Members blue2blue Posted August 29, 2013 Members Share Posted August 29, 2013 3) Lists2) Lists1) ListsFrom the New Yorker'sPage Turner blog: 10 PARAGRAPHS ABOUT LISTS YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOWPOSTED BY MARK O'CONNELL 1. Recently, a close friend sent me an e-mail with the subject line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted August 30, 2013 Members Share Posted August 30, 2013 I suspect that the list-making tendency is to a large degree, a protective, defensive move on the part of the speaking/writing parties. When someone deigns to stand up and say something, is it not the case that this "uh..oh!" feeling wafts through the consciousnesses of all in audible/readable range, in the sense of "uh.oh..how long will this go on?" So announcing right off that there will be only THREE things (or five or ten if you're Dave Letterman) just might assuage the worries of the crowd that an embarrasing self-display or rant or anything otherwise intolerably overlong is about to commence. I can just hear Homer yelling "make it TWO things". nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rasputin1963 Posted August 30, 2013 Members Share Posted August 30, 2013 I dunno... when i talk to people of my parents generation (they were born during WWII), I can't help but notice how longwinded they are. They come from an era when people had more time, and a story could be told in a very roundabout, shapeless, windy way. Sometimes i feel like wearing a t-shirt that says AND YOUR POINT IS...? This new spate of listmaking may be often banal, but i appreciate its spirit of brevity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted August 30, 2013 Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2013 Is it list making that is the issue? Or is it the dancing around the heart of it that is the real issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted August 30, 2013 Members Share Posted August 30, 2013 My next "Craig's List" for Electronic Musician magazine is "5 Reasons Why Cassettes Are the Gosh Darn Best Playback Medium Ever!" I like lists as long as I can make fun of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted August 30, 2013 Author Members Share Posted August 30, 2013 rasputin1963 wrote: I dunno... when i talk to people of my parents generation (they were born during WWII), I can't help but notice how longwinded they are. They come from an era when people had more time, and a story could be told in a very roundabout, shapeless, windy way. Sometimes i feel like wearing a t-shirt that says AND YOUR POINT IS...? This new spate of listmaking may be often banal, but i appreciate its spirit of brevity. I think the tendency of older folks to ramble on is greatly exaggerated. As I was telling my cat the other day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted August 30, 2013 Author Members Share Posted August 30, 2013 Lee Knight wrote: Is it list making that is the issue? Or is it the dancing around the heart of it that is the real issue? I'm actually a big fan of to do lists and such. Lists are a good mnemonic assist -- and, at least for guys like me -- they can help one prioritize and organize all the little bits and pieces of responsibility that might otherwise float around creating anxiety and a foggy sense of un-ease. No matter how noxious the tasks in front of me, I find that putting them down in black and white, in order, in one place, really helps me avoid the free-floating anxiety that used to plague me... I'd feel like, without an organized list, all those worrisome items would be floating around randomly in my head, firing off little reminders whenever a neuron nearby was tickled... I'd feel like I was under this big, dark cloud. But by symbolically objectifying and collecting all those concerns into one place, I regain my sense of control, the sense that I can then take care of these items one at a time. But... since I was a kid I've been seeing these 7 Greatest Things About Lists type articles. I agree with Ras that having an enumeration does, indeed, telegraph a sense of mangeability and sensible limitation. And I'll even go on to suggest that, long-winded as I am, I nonetheless will look at a big block of text and think -- Oh, man, this is in response to something *I* wrote... I really have a responsibility to read it. But... that said... I honestly feel like if more folks discovered the magic of the paragraph break, everyone would be a lot happier. I guess what makes these numbered lists sort of a minor b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members displayorder Posted September 3, 2013 Members Share Posted September 3, 2013 YES! I finally found this web page! I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted September 3, 2013 Author Members Share Posted September 3, 2013 displayorder wrote:YES! I finally found this web page! I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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