10 Things I Think Are Great

Last weekend I was listening to a radio show on NPR about lists. There was a piece about a woman who had accumulated the world record for most birds on her birdwatching "life list." I have very little interest in birds, and no interest in birdwatching, but it was still pretty interesting to hear about the exploits of this housewife who, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, traveled to the far corners of the earth to spot and record exotic birds.

Then there was a guy just listing things. Cheese. Unicorns. The designated hitter. (I'm not sure if that was on the list, I know that cheese and unicorns were and I needed a third example.) It was totally random and seemingly pointless until a commentator explained the nature of this list--"100* things that I think are great, as they occur to me." So yes, it was totally random.

Apparently he had published an essay somewhere with the whole list. Unfortunately I was unable to track that down online.

But I thought it would be a kick to make a list of a few things I think are great, just as they occurred to me. I kept it to ten, so as not to get too longwinded. They are not listed in any particular order, just as they came to mind. They are not my favorite things of all time, just ten that came to mind. I did establish one** guideline for my list, and that is that all the items are things that are made in some way, not things that just happen or exist. Thus "cats" and "stars" are not on the list, even though both are, indeed, great.

Here goes.

1. Chocolate Mint Gu. Yum-oh-yum oh yum. (I don't actually use gu much, but when I do, I like this flavor!)

2. Pre-lit Christmas trees. For people who choose artificial trees, pre-lit is a Godsend! (I prefer real trees, but then I didn't even have one this year, so....)

3. Jeans with lycra. Really, how did we ever live with jeans that didn't bend and move?

4. Clumping kitty litter. Obviously.

5. DVR. I love it! No longer bound by restrictive TV schedules!

6. Tracy & Hepburn movies. Perfection.

7. London. My favorite city in the world!

8. Sweet potato fries. If you're going to deep fry a vegetable...this is the one!

9. Books. I'm not saying I'll never get a Kindle, though. Or an iPad....

10. Slow churned ice cream. A boon for calorie conscious ice cream lovers!




*It might have been 50, I can't remember. They only broadcasted excerpts, not the whole list.

**Okay, two guidelines. The second was not to have every item be food. So I restricted myself to two food items (three if you call Gu "food").