A friend of mine recently made the comment, “There’s not a lot of things in the world that are better than a New York City sidewalk hot dog.” I agreed wholeheartedly at the time, but later, as I was making a mental list, I started to think that maybe my friend was wrong. Here’s what I have so far:

THINGS THAT ARE BETTER THAN A NEW YORK CITY HOT DOG:

Most Coen Brothers movies

Cezanne

BBQ ribs

A bear-skin rug

A rodeo

A Frisbee-catching dog

The Declaration of Independence

A lumberjack breakfast

The prom

E-mail

Cashmere sweaters

Chicago hot dog?

A personal assistant

A free trip to anywhere except Scranton

Filet mignon

Bruce Springsteen

Your firstborn child

A good book

A mediocre book

Walks on the beach

Sports

The Beatles

A good art museum

Free anytime minutes

A day at the park

Family

Christmas

Dogs

Cats

Surf and turf

The New York subway system

Beluga caviar

A kiss in the rain

A piña colada

Rainbows

A Porsche

Coffee

A La-Z-Boy chair

Soup in a bread bowl

Eskimo culture

A balloon ride

Surfing

The Eiffel Tower

Camping

A campfire

Being an uncle

The beach

Bonsai trees

Caramel popcorn

The smell of fresh-cut hay

Fresh muffins

The ability to read people’s minds

Spaghetti

Money

Elvis

Pinot noir from Oregon

A nice leather bag

Ice-cold water when you’re working outside on a hot summer day

A good ghost story

A Cinnabon

Home-baked Cookies

A good Martini

Ice cream

Big Ben

Diamonds

The Rocky Mountains

Orange Julius

Pajamas with feet

That fake large-mouth bass that dances on the wall

Star Wars collectibles

An iPod

Sneaking into a second movie

The Muppets

Glenn Miller

A cheeseburger

A heavy quilt

Fuzzy slippers

Yellowstone National Park

The complete first season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm"

Sleeping in

A good bookstore

Chocolate

Gift certificates

A snow day

Digital photography

Break dancing

Getting flowers

Sushi

The invention of the printing press

NPR

Jet Skiing

A huge yacht

Monty Python

Shrimp cocktail

A library card

Learning a second language

Sailing

A helicopter ride

The Texas State Fair

A convertible

Seeing the Northern Lights

The environment

New bed linen

World Peace

Tokyo

Pizza

Puppies

Emily Dickinson

A bucket of fried chicken

A smoking jacket

Beach volleyball

Supermodels

Swimming with dolphins

The rainforest

X-ray vision

A tent

A beanbag chair

Sunsets

A haircut

Billie Holiday

Seeing someone fall down

Stargazing

A laptop

Sailing

Hot wings

An extension cord

Stiletto heels

Norway

Finding a cure for cancer

Chips and salsa

Cell phones

Andrew Wyeth

Converse Chuck Taylors

Mount Everest

Girl Scout cookies

A fridge full of beer

Winnie the Pooh

Snowboarding

The San Diego Zoo

Vinyl

Roller-skating

A black-pearl necklace

A sky full of hot-air balloons

Clint Eastwood

A shopping spree

A good mystery

Hammocks

Miniskirts

Snowshoeing

Vermont maple syrup

Helping others

A Tiffany lamp

The Pacific Coast Highway

Guinness

Kittens

Fresh-squeezed orange juice

"Moby Dick"

The Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

Fine China

China

The Great Wall of China

Guernica

Hall and Oates

Thoreau

Arabian horses

Mozart

A Twilight Zone marathon

Texas Hold ’Em

Brownies

Edgar Allan Poe

A nice chess set

The sound of a train in the distance

Polka

A stack of _National Geographic_s

A photocopier

Sunblock

A goosedown comforter

Levi’s

Cocaine

T. S. Eliot

Golf clubs

A boa constrictor

The dog track

Electricity

A free canoe

Mosquito repellant

A hot tub

A fish fry

Red beans and rice

John Updike

Thigh-high stockings

A Fender Stratocaster

Cliff divers

A garbage compactor

Wool mittens

Google stock

Hot chocolate

Sitting beside a bubbling brook

Sherlock Holmes

Flying a kite

Winning

The Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Boy Scouts of America

Fudge

The smell of burning leaves

Hunting

Fishing

Apple pie

Donkey Kong

A Stetson

Bling

Slow dancing

A chicken quesadilla

A petting zoo

A paddleboat

Feeding ducks

Being next in line for something

Sea-Monkeys

The Matterhorn

NASA

Clairvoyance

Thomas Hardy

The sound of wolves howling in the distance

General Tso’s Chicken

Marilyn Monroe

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

The Museum of Natural History

Silk pajamas

The Great Pyramid

Bunnies

TV/VCR combinations

A lifetime supply of ketchup

An all-you-can-eat seafood buffet

Picnics

The swallows of Capistrano

"Danny Boy"

Handmade furniture

Whale watching

A Slurpee machine of your own

A hot-fudge sundae

Talking-horse movies

Gold

Professional wrestling

Space travel

Antarctica

Submarines

The right to bare arms

Advil

Mount Fuji

A good fastball

An ATM when you really need one

A cruise

Four-wheel drive

A Ferris wheel

A subscription to Texas Monthly

Otters

Really nice luggage

Peace of mind

The family farm

Easter Island

Indoor plumbing

A candlelit dinner

A Zamboni

A long, hot shower

Winning the lottery

A good childhood memory

Modern science

High-school graduation

A maid

Michael Jordan

A French maid

A white button-down shirt

The Bible

The Golden Gate Bridge

Superman

A birthday cake

The Emancipation Proclamation

The color teal

Snowflakes on your nose and eyelashes

The way beavers build those dams

And Amtrak ticket

Crawfish étouffée

A safari

The circus

"American Gladiators"

