Birthdays and associated presents

[EverPhoenix]

so, i recently (a hour ago) came back from a birthday party, and am wondering what you people usually give as birthday presents. for me, the default present is an interesting-looking bottle of spirits of some sort, usually scotch or bourbon.

so, the final question: what do you like to get for your birthday, or what do/have you given as a gift before?

[chicken]

for quite some years now i hardly have any explicit wishes (birthday, christmas, etc.). im more interested in what people THINK i'd like to get. first, its way more of a surprise and second, it tells you how good people know you.

yesterday was my birthday party and my best friend got me a sack (it was a winnie pooh sack ^^) full of random and mostly useless stuff BUT everything had spongebob on it (like a huge bottle of bubbles).

also, i already posted the funny story about what my parents got me (as revenge) this year

[Freedan]

It depends on the person.

For my family, it's usually money (the easy way out, sure, but it's something we all need). Or if there's something specific they'd like, they'll tell me, and I'll get it for them.

I'll only bother with my favourite coworkers, and in their case, it's usually tailored to them. One of them just had their birthday not long ago, so I got her a bottle of her favourite wine (and for Christmas, her favourite chocolates, etc.)

My gf takes more thought. I'll usually get her something related to things she likes (she likes a certain anime for example, so I got her a plushie of her favourite character).

As for myself, I generally don't ask for anything. I don't even mention my birthday, it's just another day to me.

[tay120n64]

For my birthday, I just want EVERYONE to call me and wish me a happy birthday. I usually only want something if someone asks.

As for other people, I like to buy people stuff like games, dvds, music, and the like. Things they can enjoy, but don't necessarily need.

[Dark_Gaia]

i love getting ds games =D probs why i have such a big collection lol.

[Miss Prime Blue]

Money.

My family is no where near thoughtful enough to give me something I actually want/need, so money is the usual gift. It's like a gift to myself.

[EverPhoenix]

the difficulty i find is that it ends up with someone getting something they dont really need/want. the thought is nice, but itll just end up sitting there and it wont see any use.

another thing i find, when someone asks me (or i ask anyone) what they want for their birthday, no one can give an answer. so, for most of my friends, unless i can think of something really specific, i end up getting them some alcohol. itll see good use, and all my friends enjoy a good drink. we've even discussed this, and everyone agrees

[psychokind]

I only give gifts to girls. and only my gf and my best friend. not too much to do here

[Yet One More Idiot]

First off, our family are all certifiably lazy - we only get birthday (and Xmas) prezzies for immediate family - my mum, dad, and sister. Anyone else just gets a birthday and Xmas card.

And in regards to what we get each other, well we used to go for the concept of giving something that you thought the family member would like. That quickly failed though, as we realised just how little idea we had about A) What each other would like, (well, our parents could never figure out our tastes at least), and B) What we didn't already HAVE. (Several times my parents would get my sister a bunch of albums she already owned).

So that idea flopped, so now we all use pre-determined wishlists (Amazon to the rescue! ), that way we know for sure that we will get something we like and haven't already gotten ourselves. Or at least we would, if some people coordinated their purchases (like my mum and dad, who are divorced, managed to buy some of the same items off my sister's wishlist last year, leading to unnecessarily duplicated prezzies and lots of faffing sending stuff back).

I tend to get my sister books and CDs mostly, and sometimes a DVD boxset (Dead Like Me, Dollhouse, Chuck, that kinda thing...). My dad loves all DVDs, especially classic 60s/70s shows mostly (currently on a Bewitched kick, also the 50s Adventures of Superman, etc;...). My mum will ask for lots of books, but hardly ever reads most of them. Usually given some on DVD so she'll at least SEE them if she never READS them. I like to go mostly for DVDs too, but I try to even it up by asking for books and music too wherever poss.

[Mantaray]

for anyone's birthday nowadays, i just get them a pet rock. it's free, and customizeable either that or it's candy.

[Dark_Gaia]

heh i get books sometimes n dont read them too lol. i dont seem 2 read as much as i did when i was a teenager. only about 1 book a month now =( might make an effort 2 read more. i love getting dvds too, i have all the series of seinfeld n lots of other cool sitcoms cos i love there pointless humor lol.