Gift For My Hero (aka bestfriend)

[roborama]

Well, my mom officially "canceled" Christmas, because she's "done" with me. I'm a senior in high school; oh the joys of living with a parent that hates you.

But on the (sort of) bright side my best-friend's family is going to Florida and he isn't so we have decided to spend the holiday together. The problem is I always would buy all my Christmas presents for my mom but this year I'm shopping for my friend. I have NO clue what to get him.

He is not the typical 18-year-old boy. His favorite book is Wuthering Heights, loves bones and anatomy, plays 27 musical instruments (last we counted; he's like a prodigy), all things french and knitting. When we hangout we usually mall walk with Starbucks in hand, watch black and white movies, or sing Jazz, Opera, 60s, or Adele in his car. He wants to major in performance music with a minor in oboe.

Personality wise he is very sarcastic and brutally honest but has he biggest heart and can always make you smile. His mom passed away two years ago on Christmas Eve so Christmas is now not the easiest of days, especially since his family is leaving for Florida.

What do you get the person that has saved you countless times from all of life's horrors even when their life is hard as well. Please help make his Christmas great and help me find the perfect gifts and stocking stuffers. (and sorry for the uber long post about this)

[Samadhi]

Uh, a ticket to Australia, and directions to the coffee place near where I live? He sounds like one awesome guy!

He likes bones and anatomy? Try and see if he has The Human Bone Manual, or similar. That book made me geekgasm when I bought and read it. It's a basic skeletal anatomy book with identification, siding, sexing, and common race-typing techniques. It has some forensic anthropology bits in it, which are sexy.

Or, possibly a break-down model of the human skull (by far the most interesting set of bones in the human body!) They can be pricey though...


That would be my geeky sciency suggestion... Otherwise, a ticket to see a play or theatrical production, followed by a dinner somewhere - or, find out if they have any workshops or small courses on theatre performance. That might give him something nice to pad out his academic CV with

[roborama]

Originally Posted by Samadhi

Uh, a ticket to Australia, and directions to the coffee place near where I live? He sounds like one awesome guy!

He likes bones and anatomy? Try and see if he has The Human Bone Manual, or similar. That book made me geekgasm when I bought and read it. It's a basic skeletal anatomy book with identification, siding, sexing, and common race-typing techniques. It has some forensic anthropology bits in it, which are sexy.

Or, possibly a break-down model of the human skull (by far the most interesting set of bones in the human body!) They can be pricey though...


That would be my geeky sciency suggestion... Otherwise, a ticket to see a play or theatrical production, followed by a dinner somewhere - or, find out if they have any workshops or small courses on theatre performance. That might give him something nice to pad out his academic CV with

Wow thanks these are really great ideas

[Marlowe]

Here a few suggestions:
1) Depending on his musical taste and your proximity to Boston, the Handel and Hayden Society is doing some fantastic music this spring (as they always do). They are probably the premier period instrument orchestra in the United States, and their programs contain a fair amount of oboe in them.

2) All things French + Black and White movies = Truffaut

3) These might just be fun things to share with him:

Knitted Anatomy

Mathematical Knitting
Klein bottles, permutation groups, hyperbolic geometries, and more!

4) I suspect he already has this but, the Vade Mecum of the Oboist is a really fantastic and famous method book. It contains many of the most important oboe and English horn excerpts from the classical and romantic periods.

[Doctor Faustus]

GET HIM THIS.

Amazon.com: The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition (Second Edition, Slipcased Edition) (9780393068016): Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus: Books

It's the Norton edition of Shakespeare's complete works: the plays, the sonnets, the lot. It's packed with great critical material, including an excellent essay by Andrew Gurr on "The Shakespearian Stage". I have the clothbound one (Amazon.com: The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition (Second Edition) (Vol. One-Volume Clothbound) (9780393929911): Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus: Books) which I bought here for about £30.00, but that discount off the slipcased edition is superb. Plus the slipcased one looks equally if not more gorgeous.

Also! If he's a theatre geek, I'd suggest checking out this website: http://www.stageonscreen.com/ This company produces brilliant, high-quality renditions of classic non-Shakespearean plays on DVD (as recorded live at London's Greenwich Theatre) and can ship anywhere in the world. Currently the repertoire includes "Doctor Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe, "The School for Scandal" by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, "Volpone" by Ben Jonson and "The Duchess of Malfi" by John Webster. Personally if you're pressed for cash, I'd go with Marlowe... one of the greatest plays by one of Shakespeare's greatest contemporaries (and rivals, of course: in his day Marlowe was heralded the best playwright of the age).

Hope this helps!

[Samadhi]

>>Wow thanks these are really great ideas
Especially the plane ticket. :P

That mathematical knitting... makes we wonder if I should take up knitting

[Mercy]

A note tell him how you feel say thank you