One time, in a real life professional job interview, I actually uttered the words, “List-making is my jam.” REALLY, MALLORY?! You’ll be shocked to hear that I did not get the job.
But list-making really IS my jam, and I probably wouldn’t be capable of getting anything done if not for my beloved lists. For all you haters out there who’ve ever made fun of my ridiculously detailed lists, or of my love for lists in general, know that I am not alone. Leave it to NPR to intelligently analyze my neuroses. In “10 Reasons Why We Love Making Lists,” Linton Weeks makes a list of ten reasons why we all love making lists. (So meta.) For instance:
6. Making lists can help make you famous. Notable list makers include Thomas Jefferson, Peter Mark Roget, Martha Stewart and Benjamin Franklin. “A methodical and wry man,” wrote Franklin biographer Walter Isaacson in Time magazine, “Franklin loved making lists. He made lists of rules for his tradesmen’s club, of synonyms for being drunk, of maxims for matrimonial happiness and of reasons to choose an older woman as a mistress. Most famously, as a young man, he made a list of personal virtues that he determined should define his life.
Though Mr. Weeks failed to mention this, lists are also great for keeping you busy when you’re really, really bored. Just ask my dear friend Amanda, who made lists of all of her high school teachers and all of the people she’d ever hooked up with while bored without a computer at her internship. (These lists, by the way, did not overlap). Maybe list-making should be EVERYONE’S jam.
P.S. Someone should buy me one of these books. Thanks.
[Posted by Mallory]
six words to change the world. 