People are always complaining that they don't know what to get me. I'm putting my wish list down here just in case someone actually wants to know.
Recent additions:
In general, I don't really need additions to my Single Malt
collection. I've been drinking very little of it lately. However, I'm
nearly out of 16 year old Lagavulin (my favorite), and the price has
gone up from about $40 to about $70 per bottle. My preferred party
(i.e. relatively cheap) whisky is Bowmore Legend (less than
$20/bottle).
There are a few CDs on my shopping list, such as KPIGs greatest hits volume 2. I should write up that list and post it here before too awful long.
I'd like to get a fold out keyboard for my Treo 700p. There are a couple different ones made for it, but I haven't been keeping up on which ones work the best.
When I was in Austin I had lunch at a place called Plucker's and bought a bottle of their "Fire in the Hole" buffalo wing sauce. It's very tasty, quite spicy, and they don't seem to sell it mail order.
Short list:
These items are the things that I'd *really* like, most are also
listed below:
Recent updates:
It's pretty tough to get Hot Wheels for me that I don't already have,
although I haven't bought many of the 2004 models yet.
I also really like the more detailed 1:64 cars, such as Johnny
Lightning. I generally prefer "real cars" to the outrageous HotWheel
only creations.
Being the sensualist that I am, I appreciate really, really good food. I'm not interested in restaurants that are just expensive, but I do appreciate being taken to really good ones that are out of my normal price range. Or for that matter, any really good restaurant, especially ones I haven't yet tried. A really good home cooked meal is also nice.
There are some books on my shopping list:
I don't have anything by Vinge, or Doctorow.
In general, I prefer paperbacks over hardbacks and don't care if they're "used books", the words don't wear out.
My LJ account has expired, and since it's relatively cheap, I'll wait to renew until after my birthday.
The moderately expensive items on my wishlist are a decent digital camera (Lumix FZ50) and a GPS.
Flattering clothes would be a good thing, but it's impossible to buy me clothes without my trying them on, I'm *very* picky about fit.
My cycling shoes are dying, as are my dance shoes. I think I'm a 43 European. Again, shoes can be tough to fit. I'm planning on trying out a good set of "real shoes". I actually asked for some advice on the subject here.
I've had the opportunity to play a little foursquare a couple times recently. It was fun, I don't have a foursquare ball.
Impact sockets (both metric and SAE) (I picked up some cheapass
metric impact sockets from Harbor Freight)
Light up art (flamingos, rope lights etc.) for marking my house at night
Accessories for my Kyocera 6035 smartphone: cables, spare sync crade...
Photographic backdrop curtains. I don't even need you to buy the materials, I just need someone to help me with the sewing, because I really don't have time to do the sewing. I'm working on getting set up to do some home studio photography. I've got dark blue and black velvet drapes made up that I can use for photographic backdrops. I need some "sheers" made for them so that they won't fade in the sun. I'd also like some other colors of backdrops made. These curtains/backdrops hang off of 1 inch diameter conduit and can hang flat. I could really use some light colored curtains to hang behind the dark blue ones to protect them from the light. Muslin should work.
I've found that king sized sheets also make good photographic backdrops.
One nice thing about doing this is that it doesn't matter if multiple people do it for me, I'll want to make up an collection of backdrops anyways.
For people interested in doing this on their own, I found great prices on curtain material remnants at www.rosebrand.com
Caller ID displays. I've got caller ID but can't see who is calling from any room but the office.
decorative lights
I used to have some orange light strings up by the road so people
could find the place at night. They got taken down when I had some
trees trimmed, and I need something to replace them.
Perhaps some pink flamingos that light up at night?
A neon sign that can be set up outdoors.
Outdoor lights that to shine on non-lighting pink flamingos
A string of lights that will withstand long term exposure to the
weather
Something that is cool, funky, lights up, low enough power that I can
afford to leave it on (it costs about $1/month for every 10 Watts left
on continuously)
Peter Egan's side glances columns have been anthologized into three books. I don't have any of them. My library is poorer for that. Amazon also lists his book "leaning" about motorcycles.
Photography: I've recently rekindled my interest in photography. I'm
using Minolta manual focus gear. My camera bodies are X-700, SRT-101
and SRT-102. It's actually probably about the best time to be buying
used gear. Manual focus cameras are no longer considered "sexy", or in
production, but the accessories have not yet become collectable
Antiques.
I'm looking at replacing some stolen gear with Nikon. I still have
Minolta MD gear.
I could really use the gear for doing studio photography: lights,
backdrops, cables or photo triggers for flashes, etc. I especially
need lighting.
As of the end of 2006, I'm getting away from film photography and am
shooting more digital. Even so, I don't have a decent color printer.
My local camera repair & used camera dealer just closed. Anybody got
any reccomendations?
