OT: Gift Ideas?

[Mary]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

YAAAAS.
Sticking with my old faithful recommendation. I think I suggested this last year. Bought one for hubby. He had to ice his wrist when the smoke cleared. I’ve never seen such a happy bookworm in my life.
https://www.amazon.com/Personalized-.../dp/B0198VN6YI

Okay, back to serious conversation. Anita, did your hubby have any problems with this ripping pages? I mean, should this really be reserved for finer books printed on thicker paper or can I also use it on my Puffin Classics? Does it emboss cleanly on the first try? And does the embossing last or does it tend to flatten overtime?

I've been toying with getting an embosser for the past few years, but I totter between that and the trusty old Ex Libris stickers... I've had so many books walk away that I feel the need to do something. Then again, I'm not sure that an embossed seal will work any better than writing "Stolen from Mary" on the inside cover like I usually do.

[tanya]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

Oh, Mary! I can get rid of my bath germs, and you can borrow my books!

Tanya

[Mary]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

Oh, Mary! I can get rid of my bath germs, and you can borrow my books!

I was thinking you'd drag this to my house to disinfect all the books I've picked up on the subway. *ROFL*

[Mary]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

Maria - I have had great luck buying audiobooks secondhand from places like Half Price Books and Amazon. When Alibris has good coupon codes, I'll pick things up there, too. Often, you can get decent deals on new audiobooks if you combine the coupon savings with free shipping (used books/CDs don't qualify for this).

I also got my kids boomboxes on Amazon. Same style, different colors - each under $40. This is what we have. They're small enough to sit on a bookshelf, desk or dresser, they're portable and they've worked very nicely thus far.

If you open up a wishlist on Amazon, they'll alert you if any of your wishlist products go on sale. I keep a private wishlist just for this - it's full of books and CDs and, yes, the library set Tanya posted earlier. *praying for a Prime shipping Christmas miracle*

I really don't know much about all of the electronic contraptions and whizbangs because I'm just not comfortable with that stuff. It's a personal choice, not a judgment against others who use streaming devices and e-books and teleportation. One thing I do know is that Amazon Prime members get one free Kindle book download from a select list of books the first day of each month. The selection usually includes several adult books and at least one children's book (most of the kids' books are iffy, at best, but some of the adult selections have been surprisingly good). You get half off the cover price of these books if you purchase them in book form, too.

[RunnerJoy]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

Mary,
Is this the same item with Prime Shipping?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/16010...ID=91HIF3XnD7L

[Mary]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

Mary,
Is this the same item with Prime Shipping?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/16010...ID=91HIF3XnD7L

YES! And it's even CHEAPER than the one I have on my wishlist! *Runs off to order 20. Stops, sprints back to give Courtney a huge hug, and then runs back to Amazon*

***My apologies to Maria, as I have hijacked this post both directly and indirectly so many times...***

[Girlnumber20]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

YES! And it's even CHEAPER than the one I have on my wishlist! *Runs off to order 20. Stops, sprints back to give Courtney a huge hug, and then runs back to Amazon*

***My apologies to Maria, as I have hijacked this post both directly and indirectly so many times...***

Goodness, no apologies necessary! I love it- and I find you fun and funny.

[Girlnumber20]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

So I decided to go with the boombox idea, although I only got one, found for 22 dollars second hand on amazon! Sadly so many options are unavailable or prohibitively expensive on amazon in Canada. However. I did find the worlds most awesome gift for geeks. "Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit." Also "Winnie Ille Pu" because how can I pass that up when they are Canadian kids? I also noticed many Latin translation of classics including The Hobbit in Latin. But I shall save those until they are older. Fun! I know they won't be able to actually read them much yet, however, it is just going to be cool for them to have.

[Mary]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

So I decided to go with the boombox idea, although I only got one, found for 22 dollars second hand on amazon! Sadly so many options are unavailable or prohibitively expensive on amazon in Canada.

I keep forgetting you are in Canada! *smacks head* Maria, will you be at Sodalitas this year? If so, will you be driving? *Can you tell I'm hatching a plan here?* I have been known to send Canadian friends home with trunks full of books and CDs and clothes.

However. I did find the worlds most awesome gift for geeks. "Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit." Also "Winnie Ille Pu" because how can I pass that up when they are Canadian kids? I also noticed many Latin translation of classics including The Hobbit in Latin. But I shall save those until they are older. Fun! I know they won't be able to actually read them much yet, however, it is just going to be cool for them to have.

Winnie Ille Pu! Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus Christi Natalem Abrogaverit! We have those! As well as Cattus Petasatus, Arbor Alma,Ferdinandus Taurus, and Fabula de Petro Cuniculo! It is always fun for little ones to pick out words they know...and for big ones to translate. <3

[Girlnumber20]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

I keep forgetting you are in Canada! *smacks head* Maria, will you be at Sodalitas this year? If so, will you be driving? *Can you tell I'm hatching a plan here?* I have been known to send Canadian friends home with trunks full of books and CDs and clothes.

Yup, although I'm not quite full-fledged, former upstate New Yooahker here. I would love to come there. How cool would it be to meet you all in person? I would feel like I am meeting famous people though, and that would be scary. . Alas, finances will most likely not allow it. Unless I justify it by thinking of all the money I would save by smuggling Mary books back across the border. (I think I most definitely want Mary books. Even if they have been read in the tub.)

