Wish List

I'm usually very indecisive when it comes to asking for gifts, mostly because I think this kind of behavior is reserved generaly for people under the age of fifteen.

But this year, I feel differently. Mostly because I'm pretty broke right now, and as it happens when I have no money, I feel the need to Buy Everything, Right Now.

Instead, I'm going to make a list of Stuff I Want For My Birthday. Now, I don't want people to get all huffy about this, the way they did on Michelle Au's blog
when she added a link on her blog to an amazon.com book list for her infant son, Cal.

Wow. Talk about backlash.

She then had to explain to outraged and miffed readers (patiently and graciously, I thought, given the fact that one doesn't really owe complete strangers explanations about your blogging activities) that you know, she wasn't soliciting gifts from strangers, thank you very much, but rather intended the link for those good friends and family who read her blog too.

Beware, gentle readers, for the power of the blog to divide and conquer is great.

But back to Selfish Me.

Year after year people have asked, "What do you want for Christmas/your birthday?" and I've been too brain-dead or modest. to give a proper answer.

This year, I've decided to be selfish. I want stuff, namely yarn and books. Gift certificates from amazon.com, knitpicks.com, and patternworks.com will do nicely. And I want a new stethoscope, even though I don't really need one, and have grown fond of my Littman Classic II with teal tubing. I want the Littman Cardiology III, the bad boy of stethoscopes, in my opinion, even though I couldn't distinguish a grade I from a grade II murmur if you threatened me with going back to my old unit.

I don't really need it, though, so I'll probably wait until Christmas time for that, because they are quite expensive, stethoscopes. And like I said, there's some weird relationship you develop with your stethoscope; it's kind of like a talisman of sorts. You never quite feel the same using someone else's stethoscope. I know this sounds cultish and bizarre, but I assure you it's true.

Any way. Must rummage through cupboards for dinner. I didn't have an appetite for an entire year, and I"m not sure what to do with the one I have no, except to feed it.