If this were one of my stories, the title above would
involve a walled or hedge-lined berm upon which swords, maces and other weapons
are swung by knights or knights-training at their peers.
As this is a Blog on the Internet, what we are paying attention to at this
time of year are the other kinds of lists.
First on my list-of-lists are the ones wherein we try to identify the
things we liked most… or least from the previous year. Books, movies, songs,
etc… They all wind up on somebody's lists.
Some people write lists in order to sway public
opinion for… or against particular people, places or things that go bump in
the night. Cities, politicians, artists, authors, musicians… They all wind
up on someone’s list.
Make it on enough lists and you graduate to some ‘Great list-of-lists’ that someone, somewhere, is keeping… most
likely in order to know what you like so they can sell you more of it.
I won't bore you with my own lists, partially because
they're lists of plot mechanisms, story-line queues and Pet Peeves… I
keep mine in cages and rarely feed them… but primarily as I know plenty of
other people with either more fertile imaginations or axes to grind have
already done theirs.
So, I wish you happy hunting, with my blessings.
Next on my list-of-lists is the New Years
Resolutions list wherein people promise to do… or not to do, that is the
question… better in the coming year.
Since these lists have the life expectancy of a glass
of ones favourite alcoholic beverage… like the ones consumed prior to the
making of 'The List', we'll ignore them and move on.
My second-to-least favourite kind are what have become
known as Bucket-Lists; a list of all the things we want to do and places
we want to go before we kick the proverbial bucket
and become nothing more than a cached-copy in the archives of the Internet and
a side-note in the great Wiki-on-the-web-of-life.
Most bucket-lists are, in-my-not-so-humble opinion,
hyperbole.
Perhaps I've been lucky, or simply fortunate, or maybe
not. I've been able to travel and see much of the world around us (and
have wished at various times and in various places not to have), and do
most of the things I wished I could do… especially those I wished when I was a
child … but none of my lists had anything to do with buckets.
They were my dreams… my goals in life that through
blood, sweat and grit I could, and did accomplish. Some have been worthwhile,
others weren't worth the yak-spit
they incurred or the shekels they
cost… and some I have yet to do, but as I am a glass (or bucket) half-full kind
of person, I have no intention of emptying mine. I intend to have it sloshing
over the top, looking to fill yet another.
Last but not least; my least favoruite kind of
lists (and I imagine yours as well) are the ones we make to remind us of the
things we need to do 'when we get a ‘round tuit' and then
promptly ignore them… The infamous To-Do List(s).
Authors Note: I have a drawer full of 'Round Tuits'
that have been for the most part doing nothing more than collecting dust… in
case anyone would like to help me out with a list or three.
