Gifty Thoughts

It's really weird to me that there are so many bath-stuff gift sets.

 The reason is, they're both highly personal and bizarrely impersonal.  They say, "Here; I've given you something that I expect you will rub all over your body while naked."  They also say, "Here; I couldn't think of anything unique but this bag of stuff from Ross was in a color you like.  You like that color, right?"

It's not that I mind them -- I got this mandarin orange set from one of the adults who attended my high school graduation party which I loved -- it's just that I feel skeevy if I give them to other people.

Reflecting upon this topic, I have created a treasury:  The "I Barely Know You" Gift Guide.  It was fun.

This would be the point where, if I was good at marketing, I remarked upon the appropriateness of jewelry gifts -- but frankly my stuff is a lot better for those whose interests and favorite colors you're clear on.  It's just often rather specific in audience and rarely simple.  This may not be a good thing in this case.

Semi-relatedly, I'm now experimentally offering a Stocking Stuffer Pack of like five to eight bracelets in different colors.  Will this be semi-useful to people?  They're all nice glass, individually hand-beaded, adjustable and all, and mostly hypoallergenic, so they seem kinda perfect for it ...


Completely unrelatedly, my right index finger hurts.  It's bruised.  For the first few hours I just couldn't feel it.  Monday night, I spent three wearing but incredibly satisfying hours hacking day-old French bread into half-inch cubes for stuffing/dressing in the basement of Riverside's First Congregational Church.  I have decided that the most charitable thing a private individual can do to help feed the homeless, bar actually putting in some time and labor, is to gift their nearest church kitchen with a.) an industrial-grade food processor or b.) a set of actually sharp knives.  Alternately, send a donation to Project Food. 

But it was good.  I was joining K, the lecturer I tutor for.  I'd forgotten, since I gave up on church as a concept, how enjoyable church-basement work is.  They are very fine people, and I got barely a raised eyebrow when I mentioned Megan, which disposes me well toward them.  They have a big lovely basement kitchen with stainless steel and butcher block and wrought-iron barred windows up at street level.  And I had sweet sticky coffee and a roast beef sandwich and we got a lot done.


Anyhow.  By virtue of date alone, this is also the place to remind people that I do an annual Black Friday/Thanksgiving Weekend sale.  This year I'm offering free shipping in the U.S.!  Convo for discounts if ordering from another country.