Dear Sars,

I’m hoping that The Nation can help me figure out what to buy my husband for Christmas, because I am stumped. Here’s his biographical sketch:

He’s 45 years old.He likes books, but reads slowly and doesn’t want more books. He loves film, and has a massive list of movies he plans to watch before he dies that has thousands of titles on it, but he does not want to own DVDs (we have Netflix and use streaming from various sources). He dislikes most documentaries, but likes drama and foreign films, raunchy comedies, science fiction and the occasional action flick. He always listens to the commentaries on DVDs and especially likes the Criterion Collection commentaries done by film historians.

He adores our cats. He is reserved, but not shy, and prefers a night in with me to a night out with anyone (including me). He likes architecture, maps, vintage pulp fiction covers, kitsch (like hula girls and tiki gods) and old post cards. He is extremely picky about his clothes, to the point where I am afraid to buy them for him. He is interested in chess and go, but is reclusive enough that he does not want join a chess club or game group. He has a giant brain and easily remembers facts (who the junior Senator from every state is, or what year DC Cab was released, for example).

He works from home and travels a lot for his job. He doesn’t need or want any technological or audio/video devices. He likes the Minnesota Vikings, but isn’t into team gear. He also likes ice hockey, and enjoys going to minor league baseball games. We eat out a lot, so a special dinner out isn’t really a big deal. He does not cook or have any other hobbies.

In the past, we have not had a lot of money, so I could buy him a CD or MP3s or a film reference book and he was happy as a clam. Now he buys those things himself when he wants or needs them. In the past I’ve given him stuff like hand-knit slippers, a beard trimmer, guide books for trips we are planning, a game we could play together (Lost Cities), the 5-disc collector’s edition of Blade Runner, and books like the AIA Guide to New York City, Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, and Lost New York in Old Postcards. He liked these gifts well enough, although he hasn’t watched the movies or read the books (but he did wear the slippers, use the beard trimmer and look at the pictures in the postcard book).

My big idea this year was to buy him/us tickets to a game of our local NHL franchise, but the tickets in my price range for every game for the rest of the season are sold out. I’m crafty, but slow, so I’m open to DIY ideas that don’t take a huge time investment.

We do not have (and do not want) cable TV, so he doesn’t get to see Vikings games very often. I wish there was something like MLB-TV for the NFL, because that would be the perfect gift. The gift does not need to be expensive, but I can spend up to $250. Something free that he liked would be just fine too.

Oh Sars and The Nation — please help! What should I give him for Christmas? I’m totally stuck.

A lucky lady

*****

Sarah,

There are two books from childhood I’m trying to track down:

1) Set in Sausalito, CA, about a girl who winds up living with her aunts (I think aunts), both of whom were ballet dancers. One of them was in an accident on stage and winds up crippled. Two things that stuck with me: the girl rides her bike around Sausalito and reflects that Sausalito is a good name for the town because “it is sort of a saucy town,” and her aunts aren’t very nice to her and she tries to please them by polishing the silver. Also I think “Swan Lake” figures prominently in the book.

2) Set in Seattle, WA, I think. Family with several children live in a fabulous Victorian and some mystery unfolds related to a stained-glass window in their house. Turns out the stained-glass window has a fabulous diamond (or some precious gem) set in it. The kids fight off the bad guy by shooting ammonia into his eyes with their squirt guns.

Can you help?

Meghan

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