【推荐1】I started collecting shopping lists around 1997. One day, I was shopping for my daughter’s birthday party in St Louis, Missouri, where we lived. After leaving the store, I came across a yellow note in the parking lot. I picked it up and it was somebody’s shopping list. I thought, “That’s interesting. Well, whenever I see one, I will keep it.”

People collect all sorts of things you would never expect. It’s as if all these separate, unimportant things, when put together as a collection, suddenly become revealing. The first list I found was nothing special. But after you see a lot of them, the weird ones stick out. One I found is a long list of stuff and then, in the margin (空白处), someone had written: “If you buy any more rice, I’ll punch you.” Another one says at the bottom: “NO MORE CHIPS, JESSICA”.

The shopping list project started slowly. At first, it was just me and people I knew who would save lists for me. Then, at the beginning of the 2000s, I put it online. At that point, blogs were going mainstream. I had people messaging me, saying, “I work at a grocery store and have my own little collection, but I am not going to do anything with them. Do you want them?”

So I started receiving lists from everywhere in the world. It seemed there was a never-ending supply. At first, I kept my lists in an envelope. Then, as the collection grew, they went to a grocery bag, a cardboard box and finally a large plastic storage bin.

In 2012, I was approached by a publisher who wanted to turn my collection into a book. Then I started going through all my lists, figuring out ways to categorize and interpret them. Lists can tell you all sorts of things about a person. Some of them are organized and divide lists into sections—fruit, vegetables, dairy. Most of them are not. Some are on a budget.

The project is continuing, but it grows more slowly now. People can’t help peeking into the secret lives of others, but technology has made shopping lists more private. Most people use apps, like I do. I guess there might not be another book.

【推荐2】Since my retirement (退休) from teaching music in 2001, I have spent a good deal of time painting as an artist. I actually began drawing again in the summer of 1995 when my father died, so perhaps I was trying to recover from the loss of my father, or maybe it was just that it brought back memories of him. In any case, I drew pen and ink animals and landscapes (风景画) much influenced by Krenkel and St. John for five years.

For some strange reason, I had been waiting until my retirement to start doing watercolours again, but as soon as I walked out of the school door for the last time I picked up my brushes and rediscovered Andrew Wyeth, who quickly became my favourite artist. I had looked through all the art books I had on my shelves and found his watercolours to be the closest to how I thought good watercolours should look. So I painted landscapes around Minnesota for three years and tried out many other types of painting. However, watercolours remained my first choice, and I think I did my best work there, showing my paintings at a number of art exhibitions.

Art is now together with my piano playing and reading. There is a time for everything in my world, and it is wonderful to have some time doing what I want to do. As Confucius once said, “At seventy I can follow my heart’s desire.”

【推荐3】Ask fishermen why they fish and you will get a variety of answers. The book and movie A River Runs Through It tried to answer that question.    1    

What are mine? Like most fishermen, I love the peace and quietness of most trips.Imagine the still water at your feet, not a ripple(涟漪)on it.    2    And everything around you looks soft. A splash(飞溅的水) breaks the calm, letting you know there is a fish feeding there.You are totally alone with your thoughts, almost as if you were floating in an isolation（隔离）tank.

    3    .Trying to make a fish think your lure(诱饵) is its food is not easy. Figuring out where the fish is and why it is there is another part of the challenge. And learning enough about them to consistently catch fish is a challenge most of s don't overcome.

The pull of the fish you hook and the efforts to land it without losing it are part of the fun. Struggling with a fish on a rod and reel is very interesting. Good fresh food is another reason why many people go fishing. Getting your own food is another basic need that fishing provides.

Competition has become a big part of fishing. I like it, where a group of people go out and try to catch fish.    4    .It is nice when you win, but you try to listen and learn from the winner when you are not on top.

For many years, I had an irresistible desire to go fishing. I could not wait to get to the waterside and try to show my skills against those fish. I was not happy except when fishing.    5    .However, that strong urge is no longer there. Sometimes I miss it.