How do you Rank?

The ten-year-old boy in our house is incessantly surveying household members. No, not typically over matters like “who do you think is likely to lead the Republican polls this week?” But on issues concerning our preferences over artistic matters. Of sorts. And the boy won’t rest until he’s satisfied that we’ve provided him a well-thought response. “Yes, Cole! I like Harry Potter 1 better than Harry Potter 4. Yes, I mean the book. Oh, the movie? I guess I’d have to say Harry Potter 3. Or 7. The second part. Yes, the movie, not the book. But I loved the book too. It was my third favorite. What’s my second favorite? Uhhh. Harry Potter 6? I think?

We have a lot of ranking going on in our house. “What’s your favorite___” Cole can’t seem to ever remember that my favorite movie of all time is You’ve Got Mail. (Or perhaps he chooses to repress the idea. And yes, I have a bookstore fetish.) So, whenever the favorite movie question pops up, and I give him my steadfast response, he plows ahead with, “What’s your second favorite?” or “What’s your favorite action movie?” And so on. Of course, I’m not the only lucky recipient of these quizzes. My hubby and daughter also get to play. And once as we were all growing a tad weary of the interrogations, and wondering where does this crazy ranking system originate from, my hubby quietly mentioned, “Oh, I know where he gets it.”

Flashback to that magical night Doug and I met. Apparently, I impressed my future spouse with my elaborate ranking system of bands and MTV videos. Oh yes! As a matter of fact, I still have somewhat of a ranking system. Perhaps I’m not quite so...fanatical about it. But it’s still there in the recesses of my mind. Van Halen has dropped quite a few pegs. Replaced by none other than...Coldplay. U2 has remained stalwart since like 1985–yes, that long! Oh, I could go on. But my point? Certain minds like to rank. And others....prefer to think in a cloud. (Although, I’m quite anxious to get my gadgets lined up for that wave of computing. I would rate that very highly.)

Cole and his 2nd favorite Marvel character, Spidey. (Deadpool is #1.)

So, what's your favorite...thing these days? Got more than one thing? Rank it!