My List

I finally saw "Chaos Theory" last weekend, and I liked it. If you haven't seen it, here's a quick rundown. The main character is super scheduled and makes a list every morning of things he has to accomplish that day. He won't really stray from the list, though. One day a series of unexpected events leads him to completely abandon the traditional list and instead leave things up to chance. He starts carrying index cards around with him and basically writes down three options for any choice has has to make, shuffling the cards and letting fate determine his next move. (It should be noted that this stars Ryan Reynolds. He might be my favorite thing aboooot Canada.)

This movie made me think a lot about lists, chaos and chance. I have plenty of thoughts on those last two, but this post will only focus on lists. I love lists, but I'm not great at them. I will always go back and add things I've already done, just so I can begin the list on the right footing and feel like I've accomplished something.

I get more satisfaction out of creating odd lists than I do from creating "to-do" lists. My odd lists usually are born out of me getting sidetracked during a standard to-do list. For example, on one recent to-do list I had included the task "bring umbrella home from work." This got me thinking about the song "Umbrella," and that led to "It's Raining Men," and that made me think of the Fish Camp bus leader game where you have to sing as many songs as you can think of that include the word "rain." And the creation of this list -- songs about rain -- led me to develop my "natural disasters" itunes playlist. (Songs include: "Cyclone," "Heat Wave," "Texas Tornado," "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Thunder Rolls," among others.)

And then THIS list put me in the mood to create a bunch of mini-lists. So here they are, in no particular order.

CLOTHING FEATURES/STYLES THAT TROUBLE ME

1) low rise jeans

2) dresses that zip on the side

3) mock turtlenecks

4) ankle socks that don't stay on your heels

5) American Apparel (the store as a whole)

CLOTHING FEATURES/STYLES THAT DELIGHT ME

1) skirts and dresses with pockets

2) very, very, very high heels

3) tagless shirts

4) deep v-neck shirts

5) any kind of flip flop

RANDOM SONGS I LOVE RIGHT NOW

1) Cigarettes and Coffee (Otis Redding)

2) Love of a Lifetime (Chaka Kahn)

3) Paperweight (Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk)

4) Green Eyes (Coldplay)

5) The Heart of the Matter (India.Arie)

MOVIE THEATER PET PEEVES

1) people (other than my date) sitting directly beside, in front of, or behind me

2) talking during previews

3) anyone who laughs at the "please turn off your cell phone" commercials

4) clapping

5) chewing loudly/eating gross foods/kicking my chair (these all tie for 5th)

WORDS I LIKE

1) absolutely

2) definitely

3) glorious

4) akimbo

5) mayhaps

"WORDS" I DISLIKE

1) funner

2) irregardless

3) no-offense-but ...

4) why?

5) potty

THINGS I WILL DO WHEN I TURN 30

1) pretend i was actually born in 1981

2) sky dive

3-5) decide on three more things

SPECIFIC THINGS I'D LIKE TO DO IN SPECIFIC PLACES

1) go to Canada and work the word "eh?" into every conversation

2) run the New York marathon

3) meet with screenwriters in California

4) visit my old neighborhood in Germany

5) have pizza in Italy

DRINKS I LIKE

1) diet coke

2) pink lemonade crystal light

3) green tea

4) orange vitamin water

5) wine

FAVORITE TV SHOWS (still on the air)

1) 30 Rock

2) Mad Men

3) House

4) The Office

5) Friday Night Lights

FAVORITE MOVIE THEATERS IN DALLAS

1) Angelika

2) Magnolia

3) Inwood

4) Northpark AMC

5) everything else is tied for 5th

FAVORITE WEST WING EPISODES

1) Two Cathedrals

2) In Excelsis

3) Celestial Navigation

4) Noel

5) Debate Camp

OPTIONS FOR WHERE I'LL BE LIVING IN 5 YEARS

1) mansion

2) apartment

3) shack

4) house

5) (sorry, no 5th option ... MASH rules)