What Your Amazon Wish List Says About You

I don’t know exactly how it started, but we were having a family discussion about Amazon wish lists.  I think my mother was wondering what to buy my sister for her birthday.  My mother knew that I had a wish list and then started to quiz me on who had a wish list.  She asked if my sister had one.  I replied yes.  She then asked if my other sister had one.  While I wasn’t sure, I hedged my bets and said I thought so.  After a few more names, she wondered aloud if everyone had one.  My only reply was that everyone should.  It would save a lot of hassle when it came to buying them gifts.

On numerous occasions, my family and friends have expressed relief that I had several wish lists to choose from.  They had no trouble finding gifts for me.  My nephew was surprised when he saw a desk lamp on my list.  He wondered if I truly wanted it even after he bought it and gave it to me.  I was happy to tell him that it was a central part of my stamp collecting desk and that I had ordered the same one for my hobby room.

Today, I spent a bit of time perusing my list.  I am also reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “Talking to Strangers” and I had just read a chapter in which people are analyzing other people by the words they wrote down on a random blank word quiz.  While it struck me as complete nonsense that you could judge people based on this (and I think the psychologists who planned the tests weren’t testing the people who wrote the words, but rather the people who used the words to make judgments about them) I started to wonder if we could judge someone based on what is on their Amazon wish list.

When I go to people’s houses, if I have the opportunity, I always check out their bookshelf.  Most of the time, I am looking for books I can borrow rather than judging their literary taste, but there is probably some judgement in there too.

Going through my list I can make a few generalizations….or conclusions….maybe some confessions.  In no particular order:

• I must still secretly want to become fluent in Japanese since I have a few grammar books and other learning materials on the list.
• I need to let go of some old TV series even though they are cult classics, I don’t spend nearly as much time watching TV series these days. Do I really need to see all three seasons of Forever Knight?
• Also, my taste in TV is a little questionable.
• My days as an English literature major haven’t totally deserted me.  There are still a bunch of classics and post modern works that I want to read and a few I want to reread.
• My hobbies are well represented on my wish lists.  I probably spend more time reading about my hobbies than actually pursuing them.  It is probably a good thing I haven’t found a whole bunch of books on blogging–I know they are out there, but I have avoided the temptation of looking.  The first chapter probably starts out telling me I am doing everything wrong.
• Why haven’t I pulled the trigger on the hardcover complete set of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons?  Why?
• There are still a lot of Japanese things on my list.
• I need to edit my list a bit more often.  There are some items that haven’t been in stock for years.
• Sometimes I put things on the list only because I want to remember them, but not actually own them.  If they are books, I usually find them at the library, read them, and then delete them from my list.
• Why did I put a six thousand dollar bike took kit on my list?  I will never buy it.  Even if they gave it to me for free, I probably could only use fewer than 20 pieces of it.
• It is probably good that I have access to Amazon from Canada and not the US.  I know there is way more stuff available there.

I’d love to know what are the oddest, most expensive, or oldest things on your wish list.

Watching the Panic

With my shopping done, and, in fact, most of the gifts already opened by my family and loved ones, my mission to find the last stocking stuffer was a pretty simple one. My mother loves Japanese Milky candies and the only place to get them is at T&T, the Asian grocery store which has a branch not too far from my house.

As I said, I had a clear game plan, but I think I was the only one. I made only two stops, and the second was mainly out of curiosity.  What I witnessed was a frenzied buying spectacle.  Clearly some last minute shoppers were desperately searching for gifts and their behaviour evoked scenes from several zombie apocalypse films I have seen.  There was no plan and they were just hoping to stumble upon a gift that they hadn’t already stumbled upon in the days and weeks leading up to this.  The panic in their eyes was unmistakable.

I know I shouldn’t mock too hard as I have been one of them and this year’s early completion is a fluke, or perhaps having learned my lesson years before, I no longer wanted to be part of the crowd desperately looking for something on the 24th of December.

After tiring of the spectacle, I decided to go and have a chicken Shawarma at a Pita place. I think I made the right choice.

