Wednesday, December 26, 2012

What was your favorite present....got or given?

Anybody want to share a favorite gift your got or gave? 

I just saw THIS VIDEO and thought about Christmases where our family's had reactions like that, too!

My favorite gift was one I gave...I'd bought a book by Magic Johnson at a fund raiser, signed by him with the number 32, and I gave it to my huge backetball fan-nephew! He was pretty excited. I was more :-) Got any fun thing you'd like to share?

I hope your Christmas was wonderful.

xx Z

46 comments:

Ducky's here said...

A coffee table book on contemporary street photography.

A genre that was getting a little stale has really come back to life around the world.

Sections on Muslim and Chinese photographers were especially interesting.

"You need obscene dedication. Get out there while you can."


Z said...

Ducky, that does sound interesting...street photography shows a lot of what we'd not normally see. It's what I like best.

What's the quote ??

Divine Theatre said...

That sounds like an excellent gift, Ducky. I wouldn't mind owning it.
Z, I am not a sports fan...the only autograph I ever requested was Milton Friedman's! LOL!
Recently, a group of bloggers got together to chip in to donate money to a fellow blogger who is very ill with cancer. We raised enough to be able to send her and her extended family to Disney World. I have no words to measure or define the beauty of that gift.

xo

Andie

elmers brother said...

My wife and mother in law made me two homemade Steelers work belts/aprons complete with pockets for tools

Z said...

Elbro, very cool! Tell them helllo..
xx

Andie, I wonder if that's the blogger I donated to...I hope so. I didn't know her blog but someone directed me to it; but I thought this was a single woman. Anyway, I'm so glad you were able to help do such a fantastic wonderful present for her!!!

Z said...

a little politics; I nearly choked hearing a news reader on CNN this morning so emotionally say "But even if there IS a deal struck today about the fiscal cliff, will they have time to READ it and DIGEST it and weigh in on it?!"

And I'm thinking "did you feel that way when your health care bill got passed with virtually nobody reading it and all of us being led like sheeps to the slaughter as Pelosi told us 'you have to enact it to know what's in it'"!?

the irony never quits...I really had to laugh.

Z said...

but let's go back to CHRISTMAS PRESENTS (sorry for the interruption!)

xxx

Anonymous said...

My wife got me a pair of Bruno Magloe blue suade shoes.

JonBerg said...

I'm happy to report that I neither gave nor received any CHRISTMAS PRESENTS this year. I found it a little perplexing to hear, this morning, that traffic might be impeded today by all of those returning gifts that they received yesterday! This, however, doesn't, in any way,diminish the appreciation of the sincerity that I find in the CHRISTMAS season's propensity to bring out the best in people. I think that's what it's all about.

Bob said...

Very cool on the Magic Johnson thing. You go to the greatest parties. Now I know we have a genuine Hollywood celeb with the Z lady.

My best memory this Christmas was our two-year-old grand daughter finding her much anticipated Princess Panties, and putting them on in front of God and everybody else.

Glad you had a great Christmas, and wish you a prosperous New Year and a continually successful blog.

Tom said...

I got a set of Lionel Electric Trains.

Tom said...

By the way, Where's Hillary?How long does it take to heal from a face-lift?

Z said...

Bob, sounds so nice! I just read your post on your Christmas and am so frustrated I haven't been able to post at your place lately :-*(

Oftentimes, if I can't get the comment box to come up, I just hit REPLY to the person above but even that's not working.

So, know I read it and would love to see a picture of the little Princess...with her new present ON, of course :-)
Also, I worked hard for that glamorous party so it was less of a glitzy great time for me, trust me! (except for the amazing jazz combo I got; worth going to the event just to hear them!)

JB...accept a Christmas hug from me!

Steve, welcome to geeeZ...my nephew's a Marklin collector; do you know it?

Darth..BLUE SUEDE SHOES!! And BRUNO MAGLI'S..COOOOL!!

Silverfiddle said...

My oldest kid, a daughter is off to college starting January, finishing out her high school there, so we got her a laptop.

It was a priceless moment.

Rita said...

