Lists

Johnny Cash’s handwritten to-do list

I love a good list.

Something about people distilling things into neat, tidy lists is so satisfying. 

I enjoy lists that are guidelines — like cartoonist Chuck Jones’ rules for writing Road Runner cartoons. Or conman Victor Lustig (known for “selling” the Eiffel Tower) commandments for aspiring conmen, which includes:

“Hint at sex talk, but don’t follow it up unless the other fellow shows a strong interest.”

My favorite kinds of lists are the ones that give you a peek inside a person's life, like late writer/filmmaker Nora Ephron's list of things she will and won’t miss:

What I Won’t Miss

1. Dry skin

2. Bad dinners like the one we went to last night

3. E-mail

4. Technology in general

5. My closet

6. Washing my hair

7. Bras

8. Funerals

9. Illness everywhere

10. Polls that show that 32 percent of the American people believe in creationism

11. Polls

12. Fox TV

13. The collapse of the dollar

14. Bar mitzvahs

15. Mammograms

16. Dead flowers

17. The sound of the vacuum cleaner

18. Bills

19. E-mail. I know I already said it, but I want to emphasize it.

20. Small print

21. Panels on Women in Film

22. Taking off makeup every night

What I Will Miss

1. My kids

2. Nick

3. Spring

4. Fall

5. Waffles

6. The concept of waffles

7. Bacon

8. A walk in the park

9. The idea of a walk in the park

10. The park

11. Shakespeare in the Park

12. The bed

13. Reading in bed

14. Fireworks

15. Laughs

16. The view out the window

17. Twinkle lights

18. Butter

19. Dinner at home just the two of us

20. Dinner with friends

21. Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives

22. Paris

23. Next year in Istanbul

24. Pride and Prejudice

25. The Christmas tree

26. Thanksgiving dinner

27. One for the table

28. The dogwood

29. Taking a bath

30. Coming over the bridge to Manhattan

31. Pie

For more lists, check out Lists of Note.