Brain Binging

I'm sure there's a better term for this -- and Ted, if you know, do tell -- but for now, I'll call it Brain Binging. (I also considered Info Imbibing and Sagacity Sprees. None sound all too articulate.)

It's when I'm overcome with a desire to learn about a subject, usually out of the blue, and can't stop myself from spending hours getting face cancer from the screen of my computer. I scourge the internets -- if I had any sense of drive, I'd get to the library too -- for wikipedia articles, how-to pages and well-crafted blogs, acquiring every opinion on the thing.

I can't even count how many times I've been through this. Some Regulars are books, knitting, efficiency/productivity habits, and personality types; some Recents are cosmetics (hahah), post-college confusion for Generation Y, and the nuances of small talk.

It's pretty nerdy, let me tell you.

But even then, not as cool as it sounds. On the rare occasion that I choose something worthwhile to learn about, like komodo dragons or Iranian history (haven't done either, heh), it doesn't really take long for me to forget 90% of what I could quote the day of.

The problem with Binging is that instead of reading things for a test or paper -- which I would be the last to endorse, don't worry -- you read for yourself, and so it's easy to only retain certain things that stand out at you. Out of context, it could be problematic... but maybe I'm not putting enough faith in the human brain. Who knows when my research on tinted moisturizers will come in handy?