The United States Marine Corps

Hang-gliding

Lyle Lovett

A Super Bowl ring

Spare batteries

A free carwash

A field of wild flowers

Halloween

Sleeping

A family photo

Fly-fishing

Venice

A bachelor party

A Martin guitar

The Chrysler Building

Shakespeare

A set of encyclopedias

The Olympics

The Grand Canyon

Jazz

Sitting in a hot tub

Jamaica

The word “Zamboni”

White-water rafting

True-crime stories

The Smithsonian Institution

The Pill

Las Vegas

A T-bone steak

Samba lessons

A dinner with friends

Emmylou Harris

A love letter

A full tank of gas

Free firewood

Perfect pitch

A healthy herd of goats

A piano

The Autobahn

A drive-in theater

Yosemite Sam mudflaps

Penicillin

Massachusetts

Greek mythology

Seeing a bald eagle

A Boston Red Sox cap

Two or more Yankees caps

A screened-in porch

An easy-to-reach power strip

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Art Institute of Chicago

Ken Burns’s Civil War documentaries

Christmas presents

Barnes and Noble

Western art

A leather couch

Vegetables fresh from your own garden

Vegetables fresh from your neighbor’s garden

An incomplete set of golf clubs

A good, solid pickup truck

Fireworks

Austin, Texas

A decent gazebo

A choir robe

A strong work ethic

A dentist in the family

Champagne

Freedom of worship

Lobster

Good health

The speed of light

Television

The Red Cross

A good batch of chili

Mount Rushmore

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia"

Coming home after being away for a while

The space shuttle

A flight with no delays

A hat trick in the World Cup

John Denver

Political scandal

A master’s in history

A hands-free headset

A children’s Easter pageant

The mall

Refrigeration

"The Sound Of Music"

The sun

Literacy

The Mona Lisa

A horse-drawn-carriage ride

The Romans

Winslow Homer

Your average Indian-artifact collection

Solar power

A disco ball

Niagara Falls

Cheetahs

Breaking the speed of sound

A fine twenty-year-old Tawny Port

All-you-can-eat shrimp

A free minivan

Lots of new underwear

An African safari

Owning a de Kooning

An ergonomic desk chair

A DVD player

Snow boots

A night in a luxury hotel

A cold beverage on a hot day

The great state of Texas

Rhode Island

Free checking

Shark Week

A yacht ride

Friends to help you move

A subscription to Sports Illustrated

An eighty-gig external drive

Antiques

A picnic

The Upright Citizen’s Brigade

A locksmith when you need one

Bob Newhart albums

A universal remote

Netflix

The Queen Mary 2

Seeing wildlife

Over-the-counter pain relievers

Reality TV

A lifetime supply of printer ink

Chocolate cake

Christmas

Hunting with your father

SNL

Homemade apple pie

Laughing with friends

Someone to love

Feeling better after being sick

Seeing someone else fall down

Self-defense classes

A road trip

Fire trucks

Inheriting a small fortune

A solar-powered calculator

The University of Chicago

Dog parks

Yosemite

A long extension cord

The migration of the monarchs

Drano

A celebrity sighting

Prince Edward Island

The call of the wild

A nap

Taking your nephew to Disneyland

Digital photography

Spelunking

Being able to speak more than one language

Noise-reduction headphones

A favorite family recipe

The Staten Island ferry

The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier

The Constitution

The ability to move things with your mind

Photoshop

Seeing the bats in Austin, Texas

String theory

A big vat of bacon at a breakfast buffet

A spare tire

The Tribeca Film Festival

An efficient and reliable vacuum cleaner

Dogwood blossoms

A food processor

Smoked salmon

Maurice Sendak

Browsing small-town garage sales

Private roof access

Fresh bread

A garden shovel

Being ambidextrous

A library card

Falconry

Finding a lost twenty in you coat pocket

Buying lemonade from a child’s lemonade stand

The first robin

Sleeping in

A priceless stamp

Winning a game of chess

A rental car

G.P.S.

Swimming with dolphins

The Bible

A room with a view

The satisfaction of a job well done

An old, comfortable pair of jeans

An electric drill

Cable

Toilet paper

A dependable flashlight

Harley-Davidson motorcycles

Someone you can trust

Kittens

Watching your kid graduate from college

A beloved family pet

Genuine leather products

A cup of hot tea on a foggy day

Nice fluffy towels

Sitting in a hot tub beneath falling snow

Sherlock Holmes stories

A sturdy extension ladder

A ship in a bottle

A stone fireplace

Sushi

Believing in yourself

A wrap-around porch

Wildflowers

A Good pair of binoculars

Western medicine

A tailored suit

Anonymously helping those less fortunate

Sunsets

Drive-in movies

Homemade peach cobbler

Revenge

A neck pillow on a long international flight

Classic cars

Beethoven’s Fifth

The invention of the ziplock bag

Sequels that are as good as the first movie

A nice set of luggage

Fresh blueberry pie

A good mystery novel

Homemade ice cream

A hand-knit sweater

Tickets to a Broadway play

Church-league softball

Easy-to-use software

Gift certificates

Amusement parks

The Blue Ridge Parkway