The Bibliophile Gets Her Gift On

It’s upon us once again, the holiday season. I feel like a bad person for the sense of dread that hits me after Thanksgiving, but sometimes the Christmas season feels a little more like a speed drill perpetrated by your least favorite gym teacher who stands on the sidelines eating a cookie while you do wind-sprints, than a season of peace and joy. Just like those wind-sprints, when time is up and the holidays are over I mostly feel exhausted rather than healthy and joyful. So, in an effort to infuse the holiday with some good ju-ju and positive vibrations, your very own Bibliophile will offer up a few book-related gift ideas in the hopes that your holidays will be a little easier.

• Ode to the gift card. It isn’t the most creative gift out there, but gift cards have the ability to make your life much, much easier. Don’t know which book in the series your favorite booklover has read? Not sure that gloom-cookie teenager is as into the Twilight series as you are? Don’t want to make the mistake of getting your nephew a picture book when you think he might have started reading chapter books? Well, a gift card will take the guesswork out of shopping and allow the people on your list to get exactly what they want. Most major booksellers offer gift cards that can be used in stores or online. The online option is especially handy if the reader on your list has just gotten an eReader like a Kindle or a Nook.
• eReaders, the wave of the future. I’m not going to be an early adopter for this technology (I have too many gadgets I forget to charge so I’ll stay battery free on books for a bit longer), but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it. Especially for travel, I love the idea of bringing an entire library with me without taking up extra room in my luggage, or being able to get new reading material instantly. In particular, one of my friends raves about how handy her Kindle is for reading magazines. At the moment, Kindle is still the eReader that has the best user rating, but the market is likely to continue to get more competitive.
• Don’t forget accessories. Bookstores are full of all sorts of book accessories, even more so now with all the eReaders out there. Does your favorite reader like to read at night? Maybe a book light would be a good idea. Does she like to read in bed? She might like a lap desk. Is he always at the bookstore? Give that guy reusable shoppingbag from his favorite bookstore. Grandma can’t find her Nook at the bottom of her purse? A bright pink Nook cover would protect it and help it to stand out from the other stuff in her purse.
• Gifts that keep on giving. Kind of the way gift cards allow the people on your list to get the gifts they want when they want them, a magazine or book club subscription will give them something to look forward to all year long.

I hope that these gift ideas have given you some inspiration and I welcome any ideas you book fiends might have for how to make shopping easier so Christmas will be full of cheer rather than antidepressants.

Coming soon—a Bibliophile list of mystery writers worth using your gift cards on.

 

My Vikings Training Camp Wish List

It’s been six long months since the Minnesota Vikings lost to the New Orleans Saints on January 24, 2010. It might take the edge off of my football withdrawal if I could get into baseball, but when I’m craving smash mouth football complete with calf-roping antics, baseball doesn’t quite do it for me.

But now it’s late July and soon, tantalizingly soon, Minnesota Vikings training camp will start up again and we’ll get to see what kind of a shot at redemption the veteran-heavy team has for the coming season. For a football-deprived fan like myself, it feels like Christmas in July. Truly. I’m filled with as much joy and anticipation for the start of training camp as I was when I was seven and hoping for a Cabbage Patch Kid.

So, in the spirit of Christmas, I’m making out my wish list for the coming season. How weird and wonderful would it be if a sleigh pulled by eight tiny linebackers landed on my rooftop and a jolly giant like, say, Pat Williams hopped down the chimney to deliver everything on my list? Well, a girl can dream.

Wish #1

Doubtless, this is at the top of many people’s lists, but it would be so very nice if Brett Favre came back to the Vikings for another season. Kind of a no-brainer wish. However, the chances of Brett Favre making a return in time for or during training camp isn’t likely given his well-documented disdain for training camp. Still, this is a wish list, not a likely list—might as well aim high.

Wish #2

Adrian Peterson is a dynamic, hard-working running back. Every time he gets the ball he pours his heart and soul into trying to make something happen. Here’s a thought:  How about you hang onto the ball. While not as flashy as a break-away run into the end zone, reducing fumbles and turnovers probably would have won that NFC championship game against the Saints.

Wish #3

He’s big and he, occasionally, shows flashes of ability that validate the Vikings decision to keep him around, but I would dearly love to see Bryant McKinnie play up to his potential every game, not one in five. If Favre does return, then, for the love of Zeus, protect the guy! Last year Julius Peppers pushed 6’8” 330lb Bryant McKinnie around like McKinnie was on castors. I don’t know if that means Peppers is jus that good or if McKinnie is just that lazy. During the off-season Peppers signed with the Chicago Bears meaning the Vikings will have to face him at least twice next season.

