because I’m at a loss here!
okay, for starters. 19 year old male relative who hates “the man,” likes stupid and rude humor, reads nonfiction more than fiction, loves tim burton movies, and likes knowing about famous philosophers but not necessarily actually reading them?
Stiff by Mary Roach, pretty hilarious book about how cadavers donated to science are used.
That or a gun.
Excellent answers. How about 63 year old man, diabetic, doesn’t shave, doesn’t read, doesn’t watch DVDs, doesn’t listen to music, can’t operate a computer, likes sitting around in his pyjamas all day long watching crap on telly.
This is perhaps perfect.
Except, alas, it is not available this holiday season :(
New pyjamas?
This looks super-fun. I ordered it for my nephew, and would have ordered one for myself if my wife hadn’t stopped me (we’re pretty broke right now).
Ah, but not really for either of the two recipients mentioned above.
ooh thanks. he might like the conformity means death one.
The diabetic man might like a pipe and some nice tobacco. If I were in his situation all I would want to do is smoke, might want to make a fun hobby out of it w/pipe collecting and whatnot. Then every year you could get him a new pipe for Christmas. Problem solved.
You could also get him some kind of deluxe cupholder.
Holy shit I would have died for a Frigit Deluxe as a kid.
A cool anatomy man model might also be nice for yr recipient, Maria?
Sticker Nation book?
63 year old diabetic man might like this :
19 year old boy might like:
http://www.megacitycomics.co.uk/acatalog/Tim_Burton_tshirts.html
66 year old woman on strict low-cholesterol diet, allergic to all known fragrances, doesn’t like ornaments, doesn’t wear jewellery—any suggestions?
A nice hand-woven arty shawl or scarf? The museum shops here always have reproductions of pretty old patterns.
Otherwise, cashmere kneesocks, a needle-pointed throw pillow, minor homey things that are useful and sort of rustic/handworked that allow a little luxury into the life of someone who can’t splurge on food or scents.
Does 66 year old woman have any hobbies? Gardening? Bird watching? Reading? Crosswords?
Oooh, good idea—now if only I lived near a museum ;-)
(although I vaguely remember her complaining that she doesn’t like wearing scarves. Oh, well. Maybe I’ll just get her a Nintendo DS instead)
(xxpost—she already has a *huge* pile of unread books from previous birthdays, christmases, etc etc)
foot massager
You could do a search on the web for low-cholesterol recipes, print them out and put them in a pretty binder for her. It’d be very inexpensive to do, but she might be touched that you had spent so much time creating something with her in mind.
I’m still stuck on textile gifts, FP, mostly because in my mind the woman in question is a bustling little bird in a flat/cottage somewhere and needs to keep warm/feel lovely and loveable still. A cardigan sweater in a rich color with intricate metal buckles on the front?
XP: DUH, order online from the museums.
If you don’t live near a museum, the Past Times website has nice stuff you can order from online.
A cardigan sweater in a rich color with intricate metal buckles on the front?
this is totally appealing to me. ohnoes.
Or maybe make up a gift basket with a new teapot, teacup and saucer, and some different types of teas to try. I think Whittards do a selection pack of various sorts.
The diabetic man might like a pipe and some nice tobacco.
I forgot to mention he only has one functioning lung. Useless old duffer.
Handheld Deal or no Deal seems a great idea.
Secret Santa gift for £5—recipient and sex unknown—must be fun but not too saucy.
box of condoms
Have you got a Hawkins Bazaar near you? They have all sorts of cheap(ish) things suitable for a Secret Santa. For example, there’s this :
http://www.hawkin.com/rkmain.asp?PAGEID=20670&STK_PROD_CODE=09229&CTL_CAT_CODE=2047
or
http://www.hawkin.com/rkmain.asp?PAGEID=20670&STK_PROD_CODE=09228&CTL_CAT_CODE=2056
Secret Santa gifts I saw which were quite successful in previous years were things like a Pop-Up Pirate game or the travel version of Guess Who. If you have a Poundland near you, they often have their own generic version of those sorts of games (for only a quid).
A coffee mug with coffee sample and some biscotti biscuits would be a nice either-sex gift for about a fiver too. And you can get nice mini boxed Panettone cakes for 99p each in Tesco.
Man, your diabetic guy sounds like a potentially hilarious wet blanket. Maybe you could get him a second functioning lung for Christmas, or an iron lung that could smoke a pipe for him.
accentmonkey is killing me roffly.
19 year old male relative who hates “the man,” likes stupid and rude humor, reads nonfiction more than fiction, loves tim burton movies, and likes knowing about famous philosophers but not necessarily actually reading them?