Me, I Want A Hula Hoop

Unlike my more organized co-workers, friends, and family, I haven't yet finished my Christmas shopping. In fact, I've barely started. I'd much rather be doing something else, anything else!, as opposed to shopping. In an attempt to forestall some anticipated anguish, I googled "Top Ten Christmas Gifts" to get some ideas. I ran across this list from squidoo, which seems to consist of 4 gaming systems, 2 video games, 2 fancy cameras, and 2 fake pets: a hamster named Mr. Squiggles and a dinosaur from Pleo. I must confess, the dinosaur, which uses AI among other technologies in order to "develop," gives me a small case of the heebie-jeebies! According to Amazon, "this amazing robotic marvel not only moves organically, explores its environment on its own, and interacts with you, but it also expresses emotions based on its life experiences." For some reason, I have a vision of little Dino walking in on me in the bathroom and being scarred for life. Be sure to check him out and let me know what you think!

Techy presents not being in my budget, I usually let my librarian roots come to the forefront when I give presents. Many a family member has received a shiny new book over the years. Amazon has a veritable slew of top book lists from which to choose: teens, people's choice, mysteries, etc... One of these is bound to have a book I can gift! History's top pick is The Lost City of Z, which details a failed expedition for El Dorado. Actually, I might have to read that one first myself. Mom? Dad? Are you reading this?

Really, for me, a lot of silliness is the only way to get through the pre-Christmas rush. If you'd like to join in on the glee, why not take a gander at some of these humorous holiday sites? There's one devoted to ugly Christmas sweaters, one to those who go overboard decorating, and this one is a compilation of bad gift ideas. My favorite gag gift? Why, the gift of nothing, of course!

And look! I still have six more shopping days! Plenty of time.