Johnathan's Christmas List 2008

(Amy's list is over here)

Books

I've marked in bold the ones I've been most keen to get a copy of, but all of them represent some smart person thinking a lot about a subject that interests me, and would therefore be awesome to have.

• Locks, Safes and Security - 0398070792
• Normal accidents - Perrow
• The universal history of numbers - georges ifrah
• Crows - Candace Savage
• Jonathan Strane & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
• Envisioning Information - Edward Tufte
• Hacking - Jon Erickson
• Propaganda Analysis - Alexander George
• Off the Books - Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh
• Chemical Warfare - Secrets almost forgotten - Ketchum
• It must have been something I ate - Jeffrey Steingarten
• Con Ed - Matthew Klein 0446579556
• The Lucifer Effect - Zimbardo
• She's Such a Geek - Newitz, Anders
• Small Pieces Loosely Joined
• Everything is miscellaneous
• Pro javascript techniques - Resig
• The manipulation of human behavior - biderman & zimmer (1961 out of print)
• Diamond Geezers - Hollington 1843171228
• The taste of conquest - michael krondl
• Complications - Gawande
• Monopoly Companion - Philip Orbanes
• Competing for the Future - Hamel, Prahalad
• Bowling Alone - Putnam
• London: The Biography - Ackroyd
• The Botanist and the Vintner - Campbell
• On writing well - William Zinsser
• Mycelium Running - Stamets
• Transportation security - Bragdon
• The 4-hour workweek
• Best of 2600 - Goldstein
• Understanding Exposure - Peterson
• Remix - Lawrence Lessig
• The Clock of the Long Now - Brand

Clothing

• Cuff Links - Cuff Links are intensely personal so I guess maybe I should just buy my own. But I haven't bought my own, so this is more of a desperate attempt to acquire some, ANY cufflinks.
• Dark Socks - I perpetually wear through them and need more. Dark colours so that I can dress them up or down, size 7-10 so that they don't send the heel halfway up my ankle like the 10-13 ones do.
• Dress Shirts - (16 1/2 collar, 36/37 sleeves)
• White, Crew neck, 100% Cotton Undershirts - I could use 3-6 more plain white undershirts.  Size L, probably, unless the L looks really small.  I'd prefer all cotton though, the cotton-polyester ones tend to pill, and are scratchy.

Miscellany

• Home Brewing Kit - Still very keen to try out making my own beers - a kit to get me started would be awesome.
• Shaving Mug with Lid - Mugs don't typically have lids but a shaving mug should, so that the moisture in the shaving soap doesn't evaporate. I am using a non-lidded mug right now with the predictable less-than-optimal results.
• Bedside Water Jug & Tumbler - The problem with bringing a glass of water to bed is that it gets 8 hours of dust in it by the time you wake up and want a drink. Which is why people have designed things like this, that have a tumbler which also acts as a lid.
• Valet - I don't need a jewellery box - I am not quite that flowery. But I do have Collar Stays, Extra buttons, Tie Pins, and other such tomfoolery that would benefit from some kind of wooden storage mechanism.
• Good Tequila - I've been finding myself interested in Tequila lately, and would love some more bottles to try. I already have Don Julio Blanco and Don Julio Anejo, but if you find any Cabo Wabo, or Patron, or other fun things, I would delight in them (and possibly share).
• A Better Alarm Clock Radio - My current alarm clock radio is fine, but it's annoying to set/change alarms and times.  It also just does radio, which means I can't pick what I wake up to like I could if it did mp3s.  I haven't done any research here, but if there's a good replacement out there, that would be awesome.
• Camera Accessories - Specifically...
  • Dust Bulb - I like the ones that look like rocket ships
  • Gorilla Pod - A weird, posable tripod that looks like this. Has to be one that's rated for "SLR" cameras.
  • Nikon ML-L3 Remote Control - This is it.
  • Flash - Right now I just have the cheapie flash that's built in to the camera, so something like this would be a real improvement.
• Molcajete - It's basically a special kind of mortar & pestle from Mexico, made of porous volcanic rock.  It's great for making guacamole.  STores like Crate & Barrel probably have them.  They look like this.
• Anything else you think I'd enjoy.  Christmas surprises are rarely a bad thing.