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Famous lists · No. 1

Johnny Cash had ten things to do today.

Somewhere between the concerts, the prison shows and the hits, The Man in Black grabbed a notepad and wrote down what needed to happen that day. The list later sold at auction for more than six thousand dollars. Not because it's special, but because it's exactly what everyone writes down sometimes.

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The note

Things to do today!

  1. Not smoke
  2. Kiss June
  3. Not kiss anyone else
  4. Cough
  5. Pee
  6. Eat
  7. Not eat too much
  8. Worry
  9. Go see Mama
  10. Practice piano
Notes: Not write notes

Copied from the original. Johnny's handwriting was messier.

If he'd had Stipp

Things to do today! Home, Hendersonville
Not smoke
High priority
It's number one. That usually tells you how it's going.
Kiss June
Ticked off. Probably the easiest one on the list.
Not kiss anyone else
Can only be ticked off at midnight.
Cough
Pee
Always add a few you know you'll get done. Johnny knew it too.
Eat
Not eat too much
Right below “Eat”. Those two are going to run into each other.
Worry
Today
Just schedule it. Then it doesn't take all day.
Go see Mama
Today
The most important one is number nine. Same for everyone.
Practice piano
At the bottom. Of course at the bottom.

Why this list is so famous

It's in Lists of Note, the book in which Shaun Usher collected the best lists in history. Nobody knows exactly when Johnny wrote it. Some think it was a set of New Year's resolutions, sometime in the seventies.

What makes it so good: it isn't the list of a legend. It's the list of a man who wants to quit smoking, loves his wife, worries, and knows he doesn't see his mother enough. Johnny and June were married for 35 years and died in 2003, four months apart.

At the bottom of the note

Notes: Not write notes

Johnny, we need to talk. A note that only says “don't write notes” is exactly the kind of note Stipp was made for. Write down what's on your mind. Stipp pulls out the actions and the rest just stays put.

More lists

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Just somewhere you can find it again. Stipp is free, forever.

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Sources: Shaun Usher, Lists of Note (2014); Open Culture; AnOther Magazine. The list is transcribed; the Stipp version and Stippy's comments are ours.

Stipp has nothing to do with the Cash family. We just like a good list.