I also don't have any really wide lenses, my shortest is 28mm.
I don't have any special effects filters. My "daily driver" lense is a
28-105 mm Vivitar series 1, which takes a 72mm filter. Oops, not a 72
anymore that was my last series 1.
I'd like a wideangle "lipstick" cameara for my camcorder.
Toys
Of course, toys in general are cool.
I still have my old Hot Wheels track, but the little connector
tabs have gotten lost in time. I could use more of them.
I just got a catalog in the mail for 30th anniversary hotwheels
collectible. Some of them are pretty cool.
As far as other scales go, for cool cars, like classic sports cars
(MG, Alfa, older Ferrari etc.) I'm not too picky about scale.
I recently bought a rapid fire nerf gun for self defense on a
contracting job. It's way cool, unfortunately, I can't find any
of the foam darts for it for sale anyplace.
That's not quite true Mattel sells them if you call them directly. I bought about 100, then my coworkers poached them all.
Dancing:
I recently built myself a
boombox
for portable music. I'd love to find a 12V mixing board that I can
plug into it so that it can be used as a portable sound system for
small bands, or so that the DJ can announce the songs.
I'd want the mixing board to run off of 12V batteries, which are
really 13.2-14.4 volts.
Books: I love books. It's tough to say which ones I have, which ones I'm looking for and what I'll still be looking for when someone actually would present me with a gift. Gift certificates to bookstores however, will be greatly appreciated be it Logos, Barnes and Noble or Computer Literacy.
There are a few series that I'm reading:
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I have the series, in paperback,
through "Carpe Jugulum", but am missing the books: "Equal Rites",
"Eric", and "Lords and Ladies".
They are releasing all of Ted Sturgeon's short fiction in
anthologies. The two books that I'm most interested in are
the ones with Killdozer and Rollerball. Two of my favorite
short stories from childhood.
There are a few "real" books that I would like.
My copy of W. Richard Stevens book on Network programming ahs
disappeared. I would also love to have his books on Unix Programming.
I do have TCP/IP Illustrated, volume 1.
One of these days I would love to have a copy of Donald Knuth's
series. Note: I now have Vols 1,2 & 3. Which is it so far as I know.
My copy of Obfuscated C and other mysteries has also disappeared.
Electronic toys:
A GPS has been on my "want list" for quite a while. A while back Fry's
had the Magellen 315x on sale for $100, so I got one for my sister. I
almost got one for myself, but I'm trying to pretend that I'm fiscally
responsible.
Cell Phone: I recently bought a Treo 700p smartphone. It is a great toy being both a Palm Pilot and a Cell Phone in one. There are various accessories that I'd love to have for it.
Geekitude:
I'm looking to rewire my house for cat 6 (rather than cat 3 telephone
line) and put in a patch panel so that any jack can be wired to be any
of the voice lines, or on any of the networks at my house. The
equipment for doing so would be really cool: patch panels, good
crimping tools, 802.11 router/transmitter or pcmcia cards.
A friend in the telecom industry has this to say about the subject:
> Where should I get my wire?
In the Gay Bay, go to AllTell, next to Jackson Arms up by
the SFO airport. They will have everything you need.
> are there special tools that I
> should be aware of (i.e. is it worth spending $100 or whatever on a
> professional quality crimper)?
Get a proper punch down tool for the jacks - A Harris
Dracon with the 110 blade. Get the Amp RJ-45 and RJ-14 Dies. Yes,
good tools are worth the money. The grief of a night trouble
shooting a bad crimp is "Priceless".
For "used" there are places like Network Hardware Resale.
They will sell you Cisco 2900 hubs etc. Call Ren at 800.251.6497.
Don't buy used patch-panels unless you know the guy
selling them to you.
Tools:
I always appreciate good tools. Most of my car tools are snap-on,
if you think it's silly to spend that much on tools, just call them
jewelry. Some tools in particular that are missing from my snap on
line up are:
1/2" combination
short sae combination wrenches
I recently bought an electric impact wrench at the flea market, 1/2" drive, but I don't have any impact sockets for it.
A while back I got a set of SAE ratcheting box-end combination wrenches. They are amazingly handy, I'd love to have a set of metric ones. The ones I have are made by Crescent.
I'd love to get a set of short snap on SAE combination wrenches
Many years ago, I had a battery operated 3/8 drive ratchet. It was amazingly handy, but eventually succumbed to the ravages of time. Another one would be absolutely wonderful.
Since a decent compressor and airtools are out of my budget, I'm looking at getting an inexpensive electric impact wrench for loosening those nuts and bolts that just aren't accessible to a 6' cheater bar.
