wish list...

Every christmas I have the same problem. It's not a big problem, it's not a problem at all for most people on this planet. It's, if anything, a rich man's problem.

There isn't really anything I want for christmas.

If I want something during the year, I'll buy it. So at christmas I have to think about all these things I have thought of buying, but never did, because I prioritized some other thing. The result is that I always, for christmas, get the "junk" I've pretty much already discarded.

I understand my family's reaction every christmas when I tell them that I don't know what I want, or I don't want anything. They, then, have to go store to store searching for something suitable to give me. Which is a real pain at christmas with seventy eleven customers in each store.

This christmas I've made a list of "junk" that I really don't need, but would be happy to get.

- Books about ancient Rome
- A backgammon board
- A Trivial Persuit board
- A thin cotton sweater
- A FM dial transmitter for my MP3 player or computer
- Some black socks.

This is actually the first "wish list" since I was a kid. Fun. Silly. Fun.