List 40: The unwritten lists

I am turning 40 next Sunday. As an odd dedication to that particular milestone birthday I have been making 40 items lists each week for 40 weeks. The lists varied from the personal to the practical to the bizarre. You can see all the lists here.

This is the last of those lists, and this list is dedicated to my unwritten lists, those 40 item lists I never wrote. Some these are lists I started but couldn’t come up with 40 items for. Others briefly crossed my mind but I knew there was no way I’d get to 40 items. A few I really wanted to do but just ran out of time. Some are too stupid. A handful of these I may still write although they likely won’t take the form of 40 item lists. I’m done with 40 item lists for a while.

1. 40 bands on the 2013 Lollapalooza line-up that I’ve actually heard of. I’m lame.
2. 40 cool foreign films. I know some cool ones, but I’m not well versed enough to name forty.
3. 40 brilliant podcasts. Again, I know some good ones just not 40.
4. 40 current TV shows I love. The reason I’m so nostalgic for my favorite cancelled TV shows is I don’t watch a lot of TV anymore.
5. 40 reasons why posting these list each Monday got much harder now that Game of Thrones and Mad Men are back on. Okay, I do watch some television.
6. 40 shades of grey. No. Just no.
7. 40 ways to leave your lover. I can think of at least 50.
8. 40 people I wish were on Pinterest because I think they’d pin really interesting stuff. I did make a list of 40 unique Pinterest boards. This would be a list of people I think would have been on that list if only they actually used Pinterest.
9. 40 things I’ve pinned to Pinterest then actually made/did. I don’t even think this list would make it to double digits.
10. 40 pieces of public art. I’m sure I could find 40 pieces. What I couldn’t find was the time go out and photograph them all.
11. 40 things I won’t be able to do because I’m 40. Other than “honestly say that I’m 39” I can’t think of anything.
12. 40 things I regret. There are things I’ve done that I’m sorry about, but I can’t bring myself to regret them. Everything I’ve done, good or bad, has brought me to where I am now, and I’m pretty happy with where I am.
13. 40 things that make me me. Someone suggested this to me on Facebook, and I could never quite wrap my brain around it.
14. 40 books I’ve read in the last 10 years. I’m ashamed to admit I don’t think I have 40 items for this list.
15. 40 things I loved about having to make 40 item lists every week for 40 weeks. It was a good challenge, but it was also a pain in the ass. I’ll be happy not to have the weekly pressure.
16. 40 inherently sexy words. I explained why I couldn’t do that in the introduction to my list of 40 unsexy words.
17. 40 favorite words. Easier than identifying the sexiest words, but still I don’t like to pick favorites.
18. 40 times that I’ve even vaguely considered a tattoo. There’d be zero items on this list. I’ve seen some cool looking tattoos, but that’s just not my thing.
19. 40 people you meet in heaven. Seriously?
20. 40 awkward dance moves: a Vine video gallery. Even if I had the time and patience to get into Vine I have too much pride to capture and share my awkward dance moves. For that you need to peek through our living room window during family dance party time. (Please don’t peek through my living room window during family dance party time or ever. I call the police.)
21. 40 days of fasting. No.
22. 40 days of feasting. Maybe.
23. 40 uses of the knife. Like Three Uses of the Knife plus a lot of cutting.
24. 40 film characters I’ve fantasized being. I’d likely lose my feminist card if I published this.
25. 40 things to do after I’m forty. I hope I have time to do a lot more than 40 things.
26. 40 things I want for my kids. The short version is “happiness.”
27. 40 things it took me 40 years to learn. Another suggestion, another headscratcher.
28. 40 places I loved that aren’t there anymore. Even after only 6 years here I could already come up with a pretty long Chicago list. I know I could do a long Pittsburgh list.
29. 40 things I’ve done in the past 40 weeks. Anyone who has been reading this blog would find this largely redundant.
30. 40 things I miss from when we weren’t constantly connected to the Internet. I was rather excited about this one, so it may yet make an appearance.
31. 40 things I’m procrastinating. I’m ashamed of how easy it would to make this list, and I’m ashamed of the stupid stuff that would be on it.
32. 40 things I’m thankful for. A Thanksgiving list that just never got done.
33. 40 thank you notes. I thought it would be great to send thank you notes to 40 people who have made a difference in my life. I hope to still write some of these, but I’m not going to publish a list of the recipients in case someone who doesn’t get a note feels slighted. (No one needs to feel slighted right now, as I haven’t written any of these.)
34. 40 things I wish I could make a living doing. The first item was “sleep.”
35. 40 books I hate to read to my kids. There are a handful of annoying ones the kids like, but luckily there aren’t that many bad choices in our collection.
36. 40 bizarre search terms that have brought people to my blog. I don’t want to get in a pissing contest with other bloggers who have had people get to their blogs with even more bizarre search terms.
37. 40 days without a temper tantrum. I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. I only wish I could make such a list.
38. 40 facts that will make it seem like you know about theatre. I’m not helping you cheat. Go see some plays. This list will help you get started.
39. 40 random things I’ve bought at Target. Too easy.
40. 40 awesome things about having a kid with the norovirus, or how I spent MLK Day weekend (and also this past weekend). My life is pretty glamorous. Envy me.

I will still be blogging. I may even make some lists, but most will be far shorter than 40 items long. Keep watching this space.

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