Starting today, I am going to be counting down my 100 favorite things, and writing articles describing what I like about them.

I am doing this for a few reasons. There are a lot of things I love but have not had much of a chance to opine about; I love massive countdowns; and I am encouraged by the popularity of Brian’s recently-completed 100 Film Favorites.

There is no one medium that I want to write extensively about, though, so I am lumping them all together. That’s right, this countdown is a ranking of my favorite music, movies, shows, books, games, etc. all piled together in one list. My Top 100 Everything. Not included: people (except as a grouping of the art he/she has made), places, organizations, memories, sports teams, etc.

I’ve already written about a quarter of the list, and the articles have varied from a couple hundred words to a couple thousands. They’ll probably tend longer as I get closer to #1, but I will try to keep them merciful.

One question that came up early is: What, exactly, is a “thing?” For example, when talking about music, what is the unit or grouping? Is it a song? An album? An artist’s discography? In general, I erred on the side of broad groupings — shows, artists, series, etc.

I’ve separated the entries into six different media. Here are a couple of things I considered:

• Music: Usually grouped by artist. This medium has the most entries on the list.
• TV: Grouped by show.
• Movies: Usually grouped by movie. Occasionally grouped by series/director/studio/time period.
• Book: Grouped by book (if standalone), by series, or — in a couple cases — by author.
• Game: Usually grouped by individual game or series. Occasionally other groupings were used.
• Misc.: Anything not covered by the previous five. This includes everything from publications to comedians to web series, etc.

The ranking is somewhat arbitrary, especially lower on the list — the distinction between #74 and #75 is more or less nothing. It’s more of a “tier.” I’ve also added and removed a few things as I’ve been writing, so I’ll probably end up with about a half-dozen “honorable mention” entries.

One thing that should be obvious is that I am basing this on my personal reaction and experience with something. I’m not claiming that these are all great or important or more noteworthy than anything that didn’t make the list. It’s just a list of things that have personal meaning, thus attributes that are completely irrespective of the thing’s objective quality (e.g., sentimental value) will be considered.

My goal is to publish one entry per day. More generally, my goal is to finish, period. (I’ve struggled to see through ongoing projects to their completion, but I’m determined to see this one through.)

Anyways, I am excited to have you join me on this countdown. I love everything on this list, and I’m especially excited to get to write about the things at the top of this list, my absolute favorites. If nothing else, this list will be a chance for me to revisit games, movies, shows, and music I’ve loved. Without further ado, let’s kick off my Top 100 Everything!