J. Day Countdown, Day 9: Gift Ideas

Today's Birthday Related Quote:

"I thought she'd deserve no less than she'd give
Well happy birthday, her blood's on my hands
It's kind of a shame...'cause I did like that dress."
- Tori Amos
"Yes Anastasia"

And now today's message:

There are only 9 shopping days left until J Day 2007, dear friends, and naturally, that's got a lot of you losing sleep and tearing your hair out at the roots. You're frothing at the mouth and chomping at the bit, because you know what this day means. You know that I rate and reward my friends based on their birthday gift-related creativity and thoughtfulness. You realize that there's more riding on this than a simple "thank you so much, I really enjoyed the pot holders." Simply put, you know it's not the kind of thing you should wait until the last minute to take care of. No, you're smarter than that. You want to get your gift shopping done NOW...And what better way to get started than by taking a look at my Amazon.Com Wishlist?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=wlem-si-html_viewall/102-4174781-3496950?id=PZLU86FQNBGS

Among the items you'll find here are Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man (DVD) and The Book of Longing (poetry collection).

As you might have guessed, I've become more interested in poetry during the last few months, thanks in no small part to Dr.Schock's course on Romanticism. It's funny. I was sitting in his office one day and the subject turned to contemporary poets. I mentioned Leonard Cohen - whom, by the way, wrote the "Hallelujah" song I've left on so many of your answering machines -and Schock suddenly turned really serious and said, "Oh yeah. He's great, isn't he?"

"Yeah," I said. "I love him."

"Yeah."

And then there was this weird little pause where we both sat in silence, quietly admiring the greatness of Leonard Cohen. You have to love moments like that.

My new interest in poetry also fuels my desire to own both the Outlaw Bible of American Poetry and the Outlaw Bible of American Essays.

I already have the Outlaw Bible of American Literature (best bathroom reading material ever), so I figure I should just go ahead and complete the set.

There are several other items on my Wish List, some of which I'll go into greater detail about in the days ahead. But for now, this should give you a good starting point.

And, lest you forget, the item I want more than anything in the world is a Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball machine. (I realize that might cost a little bit more than most of you are looking to spend on little ole me for my birthday, but, I wanted to toss it out there just in case.)

Thanks for reading, everyone. 9 days and counting...