What I Would Like for my Birthday

I'm turning 32 on Friday, so like all procrastinators, I consider this ample notice of my birthday wishes.

I generally feel weird about asking for things — it seems needy, I already feel cluttered too often (so maybe don't need that much more stuff) and I rarely remember things that I need outside of the contexts where I need them.

Hence not buying bread until my sandwich making is stymied.

But since some of you have asked (and asked and asked), and it seems needlessly precious of me to insist that you simply divine what I want based on what you know about what I like, I thought it couldn't hut to give options.

— An amp/receiver

Mine's a second- or third-hand model from an old prof of mine. I'm not sure whether it just needs cleaning or whether it has officially died, but the left channel keeps cutting out and it vexes me.

— Speakers

Though they once were rich and round, my circa '86 Sony's are now buzzy and incapable of the same great sound at anything less than "really loud." It makes me despair for my neighbors.

— A Flickr pro account

I've meant to set this up plenty of times, but haven't. Costs about $25 for a year, I think.

— A portfolio website

Really, I should set this up myself too, but each time I do it, I end up frustrated.

— Booze.

Sweet, delicious booze of all kinds. Wine, rye, scotch, gin or even absinthe.

— A nice chef's knife.

I've been using a commercial kitchen one, which is adequate, but it's dying slowly. I've had it resharpened a couple times, and it just doesn't hold the edge all that long.

— Art.

Really, framed art — whether that means getting some of my prints framed or new art with frames — is something that I always love and really do keep a long time. Book art is also awesome. I find that I don't tend to reread books that often (always onto something new with my ADD), but I can look at well-printed art books over and over.

— A large external hard drive.

I've run out of media storage space. Again. I will run out of media storage space again again again. I need to store music and photos, preferably on a networked drive.

— Music

On CD, honestly. I've run out of mp3 space, and a well-mastered CD really does sound better. Especially jazz. My copies of the great mid '60s and early '70s jazz masterpieces are all succumbing to bitrot and scratches, so I need to replace them, and I don't want mp3s for jazz, at least while my ears can still pick out most of it.

— Twin lens Holga

I just saw some 3-D slides shot on one of these, and they're amazing. Of all the variant Holgas, this would be my first choice.

— Vosages sea salt and almond chocolates

They're crazy good.

There are plenty of other things that I'd like, from an external flash for my camera to more lenses for my cameras, or concert tickets, or a trip to Disneyland or that water park from Bill and Ted's, and I always like food (or ingredients) and anything involving 32 or 2^5 would be apt.