Christmas gifts
I remember having a hard time getting used to Junior High School after K - 6 in the stimulating environment of Lincoln Elementary. Listening to the music of 1979 (REO Speedwagon, Air Supply, Supertramp, My Sharona, the first album by The Police) can tie my intestines in a noose, just like yesterday. I auditioned for a part in a play in those dark days and ended up making a good friend, and because this all happened so long ago I will call this friend B.C. Now B.C. writes asking for help. And I am going to make an appeal directly to you, the readers of Long Burn, on his behalf. The question is perennial: What makes a good gift?The absolute best Christmas gift of all time came along at about that time from my older brother Lowell: a soldering iron. How did he know I wanted one? I didn't even know it myself until I thought of the possibilities: burning patterns in wood and leather, building circuits, the refreshing smell of solder rosin. I bought some circuit kits from Radio Shack and made a little device with LED lamps that went up and down according to the volume of music in different bands. I took apart the family telephone and figured out how to run an extension line to my room in the basement. I hand-wired a mail-order-surplus keyboard into my Timex ZX-80 computer, and put together a mail-order robot (The robot had about 10 pounds of batteries and you could press contact switches to make it go forward or backward or turn). I even soldered together some sculptures out of copper wire: a globe and a bonsai tree.
Just so you know, here is this year's Christmas list (short version):
High quality prints of scientific motifs that are artistic, e.g. clouds of Jupiter or a single cell or highly magnified grains of pollen or a fly's eye
Bob Dylan in the 60s
David Bowie in the 70s
The Oxford English Dictionary (CD or paper)
Good books
So, its no longer 1979 and all those circuits I built when I was a PhD student took some of the adventure out of soldering irons and so the question remains-- what makes a good Christmas gift? What is the best gift you have received? Have any great gift ideas?? Please post a comment!
posted by Matt_J @ 9:18 AM
12 Comments:
here are some things I would like to get or to give:
tickets to movie, or a play, or music
membership at a good museum (MN History or MN Science or MIA)
gift cert. for shiatsu massage
something I need but am to cheap to buy (a nice outfiit, some warm boots, etc.)
overnight childcare, so Tim and I can escape for a while
Childcare is a great gift idea.
Good gift ideas:
Custom T-shirt or sweatshirt:
create an image such as a detailed map of a place important to the person and put it on a t-shirt or sweat shirt. There simply aren't enough t-shirts with maps on them.
custom beer (there is a place in town where you brew your own beer, make up your own label and bottle it yourself and then take home a case of it.)
This CD:
http://music.for-robots.com/archives/000977.html
makita cordless drill
graphic novel Black Hole (http://tinyurl.com/du3cj)
anything made out of polar-fleece
smart wool socks
bad gift ideas:
batteries
black and white film
make-up
AOL disks
scale
Makita! Makita!
Kate I know exactly what you mean. I just think of all the money I have saved through the years by using razor blades socks boxer shorts and tubes of toothpaste decades past their expected lifetime, and wonder what I could possibly be wasting all that money on because it sure isn't in my bank account.
Gift ideas, shooting from the hip:
Encyclopaedia Brittanica DVD-- you can look up anything. Great for ages 8 and up.
Swiss Army Knife with USB connector
A cookbook, like Japanese or Czech or French or a coffee table book about wines and grapes
Kits or plans for making your own canoe/deck swing/grandfather clock
Nautical instrumentation: Polished brass barometer, hygrometer, thermometer and chronometer mounted in oak or walnut
Air Hockey
USB lava lamp or cup warmer(http://www.paramountzone.com/)
Home weather station with PC interface
Bat house kits
tiny screwdriver set
dremel kit
gadgets:
can't go wrong with an IPOD
GPS unit
scanner
for the winter bicyclist:
winterized bike shoes
studded tires
balaclava
ski goggles
two fingered gloves
gore-tex pants
finally: Life magazines from the 1950's available at Midway books
yup home weather station for PC is a great idea. wireless video camera would be cool too.
I would gladly give my wisdom teeth for some Life magazines from the 50s or nearby decades, if someone hadn't already been paid years ago to take them out.
B. C. I highly recommend a set of these for the boys:
http://search.ebay.com/cuisenaire_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8
(Or you could make some in your shop)
OK... those abbreviations aren't fooling anyone... at least someone who was also in that aforementioned play!
I went with a huge domino set so the boys could make cool domino set-ups in the playroom and finally got suckered into the GameCube and the Mario games. As for the hubby, 2 cameras from Japan fit the bill.
for the family of the winter bicyclist:
life insurance and disability insurance on the bicyclist, please
Does Senior Kate wear a helmet? You could get him studded bike tires.
Dang. My identity has been uncovered. Now Janie_k will be able to guess what I was going to give her. Fine. Never mind. Maybe next year.
While I'm posting, here's some of my favorite ideas I found around the internet.
These are cool, but I don't think you can buy them.
This is included just in case there really is a santa.
Old-school Pointy things are cool.
I got one of these once. I love it, but I can't play it.
Michael Burke makes really nice pennywhistles that I can kind of play.
A helmet won't pay the mortgage when the biker crashes and gets two broken legs.
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