I do not exist

One of the nice things about the holiday season is that I don't feel as guilty about spending money on myself; I just chalk it up to holiday presents, for me.

This year, I've been chalking it up a bit more than past years, I think.

So far, my presents to myself have been:

The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds 40th Anniversary CD+DVD
(I grew up listening to the Beach Boys, and recently have been reading up on them on Wikipedia, after jblum's posts rekindled my interest. This album, however, is one I never had growing up! My mother had the first 3 or 4 albums, and a live album, and later the ubiquitous Endless Summer album. This just arrived today, and I'm looking forward to listening to the 5:1 surround mix!)

Doctor Who - TV Show Poster (Van Gogh's Exploding Tardis) (Size: 36 x 24)
Doctor Who Dalek To Victory TV Poster Print
(These two prints are absurdly cheap right now! I haven't opened them yet, because I don't have frames ready for them. The frames will probably cost more than the prints, lol. But I like them.)

Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography [Hardcover]
(How could I resist? It hasn't been released yet, so I haven't received it.)

Doctor Who Encyclopedia (New Edition) [Hardcover]
(An impulse buy that I doubt I'll regret. Just arrived today!)

Doctor Who: The Forgotten [Paperback]
(Another impulse buy. This came a few months ago and is in my stack of things to read.)

Two dress shirts from a company that apparently is no longer in business. This does not surprise me because the shirts, while nice looking, are ill-fitting and the color bleeds terribly in the wash. I know it's hard to find shirts that fit me (22 inch neck, 56 inch chest, stupid ape-like arms) but two shirts that are identical in every way should NOT fit me completely differently! On one, the sleeves are 2 inches too short; on the other, about four inches to short- I have to wear them with the sleeves rolled up. I have only ever found one type of shirt that fits me nigh-perfectly, although they tend to be a little tent-like. They're expensive ($50 each) but considering the use I get out of them, I should just buy them exclusively in the future.

Diablo III: Book of Cain [Hardcover]
(Oh Diablo 3, when will you arrive?! Until then, this will have to hold me ... except it's not out yet either! But soon, in a week or so.)

I've also been working to expand my collection of Kate Orman's work (She has a list here, if you'd like to check it out yourself.) So, I picked up:

Interzone: Science Fiction and Fantasy #146 (August 1999)
(Just got this yesterday!)

Dr Who 3 Short Trips Vol 3 CD (Dr Who Big Finish)
(I'm not even sure what is on here of hers, but she is listed as an author, so I'll find out when it gets here.)

Bernice Summerfield: Nobody's Children [Hardcover]
(I thought I already had this one, but I can't remember the story, so I think it was just lodged in my brain on a wishlist. This hasn't arrived yet either.)

Two t-shirts from LOLmart: The 11 Doctors as cats, and CatMan.

It hasn't all been for me; I've shopped for others, too. I got some nice presents for Andy (Bruce Campbell's two books, and a nice big bathrobe, as well as Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe on BluRay, which I hope to actually get someday as the seller sent me the wrong item and hasn't replied in two weeks.) Andy's birthday is on December 12 (He turns 30 this year, and boy, do I have one hell of a surprise in store for him!!!) I opened an Amazon inquiry on the BluRay, but it won't be resolved until December 13th. I was going to let him pick two presents for his birthday, and two for Christmas ... luckily, I have a backup present on order, too.

I also signed up for reddit.com's Secret Santa gift exchange, and was matched with a young man who made some mistakes and is now in prison for a small period of time. I got him The Crow, The Holographic Universe, and The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry, which I'm currently reading and enjoying immensly (I went into it expecting a Dan Brown vomit-inducer, or worse, a Clive Cussler pukefest*, but it's actually really good!)

Oh, amazon.com charge account, you'll be my ruin!

*In college, I actually read and enjoyed a lot of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels as mindless fun ... until I read Iceberg, which had such blatantly homophobia and gay-bashing that I lost all respect for the author and his works.)