[Mary]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

Yup, although I'm not quite full-fledged, former upstate New Yooahker here. I would love to come there. How cool would it be to meet you all in person? I would feel like I am meeting famous people though, and that would be scary. . Alas, finances will most likely not allow it. Unless I justify it by thinking of all the money I would save by smuggling Mary books back across the border. (I think I most definitely want Mary books. Even if they have been read in the tub.)

Books Across the Border! The BAB program! I think we may be on to something here.

I can personally guarantee that none of my books have ever taken a bath with me. Or a shower. I'm kind of a prude like that - I'd prefer that my reading material not see me in my birthday suit.

Onto another topic entirely... You mentioned that you're from upstate NY, which brings to mind a funny story. When I was in grad school at NYU my roommate was from Buffalo. She and her (slightly obnoxious) New-York-native friends were so intrigued by me, a Midwesterner (my family lives in rural Indiana). They asked me questions like, "Does traffic ever get stopped by cows wandering in the road?", "Do most people in your town have indoor plumbing?" and "Did you go to a real school with classes or do they have schoolhouses there?" Sadly, they were serious. One winter day, I walked into my apartment and was met by my roommate, who flew over to me and asked, breathlessly, if my parents were okay. Confused, I said they were the last I'd talked to them. She said, "Oh, good. There was a bad snowstorm in Montana that dumped, like, 5 feet of snow and I thought they might have been part of it."
Choking back laughter, I asked if she slept through geography class in high school - how could she not know that Montana is light years away from Indiana? She got defensive and said that "all those states are basically the same, so it doesn't matter".

Whenever I meet someone from upstate NY, I think of my former roommate. And errant cows. *cracks up laughing*

[Anita]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

Books Across the Border! The BAB program! I think we may be on to something here.

I can personally guarantee that none of my books have ever taken a bath with me. Or a shower. I'm kind of a prude like that - I'd prefer that my reading material not see me in my birthday suit.

Onto another topic entirely... You mentioned that you're from upstate NY, which brings to mind a funny story. When I was in grad school at NYU my roommate was from Buffalo. She and her (slightly obnoxious) New-York-native friends were so intrigued by me, a Midwesterner (my family lives in rural Indiana). They asked me questions like, "Does traffic ever get stopped by cows wandering in the road?", "Do most people in your town have indoor plumbing?" and "Did you go to a real school with classes or do they have schoolhouses there?" Sadly, they were serious. One winter day, I walked into my apartment and was met by my roommate, who flew over to me and asked, breathlessly, if my parents were okay. Confused, I said they were the last I'd talked to them. She said, "Oh, good. There was a bad snowstorm in Montana that dumped, like, 5 feet of snow and I thought they might have been part of it."
Choking back laughter, I asked if she slept through geography class in high school - how could she not know that Montana is light years away from Indiana? She got defensive and said that "all those states are basically the same, so it doesn't matter".

Whenever I meet someone from upstate NY, I think of my former roommate. And errant cows. *cracks up laughing*

Somewhere Michael is blushing and pretending we didn’t discuss this. Again.
(Poor Michael.)

[Girlnumber20]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

That is funny. Well, geography can be a funny thing. Where I'm from it's all cows and tractors, and I've only been to Manhattan 3 or 4 times... NY is a big state, but I used to live in Virginia and everybody there thought that upstate NY meant northern Manhattan or something. They would give me blank stares when I tried to explain, NY, the state, not NY the city. I get the same thing up here. People think NY equals Big Apple. I think there is the misconception that New York, NY means that the city is so big it's a whole state. And my Canadian friends laugh because we Americans tend to think most, if not all Canadians make their own mukluks and live in igloos. I used to have no geography knowledge at all, and it is truly a narrow and dark place to be. One of the things I've loved with Memoria is getting a better sense of where things in the world are- what a huge blessing that has been, really eye-opening. <3

[Mary]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

That is funny. Well, geography can be a funny thing. Where I'm from it's all cows and tractors, and I've only been to Manhattan 3 or 4 times... NY is a big state, but I used to live in Virginia and everybody there thought that upstate NY meant northern Manhattan or something. They would give me blank stares when I tried to explain, NY, the state, not NY the city. I get the same thing up here. People think NY equals Big Apple. I think there is the misconception that New York, NY means that the city is so big it's a whole state. And my Canadian friends laugh because we Americans tend to think most, if not all Canadians make their own mukluks and live in igloos. I used to have no geography knowledge at all, and it is truly a narrow and dark place to be. One of the things I've loved with Memoria is getting a better sense of where things in the world are- what a huge blessing that has been, really eye-opening. <3

That's why I was so surprised about my roomie - I thought a lot of upstate NY was farmland/rural, much like IN. (Yes, I know that cities do exist, but New York State and New York City are about as opposite as places can get!) She acted as though everyone in Buffalo was jonesing to get to one of the 5 boroughs. It was just...odd.

As for Canada, we have some friends in Nova Scotia, Calgary, and Ottawa - three very different places...and none with mukluks. *cracks up laughing*

[Girlnumber20]

Re: OT: Gift Ideas?

That's why I was so surprised about my roomie - I thought a lot of upstate NY was farmland/rural, much like IN. (Yes, I know that cities do exist, but New York State and New York City are about as opposite as places can get!) She acted as though everyone in Buffalo was jonesing to get to one of the 5 boroughs. It was just...odd.

As for Canada, we have some friends in Nova Scotia, Calgary, and Ottawa - three very different places...and none with mukluks. *cracks up laughing*

Ironically, my dd really wants a pair of mukluks. They are beautiful, soft and warm, and ridiculously expensive. A highly prized item around these parts!