Finding it difficult to retrieve random information

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I know loads of random fun facts. Problem is I can never ever retrieve them and start off a conversation. If somebody links me through conversation to a similar topic I can retrieve it.
Anyone else have this problem? I dunno if it's an aspie trait or i'm just buggered in another way lol. Hmm, perhaps many of us arer too busy in our subconscious or obsessively thinking about special interests? And i'm not alone..

If I could do this one lil thing, I could initiate conversations more and find it a lot easier to make friends. Crap. Maybe it's just a confidence issue.

Yes. Jokes for example. I can never remember jokes. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. My humour is more conversational.

I find that things in my head need a contextual key to unlock them.

Yeesh, I can hardly remember anything deliberately, these days. But if someone else mentions something (like Moog said about contextual cues), it seems to unlock a door and then lots of stuff can spill out. (And it can even be hard to stop, sometimes.)

Actually, I find a lot of my brain's functions seem to work that way. In the past, I increasingly tried to force my brain to do what I wanted with deliberate effort, but it (my brain) kept resisting (was like trying to push a mule that doesn't want to move; the harder you push the more it resists; but if lead the right way, it can work out).

Or, it's like not having a pilot light (as on an old gas stove). Most people have one, so when they turn on the burner it lights automatically. But in my case, I can turn up the gas, but often nothing will happen unless someone/something brings in a spark. (But from then on it's fine.)

You both explained it a lot better than I did lol.
Yep, If I try to force it, I just end up exasperated..

I think in still frames. I have slide sets for information. I can't process information unless I can create pictures that go with it. When I read, I can only comprehend what I'm reading if I create a slide sets. I have slide sets for different authors, philosophies, ideologies, etc. I can't access these slides unless someone says something that triggers a specific still frame. Once I get a frame, I can call up other slides that are related in conversation. I am struggling with school at present because of this. I have to retrain my mind somehow as I'm having to use formal referencing and take standard notes instead of converting into still frame (or in addition to). It's daunting.