I originally posted this on Facebook in April 2010, which was when I first realized this. I made a few revisions to the post.
http://www.facebook.com/michael.brocenos/posts/108641799166525
So, apparently I'm time-space synesthetic. I figured everyone else did the same thing I did. Does anyone else do this?
It's a circle, but I'm looking at it from an angle, so it looks like an oval from my perspective, or a race track like described in the article. It does not circle around me, it's projected in front of me. The summer months are to the left. June is yellow, July is orange (the letter "J" is also orange to me), and August is red-orange (the letter "A" is red to me). Time going clockwise, Fall is front of me and is "fall colors" -- there is no specific color for these months (but I should mention the letter "N" (November starts with the letter N) is orange to me). October is the month furthest away from me, "geographically." Winter is to the right of me. December is green (the letter "D" is also green to me). January through March is light blue/white/grey -- again, so specific color for these months. March is the month closest to me, "geographically," six months opposite October. Spring is closest to me, where April and May are... I'm not sure, lol. Kind of yellow and grey at the same time, but not a mix. When someone asks me about some month, I picture it in my mind and zoom in on it, while rotating the circle so I can see it. It requires effort to rotate it though, and even requires effort to imagine a month out of place or "out of color," so to speak. Also, if I try to reverse the order, have the year go counter-clock-wise instead of clockwise, it's strenuous. I'm trying it right now.
Recently I've noticed that it's very relaxing for me to stare at my yellow June, my favorite month, especially in its naturally spot, to the left of me. Summer is my favorite season and Winter is my least favorite, although September is my least favorite month, which is oddly my birthday month.
It doesn't require any effort on my part to imagine this calendar. It just appears naturally when thinking of months, seasons, or the year. It's easier for me to keep this floating calendar in front of me than it is to try to imagine it not there or try to imagine some different calendar when thinking about the months, seasons, or year. Also, I easily remember what months have 30/31 days w/o having to look it up. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. Oh, I also have a good autobiographical memory like the article talks about -- or at least I think I do. And a few letters have colors, but not many do and it's not as strong as other color-letter synesthetes' synesthesia. Some colors, like the months April and May, are two colors at once. Not a mix of colors, but simultaneously two colors. Simultaneous colors occur for other synesthetes, too. Also, the letters' and months' colors are pretty much fixed and have always been, though occasionally they can change, but the change doesn't last long. Maybe their affected by the weather or my mood (which is affected by the weather).
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110309082341.htm
A is red
B is also red, but an even brighter red
C is blue
D is green
E is yellow
F is black
G is purple
H is white or greyish
I is black
J is orange
K is black but is also appearing a little simultaneously white, today
L is black
M is red
N is orange
O is black
P is black and pink (again, not mixed but simultaneously black and pink (throw in a little white today, too. Which, again, is not mixed in)).
Q is normally black but is appearing brown today, maybe because...
R is brown
S is black
T is black
U is usually black but is appearing a little blue and purple today
V aghh! it's green! why is it green!!! it's never green!!! it's usually black.
W is blue
X is black, a dash of grey today.
Y is yellow
Z is green
Numbers don't have any color for me, but I recommend reading Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. He's a highly functioning autistic who's numbers have emotions, colors, sizes, and personalities. This has helped him break a European record for memorizing the digits of pi to 22,514 places. When reciting digits, he's flying over a landscape of numbers that enable him to easily and naturally recall the digits.
Note: I stayed up all night last night and only had a two hour nap today (it's currently 10:30 PM). Also, I've been spending most of my time in my room, blinds down, lights on, today. This probably affects my synesthesia because I'm so connected with time, space, and the weather. I've been isolating myself in my dorm room lately, which I hate (depression, anxiety, seasonal affective disorder).
Oh, also, I strongly disliked composing this entry in the description of the the "add a link" posting option. I could not see my whole post at once, but only a couple paragraphs at time. I had to keep scrolling and re-scrolling, reading and re-reading to get a good sense of where I was.
I'm a very visual person. Yes, yes, most people are visual learners, but I am very much so a visual learner and not an auditory learner at all. I like it best when I can see everything I'm writing to have a good orientation and sense of position. (It's cool how I use spatial terms to represent writing, time, and other things).