Hm. I do not subscribe to the idea of telling people what to give as gifts. I give gifts to people based on what I know about them, what piques me about that, and what in my own life tells me about what to give. If I don't have anything that says "a gift based on you, based on me", I typically don't gift (excepting young children and folks who are in need).

Except… that SOP defeats the point of a gift exchange, doesn’t it? Here’s what I’ll do for you: as your proceed down this page, I’ll provide feedback that will get more and more specific as you proceed. I’d encourage you to embrace something early on, and let your creativity and intuition lead you to new and exciting ideas. If that’s not comfortable, though, the further you read, the more detailed and specific the suggestions will become. Sound good?

See what I’ve written. If you click on the “fourthords.com” banner at the top-left, those bottom eight icons are the places at which I can be found online. That’s in addition to this website’s blog itself, linked at the top there under “BLOG”.

Once upon a time, I used to participate in the largest series of secret Santa exchanges in history. Part of that process was filling out the new questionnaires each year. I have copied and pasted my responses to those various questions, here.

  • Favorite actors? Athletes? Entertainers? I tend to invest myself in works, not creators. That said, I'm never disappointed by wholesome-yet-creative creators like "Weird Al" Yankovic, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and the late Rick Cook.

  • Favorite TV Shows or Movies? Star Trek, Firefly, Person of Interest, Good Omens, and Journeyman are all shows for which I'll evangelize. Film is tougher, but this year I'll say Galaxy Quest, Eagle Eye, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Interstella 5555, and Fiddler on the Roof.

  • My favorite color is: octarine

  • My hobbies include: Writing, consuming, and making poor decisions

  • T-shirt size? Extra-large.

  • Favourite animal? Foxes and orangoutangs.

  • Favorite book? The Digital Effect by Steve Perry

  • My favorite teams are: Niners, Springfield Isotopes, Hackensack Bulls, Tune Squad, Washington Sentinels, Gorodok Gargoyles

  • What are your hobbies? Writing (Wikipedia and fiction), tabletop board and roleplaying games, reading, organizing

I always enjoy a great book or board game. My profiles at Goodreads and BoardGameGeek probably aren’t up-to-date, but the former shows books in which I’m interested (but are not in my “owned” category), while the latter shows some games we own and verily enjoy.

Once, the Bolands put together their own gift exchange. At Thanksgiving, we were given a 3×5 card on which to write a few ideas, and here’s what I gave them:

  • exotic, full-sized bars of soap

  • loud/interesting, XL, short-sleeved, button-up shirts

  • local or homemade foodstuffs (jams/jellies/preserves, fruit juices, candies, snacks, craft sodas)

I do have an Amazon.com wishlist. I keep it pretty up-to-date, culled, and vetted.

It’s also sorted by priority. However, realize that everything on that list is something I plan to get myself someday. Just because something’s a “Low” or “Lowest” priority doesn’t mean that I want it less, that’s just my own prioritization for myself. If you want to use my Amazon list to help you, remember my personal rule of thumb for gift-giving: "a gift based on you, based on me"; that’ll mean more to me as a gift, rather than just something from near the top of the list.