I need to keep track of all the culture I wanna experience

April 3, 2017 4:26 AM

You know when a friend says "You should watch the tv show X", or you read a music review of an album and think to yourself "I should really listen to that album Y". How do you guys keep track of that stuff so you don't forget it? I feel like a need an app or something.

In the past, I've had a text document that i update with that stuff, but I'm often not in front of a computer when this happens (though I guess I could do some cloud-based version of this where i can reach it on my phone). I've also in the past maintained lists on sites like Goodreads, but that only covers books, not tv shows, films, games, podcasts, music, whatever.

I've been considering starting to use some sort of note-taking app like EverNote, but I feel like there's a better solution. Like, I feel like there is (or at least there should be!) some specialized app or webservice for this, where you can put something in a "want to experience" list and it fetches metadata like covers, release dates, and other stuff like that.

How do you guys do it? Any tips?

posted by gkhan to Media & Arts (19 answers total)

Wunderlist, which is probably an answer you'll get a lot. It's really simple and intuitive, and you can type things on your computer and they show up on your phone app.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:41 AM on April 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Sorry. It doesn't fetch Metadata. It's just a list-making app. But I find ease of use to be more important than Metadata. I have separate lists for books and movies.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:44 AM on April 3, 2017

I've been using Soon for this, and I love it.
posted by third word on a random page at 4:47 AM on April 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Amazon wish lists? For anything not listed on amazon, there's an "add to wish list" browser button that you can install for external sites.
posted by exquisite_deluxe at 5:10 AM on April 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

I use the iOS reminders app for this and maintain separate lists by interest. I mostly add things via Siri. "Hey Siri, add Hancock Reserve to my Whiskey List".

I do end up with some hilarious screw ups from time to time but its usually close enough. I still use other systems like Goodreads and Amazon Wish Lists - but the iOS lists act as a stop gap for when I'm too busy.
posted by machinecraig at 5:23 AM on April 3, 2017

Browsing on the computer: save it into Instapaper. Every so often (roughly weekly to monthly) I go through that and sort things into folders called "Things to read" or "Things to watch/listen to". Eventually, the first of those goes into a spreadsheet so I can sort by genre and topic more easily, but in the meantime it works well for "Where was that thing that got mentioned last week, I want a new book to read that was like that."

(I have Instapaper set up so I can save stuff from my phone easily.)

I do similar things for recipes and general tech info I want to find again, which have their own folders.

For things where that's not handy, I do a really quick note in my todo app (I use Todoist, and while I mostly use it on the web platform for better typing, it's really handy for "this book got mentioned, put it somewhere you can find it again." reminders.
posted by modernhypatia at 5:42 AM on April 3, 2017

Bullet Journal.

Agreed, carmicha. There's something about the conjunction of leaving a physical space for these want to read/listen lists and the physical act of writing titles and artists down that primes me to remember them when I'm out and about.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:45 AM on April 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

I use Google Keep, with one note for "books" and one for "music" and one for "movies." When someone recommends it, I add it to the list. When I've watched it, I check it off. Any similar platform would work.
posted by epanalepsis at 6:34 AM on April 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Thirding bullet journal. I keep pages for books, movies, podcasts, experiences, travel, etc.
posted by Miko at 7:11 AM on April 3, 2017

I take screenshots on my phone and regularly transcribe them into lists in my notebook when I have a minute.
posted by pintapicasso at 7:22 AM on April 3, 2017

I use the iOS reminders app too, I like it because I can add things from my computer as well as from my phone.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:46 AM on April 3, 2017

I use Google Keep for this.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:22 AM on April 3, 2017

I actually do use Evernote for this (except books, which live in Goodreads) and it's been working well, partly because I can just reach for my phone. I was never crazy about Wunderlist, though it works for a lot of people. I'd already gotten settled in Evernote when I found out Google Keep was a thing, and I suspect it would work about as well for this.
posted by jameaterblues at 10:12 AM on April 3, 2017

I also use Evernote, particularly for books. They have a browser add on called Web Clipper which makes it easy to save without opening the app. It doesn't automatically fetch metadata however.

For movies, I use my Netflix DVD queue, and you can add movies that haven't been released yet on DVD.
posted by Leontine at 1:07 PM on April 3, 2017

Evernote, but not for music. I just add that right to my streaming app. If I end up not liking it later, I delete it. Media I want to buy goes on my Amazon Wish List.
posted by cnc at 5:06 PM on April 3, 2017

I use OneNote as a catch-all for this. We use it at work so I have it open throughout the day on my desktop. I have a separate Personal notebook on it. When I'm not at work, I use the app, and it all syncs.
posted by awkwardpanda at 5:55 PM on April 3, 2017

"Hey Siri, remind me tomorrow at noon about {movie or band or whatever}"
posted by Joseph Gurl at 11:55 PM on April 3, 2017

Interested in BulletJournal, but I currently use Pinboard for this with tags like "towatch", "tolisten", etc. As long as the thing has a permanent URL this is a decent approach because you can visit the tag link in your phone and the URLs will hopefully open the media in the relevant app.
posted by yerfatma at 6:07 PM on April 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

I use IMDB's watchlist feature for movies and TV shows. Like you, I want metadata and not just a title. I can sort alphabetically, by year, by rating, and so forth.
posted by AFABulous at 1:46 PM on April 10, 2017