Lists

NPR has an article on the importance and popularity of lists. Famous listmakers include Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and David Letterman. Shakespeare is said to have used the word "list." Facebook has a document going around called "25 Random Things About Me." (A list that I would never be tempted to create.)

I use lists constantly. My planner is full of old grocery lists, to do lists, people to call lists, lists of phone numbers, speeches, meetings, writing assignments and other ephemera. As I get older, though, I've run into a downside. There's nothing quite as abashing as coming up on an old list and not quite realizing or remembering what it's a list of.