Dear Cuz...

Fuddlestack

Regular
Location
Alsace, France
Dear Cuz,

Thank you for the copy of Tom Ang's
Digital Photographer's Handbook. With over 500,000 copies sold, it's a miracle that I have only received three over the last eight years, all of which I have since given away. It'll be very interesting to see if he's learned anything I haven't since parting with the last one, to a beginner.

In return I am sending you a book which may have escaped your attention. It's called
Huckleberry Finn. Do enjoy it.

Yours,

John


Don't you get bored with people who know of your interests but damn all about them buying you stuff you don't need, don't want or already have? They mean well, bless their cotton socks and woolly knickers, but bloody hell: this Christmas I received two books about Lance Bloody Armstrong, two about photography for beginners and a novel I read six months ago. Cripes!
 
This is why my dad always sends me an Amazon gift certificate, which I gladly used for:

HCB's book in harcover
Inception on BlueRay
a movie Rick wanted + a BBC miniseries, same
a used book I wanted
 
Fuddle: I feel your pain. I recieved my gift in October when I had some money :rolleyes:

At least I don't get ties and sock anymore!

Cheers, Pete
 
John, I'm laughing... Although I feel rather curmudgeonly admitting it, I do feel your pain - or did. About a year ago my sister gave me a color photo that she'd gotten at a yard sale. I have to be frank here, it was not very exciting. It's very difficult to give a photograph to someone who takes pictures as their thing. Now, if it had been a really good one that might have been different. However, I think that gifts of art are rather iffy in general - unless one knows that the recipient is in love with said artwork, it's a slippery slope...unless it's a gift of artwork created by one's beloved or darling offspring.;)

My family is pretty small when it comes to gift giving and for that I am very grateful. Though I do wish my parents were still around and would be very glad to give them gifts. Our good friends have made a pact with us that we won't give each other anything - unless it's food or drink and that can only be brought to a gathering.

Deirdre, when my father was alive he used to call me up and ask me to pick something out of the Eddie Bauer catalogue...but this was back in the days when Eddie Bauer still sold real outdoorsy stuff that was meant for 4 season camping and really keeping warm. I'll never forget a really unattractive down bathrobe that I chose one year:eek: but it sure did keep me warm in my little above a garage apartment with no insulation!:D

I am wearing a nice pair of very warm slippers from LL Bean (who is following fast in Eddie Bauer's footsteps alas alack!) that I got from my daughter for Christmas and for these I am truly thankful.:cloud-9-039:
 
, but bloody hell: this Christmas I received two books about Lance Bloody Armstrong, two about photography for beginners and a novel I read six months ago. Cripes!


(humour)

Quit your b**dy bitching and thank your lucky stars. This Christmas my son bought me an Apple TV but to use this I need a special TV. The fact is I don't own a B**dy TV, special or not, and I don't want a b**dy TV.

I am married to the most wonderful woman who is a mother first! She says, "Oh we must buy a TV so we don't disappoint Chris." Not just any TV but a huge "Mother of TVs" So this gift, this Apple TV, is going to cost me hundreds of dollars of is it thousands of dollars. Then it doesn't stop there it is more money for NetFlix and iTunes store.

… and you are crying about a few books … want to trade places?

Right you have my sympathy ... NOT

(/humour)
 
I got a very fine set of Waterford Crystal whisky glasses to hold my very fine malt whisky, an excellent portfolio book of the work of Dexter Dalwood some of which I saw in the Tate Britain recently, a shirt which fits and which I would be happy to wear and, of course, a NEX-5.

Sorry for your trouble guys.
 
You guys are lucky - my Birthday is on December 30th - I came from a strong working class northern background

when I was a lad, (very young!), 50 odd years ago - "times was hard then" - my Auntie Joyce always used to give me a pair of socks as a Christmas/Birthday present - one sock for Christmas and the other for my Birthday

Let's here it from you all - Ah!

(PS - it's true, apart from one year when I got a pair of woollen gloves)
 
I was lucky as well, I got a book on using photoshop which I need, and my beloved chose one of my Battersea images and sent it away to be printed on canvas and it is now in our kitchen.
Im well chuffed..
 
I remember that kind of present too - the grey school shirt from a couple of maiden aunts because their brother Jim worked in the factory, etc.

Do people have maiden aunts any more?
 
I think I'm going to leave that last question alone, John.

My Aunts used to give me knitted hats that they made - and I loved them, or a turtleneck shirt. However, my favorite childhood present was a sled! I'll never forget that Christmas morning.:love:
 
I think I'm going to leave that last question alone, John.

My Aunts used to give me knitted hats that they'd made - and I loved them, or a turtleneck shirt. However, my favorite childhood present was a sled! I'll never forget that Christmas morning.:love:
 
No more bad tie gifts in our house.

My Rant about a gift of an Apple TV is strange. Not the Rant as that is common but the gift.

Many years ago I remembered the stress of shopping and buying Christmas gifts. We just had to buy the right thing for the right person even if they didn’t need it didn’t like it or couldn't use it. Then I had an epiphany, why buy presents. The thinking went like this I like cameras, I know what I like, why don’t I buy what I like and let others buy what they like? Of course this was not keeping with the Christmas spirit but then is spending gob of money and putting ones self in stress and debt very Christmassy. So we had a family gathering and I put forth my plan. In lieu of gifts we would make donations to the charity of choice of the receiver. The first year I gave gifts to charities as diverse as a community center for Gay and Lesbians all the way to PETA. As well I received donations to the food bank, MSU and Greenpeace. We have been doing this for ten years now and really love it. The benefits are no stress, no standing in line, everyone gets to pick their gift charity of choice and everyone feels good. Tax receipts are an extra perk so we were able to give even more.

This works because there are no more children in our family.
 
Grant, I'm with you. I've done the same thing with my siblings. I need to opt into it with their grown-up children as well. When it comes to children, I feel differently. Right now, the true child in my family is my niece's daughter, aged 4.

T'is better to give, than receive.
 
Well, I was short of the mark when I first posted this. I wrote only of books. Since then I have had a birthday and one who loves me dearly presented me with "The Ultimate Canon G12 Accessory Kit", which had a strong smell of cheap machine-oil and the name Zeikos emblazoned on it. She has three or four degrees including a B.Sc. Hons in environmental sciences, but when it comes to photography... It contains a cheap bag, a pack of lens-cleaning tissues and fluid, a self-adhesive screen protector, a flimsy tripod, a table tripod reeking of aforesaid oil, three assorted 58mm filters, a couple of adapter tubes, a wide-angle converter and a telephoto ditto. The interesting bits are the tubes and lenses but, alas as expected, the W/A vignettes (guess why Canon isn't offering one) and pics taken with the telephoto vignette at the short end of the zoom to the point of resembling sewer inspection pictures, and show generous chromatic aberration at the long end.

Zeikos sounds like Greek, but the Greek for cràp is σκατά so I guess it's a secret identity.

This may be an ungracious and curmudgeonly reflection on one whom I love, but dear lord I need a shoulder to cry on... :crying:
 
I like vintage port. I really don't like the sweet non vintage port but that is what people keep buying me because they "know I love port". Wanting to be kind I agree and thank them very much. I open it there and then so that we can share it (and try to get them to drink it up for me), so of course next birthday/Christmas along they come with more non vintage port. I have five sets of friends who now do this and I have come to really hate non vintage port :(
 
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