def dict_itemstr_list(dict_, **dictkw):
    r"""
    Returns:
        list: a list of human-readable dictionary items

    Args:
        explicit : if True uses dict(key=val,...) format instead of {key:val,...}
    """
    import utool as ut

    explicit = dictkw.get('explicit', False)
    dictkw['explicit'] = _rectify_countdown_or_bool(explicit)

    dosort = dictkw.get('sorted_', None)
    if dosort is None:
        dosort = True

    if dosort and not isinstance(dict_, collections.OrderedDict):
        key_order = dictkw.get('key_order', None)
        def iteritems(d):
            if key_order is None:
                # specify order explicilty
                try:
                    return iter(sorted(six.iteritems(d)))
                except TypeError:
                    # catches case where keys are of different types
                    return six.iteritems(d)
            else:
                # Enforce specific key order
                # TODO: depricate and just use ordered dicts
                unordered_keys = list(d.keys())
                other_keys = sorted(list(set(unordered_keys) - set(key_order)))
                keys = key_order + other_keys
                return ((key, d[key]) for key in keys)
    else:
        iteritems = six.iteritems

    _valstr = _make_valstr(**dictkw)

    precision = dictkw.get('precision', None)
    kvsep = dictkw.get('kvsep', ': ')
    if explicit:
        kvsep = '='

    def make_item_str(key, val):
        if explicit or dictkw.get('strkeys', False):
            key_str = six.text_type(key)
        else:
            key_str = repr2(key, precision=precision)

        prefix = key_str + kvsep
        val_str = _valstr(val)

        # FIXME: get indentation right
        if util_type.HAVE_NUMPY and isinstance(val, np.ndarray):
            item_str = hz_str(prefix, val_str)
        else:
            # padded_indent = ' ' * min(len(indent_), len(prefix))
            # val_str = val_str.replace('\n', '\n' + padded_indent)
            item_str = prefix + val_str
        return item_str

    itemstr_list = [make_item_str(key, val)
                    for (key, val) in iteritems(dict_)]

    reverse = False
    key_order_metric = dictkw.get('key_order_metric', None)
    if key_order_metric is not None:
        if key_order_metric.startswith('-'):
            key_order_metric = key_order_metric[1:]
            reverse = True

    if key_order_metric == 'strlen':
        metric_list = [len(itemstr) for itemstr in itemstr_list]
        itemstr_list = ut.sortedby(itemstr_list, metric_list, reverse=reverse)
    elif key_order_metric == 'val':
        metric_list = [val for (key, val) in iteritems(dict_)]
        itemstr_list = ut.sortedby(itemstr_list, metric_list, reverse=reverse)

    maxlen = dictkw.get('maxlen', None)
    if maxlen is not None and len(itemstr_list) > maxlen:
        itemstr_list = itemstr_list[0:maxlen]
    return itemstr_list
r"""
    Returns:
        list: a list of human-readable dictionary items

    Args:
        explicit : if True uses dict(key=val,...) format instead of {key:val,...}