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.
An Archive of Perfect Moments 