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We collected some lovely, strange and sad things yesterday playing 100 Things at Sandpit at Battersea Arts Centre.

The messages reminded me of Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara

And it is surprising how much concentration is needed to think of a thing that has happened, especially a visual one, even on the same day.

You have to find a starting point and replay your day, almost like rewinding a film, but then something will jump out. It seems an illuminating process though, judging by the loveliness of some of the things.

I worked with some clinical psychologists once, and they were very keen on the difference between concrete and abstract memories. People who are feeling unhappy tend to remember in abstract terms - "That was a horrible time." - rather than remembering the detail of things that happened.

So maybe playing 100 Things is a good brain training exercise.

Try it out. Here are the rules.

And here are some things that happened on the 19th October 2009:

An italian waiter repeatedly whistling the same christmas carol. His colleague shouts at him in angry italian but he carries on regardless

A 15 year old boy in an RE lesson. He is manipulating his genitals. The teacher tells him to stop. "but i've got a wedgy sir."

I saw a workman's trench with a man's face down in it. He was very still. I couldn't tell whether he was working or asleep.

Two men stand outside a balti house. The older man teaches the younger man. 'Good afternoon gents, can i interest you in some lunch?' he says.

A man shook out a rug in a Bristol back garden.

and this one, my favourite of all:

A girl on the tube going to work falls asleep on a man's shoulder. As soon as she realises she stands abruptly and gets off a stop early.

more things on Flickr