def todict(self, dict_type=dict, index_key=0, index_value=-1):
        '''convert to a specific type of dict using ``index_key`` as keys
        and ``index_value`` as values (discarding index names)'''
        if len(self):
            return dict_type(self.items([index_key, index_value]))
        else:  # empty
            return dict_type()