Thursday, October 17, 2013

A rather mundane list tucked away inside an English textbook


This short list was tucked inside a copy of 1950's Enjoying English 12 by Don M. Wolfe and Ellen M. Geyer.1

The idea of "get morning paper" was, of course, more important six decades ago than it is today, when it becoming more of an antiquated notion with each passing year.

The saddest/strangest thing, though, is that it contains "make list" as one of its items. So, this was apparently just the master list, with a secondary list on the way. As someone who can't get through most days without lists any more, I find that kind of depressing.

I guess our main takeaway from this piece of paper can be this: If you're going to stick your list inside a book and potentially let it sit there for decades, until some future ephemeraologist discovers it, MAKE IT INTERESTING.

I'm serious. This is an important public service that you, from the comfort of your own home, can perform. Have fun with it. Make your regular list, but then throw in some oddball stuff, tuck it inside The Alchemist, and secretly laugh at the head-scratching you'll induce in 2063.

Here's an example:
  • pay bills
  • vacuum
  • write blog post
  • Floyd to vet
  • monkey cage
  • call Bravo-1
  • tongs?
  • Nehi

That'll leave 'em flummoxed!

Footnote
1. Enjoying English 12 features this photo on Page 151. I feel like this guy was in every short film about school days that was ever shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The photo was taken by Ewing Galloway, an agency that was discussed in a footnote on this post.

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