Granting Wishes

With Christmas just around the corner, and my rather successful luncheon out of the way, it's time to think about that annual tradition of the 'Kriss Kringle'. Despitethe fact I really despise this time fo the year for it's blatant consumerism, my lack of religious affiliation and simply because I'm a lazy, lazy person, there are occasions when I'm capable of partaking in the whole gift giving affair (it's usually with lots of kicking and screaming and a loud "Do I have to?").

The hardest part about giving people gifts is the guessing what it is they would really like. Often times I've been known to buy something I think I might like hoping the recipient has similar interests and tastes. That's where wish lists come in the handiest. And it's online superstores like Amazon.com we have to thank for bringing these things into the forefront of the gift giving community.

What is a wish list? Well, it's a list of things you wish you could have. How simple! While you're browsing around the internet and you see things you really want, but can't yet afford, you add them to your wish list, which you can email to your family and close friends and then sit back and hope that they get the hint. These lists, however, are somewhat of the largely expensive and commercial variety, requiring you to part with medium to large sums of money depending on the gift.

The origin of the wish list is really quite easy to trace. Remember when you were a kid and you wrote letters to Santa with pages and pages of things you wanted dropped under the Christmas tree? In the same tradition of the Santa Letter, you don't always get what you want, but it doesn't mean you can't put what you didn't get this year on the list for next year. ANd you can use that list for ALL occasions requiring a present: birthdays, Easter (cuz diamand earrings make you look better than the hip expanding chocolate you'd normally get), weddings, random celebration. They are so versatile.

Back to the whole 'Kriss Kringle' affair I was mentioning earlier. Thanks to wish lists and blogging, the whole Christmas present exchange program has been made simpler. All you need to do is trowl through your friends blogs and see what's on their Christmas wish list, pick something you know you can provide and go about getting it! It's the best way to buy gifts, because it's something they want, and you don't have to hurt your brain trying to think of something they're probably not going to like.

So, go out there and start scrounging through wish lists to find the 'perfect' gift for your friends. If all else fails, you can always make them a mix tape of 'I wasn't sure what to get you for Christmas/your birthday/random celebration' songs.