Apparently I'm hard to shop for. I've been told this, and I have to believe it because sometimes I receive weird things. And my Amazon wish list is out of date, and although this should be easy to resolve it's now involving phone calls to the company. (Note: if you forget your password and all of your previous billing information, it's a problem proving you're you) So mostly for the benefit of Cynthia and not that I actually want anything, here's my short wish list for this Yule.

Cheap:
1) Demerara (sp) sugar, 1/2 lb
2) Possibly something you made. Have good intentions.
3) Groovy bookmark
4) Mix CD

Medium:
1) Finding Serenity : Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly (Paperback) by Jane Espenson, Glenn Yeffeth
2) Mennonite cookbook "More with Less" from 10,000 villages
3) compact fluorescent light bulbs
4) Foster Parents Plan, gifts of Hope: Birth registration for one child $15.00

High:
1) Family Guy Vol 4
2) Stained glass books or material supplies
3) World Wildlife Adoption: polar bear, tiger, ocean, sea turtle, orca or arctic
4) Foster Parents Plan, gifts of Hope: Literacy training for two women $65.00

If you win the lotto:
1) some sort of rechargable palm pilot thingy. Hate batteries.
2) nice set of Foo Dogs, larger than 10 cm high but no taller than 30 cm, unpainted, preferable resin compress.
3) Foster Parents Plan, gifts of hope: Recreational kits for a school $250.00 – Sierra Leone.
4) Foster Parents Plan, gifts of hope: Vocational training $250.00 – Bolivia.

WWF: http://www.wwf.org/
Foster Parents Gifts of Hope:
https://secure1.fosterparentsplan.ca/eDonations/GiftsOfHope.aspx?Search=ShowFeatured

If I win the lotto I'll go for the clinic rehabilitation and give you the Karmic brownie points, which you can trade in for valuable crimes. And if you're shopping for someone else please consider giving a book. They're easy to wrap and are something people can open again and again. If you've got any fantasy/speculative fiction/ Canadiana fans on your list, consider buying a copy of Mythspring, available at Indigo or Bakka or oodles other stores. An anthology of Canadian weirdness by some of the best authors ever (and me), it retails for $26.00 or less depending on the special the store might be having.

One thing I'm going to miss this season is poinsettas. One of my favorite plants it gives me joy to see, but with Ripley'tendencycy to chase and play with plastic flowers having inviting actual toxic plants doesn't seem like a healthy idea. Sigh.