My nephew gave me an Italian Travel Journal along with a Roma luggage tag. I'll be using both in four and a half months.

Anonymous said...

@Duck


"A coffee table book on contemporary street photography..."

My favorites would be Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paul Caponigro and Roy DeCarava.

John Sexton is brilliant too. But not street scapes....more like Adams.

Anonymous said...

German cutlery and lot's of new cooking ware. And a new spice collection with magnetic caps that I can stick on the side of the Refrigerator next to my stove!

Rita said...

I want what Imp got. (Or gave).

Ed Bonderenka said...

Z: I couldn't post here from Chrome Browser. Using IE for this.
Similar to how you described not being able to post at Bob's.

How pleasant to see people interact pleasantly with Ducky.
Reminds me of those Brit and German soldiers in WW1 singing carols and playing soccer at Christmas. Those guys had to be rotated out. They couldn't shoot at each other the same after that.

Anonymous said...

@Rita

Got...sorry. I'll cook for ya...or share my recipes?

:-)

I gave a small Over the shoulder leather handbag for Mrs. Imp & a Mini Ipad....Nordstrom cards for my fashion conscious daughter...and a Sonos Bluetooth speaker setup for her Ipad, Mac and IPhone cause the built ins are cruddy....and helped her finally decorate her 10" Tree...LOL

And...a wonderful Italian dinner in South Beach under a full Christmas moon.

Anonymous said...

@Duck

"You need obscene dedication. Get out there while you can."

As a 1979 graduate of Ansel Adams school...a statement he made that always impressed me ( and the last class he taught before he passed ) was:

"When you believe you've run out of things to photograph...look down at your feet"!

He was so right...there's always something to see.

Ducky's here said...

Imp, I'm kinda a Doisneau fan myself but you can't overlook Cartier-Bresson.

"Your first 10,000 shots are your worst"
Henri Catier-Bresson

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

@Duck

" I'm kinda a Doisneau fan myself but you can't overlook Cartier-Bresson."

Indeed...I forgot about him....I think Henri might have had better PR?

However both were in competition with each other, yes? ( Have you ever seen DeCarava's work? )

And both were magnificent artists....and I wish....I could afford a complete Leica rig.

The absolute Bentley of cameras....and I prefer it even over a Hasselblad. Which I've owned several of.

I still have a beautiful, Swiss crafted...Sinar. A real piece of beauty and craftsmanship Duck.

Wonderful camera. I paid over 15K for the entire kit back in 1980!!!

It really doesn't matter to me what one uses...sometimes it's all fluff. I met a photographer at Adams school that used a $1.99 "Diana"...and she had to tape it up to stop the light leaks.

She took the most magnificent photos I've ever seen...I was...well....humbled.

I have several Nikons right now, that I've owned ( digital ) since 2006. 12 mega pixels is OK with me..LOL.

And I have just about every piece of "glass" that Nikon has ever made....and they all fit on the digitals...unlike Canon.

Ducky's here said...

Imp, I've taken up stills relatively late (still have a working Eclair ACL with a speed mag).

Right now for a still I have a Canon Rebel and I'm using an inexpensive 50mm. Vivian Maier and Gary Winogrand fascinate me.

Nothing in God's great creation is mundane but sometimes you have to make the camera lie.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Got: Russian Model 1891 Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle w/500 rounds of 7.62mm x 54mmR


Given: Intratec TEC-9 w/70 rd. drum magazine

I got the more powerful can opener.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JonBerg said...

JB...accept a Christmas hug from me!


Z,

That's the best I could have ever ask for!

Z said...

JB....backatcha, kiddo :-)

Ed, so now what? How do I proceed with commenting? :-(

And that was made into a very nice film entitled JOYEUX NOEL which I like to much I own it..French, German and British, remember?

Bob said...

Z: I have played with the comment settings on my blog, but cannot figure out why WordPress is acting up. For some reason the software thinks it is smarter than the users. I hate it when that happens.

Z said...

Bob, Silverfiddle's using DISQUS and I can't comment there now, either. :-(

Always On Watch said...

Hard to make a choice.

