my Christmas 2008 wishlist

The Christmas 2008 wishlist AKA the stuff I’ve been wanting to get but have not found them and/or have no way of getting them 

BOOKS

  • “The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems” – Val Jones
  • “Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage” – Daniel Esty, Andrew Winston
  • “Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox” – Eoin Colfer
  • Chrestomanci series – Dianne Wynne Jones (though I have “Witch Week”)
  • “Coraline” – Neil Gaiman (because my copy is missing )
  • “Neverwhere” – Neil Gaiman
  • “Star Wars, Legacy of the Force: Invincible” – Troy Denning
  • “A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines” – Kennedy et al.
  • any of the Roald Dahl books except for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “The Great Glass Elevator”, and “The BFG”

MUSIC

  • “Fragmented” and “Bipolar” – Up Dharma Down
  • “Endings of a New Kind” – Taken by Cars
  • “All Seats are Taken” – The Pin-Up Girls
  • “Sugarfree Live with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra” – Sugarfree
  • “Sa Wakas” – Sugarfree (because my copy is missing. Waaaahhh )

RANDOM STUFF

  • the plastic thing where you wrap your earbuds cord around so that it doesn’t get tangled
  • non-foam earbud covers (do they come in anything other than foam though?) because the foam covers make my ears itch
  • socks. As a great man once said, “One can never have enough socks“. Ankle socks please in different colors

EXPENSIVE STUFF

  • a new laptop. Because my IBM Thinkpad R50e (1.5 GHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB HD, no battery life whatsoever) is begging to be replaced.
  • external hard drive. Funny how 160 GB sounds huuuuge until a notice pops up that you only have 15 GB left.
  • external DVD burner (my brother’s unit stopped working. Sob)
  • new lenses (in my dreams! Hahaha). I’ve been dreaming of a 10-22 mm lens (is there one with IS?) and a 70-300 mm one. Whooo.

So there. Hahaha. Anyway, a little bit of wishful thinking never hurt anyone

Lookie at what just arrived :p

This baby just came in a few days ago:

Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific
Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific
Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific
Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific

Whoohoo! This book isn’t available here in the Philippines so I had to order it from Amazon, have it sent to my aunt, who then packed it in a balikbayan box with all of the other stuff she’s sending home. It took about a month to get here but at least I saved a bunch on shipping. Haha. It’s really depressing that we don’t have books like this available here, considering that the Philippines has amazing marine biodiversity. Sigh. Then there’s also the matter of “A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines” by Kennedy et. al, (IMHO) the most comprehensive book out there on birds found in the Philippines, being out of stock here. Here, the country whose birds are featured! Arggghhh.

I love you Neil!!!

I’ve spent the past few years trying (and failing) to get my younger brother (now in 1st year HS) and sister (grade 7) to read. “Harry Potter”? They didn’t get through the first book. Same thing with “Artemis Fowl”. “The Thief Lord” put them to sleep. My sister finished “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” but didn’t show any inclination to pick up “The Great Glass Elevator” or the other books. The only printed material of mine that they willingly read were “Rurouni Kenshin” and “Skip Beat!”. Of course manga counts but I was hoping that they’d be interested in other things too. Then, a ray of light: Neil Gaiman!

I lent them “M is for Magic” last month, figuring that short stories would be easier to digest. Wonder of wonders: they actually liked it! As in really liked it.Then a few days ago, my brother borrowed “Stardust” to read for his book report. The clincher was a note he left me today:

Got “The Graveyard Book”. Very interesting. — Jay

Hallelujah! I love you Neil!!!
Maybe I should get them “Coraline” for Christmas