j and i have officially decided we’re not exchanging gifts this year, as things are still pretty tight, moneywise. we need to buy a telly imminently (we’re currently borrowing) and we’re (still) just getting by on his paycheque while i (still) wait for a start date for my job. and while i love presents just as much as the next person, i’m really okay with that – it’s kind of a nice change of pace, in fact. i went into oxford street today to get my ipod looked at at the apple store*, and it was so unbelievably hectic (at 3:00 on a monday), i was thrilled to be able to just go back home. a relief to think, “i don’t have to get caught up in that this year”.

and honestly, there’s almost nothing i can think of that i really want anyway. in many ways, it feels like we’ve reset the clock to zero – since we got back, i no longer feel compelled to buy tons of stuff i don’t need, and every little purchase feels like a big deal. i mean, i got excited over buying a hamper the other day! woo hoo! we no longer have our clothes on the floor! we’re living on the edge now! i know consumerism will inevitably creep back into our lives, but for right now it feels nice to be free of the blind impulse to accumulate.

but on the off chance santa is reading, here’s my little list of things that would make my life easier…

dear santa –

I would like:

- in-ear earphones. the ipod buds just let in so much external noise that on busy streets or on the tube, i find myself cranking it up to 11 just to hear properly. none of the silly £300 ones – i’m hardly any kind of audio snob. but some snugger earphones would be nice.

- a corkscrew for dummies. i’m so tired of fishing bobbing bits out of my wine because i corked the bottle again. i’m amazing inept at such a simple task, and it’s a waste of perfectly good alcohol. so one of those idiot-proof dealios would help a lot.

- a new computer. my current laptop, which has served me admirably for 4 years is dying a long slow painful death. it no longer likes doing more than one task at a time, and often glitches if there’s too much information happening. i can’t really add or upgrade any programmes, and even after stripping it down to the bare essentials only 10 months ago, it’s just operating at the very limit of its capacity. i don’t need anything fancy-schmancy, just something with a decent processor and ram. i wouldn’t even say i need a laptop, but there’s no place to put a full pc in our flat, so smaller is better. (yeah, i realise i’m going to have to foot this one myself since it’s hardly a stocking item, but a girl can dream, can’t she?)

that’s pretty much it. i don’t need a lot to be happy, and i could sit here and make up a whole long list of stuff i don’t particularly want or have space for, but there’s no point in that.

so santa, baby, i promise i’ve been a good girl. i’ll keep the cookies warm, the milk cold, and the balcony clear – you don’t mind coming in through the balcony, do you?

see you soon,
your biggest fan

__________________
*i think i mentioned that my ipod stopped working for several days whilst in bolivia. turns out, you’re not supposed to operate it at above 3,000 meters altitude (pressurised planes excepted) because “In a hard drive, the heads do not contact the recording surface. They float above the surface on a small cushion of air, produced by the spinning platters. If the air is too thin to create this cushion, the heads will contact the surface, possibly even damaging it.” ooops. luckily my hard drive seems to be okay. but i do not advise visiting the apple store during the xmas season unless you enjoy intense crowds.

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christmas list, dear santa