It’s About Time

There is an Asian supermarket near my house. I am sure I have written about it before.  I go there to grab Japanese candy, (as Heide knows I like so much) samosas, Vietnamese coffee, chocolate milk, lettuce, rye bread, and numerous other things.  I enjoy it because it takes me back to another time in my life.  Also, as it has so many things that I have never seen before, I get the chance to walk around a little wide eyed.

There are a number of things that I am dying to try, but have never bought. Sometimes it is because I know that the price is cheaper somewhere else.  Sometimes it is because I think the price is too high for what I would be getting.  Of course, sometimes it is because I have no idea what the heck it really is.

Today, because I stopped for bread, I decided to buy one of those things I have been looking at. Maybe I was feeling that “it’s about time….” (which is so much fun when I have to teach that to my students)  I have been trying different kinds of ice cream and frozen yoghurt things lately, so this is sort of a continuation of that.

This is available widely, but my Korean students have encouraged me to get it before. I just haven’t because there was never enough room in my freezer, or I felt that I shouldn’t eat so many sweet things.  Also, banana is one tough flavour.  If they get it wrong, it just tastes like horrible chemicals.

I could have chosen another flavour. They had a strawberry kind, a peach kind, and a ….green kind (Thanks to Google, I know that this was melon flavoured)  From those choices, banana is my sure fire winner.  Melon would be my second choice…a distant second choice.

So, happily, I report that it tasted quite good and the banana flavour was quite good and quite strong.  I should also point out that the square shape was not as awkward to consume as I feared, though a little awkward.  From an environmental perspective, it probably ships in a smaller container because of this.

So, to recap, it isn’t the food that is Today’s Perfect Moment. That honour goes to taking a risk and finally getting something I had been planning on for quite a while.  That it tasted good is merely a side bonus.

 

Shiny New Wheels

A big part of the better me is improved all around fitness (and hopefully more weight loss).  I had a good year last year by changing my diet and getting out on my bike more often.  I lost about 20 pounds, and more importantly rediscovered my love of cycling.  I also realized that I much prefer cycling to going to the gym.

As the end of the cycling season was upon me, I decided to upgrade my bike, rather than plunk down a lot of money to maintain my current bike.  Additionally, I wanted to get back to a proper road bike that would let me go a little faster.  Maybe I was just spoiling myself.

I did some research and visited most of the shops in my area.  I learned that there are several cycling clubs in the area and that they have a lot of evening and weekend rides.  Also, as you might have learned from my earlier post, there are quite a few bike trails in the area.  (I kept my mountain bike, but will need to get a new wheel…..and if I like it, a mountain bike also….someday)

I went shopping and found an end of season sale.  I put some money down, planning to pick up the bike in the spring.  I got a call a little earlier than I expected because the shop needed some space for the new merchandise, so…..

Voila.  My new bike.

Okay, I have already started the kitting out process–cycling shoes!

My cycling plans are pretty simple for the year:

• Get kitted out (helmet, shorts, gloves,…..)
• Re-pledge myself to what had been a successful diet.
• Join a cycling club and go on rides.
• Build a sleeker cycling physique.
• Annoy some of you with pictures of me cycling down the road or scenery from that ride.
• Find people to go on a longish bike trip in the late summer or fall.

 

Unfortunately, it is a little early (and a little cold) for me to go out cycling yet.  However, I have seen some people in my area out on bikes. I do not think they are crazy (more dedicated and ambitious probably) but I am not prepared for that……yet.  I also don’t really think the bike is suitable for that.  Check out some of my fellow bloggers and you’ll understand what I mean about dedicated.

Bike Like Crazy 
Martin is cycling 365 days

Quiet. The bike is sleeping.

 

Thanks to the bike, I am feeling somewhat ambitious.  I think it is going to be a good year.

A Cruel Reminder

I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at bikes lately. I’ve checked out many websites, read magazines, visited bike stores, talked to knowledgeable sales staff, acquired catalogues and trail maps.  All of this has got me lusting after two wheel glory… twisty open roads and mile high skies.

The problem is that Mother Nature (I had to go back and capitalize–better to be reverent) is reminding me that winter is coming (go ahead, mentally insert all the Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire jokes that you want). It is only fall but there seems to be an awful lot of rain and cold weather.

I guess I will have to budget for a fender and more cold weather gear.