So I am curious. What are the very best thing you have ever got for Xmas and what are the very worst things you have gotten? Also, what are the best things you have ever given? And the worst? Me, X-masses have been very low key, so I don't have real highs or lows. I once got an old, used electric shaver from my grandfather. It was not cleaned out and the blades were rusty. Best? Mostly as a kid when I got Legos. Best given, home cooked food and cookies to friends. Worst; nothing. I mean I didn't give out of spite.
Received: Best - off the top of my head, the Mrs. giving me a free airline ticket w/ her FF Miles when we were dating. This allowed us to go skiing together, and saved me an assload of $$! Worst - when I was like 7 or 8, some of my mom's more distant relatives gave my twin brother and I matching baseball gloves. Both right-handed. I'm a lefty. My dad wouldn't let me exchange it, so my bro got both. Either that, or a year later when the same clueless relative got both of us size 16 button-down white dress shirts. I think I might've actually grown into mine 5 years later, and worn it once or twice. Given: Best - My dad is pretty hard to buy for. Doesn't care about clothes, has all the tools he'll ever need, buys his own hobby stuff all the time. Doesn't like providing lists of ideas...wants us to "use your imaginations". One year I found a walking stick at the Nature store, Man-made, but shaped like a natural stick. Leather wrist strap, compass built into the top, adjustable tip (metal or rubber). He LOVED it! Used that as an example of why he didn't need to give out gift ideas for at least 2-3 years. Everyone else hated me for giving him that gift! Worst - first Christmas while dating the Mrs. I got her this silver pendant w/ lots of rhinestones. I thought it was a cool design. It turned out to be exactly what she considers "hideous". She wore it that night out of courtesy, and then never again.
(totally stealing the format from Nautica) Received: Best - Conan The Barbarian on Beta. Worst - Nothing stands out. Maybe generic clothes. Given: Best - I'm a terrible gift giver. I always have a hard time picking out gifts, especially for GF's. But one year I gave a small diamond pendent to my (then) wife. Besides her engagement/wedding set, that was the only piece of jewelry she ever wore. Worst - A collection of various bath soaps in a decorative tin. Tens years later, I still catch hell for that one...
Best Recieved: Tie: Lightening my Arabian and my 270. Best Given: Can't really think of anything from past years, but I'm pretty pumped about my idea to give my Dad a couple hours of introductory flying lessons. We're not exchanging till I get back, but still counts as Xmas! Can't really think of any worst.
Received: Best - Major Matt Mason toys when I was a kid. My beloved barn coat from LL Bean as an adult. Worst - When I went to my sister's years ago. They had a present for everyone else who was there but I didn't even get a card. This after spending a considerable sum on gifts for her family. Given: Best - I found a copy of a magazine from decades ago and its title is the same as my wife's first name. Took it to a frame shop and had it shadow-boxed. That one won me some brownie points. Worst - A high-end leatherbound notebook I gave to my wife. Her job is administrative, full of meetings and agendas and stuff, so I thought a nice notebook would be perfect. She said it was to big, too heavy, and she's "not a notebook person."
best- a handmade 16" Ruanna knife worst - aluminum flying saucer my step father backed over with the car cause I left it out best gave - hopefully something my kids received worst - hopefully something I gave my future ex-wife
Best received: electric blanket while I was at college because the dorm building manager liked to skimp on the heating. It is on my bed to this day.
Received: Worst: At the time I was really hoping for some winter boots, so my sister got me a big wrapped up box that I was certain contained said boots. After opening it up, I discovered it was weighted down with dumbells and the box in fact contained a Milli Vanilli cassette tape. I was pissed that I didn't get boots! Best: Milli Vanilli cassette tape. It's really held up over time.
Recieved: Best: When I was little, it was Barbie. Recently my boyfriend gave me Portal 2, Oblivion, and $50 so I think that counts as the best! Worst: Who the fuck is Paddington Bear? I had never heard of him. I think when I was 7 all I got for Christmas was a Paddington bear and some clothes. The bear wasn't even soft, it was the weird prickly kind of material. I got in trouble for crying, my parents told me to be humble. Well, you can't exactly give a little kid one shitty present after 6 years of giving her at least 4 good ones Given Best: My first bf loved gardening and chemistry, so I got him several ceramic flowerpots and painted bits of the periodic table onto them. I also painted the photosynthesis reaction on there, along with a couple other geeky things. It's too bad I kinda hate him now cause I think that's the most effort I've ever put into making a gift. Worst: My used-to-be bff from a few years ago, I got her a very expensive music box. It was beautiful, it was a merry-go-round with intricate detail and a beautiful song. Well, turns out she hates horses, merry-go-rounds and the song it played. She kept it displayed just for me, but I could tell she hated that thing.
Oddly, this year, nothing is screaming out to me to buy or make for anyone. Usually if i even walk by something, it tells me it is for this person. My Gift Radar is out of commission.
This year I'm psyched because even though I don't normally exchange gifts w/ my sister and brother anymore, I found the perfect little cheapo items for each of them, for under $4. For my sister, two little shot-glass sized Coke glasses, in the classic swervy Coke glass shape. Will fit very nicely in her Coke nostalgia display and I know she'll love them! For my brother, who I constantly tease for drinking "motor oil" because he prefers really DARK beer, I found a single bottle of "Old Engine Oil" microbrew!
One of my sisters drives a stick without power steering, so I commented to her she's lucky she doesn't need power steering fluid. Then her husband said she did need 'Headlight fluid'. There was much lulz, so I'm getting her a thing or two of cranberry-grapefruit Sobe and relabeling it as 'Headlight Fluid'.
Can't pick a best or worst for sure, but at a guess the original Game Boy + four games would be the best. That would have been . . . Radar Mission, New Chessmaster, and I'm not sure which others. Football and Rocky & Bullwinkle, at a guess. (3 out of 4 is pretty good.) A hit-and-miss present was the mouse hockey. I haven't found any pictures online, but it was a mouse-themed, hockey-themed foosball game. The goals were Swiss cheese and the players were goofy-looking cats. The problem was that the puck was a battery-powered ovoid painted to look like a mouse, and it was so heavy as to wear down the battery quickly. With a fresh battery, that game was a lot of fun . . . but then the battery would get exhausted and the mouse would just fizzle around the rink.
