have become what I want to remember and not what necessarily happened."Remember driving to Las Vegas in your Triumph TR-6?""No Honey, we took your Camero.""We had such a good time in Hawaii with Dick and Jane.""No Honey, we went to Mexico with Harry and Sally. We went to Hawaii the next year.'"God your mother was such a pain in the ass.""Yes she was."Last year I scanned all 1200+ slides and all 2000+ photographs and had them digitized. We lived in a analog world.I've been cataloging and keywording all of them in Lightroom. They've stirred up a lot of memories and reminded me of things I'd forgotten.I've become sappy and sentimental and positively treacly in my old age.I might break into song at any moment!
Are standard poodles good protectors?
I specifically remember this being mentioned in a Stanley Coren book I read. He was rating dogs that he felt most capable being a watchdog/guard dog and I remember him mentioning the poodle would be at the top of the list if it weren't for its haircut and the fact that not many people are intimidated by them. Other than that he said they are very capable. I remember news piece that ran where former burglars admitted that the single most effective deterrent to breaking into a home was whether or not that specific home had a dog. They said it wasn't the size or intimidation factor of the dog, but rather that the dog made noise before they could get anywhere close to inside the home, and attracted attention by barking, as opposed to an alarm system which only went off after entry. Alarm barking is something the Poodle tends to do very well. If the dog fits your lifestyle and is a great companion I would say stick with it. But in an unpredictable situation it's hard to tell how most people will react, let alone an animal. If you're worried for your safety living alone, joining a women's self defense course can also be a great option to give you some piece of mind. Schutzhund which others have mentioned can be a great activity for you and the dog as well and might make you feel more comfortable.
Have you ever accidentally read the same novel twice, realising towards the end you knew what was coming?
So often it’s embarrassing. Mostly it will be a book I read before I left home at 18, or a mystery - I read a lot of mysteries.I started reading about age 4, reading my parent’s BOMC (book of the month club) books by 10; they took one most months. And Reader’s Digest condensed books; they had 3 or 4 current publications, mostly novels, a couple of times a year. And books borrowed from friends and extended family, plus the books in the houses where I babysat. Paperbacks were cheap. My mom, sisters and friends were all serious readers & books moved on or were traded as soon as you finished one.The only time I ever intentionally cut back on my reading was when I was in grad school, working full time, raising a family. I stopped reading a newspaper every day. So even if we only consider my reading from the age of 10 (66 years ago) what I have already read is extensive (in English only; I’m insufficiently fluent to read for pleasure in any other language).The Bridges of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder, I recognized halfway through just a few years ago. I must have read it first when it was initially published in the 50’s.