Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Lists

The smartest invention after the wheel has got to be making lists. Talking for myself, where would I be without my lists?

The grocery list tops my lists today, because I just made one. Two items maybe, but it is a help.

When I make a list before going to the supermarket, I remember at least some of the items even when I forget the list on the kitchen counter.

Nothing is like a written list. I even studied mnemonics to some degree, before appreciating the value of lists.

With mnemonics, I can put something inside every room in my house or I can put them on my body. Not really, but in thought. For example, I may put cucumbers on my toes, cheese on my shin, and zucchini on my knees, and I assign them funny, far-out, or sexy deeds; however, when I am in the store, I can’t seem to remember whether it was an eggplant or a tomato taking its clothes off on my kneecaps.

So, using mnemonics is out for me. Despite all the Ginkgo Biloba I consume, I am a klutz with mnemonics, and a written list tops any memory aid, even a husband’s nagging.

My written lists look small at first with maybe four or five items, but then, the energy of the list takes over and I have an army of items. My lists are not only for the supermarket, but for everything and anything… like the one for household chores. Except, the chores I don’t like to do I forget to put on the list.

When I wonder about this, I immediately correct myself, because there’s no reason to cry over spilt milk, and also, I can’t spend too much time thinking when I have more lists to make and search for.

Actually, I have so many lists in my computer that I need to make another list of the folders for lists. I had started out by putting the writing lists inside the writing folder. Somehow, they now seem to evaporate when I need them. I think I need to make a separate folder for writing lists.

I have writing lists for finishing half-written stories, novels etc., for ideas to write from, for photos to write from, and for making time in which to write.

Then, I have lists of references, both in my computer and on the web; I have to-do lists for my online stuff; and tons of lists for offline work.

I think I am being managed by my lists, but then lists are like Depends for memory leaks. That is the only way I can stay on top of things.

I also run into lists in books I read. Right now I am reading Finding Water by Julia Cameron, and boy, does she have lists! She says things like, “list one to five and write all things that delight you,“ or “list one to twenty-five for things you are grateful for” or “list what you hate,” etc.

Sometimes when someone asks me a favor and I don’t have time for it, I say, “You are on my list.” Still, when push comes to shove, I wonder about which list and where I put the list for favors.

All this babble on lists is taking place, because on the web, I saw they had software for list-making on sale, but no software for me, thank you. Being technologically challenged, I’d have to study that software, which would not leave time for making my lists.