I'd love to have a floor sander. It's a long shot, but they tend to cost several thousand dollars, and I've got lots of things to sand, and I want to make some outdoor dance floors. On the off chance that someone knows of one gathering dust in someones tool cabinet.
With my dormant interest in blacksmithing, smithy equipment is also
really cool. While I nominally have all the basics, anything would be
great:
anvil,
forge,
tongs,
coal,
hardy tools,
etc.
Other tools that would be very nice:
Air Compressor
lathe
mill
Electric or gas welders
Music:
Most of my CD collections got stolen when my house was burglarized.
I replaced some of it with the insurance money, but it's still pretty
sparse. It's easier to list my dislikes:
Opera, rap, disco, easy listening, disphonic experimental jazz.
Some of my preferences are:
swing, progressive rock/fusion, instrumental jazz, Celtic, Celtic-rock,
rock and roll, baroque
Glassware and Crystal: It's scary, but I really like nice glassware. I especially can use wine glasses. I'm also always looking for small brandy snifters. I like to use them when doing a scotch tasting. While I really like "nice" crystal, any sort of decent glassware would work, and would probably get used more often.
Klein Bottle: I found these cool klein bottles on the web at: http://www.kleinbottle.com/
Booze:
I enjoy good wine. My tastes tend towards complex reds. Some that I
like include:
Ahlgren cab
Rabbit Ridge Allure
Clonninger Cab
I also enjoy Single
Malt Scotch, generally the Islay malts.
Clothing and related:
My measurements are:
neck: 17 1/2
Chest: 42
waist: 36
inseam: 30
There is a tailor in Singapore who has my measurements
and who does a good job. He made my zoot suit. His prices
are pretty good. About US$300 for a zoot suit, about US$50
for pants, or a tux shirt. About US$30 for a regular short
sleeved cotton shirt. The business is Brazil Tailor (he was
a fan of the soccer team, I asked) and is on Bukit Timah Rd:
phone: 65-467-3531 fax:65-466-0047. I know quite a few people
who travel between the US and Singapore on a regular basis,
so I could probably even get someone to carry it.
Some all cotton Tuxedo shirts to wear at Gaskells, as I
need to put on a dry shirt each set.
Cool threads that the chicks will dig, especially to wear swing
dancing.
A new utilikilt.
I'd like a black, standard, waist 39, short kilt. If someone has
already beaten you to it and ordered one for me, I'd also love a cammo
one with all the extra pockets and loops and stuff.
Hats:
I think that I wear about a 7 3/8.
My flat cap recently turned up missing.
A top hat for Gaskells.
Briefcase, luggage etc.:
I could really use a decent briefcase. Hard case, respectable
appearance and room for a couple books and some papers.
I also do not have any decent luggage. Sapient pearwood would
be nice, but anything that will hold a couple days worth of clothes
without them getting all wadded up would work.
A decent overnight kit, for keeping hair and tooth brushes, deodorant,
razors etc.
My camera bag has died. I've got a small one for carrying my minimal
gear kit, but I need a bigger one for carrying all my bodies and lenses.
Dancing:
I've been working a lot on my Lindy Hop, Swing and Charleston lately.
Dance things that I'd groove on are:
Some private lessons.
Good dance shoes.
Cooking, food, booze:
I'm always up for new single malts that aren't already in
my collection.
In addition to Islay Malts, I also enjoy Big Red Wines:
Zinfindel and Syrah (Shiraz) are two of my favorites.
I always appreciate interesting new spices and condiments.
I also groove on quality cooking utensils of most any kind.
Bicycling:
A sidecar for my 47 pound wonder Commie Chinese bike.
Blades and Armor:
I like cool knives and swords. I prefer clean, simple pieces to
flashy (kitsch) ones. My aesthetic runs towards functionality.
A lot of the cheap swords have tangs that are so thin that the
handle would break if you were to actually hit anything with the
sword. For knives, I prefer handles that are of natural materials:
wood or bone, but there are some very nice ones with simple, functional
hi-tech materials.
It's been years since I fought in the SCA, largely because I don't
have armor that fits well. The piece that I most need is a right
arm, with good gauntlets short behind.
I've never done fencing, but I do like to play with shinai (bamboo
kendo swords) and it would be good to have fencing masks for playing
with them. They don't even have to be "legal" masks since you
don't have to worry about poking through the screen with a 1inch diameter
tip.
Geeking:
I seem to collect obsolete computer equipment. One advantage of
Linux is that it will happily run on systems that you wouldn't dream
of trying to run Windows 98 on. I'll happily recycle old computers,
at the very least they can be used as terminals to log into more
powerful boxes on my network.
I'm converting my LAN from 10-baseT to 100-baseT and could use a hub/switch.
For that matter, I can always use more cat-5 cable.
Most recently modified by lrc at Wed Dec 20 21:25:43 PST 2006