It’s amazing to me, but looking back over more than a decade of writing I find posts with information that is as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of what I consider some of the best posts during that time.

It’s that time of the year. No matter what media you prefer you’ll find something about the best stuff gifts for your first apartment, tech gifts, various gift categories at different price points, and on and on. You can also find a myriad of options to give experiences, instead of stuff — if you can afford to give experiences.

Below I’ve described two ways to give something unforgettable, no matter your budget,  

Read other Golden Oldies here.

During the holiday media gift frenzy it is the truly wise who remember that the best gifts aren’t electronic or screen-dependent.

The very best aren’t paid for with money, either, but with a much more precious currency — time.

Time to love.

Time for friendship.

Time to play.

Time to talk and laugh together — F2F

Food cooked and shared together at (someone’s) home.

Not just during the season, but scattered throughout the year like diamonds on a velvet cloth or stars in a clear night sky.

Along with time, the most wonderful gift you can give a child is a love of books — real books.

Real because reading a printed page affects the brain in different and better ways than words on a  screen.

Whether your child reads or you read to them start with the books from Lost My Name, which creates personalized books using your child’s name.

Lost My Name — founded in 2012 by Asi Sharabi and Tal Oron — creates customised books based around a child’s name. The books are created and ordered online, then sent out to printing partners around the world. (…)  “As a technology company, we’re very proud to be innovating on one of the oldest media formats in the world – the physical book,” said Oron. “We think technology equals possibility. And possibility is the dominant currency in wonderful, nostalgic storytelling, where the book’s job is to inspire children to believe in adventure; that anything can happen if they imagine it. As screens become more and more seductive to children, there is an increasing need to inject more magic into books – to find new ways to spark their imagination.”

Even better are the books by Randall Munroe, former NASA roboticist, who specializes in science humor and whose 2014 book, “What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions,” became an unexpected mainstream hit.

Munroe believes that anything can be explained simply using normal language and proves it in his new book (which is a good choice for anyone on your gift list).

“Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words.” The oversized, illustrated book consists of annotated blueprints with deceptively spare language, explaining the mechanics behind concepts like data centers, smartphones, tectonic plates, nuclear reactors and the electromagnetic spectrum. In his explanations, Mr. Munroe avoided technical jargon and limited himself to the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. This barred him from using words like helium and uranium, a challenge when describing how a rocket ship or reactor works.

For book links and great comics (sample above; chosen for enabling holiday restraint) visit Munroe’s site.

Books are good for adults, too. There are great sites beyond Amazon that offer critiques of books that run the business gamut from being a better boss to upping your game wherever you are in your career.

Another great thing about real books is what you can do when you are done reading them.

• Some you’ll want to keep for your own library;
• some you’ll share with friends, colleagues and those you mentor; and
• the rest can be donated to your local library.

Happy reading! Happy discovery!!

Image credit: Randall Munroe

Thanksgiving is just around the corner (where did the year go?) and Christmas is right on it’s heels.

Among other things, the holidays mean gifts — preferably unique.

I thought this year I’d post ideas occasionally as I run across them.

This one is for that special woman/women/yourself.

And in the unlikely event that some else gives her the same thing it won’t even matter.

It’s one present where more is better.

Shoes.

But not just any shoes.

How about five pair in one?

And at around $200 they aren’t even overpriced.

After all, what woman doesn’t want more shoes?

Because one can never have too many shoes!

During the holiday media gift frenzy it is the truly wise who remember that the best gifts aren’t electronic or screen-dependent.

The very best aren’t paid for with money, either, but with a much more precious currency — time.

Time to love.

Time for friendship.

Time to play.

Time to talk and laugh together — F2F

Food cooked and shared together at (someone’s) home.

Not just during the season, but scattered throughout the year like diamonds on a velvet cloth or stars in a clear night sky.

Along with time, the most wonderful gift you can give a child is a love of books — real books.

Real because reading a printed page affects the brain in different and better ways than words on a  screen.

Whether your child reads or you read to them start with the books from Lost My Name, which creates personalized books using your child’s name.

Lost My Name — founded in 2012 by Asi Sharabi and Tal Oron — creates customised books based around a child’s name. The books are created and ordered online, then sent out to printing partners around the world. (…)  “As a technology company, we’re very proud to be innovating on one of the oldest media formats in the world – the physical book,” said Oron. “We think technology equals possibility. And possibility is the dominant currency in wonderful, nostalgic storytelling, where the book’s job is to inspire children to believe in adventure; that anything can happen if they imagine it. As screens become more and more seductive to children, there is an increasing need to inject more magic into books – to find new ways to spark their imagination.”

Even better are the books by Randall Munroe, former NASA roboticist, who specializes in science humor and whose 2014 book, “What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions,” became an unexpected mainstream hit.

