270 - Olives to Scale

"Plain flour" and "Yeast". I thought I was onto it. Really, I did. I thought it was some kind of pie. Especially as "Scale" features somewhere further down the list, perhaps a single weighing scale to measure out the ingredients for the aforementioned pie.

But perhaps not. Indeed, I've never come across a garlic and olive pie, and nor do I particularly want to.

Part of me thinks the secret to this list lies in the right-aligned item, but I can't decipher it. "2 pin frankfurther" perhaps? "2 pin lighter"?

I really haven't got a clue, but some anonymous commenters do. They've worked out that it's actually a "2 pin adapter". That certainly makes more sense than my own suggestions, but still doesn't help with the confusion around the pie. Oh well!

269 - Face It!

Those of you who have trawled through the rest of the Compendium will have found that there are certain things that I really like about some shopping lists.

I like people who cateogrise their shop. I like people who write people's names. And I really like people who leave very personal insights. This is one such list.

The listed items themselves are really by-the-by. It's the phone number and address that's the best. Now, normally I'd blank stuff like that out, but this is the phone number and address for a business. And not just any business, but a beautician. And not just any old beautician, but a beautician in North London, about 15 miles away from where I found the list!

A particularly interesting thing about 17 Highgate High Street is that it's got quite a history. Between 1854-5 it was the offices of Hornsey local council's highway board, and went through a number of changes (including being a kebab shop in the mid-1980s) before Face It! took the place over. And they seem to be doign a good job - one website says:

I recently tried this beauty salon in Highgate. The service and attention by the
therapist was first class.The booking system is very efficient and they sell a
huge range of goods which make great presents (not just beauty products). I
would recommend anyone to try them out.

Go on, book yourself a facial and tell them where you found out about them. I bet they don't believe you.

268 - £200 For All That?

£200 for all that? Well, perhaps not. The fact that "£200 out" is at the end of the list leads me to an interesting conclusion. Namely, that this is £200 to be withdrawn at the end of the shoppign trip, perhaps through the medium of Cash Back.

I like cashback. It's like the supermarket is paying you shopping with them. Until you look at your bank statement, of course. The big problem with the cashback theory, though, is that the order of the other items on the list is not logical.

To be fair, the shopper has at least grouped items in general categories, but I can assure you that this is Not The Order Of The Store I Found The List At. Therefore either this person is clearly insane (and wrote this list for another store and dropped it at the one I found it at), or my theory is wrong.

Oh well.

267 - Light Lunch and Fags

The most intriguing thing about this list is not its content. Oh no. In fact, it's not particularly interesting at all. Quite mundane, in fact. I mean, it just looks like a few snacks for a light lunch.

However, I think it's quite interesting that the shopper has made ingenious use of a discarded cigarette packet to write their list on. It's even better that they've crossed out "LENTILS".

Healthy stuff? Nah, I'll stick to my fags.

This Is A Knife

Blimey.

I've just discovered that the cult web-video-podcastish comedy thing featured the Compendium in one of their shows. Check it out at This Is A Knife (the Compendium was the opening item on Tuesday 24th January).

266 - A Delayed Christmas

I'm still scratching my head over how on earth this list was still in a trolley nearly a month and a half after Christmas. I guess there's two options.

One is that the list actually went undiscovered in a trolley for 6 weeks as a result of being stacked hundreds deep in the trolley park.

The second option is that the list is actually a new one, and the shopper is simply doing Christmas a tad bit late. Quite how they'd hope to get a large "christmas pudding", "mince pies" or "Christmas crackers" in February is beyond me though. Similarly why get gifts for "ACH + GTH (M&S clothes)" in February?

Perhaps ACH + GTH have been away for a few months and they're hoping to celebrate Christmas now they're back. Or maybe the shopper is living in some kind of weird dimension, a bit like the man who celebrates Christmas everyday.

265 - Tidel Wave

I can't help but spot the link between what appears to read "Tidel Rolls" and "Water" on this list. It's a shame, therefore, that I think the rolls are actually "Tiolet Rolls". Either way, they're clearly misspelt.

The juxtaposition of the vague "Tins of Dog Food" with the specific "Pedigree Chum" is also an item of note.

Why the list is divided into two columns - each written in a different colour of pen - is beyond me. Perhaps the colour indicates family/personal use?

264 - Capital Irregularity

The first list I found when getting back into collecting, rather than eating from, lists was this one.

It's rare to find a list written predominantly in capital letters, and this one almost holds the award for being The List Completely Written In Capital Letters, but sadly it fails about half-way down (before then regaining its stride).

Is there any signifiance of the lower case "Sweets" or "Comfort". Perhaps the significance is actually that these items are _not_ significant, whereas items in capital letters are. But in that case, what does the crossing out mean, if not that something is insignificant?

Clearly this list presents us with a serious cognitive challenge.

Back to Normality?

Well, it's been a funn few weeks with all the media attention on the Compendium, but it's looking like things are slowly drifting back to normal. I'm on a halft-erm break from where I teach now, but much of my time is being taken up with packing boxes - we're moving house.

However, I'm also hoping to get some lists on the Compendium as soon as possible. Watch this space...

Londonist

Local news is great, and there's one particularly good website to catch up on all the cool stuff that happens in London. It's called Londonist and today they published an interview with me, having already done a story on the Compendium in which I'm referred to as a "lovable loon". Cool, eh?