It’s time for Thursday’s meme-fest!
First, the Thursday Threesome:
Onesome: Google’s: Did the net help you find gifts this Christmas? …not just buying things over the net, but actually finding gifts for people. At least a few people are getting gifts via Amazon, in some cases browsed for there. We did a lot less catalog and web shopping this year than last, largely because (a) we were slugs, and (b) we were able to do a lot of stuff at WDW.
Twosome: Christmas: Got your two front teeth? What is your “wish gift” this Christmas? No, not the one you’re hoping to get, but the one you’d love to wish for! Hmmm. How about, “Honey, your Z3 is in the driveway, and you can drive it home back to Colorado.”
Threesome: Cache: Hiding the gifts again? Where are your favorite spots? Shh… Don’t tell us the one they haven’t found yet! Maybe you’d be better off telling us of “great hiding places from the past”… Oh, I’ve been clever as clever in the past, but now I simply use the top of my closet cabinets — it’s out of sight, not someplace that Margie goes into too often, and she knows about it, so she doesn’t pry. If it’s something that doesn’t fit there, I’ve been known to use my car trunk or my office, or a secret cache that I probably shouldn’t mention. Not sure what we’ll do about hiding things from Kitten, though.
And then there’s 3xThursday:
1. Have you ever regretted buying something for someone at Christmas? If you did, why? Probably, but I can’t think of any specific examples. I mean, there have been minor regrets, like, “Damn, I wish I’d known he already had one of those,” or, “Oh, I wish I’d known she didn’t like that color.” Occasional, “I wish I’d known they were going to spend that much on a gift for us before we cheaped out on them.” But I’m trying to think of a serious gaffe or gift regret and I’m failing. (If there was, I’m sure Margie will remember it.)
2. If you could re-do anything in your life and you can only pick one thing…what would it be? I would go back and marry Margie. Again. And enjoy it even more.
3. What is the one thing in relationships of the opposite sex that is most important? I’m assuming this means relationships with the opposite sex (and I’ll assume we’re talking from the perspective of a heterosexual, since that can change the equation a great deal). Actually, after all that, the answer is, “Hell if I know.” I mean, in many ways, it’s the same as other relationships — think outside your head, don’t assume, communicate more than you think you need to, be considerate, expect consideration, follow the Golden Rule. Gender (and sexuality) do change the equation, but only, as I think about it, in less important (but interesting) ways.
And last (but by no means least), it’s the Thursday Thumb-Twiddler.
1. Christmas cards — how many do you send out? Is there an obligation to reciprocate if you receive one? How do you display the ones you receive, assuming you display them at all? We did about 65 this year — but we skipped over some groups because we’d passed out Twelfth Night invites to them already, and we just ran out of card-writing steam. I’m much more diligent about replying to cards I receive than taking folks off the list because we didn’t receive one. The cards we get usually go up on the mantle, some time before the Twelfth Night party (usually as we receive them, but right now they are in a big stack on the breakfast room table).
2. If money were no object, would you hire a personal shopper to do your
Christmas shopping for you? Nope. I enjoy finding gifts for most people. I get great joy and validation over someone oohing and aahing over a gift I’ve given them.
3. As a late night talk show host, you need to book a guest for your December 23rd show who is highly relevant to the Christmas season. Whom would you choose? (The person does not have to be famous.) I think I would book my immediate family, to talk about how we celebrate Christmas, what sort of Christmas memories we have, and so forth. Either that, or Peter Jackson (since, for at least this three year stretch, LotR is highly relevant to my Christmas season).