Tricks of the trade

I need help.

My best ideas come to me in the shower, or during meetings, or rush hour traffic, where I don’t keep my tiny notebook. Often times my husband is not around to take dictation and my dog can’t spell worth shit.

I am sure this is common, but I hear these stories in my head, and just as soon as I do, they are gone. I think I can remember them, I try all sorts of memorizations techniques. I trace key words on the wet shower curtain, or I say them over and over again in my head. My friend gave me a little tape recorder so I wouldn’t get into accidents fishing for my notebook while driving down 94, but then I bring the recorder into my house, and forget to bring it back to the car. Or the batteries die. I don’t do well with machines. Pen-and-paper rarely fails me.

So, how do you protect your thoughts when they creep up during inopportune times? How do you make sure they at least last long enough to get to the laptop?