Munroe believes that anything can be explained simply using normal language and proves it in his new book (which is a good choice for anyone on your gift list).

“Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words.” The oversized, illustrated book consists of annotated blueprints with deceptively spare language, explaining the mechanics behind concepts like data centers, smartphones, tectonic plates, nuclear reactors and the electromagnetic spectrum. In his explanations, Mr. Munroe avoided technical jargon and limited himself to the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. This barred him from using words like helium and uranium, a challenge when describing how a rocket ship or reactor works.

For book links and great comics (sample above; chosen for enabling holiday restraint) visit Munroe’s site.

Books are good for adults, too. Check out this month’s Leadership Development Carnival for critiques of books that run the business gamut from being a better boss to upping your game wherever you are in your career.

Another great thing about real books is what you can do when you are done reading them.

• Some you’ll want to keep for your own library;
• some you’ll share with friends, colleagues and those you mentor; and
• the rest can be donated to your local library.

Happy reading! Happy discovery!!

Image credit: Randall Munroe

Last week you got a glimpse of a few difficulties faced by the wealthy (‘rich’ is such a crude word and so open to interpretation, while ‘wealthy’ is less specific).

Today we’ll take a look at gifts for them and for us.

First off, I couldn’t find Neiman Marcus’ famous (infamous:) Holiday Gift Book, but I did find some great food items.

There are marvelous stocking stuffers from a fantasy store (includes links to products) ranging from a pair of Paul Morelli earrings at $37,000 or a Dolce & Gabbana hair comb for $545 to an affordable Pisces powder compact from Estée Lauder for just $70.

Hermès has something special for that evening butterfly who hates carrying a purse; it’s called Nausicaa (rose gold and diamonds) and sells for a paltry $578,000.

I’m always surprised at how affordable many of Tiffany’s business gifts are—not to mention how well they play in other arenas—and always in one of those famous, oh-so-classy blue gift boxes.

Of course we shouldn’t bypass Cartier; and while some of the gifts shown are a bit ho-hum the leopard cubs are adorable.

If I say do so myself, I am a gifting genius. My nieces  and friends will attest to my skill at finding what they really wanted; as far as I know, not one of my gifts was ever exchanged. I was a PANK (Professional Aunt, No Kids) decades before it became common, but now there is help for those who are chanllenged.

These days being green and socially responsible are all the rage. This is especially true with teens and twenty-somethings and while some folks really mean it, others merely pay lip-service, but how can you tell the difference?

Holiday gifting is a great time to find out who actually walks the walk or are all talk by giving a gift that helps change the world for people in far greater need than you or they are likely to ever know—in fact, for as little as $52 you can change a Haitian family’s life forever.

A secondary benefit of this kind of gift is the gleeful fun you will have watching the reactions of those who are all talk.

Enjoy your shopping!

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

Typically, my comments about gifts range from irreverent to downright sarcastic, but this year I actually have some pretty cool gift ideas for you.

First, however, let’s take a look at the cost of the traditional 364 gifts as described in the 12 Days of Christmas—the cost is up10.8% this year for a grand total of $96,824.

Or for a look at 50 years of extreme gifts, and I do mean extreme, for him and her check out the Neiman Marcus Gift Book.

For the geek you love who loves pictures or for those whose daily lives are so memorable they need recording consider a wearable camera—a gift they’ll never forget.

And for the not-so-geeky with faulty memories, like me, who still depend on their computer but forget to back up, there is Carbonite, not only a fabulous product, but from a company named as one of Boston’s 2010 Best Places to Work.

Two unusual books make my list.

The first of what will be three volumes is the “Autobiography of Mark Twain,” a $35, four-pound, 500,000-word doorstopper of a memoir” that Twain forbid his descendents to publish until 100 years after his death. Needless to say, his thoughts are exceedingly blunt.

The second is from a retired Wall Street banker who is dying of a brain tumor and offers “a remarkable story of an almost willful ignorance of the futility of active money management…” It’s good information for those on your list interested in having their money work smarter for them.

The last two are gifts that serve dual purposes.

The first is a $20 gadget called HydroRight that anyone can install without tools. (If the john still has a ball cock it needs an additional part and may run a bit more.) HydroRight turns your normal toilet into a two-level flush toilet that saves around 15,000 gallons of water a year. That saving is good for the planet and great for lowering monthly water bills. Best of all, it really works.

Finally, did you know that shoes prevent many diseases in poor children, so give shoes to your loved ones—specifically Toms Shoes. Besides being inexpensive and comfortable, the company gives away a pair of shoes for every pair purchased to poor children across the planet. They’re cool, Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore like them, comfortable, available for men, women and children and Toms just gave away the millionth pair.

I hope this list inspires you to look a bit further than the standard mall gift. There are some pretty amazing possibilities out there that won’t put you in hock.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/