Twenty-four days until 2010, and the end of a decade that remains nameless. (What did they call the 1900s in the 1910s? What did they call the 1910s? Why does no one know these things?)

Twenty years ago I was asked by a magazine to submit a year-end Top-10 on anything I wanted. I did, and it was rejected. It's not about anything, they said. But it is, was my reply. My interest is in the form itself.

This is what I sent them:


Top-10


1. Recognition

2. Reduction

3. Competition

4. Organization

5. Stratification

6. Authority

7. Completion

8. Satisfaction

9. Participation

10. Dissemination