Ten Questions with GroceryLists.org's Bill Keaggy on His New Book, Milk, Eggs & Vodka

If you've ever made a shopping list and accidentally left it in the shopping cart, or gasp, littered your list, it very well could have been made public. In 1999 blogger and webmaster Bill Keaggy put his personal collection of lost and found grocery lists online. Nearly ten years later, his collection of funny and often sad lists have been turned into a book, Milk, Eggs & Vodka.

Associated Content producer, Donna T. recently asked author and webmaster Keaggy ten questions about his book, his collection and his own grocery list.

1. What was the inspiration for your project- and how long did you toss around the idea before it became a reality?

Keaggy: The project is a result of serendipity. Silly serendipity. One day about 10 years ago I just walked out of the supermarket, saw a scrap of paper on the ground and picked it up. It was someone's tossed grocery list and for some reason I was fascinated by that anonymous piece of paper. I decided I'd pick then up and save them whenever I found one.

A couple years later, around 1999 or 2000, I put them on my web site and since then people from all over the world have contributed to the collection.

2. You have over 1600 lists so far. How did you obtain these list from the beginning? I see on your site now that many people send in many lists... but how did it start?

Keaggy: It was just me at first, then my family, friends and coworkers started finding lists, then complete strangers. When I first put them up on the web I only had about 30. It was slow-going in those early days. I barely doubled the collection by 2001. But at that point people on the web really started noticing it and linking it. Everyone was, saying, "Hey go look at this really stupid but fascinating project!"

3. Why are these lists so fascinating to us?

Keaggy: Grocery lists are tiny glimpses into private lives. They're really honest. No one (at least up until my book came out) assumes that their grocery list will be found and dissected. Lists -- of all types -- tell us a lot about our neighbors, our friends and ourselves. They're supposed to be private and that's why it's so enjoyable to look through the ones that people discard. It's anonymous, voyeuristic fun because not only do we see strangeness, humor, sadness, fun and folly in these lists -- we see ourselves.

4. What are some things we can learn from people by these lists?

Keaggy: It's all open to interpretation, and that's what's so fun. You see these lists and you can't help but make up stories about the lives and the situations behind the lists. We may be dead wrong about everything we think, but it's still fun. Some are obvious and easily identifiable, though: There are party lists, there are lists by older folks, lists for new families, lists made by people on a tight budget. The way they spell -- or can't spell -- informs you. Their handwriting, too. Even the notepad or scrap of paper they use is a clue to what that person is like.

5. Why did you turn the collection into a book?

Keaggy: I'd been thinking about it, but the truth is I was approached by the publisher. They thought it would be a fun project and why would I disagree? The Grocery List Collection has such a life of its own that it all came together quite smoothly.

6. The book has commentary-can you explain your thoughts that accompany the book? Any unique observations you can elaborate on?

Keaggy: The fact is that the book is not an academic treatise -- it's just fun. It's full of funny, sad, odd, real grocery lists, and I make an observation, joke or smart-aleck comment about each one. The chapters break it into chunks, so all the extremely short lists are in one chapter, all the really unhealthy lists are in another chapter and all the where a strange object or scrap of paper was used to write the list on are in another chapter. There are multiple sidebars, some of which are actually either quite useful or serious.

One, the most serious moment in the book, is a letter and list I got from a grocerylists.org reader who told me that she keeps an old list made by her sister in the 1980s. Apparently, it's the last shopping list the sister made before she was murdered. It just goes to show how these little objects, these tiny pieces of trash -- things we don't think about or take for granted -- can have a much deeper meaning depending on the situation. Life is made up of those millions of little details and just a handful of huge, significant events.

7. What has the reception been from both web visitors and readers of the book?

Keaggy: I get a lot of email from web visitors who just get such a kick out of reading the lists. They're just clicking through and before they realize it they've looked at 100 lists and have been laughing out loud the whole time -- frequently while at work! It's a great place to waste time and have some fun.

The book was released less than a week ago so it's hard to gauge the reception. Those who pre-ordered it on Amazon are just getting it but I have received several emails telling me that the book is laugh-out-loud funny. And I have to agree with them.

8. What have been some of the strangest things shopping lists have been written on?

Keaggy: An 18-inch-long piece of wood, the back of a bank deposit slip -- account number and all, the back of a completed California state income tax form, the back of municipal financial documents for a court case, on a photograph of a beach vacation, ...

9. Tell me a little about you- outside of this project.

Keaggy: I am a long-time project-maker -- a collector, maker and breaker of things. I did 'zines back in high school and college and graduated from Ohio University with a design- and photography-based visual communications degree. I am intrigued by beauty and absurdity in small things forgotten: My projects are about the life behind the things we leave behind. I was raised in northeast Ohio and now I live in St. Louis, Missouri with my wife Diane and my two children, Liam and Sorena.

10. Finally, what is on your current grocery list?

Keaggy: Well, we just went to the store yesterday, but these items are staples on our lists: Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, Pizza Rolls, spinach, tortillas, frozen mixed vegetables, bananas, organic milk, Pinot Noir, Pringles, diapers and stuff for sandwiches, delicious sandwiches.

For more information, visit MilkEggsVodka.com or GroceryLists.org.