I am a person who makes lists. I like lists. Lists make me feel organized. With a list I can see everything at once, and if I need to I can always add or cross off an item so the list is always up to date. Plus, I can write a list anywhere: in my book of lists (yes, I have a notebook I use primarily for lists--I think this is more because I am a writer and have a million notebooks rather than because I am a list-maker and have a million lists, although the latter is also true), on a piece of paper, in my planner, on a sticky note, on the dry erase board, on a memo pad, or, though I no longer do so, on my hand.
I even once wrote a poem about my lists.
Good old lists.
Someday I'll post a list of my lists, maybe, or post some of my more interesting lists. But not today.
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bits and baubles from betty's brain
About Me
- Betty Edit
- "Be thankful for what you can be thankful for, and try to put up with the rest quietly." -Father Edit
Trillihedron
The earth is not round
But faceted:
Fixed together by trillions
Of hedrons—a trillihedron—
So that nowhere that you stand is
Infinite but flat-set, junctioned
On each side by
Other faceted hedrons—
Like people, as a singular
Don’t exist except
As trillihedrons.
But faceted:
Fixed together by trillions
Of hedrons—a trillihedron—
So that nowhere that you stand is
Infinite but flat-set, junctioned
On each side by
Other faceted hedrons—
Like people, as a singular
Don’t exist except
As trillihedrons.
Search Betty's Brain!
librarything
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I'm not against the structure of lists; it's more the content that I object to.
Reasons Betty is a writer
1. She said she would be when she was little.
2. She has lots of ideas.
3. She feels it is her calling in life.
4. Olive told her she was.
5. She has been writing since she was little.
6. She has been obsessed with books her whole life.
7. She can't think of anything else she would like to do quite as much.
8. She has a thing for pens.
9. She has a thing for notebooks.
10. She has a thing for paper.
11. She wouldn't mind being a hermit.
12. She can sit at her desk for hours on end.
13. She can even sit at her desk writing for hours on end.
14. Her brain will not get damaged as easily as her lips did, or her wrists.
15. She has a thing for words.
16. The other two occupations on her childhood list of dream occupations didn't quite pan out.
17. She still reads mostly children's books.
18. She is encouraged by the writings of her ancestors.
19. She likes the idea of setting her own schedule.
20.a. Because she wants to.
2o.b. Because she wants to more than anything else in the world.
21. Because she doesn't mind not being rich.
****
Reasons Olive Needs A Vacation
A. Because she hasn't had one in a long time.
B. Because she needs to relax.
C. Because she deserves one for all the hard work she does.
D. Because she needs to visit a beautiful foreign country.
E. Because she likes to fly.
F. Because it would inspire her creative brain.
G. Because if she took Betty, Betty could make sure she did no work on the vacation so that Olive could figure out what a real vacation is.
****
Reasons Olive Doesn't Like to Make Lists
* They're not all-inclusive.
* They typically denote a heirarchy of thoughts that is not actually present in her brain.
* Her brain is way too convoluted to be captured in simple unconnected points on a paper.
* They do not properly reflect the depth of her opinions or thoughts on any one subject.
* She does not want to be mis-interpreted by an incomplete statement of her beliefs.
* They stress her out.
****
Some of the Lists Betty Has Made
-To-do List (perpetual)
-Eventual To-do List
-Someday Would Like to Do List
-Brilliant Ideas (am currently up around 50)
-People I Should Write
-Things I'm Afraid Of
-Foreign Coins I Own
-Bugs I Killed in My Basement Apartment
1. Once again your 1.A. creative and 1.B. brilliant and 1.C. keenly observant mind has 2. left me without any response, except for a pedestrian one.
2.A. The primary reason I dislike lists, as you noted, is that I get bogged down, overwhelmed even, by the endlessness of it all. If I had one day without a single thing I had to do, I think I would be immensely joyous.
3. But if I had lists like your lists--3.A.lists that capture, haiku-style interesting aspects of life and 3.B. articulate dreams--I might feel differently about lists.
4. And with that said, I do keep some lists. I may even have some lists, somewhere, that are remotely interesting.
5. And, one of my mom's favorite birthday gifts ever came from my youngest sister who listed out X number of things she loved about or associated with my mom. (The X matched my mom's age. I can't remember which year.) She typed them all up in a purple square.
6. So, I guess lists--minus endless to do lists--can be wonderful.
7. Maybe you should post some more of your lists.
8. These numbers seemed like a good idea, but I couldn't carry them off without more thought--and more thought I am out of.
Have a happy day!
And I still feel listless in the presence of such sharp minds.
That was immensely clever, ol'bob.
Lists are great...I probably should use them more often than I do :)
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