But I think I'll go with the purple piggy bank that The Merry Widow sent to me. It's made of the same material as THIS COW MONEY BANK.

Second place: the nightshirt that my couusin gave me.

But I do have another Christmas present on the way.

Always On Watch said...

Z,
A Twitter account will allow you to use Disqus.

Or, you can register with Disqus itself.

sue hanes said...


Z - My favorite present was when the eyes lit up when my grandchildren saw what I got them.
I had had some doubts about what I had chosen, so I watched them carefully - and I could tell that they were satisfied. That meant a lot.

Also the foot of snow was a great present - as they had a wonderful time sledding on the hill in our back yard - and making a snowman and snow fort. Especially the four from Alabama. They rarely get snow in Huntville so they were out there all of the time.

sue hanes said...


Z - My favorite present was when the eyes lit up when my grandchildren saw what I got them.
I had had some doubts about what I had chosen, so I watched them carefully - and I could tell that they were satisfied. That meant a lot.

Also the foot of snow was a great present - as they had a wonderful time sledding on the hill in our back yard - and making a snowman and snow fort. Especially the four from Alabama. They rarely get snow in Huntville so they were out there all of the time.

Anonymous said...

@sue hanes

"Also the foot of snow was a great present.."


Man...that's the icing on the cake for Christmas, isn't it Sue? That I miss...especially when all the houses are decorated and the beauty of the lites reflected in the snow?

In other words...."I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas"...too.

Thanks...Irving Berlin.

Lisa said...

The best gift I got was a Charter Club down alternative blanket and flannel sheets.
The best give I gave was a grocery store gift card to our neighbor who just went back to work after surgery for a ruptured colon. 4 of us neighbors chipped in. Young guy too in his thirties.

Z said...

AOW, thanks...I'll try one or the other.

Sue, I'm SO glad you told us about that lovely feeling seeing your grandkids REALLY like their gifts...you can tell, can't you!

And Imp's description of snow with Christmas lights made me almost weep! HOW LOVELY! This California girl's never had a snowy Christmas; not even in Paris or Munich..bad timing!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

@Duck...

Oh my...finally common ground! LOL

Imp, I've taken up stills relatively late.."

I'd love to share some of mine with you Duck. Art...is art...and the common ground that unites all sentient beings...NO?

What's even more interesting is that one of my former students....is now shifting towards...motion and cine...from 20+ years of stills.

Amazing that he can do this with a Canon, Mark something or other.

Right Truth said...

The favorite give I received was a computer program WINDOWS PARALLEL. All my previous computers used Windows operating systems. But my latest lap top is a MacBookPro, which runs on the Mac operating system, you cannot use any Windows programs.

I had a photomanipulation program Micrografx Picture Publisher, which ran on Windows, I used it for all my graphic creations. I have not been able to use it since I got the Mac.

Now, after installing WINDOWS Parallel, I installed Micrografx Picture Publisher and I can use it

Debbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

Anonymous said...

@Right Truth


Welcome to the exquisite world of a Mac!!!

You can also install "BootCamp" on another small partition and install a full version of Windows 7 or what ever flavor of Windows you like...since Mac shifted to Intel.

Anonymous said...

@Right Truth

"you cannot use any Windows programs."

There are many Windows programs that can be ported to a Mac. You'll see.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Just noticed I typed "70 rd. drum magazine" for the Tec-9 I gave for Christmas. It actually holds 72 rounds, but always jammed up in rapid fire if it was totally full.

Yes, the high-capacity mag is "illegal" but wasn't when I bought it 18 years ago...

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

"you cannot use any Windows programs"

Macs don't run viruses because they won't run anything else either.

At least, not until you make them imitate a Windows PC.

Why not just skip the hassle, and buy a computer that works right out of the box? ;)

Anonymous said...

@Beamish

"buy a computer that works right out of the box? ;)"

Here we go again.

Windoze update every damn hour of the day...security fixes....virus fixes...windoze defender....firewall....

Beamish....this house has 4 Macs running...24/7. One that's 6 years old too.

I'd buy a refurbished 3 year old Mac before any windoze garbage.