List-mania

I really like lists. I don't know why, but they have a peculiar soothing quality. Whenever I am stressed out, I feel better after I make a list. It doesn't even matter what the list is about, as long as it's a list. I used to think that I was just a neurotic person who had a strange obsession with lists, and although this is probably still true, I have discovered that there are other list-oriented individuals out there! There is a website kind of like fb where people make checklists and monitor their progress, like reading lists and travel lists and life lists. Of course, I had to join. I'm working on a bunch of lists related to reading, music, and travel. It gives some meaning to my everyday activities, and more importantly, it amuses me when I need something to keep me awake in meetings and in lab.

I've tried to identify what it is that makes lists so fun, but I'm at a loss. Even when I'm bored in lab, I pull out a piece of paper and make a list of things that I want to do. Currently, I'm working on creating a life list. I think one of the fun things about that is that I get to dream of all of the cool things I could possibly do. Also, making a list gives me written goals, which makes it a little more difficult for me to be lazy and sit in my apartment all the time. I should note that although it's more difficult to be lazy, I usually end up being lazy anyway. I don't know why I like making to-do lists, because I rarely actually complete all of the tasks I write down. The therapeutic part is just in the making of the list though, not the actual doing. I'll share my life list when I'm done making it, but as previously mentioned, it's one of those things that may remain a work in progress for awhile.

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy traveling. There is a food and travel writer who made a list of his "wonders of the world." There are 100 gold medal wonders, 100 silver medal wonders, and 800 bronze medal wonders, I believe. I spent a day in lab looking through his list, trying to determine how many of these "wonders" I had visited. I'm only counting places I can remember, so I didn't count things like the Grand Canyon, which I've visited, but don't remember because I was young. By my count, I've visited 5 of the top wonders, the gold medal wonders. That's a poor showing. I need to step it up a few notches or I won't make it to all of them. Here's my record of the wonders I've seen.


Wonder #7: Machu Picchu
This picture was taken from Huayna Picchu.

This picture shows Huayna Picchu (the mountain) in the background.


Wonder #9: Iguazu Falls
This is the biggest waterfall in the world, by the volume of water flowing per second. It's called La Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat).


Wonder #29: Easter Island
It's difficult to pick a single picture to show Easter Island because I have hundreds. This is a view of Ahu Tongariki, which has the most standing moai. The moai were restored, so it's not archaeologically special, but it's a pretty view.


Wonder #78: Stonehenge
This is Stonehenge + some random woman that I need to photoshop out of the picture.


Wonder #89: British Museum
There are a lot of fun things in this museum. I really should go back because I saw maybe 10% of it.

This was a fun excuse to look through some of the old pictures on my computer! I should do it more often, but because I'm me, I won't.

So, if you have been curious as to how I spend my days, now you know. I make a list, I check it twice. I don't do anything. The end.