Wish #4

Please, oh please, don’t let Brad Childress’s decision to bring in Rhys Lloyd mess up Ryan Longwell’s head or kicking consistency. While bringing in Lloyd to pin opposing offenses against their end zones is great, Longwell says kick-offs give him a chance to get a feel for field conditions before he kicks for points. Longwell is money in the bank, don’t throw him off his game.

Wish #5

I love linebackers. Leber, Greenway, Farwell, they make me smile. But, and I don’t say this lightly, I really, really love E.J. Henderson. Most of his highlights show him flying Super Man style to make a tackle. Who doesn’t love seeing that? And with a healthy Henderson at middle, I like the Vikings chances of forcing three-and-outs much better. So, here’s hoping that E.J. Henderson is back to his pre-injury form and that his season isn’t cut short with an injury the way it has been for the past two years.

Wish #6

Maybe it’s because I added his jersey to my collection, or maybe it’s because I like seeing an under-dog come out on top, but I would dearly love to see Sidney Rice build on the amazing season he had last year. A participant at Larry Fitzgerald’s summer training camp, last season Rice debunked the theory that he was a draft bust. Let’s hope that this season, regardless of who is ultimately playing quarterback for the Vikings, he proves that last season’s performance is just the start of many good things.

Well, a football fan could keep wishing all day, but I think six is a good place to stop. Something tells me that as the Vikings training camp heats up there will be plenty of new things to wish for.

*This piece is also posted at http://www.vikingsmix.com under my other alias, Skol Girl.

http://vikingsmix.com/2010/07/training-camp-wish-list.html

 

Classic Christmas Movies for a 2009’s Very White Christmas

If you live anywhere in the upper mid-west, you’re not only bracing for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, you’re also bracing for a crap-load of snow. Yes, the Christmas of 2009 is promising to dump a whole lot of snow on us and the only reasonable thing to do is to cocoon with your loved ones, lots of tasty baked goods, and a selection of fun Christmas movies to watch. This year we won’t just have a holiday, we’ll have a snow day holiday–a Christmas snowstorm the likes of which we haven’t seen for years.

For my Christmas I’m going to practice my shoveling skills, bake spice cookies and peanut butter blossoms, drink tea, and watch some of my favorite Christmas movies. And I invite you to join me, in spirit if not in body–exceptions must be made when there are winter travel advisories. If the flakes are flying it may be too late to leave your home for anything other than an emergency, but if you have Netflix you can stream some movies instantly over the internet and enjoy Christmas classics with just a few mouse clicks. Here are a few of my favorite Christmas movies.

• White Christmas. My sister and I used to watch this movie a couple of times each holiday season and practice singing the “Sisters” song. This movie is a gem of the big studio system, one of those big-budget musicals with huge song-and-dance numbers. However, for all the big numbers, I think that seeing Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye dressed up as women and lip synching is my favorite part. Into every holiday a little cross-dressing should fall.
• Christmas in Connecticut. I absolutely love Barbara Stanwyck in this 1945 holiday comedy of errors. A magazine writer who has found success writing about her farm, husband, and baby in Connecticut, Elizabeth Lane has none of those things but embarks on an elaborate to charade when her boss sends her a sailor for Christmas. What does a woman do when she meets “the one” and he thinks she’s already married?
• Elf. Does anyone play the innocent misfit better than Will Ferrell in this movie? I think not. This story about an elf-raised human who goes in search of his human father and just happens to save Christmas is fast becoming one of my favorites.
• Miracle on 34th Street. I like both the original version of this movie with the incomparable Maureen O’Hara and the 1994 remake with Richard Attenborough. In the current age of “trust but verify” sometimes it is good to take the lesson from this movie and trust in those important intangibles that common sense tells us not to believe in.
• Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. When I was a kid I watched the original cartoon version of this every year. Even though some of the back-story given the Grinch seems a little hokey, I just love to see Jim Carrey stomp around in all his green glory in 2000’s feature-length retelling. And the quirky sets and costumes that give life to Dr. Seuss’s drawings have more whimsy than a roomful of Disney imagineers.
• A Christmas Story. Just about every kid can think of one toy that they had their heart set on getting for Christmas. It is that much more memorable if it is something dangerous  and forbidden like the BB gun our protagonist Ralphie wants. I wonder how many times the phrase “You’ll shoot your eye out” is said in this movie? Oh, and the part with the kid freezing his tongue to the flag-pole is a cold weather classic that pretty much every kid in a cold clime has tried or been warned about.

Well, those are some of my favorites. If you noticed that It’s a Wonderful Life was missing, it is only because I haven’t actually seen that entire movie. I have every intention of getting around to it. Until then, I wish you a very merry Christmas and successful snow day cocooning!