The glory of lists.

[mrissa]

Many of you already know that I am a List Person. I am a maker of lists, and this evening is the reason why: dealing with some pain on multiple fronts, some frustration on multiple fronts, and some just-plain-weariness. But there was a task that had been on my list for literally months, getting transferred from one week's to-do list to the next every single week. And now it's done, and I feel better even though none of the things that were actually bothering me have been fixed. (What? you say. Putting up pictures of your niece did not make your lack-of-teeth to heal over? But astonishingly it is true.)

I look at the week ahead, at the appointments and the obligations and even some planned fun things, at the stuff that needs doing in the spare moments, and I quail. I quake. And then I think, But wait! I have a list! And then I am mighty, and I am fierce, and on I go, because the list knows all and sees all, and what it does not know, I will tell it. And it is a million and one times easier to do things we know need doing.

My other method of getting things done is not nearly so pleasing. It is the stick to complement the list carrot. It is the crap on my desk. There is crap on my desk, the logic goes, because it drives me nuts to have crap on my desk, and therefore I will take steps to get rid of the crap on my desk, so that it will cease driving me nuts. It's not that this method doesn't work. Bills get paid extremely promptly around here, because otherwise they are on my desk, and I hate having things on my desk. But novels can't always be revised nearly so quickly as a $7 phone bill can be paid, and I'm not sure having crap on my desk isn't detrimental to that process.

So I will put it on the list and see what can be done.

Comments

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

Yes. Lists are mighty and powerful and necessary for sanity. As is the crap on the desk. Although there comes a point when even the list is too big and scary, and one requires...the sublist.

(By the way, the soup whose name you weren't sure about in the recipes is called avgolemono. I made it for dinner tonight and it is the best stuff on earth.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Really? Did you make it from my recipe? Because the stuff I've had from that recipe and the stuff labeled avgolemono in Greek/other Mediterranean restaurants were not very much similar. Both good, but not much similar.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

I didn't have half the stuff for your recipe (I need groceries), although that's what got it in my head -- I tracked down a simplified version over at Cooks.com and yeah, it turned out very different. Sort of thick and creamy lemony with rice.

I've had it both ways at different Greek restaurants. The one I remember from my favourite Greek place as a kid was a lot more like a broth with egg drop.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Thick and creamy lemony is what I've had at Greek restaurants, but maybe I've just had one kind of Greeks and the other is perfectly okay with my egg drop chicken garlic soup.

pictures of your niece

[fredcritter.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, babies. Babies are wonderful, yes.

There was once a time when I didn't understand babies. I don't see what all the fuss is about. And it looks fragile—I'd best keep my distance. And little children terrified me. What's he saying? I don't understand. What does she want? Am I suppose to move? … just stand here? … talk to her? … give her something … or what? What if I guess wrong? Heck, they were even harder to understand, communicate with, and generally be around than adults, who were plenty hard enough. And teenagers…! Don't get me started on teenagers!

Then daughter Gavriella came along. She (mostly) patiently taught me (almost) everything I needed to know about babies … then, toddlers. After that, she was good enough to introduce me to the wonderful world of children—what a fascinating place that is! With so much to learn, such room to grow! (’Twas there I discovered that, for the most part, my development appears to still be stuck at the parallel play level—only occasionally do I find myself comfortably engaging in interactive play. *sigh*) Now I've gone back to paid work as a corporate employee (and third shift work at that) so I don't see her as much or for as extended times, but even so she's beginning to teach me much about teenagers.

Babies are wonderful. Toddlers are wonderful. (Went we would go for a walk, she would reach up and hold my hand, except her hand was too small to hold my entire hand so she'd hold my little finger. *wilt*) Little girls are wonderful. Little boys might be wonderful—I'm still not sure about them. Teenagers are wonderful, although there are times they do their utmost to hide it.

My guess is that adults are probably wonderful too. The limited sample I've been working with seems to confirm that hypothesis, and It's my hope that I'll soon be able to get myself out more often and do some field research.

Um. Sorry. I was inspired by the pictures of your niece. She's a wonderful *girl*baby*, she is! I'll just go away quietly now and leave you to your regularly-scheduled responsive comments.

Re: pictures of your niece

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

She is the very best kind of girlbaby, and inspiration is welcome here.

I have a Robin whose Missa I am (see icon), and I can verify that little boys are pretty wonderful as well. At least the ones who are my Robin are. I come from a family where they are handing you the baby as soon as you can be propped on the couch with one (age 3 or thereabouts), so I never had your thunderclap discovery. But the neat thing about babies (toddlers, kids,...) is that there are always individual discoveries to keep making.

My parents say that their favorite age to have a kid has always been the age I am, and that hasn't stopped now that I'm 28. I'm sure it'll be the same with you and your Gavriella.

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Planing out things has been a prob for me, meds and such didn't help either. I be getting better about planing by using iCal on me Mac. KISS kinda app that even me drainbramaged self can use.

Making Lists

[mackatlaw.livejournal.com]

Do you keep yours on paper, the computer, or a combination? I've tried everything, including writing lists in the Dayplanner that serves as my basic organization system, but keep coming back to the stand-alone ones. I think I'm going to try moving them to my friend Kaolin's Skwerms online setup (www.skerms.org) and play with that for a while.

I keep looking for the perfect system. I've tried making no lists, but clearly they help, in moderation. That is, rewriting until they drive one up the wall is clearly not the way to go! Removing old items you won't do, clearly important.

Re: Making Lists

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Combination. The library lists are on paper. The weekly lists are on the computer. I don't have a Dayplanner, though. I have the lists on the computer and a few on paper, and I have the calendar above my desk, which will need moving so the map of Iceland can go above my desk. But the calendar will still be close at hand.

Mostly the stuff that will change quickly is on the computer, and the stuff that will change slowly is on paper. This helps with the constant list-rewriting problem.

(That link didn't work for me.)

Re: Making Lists

[mackatlaw.livejournal.com]

Try http://www.skwerms.org/index.jsp , through www.skwerms.org should work. I may have mistyped in my haste to leave the office. It's a cute site to look at, I think.

I admire people who organize well; it betokens a disciplined way of thinking that does not come naturally to me. I try for redundant systems. I have a calendar at home which I sometimes forget to look at. The office and my Dayplanner have calendars also. Three calendars is cumbersome, but if I'm not around a calendar during my day that I can see with a glance, I forget to check. I make lists on paper to feel like I'm not losing items and ideas to memory, then go through periods of wanting to throw the lists away, or simply rewriting from list to list. Not sure what a better solution is, other than stop writing things down so much. Portable digital assistants are too slow for my patience and far too easy to lose. I'd use one central computer except I'm gone from my apartment most of the day.

Mack

Re: Making Lists

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I think in some cases it's less that a disciplined way of thinking comes naturally and more that it does not, and the organization those folks are displaying is their way of dealing with that.

[seagrit.livejournal.com]

Thanks for putting those up; it's fun to see how much she's changed since then, and how she's stayed the same too. If you'd like to make them, a few corrections (but no one will be offended by the misspellings if you don't want to fix them)

Eldon (?) = Alton
Kiera = Kira

Other baby = Elem Jeffrey Rottman, who was actually baptized as Elem Jeffrey Greenfield, because Thea was a bit nervous and new to the baptism gig still.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Fixed! Thanks.