Tuesday, December 23, 2008

OCD-Unwrappers and Plain Cheese Pizza

Season’s Greetings Listers,

Wrap all your gifts yet? Well don’t rush! How you wrap a gift says a lot about who you are. And how you open it says even more.

Think about the cheapies whose gifts are wrapped in last Sunday’s sports page. And the lazies thrown in a plastic bag with the grocery receipt still stuck inside. Think about the hectic gifters with too much paper and the last green-tagged piece of Scotch tape. Compare those wrappers to OCD-gifters, with perfectly creased parallel lines, symmetrical bows, curled ribbons, and snowman nametags written in loopy cursive.

Now think about those “kids” who tear through their gift then race to the next. Directly contrasting the patiently-waitings, who keep to themselves until each gift has been handed out, sincerely savoring each and every present, opening not only the bag or wrapping, but also the manufacturer packaging, reading the card verbatim, and actually using the gift before moving on. And then there are the OCD-unwrappers making sure not to tear the paper, saving it for re-gifting next year.

First impressions are everything. And a first impression is hard to change. But it’s not impossible! Anything can sway someone’s initial opinion, but not just your iPod playlist, your favorite movie, the clothes you wear, the house you keep, the team you cheer for, or the job you work; the quirky little things matter too.

Consider an order at Subway, or Chipotle, or even a pizza, and the volumes that speaks to others about who you are. Ham and provolone on white with mustard, lettuce tomato is simple and plain. Spicy Italian is care-free. Specialty sammies are for the adventurous. And how about the vegetarian Chipotle burrito with no beans or sour cream? Or the vast differences in people who get plain cheese pizzas versus supreme?

I’ve heard bartenders and waitresses say they can predict what certain people will order. Every stereotypical person orders a stereotypical drink. Cheap people drink Mt. Dew and Long Island Iced Teas. Classy and mature people order martinis (hence Bond’s shaken-not-stirred). A beer for the blue-collared and wine for the house-wife.

Every order says something. Every action delivers a reaction. Every moment can have a lasting impression.

This holiday season, pay attention as friends and family are opening their gifts, not just at the wrap-job, but the gifts inside and reactions whilst opening. And the lesson learned? Don’t jump to assumptions because that just make an… well you know. Wait to make “donkeys” until you take them out for pizza and a drink.

Lists Hidden in This Newsletter

Top 10 Other Things to Wrap a Gift With

Defeated Football Teams throughout History

Bare Essentials School Supply List

The Everyday World of Men and Women: Expansive Differences

Things Babies Do that Would be Embarassing for an Adult to do

Everyone's a Little OCD: What are you obsessive compulsive about?

How to Be a Memorable First Date

Playlist: Christmas Music for Sugar-Plum Fairies and Gingerbread Men

The 10 Worst Holiday Gift Ideas

List of the 5-Dollar Footlongs at Subway

Best Pizza in New York City

Top 10 Movie and TV Bartenders

Top 10 Manliest Girly Alcoholic Drinks

Actors that Have played James Bond

3 Steps to Makeup Sex

10+ Life Lessons That Took You Too Long to Learn

A Short History of Asses

ListAfterList Updates and Reminders
Make your own “Christmas Gift” list at LAL today!

Have you tried the new search on LAL powered by Google? It is much more effective. Now you can think of LAL as a place of reference, instead of just a website where you can find randomly cool stuff and interesting trivial lists. Or try using LAL when you are looking for holiday gifts for someone (i.e. "Top 10 Christmas Gifts for the Foodie in Your Life!").

If there is anything you would like to see on ListAfterList, let us know. And, if you have any friends who might enjoy ListAfterList, let us know that too.

A Nerd's Quarter-Life Crisis Breeds Jealousy

Hey Listers,
So last Friday I turned 25. Twenty-five! Twenty-five years I’ve been wandering around trying to figure “it” out. And twenty-five years spent, or maybe wasted is the better word, not figuring “it” out. Okay, maybe “wasted” is a bit pessimistic. It’s probably the quarter-life crisis talking.

But seriously, birthdays split the world in two. Those who love birthdays, tell everyone they know it’s coming, buy themselves presents and bake themselves cake - and those who dread it like a funeral. But it’s not so black and white; it’s more like a peanut butter and jelly sammy. Pull apart a PB&J and on the jelly half you’ll find some peanut butter, and on the PB half you’ll find some J.

Some people dread a birthday one year, but fervently await the next. I, on the other hand, have celebrated every birthday of my life – until this one. This one was different. Every kid celebrates his 13th (teens), 16th (driving), 18th (cigarettes and porn… and voting), and 21st (drinking). After twenty-one, the 22nd through 24th are typically blurry, and then all-of-a-sudden you’re 25! Twenty-five starts the beginning of the birthdays of dismay. Twenty-five = adulthood. And with adulthood comes those scary words like marriage, children, career, mortgage, and responsibility. Then by 30 you are supposed to have those figured out and you have a new list of words to worry about. It never ends!

I realize these rationalizations are a bit extreme, but I’m in the business of hyperboles. Still, I am jealous of the teenage birthday, the first-car birthday, the cigarettes, dirty-magazine and hung-over birthdays. Of course! Who isn’t? The question is how do you turn these 5s and 0s birthdays into something to celebrate? The trick is not worrying about what you haven’t figured out yet, birthdays should be celebrations of everything you have figured out. I was surprised to see what I came up with:
· It’s okay to be a complete nerd, and especially a dork in disguise!
· Fear controls you and your actions. By conquering fear, you gain control
· The Yankees and the government just throw money at problems to make them go away
· Do what you’re good at doing
· If you’re good at something, never do it for free
· And though money may not buy you happiness, it sure helps
· Britney Spears and Tom Cruise are crazy
· NASCAR splits the world in two (this time it is black-and-white, no grey middle between the haters and the lovers)
· Jealousy breeds negativity, and negativity breeds jealousy. Stay away from both.
· Eating two Chipotle burritos with chips & salsa in one sitting is nearly impossible
· There is a fine line between passion and obsession
· Most things don’t REALLY matter, so let it slide
· Sequels always disappoint
· And… Star Wars will always be totally awesome

Lists Hidden in This Newsletter
December 5th Birthdays: Walt Disney, Art Monk and Martin Van Buren
Top 10 Xmas Gifts for a Single 20-Something Male who likes Sports, Movies and Beer... Dugh!
Top 20 Pessimistic Quotes
List of Complete Opposites
Best Sandwiches
Barrymore & Electra: Best Celebrity "Playboy" Covers
Top 20 Schools for Lots of Hard Liquor
Adult Words You Dread Growing Up and Having to Deal With
List of Hyperboles
10 Simple Ways to Save Yourself From Messing up Your Life
Geeky Pickup Lines for Nerds & Dorks
Fear of Vomiting: Top 10 Phobias in the U.S.
Top 10 "Dark Knight" Quotes
How to Win Someone Back
Worst Fast Food You Can Eat
Disappointingly Worst Sequels Ever
Only Actors in All 6 Star Wars Films

ListAfterList Updates and Reminders
Make your own “Things I’ve Figured Out” list at LAL today!

Check out my birthday newsletter from last year and see how I’ve grown! Hah!

Have you tried the new search on LAL powered by Google? It is much more effective. Now you can think of LAL as a place of reference, instead of just a website where you can find randomly cool stuff and interesting trivial lists. Even try using LAL when you are looking for holiday gifts for someone (i.e. Top 10 Gifts for a Star Wars Fan).

If there is anything you would like to see on ListAfterList, let us know. And, if you have any friends who might enjoy ListAfterList, let us know that too.