birthday present." He wouldn't

My Best Birthday Present - Timothy Leary My Best Birthday Present I haven't celebratedmy birthday in decades. Sure, when you're a kid it's exciting to add ayear to your age, have your parents gather your friends, blow out the candles,and get presents, but today I turn 49 and the last thing on earth I feellike doing is celebrating, much less blowing out a fire. Nothing very specialabout November 10th other than it is the day that Stanley found Livingston.Okay, I wouldn't mind a present or two, but that's more a matter of actuallyneeding stuff than thinking I deserve any sort of reward just for havingsurvived another year. I've always felt it was a wee bit egomaniacal tothrow yourself a big birthday party. Nothing wrong with celebrating others,but when it comes to celebrating yourself, it shouldn't be in public. Fifteen years ago todayit was also my birthday and, as normal, I was doing what I always do, whatI still do, what I'm doing right now, writing at my computer, with absolutelyno plans for the day. When you don't have a plan, there's nothing to deviatefrom. You can do whatever you want without fear of failure because howcan you fail when you don't have any goal in mind? Whatever happens, happens,and it's good or bad on its own terms. The higher you get your hopes up,the further you have to fall, so I never count on anything. If somethingbad happens, too bad. If something good happens, it's a gift. There was a knock atthe door. I opened it and there was Timothy Leary who said "Hi, I'm yourbirthday present." He wouldn't explain how or why this came to be, or whoin particular was bestowing him upon me. He was simply there, and he wouldhang out for at least an hour. All he would tell me was that he was toldI was someone he should meet. Whenever you meet someonefamous in a personal situation, it's hard to know how to behave, particularlyif they're enormous media stars. After all, you've spent hours gazing atthem, thinking about them, perhaps days or weeks staring at their image.Imagine the hundreds of hours you've spent with certain stars broadcastregularly into your living room. They feel like a friend, like you actuallyknow them. They're not and you don't, but it's a hard feeling to shakewhen they're standing right in front of you, coming into your house, sittingon your sofa, checking the place out while waiting for you to bring thema drink. No matter how many memories you have of them, they have none ofyou. To them, you are a total stranger. Treat them like a fan would andyou risk becoming part of their teeming crowd of lookie loos. Treat themlike you don't know who they are and they could get insulted. No way tomake a friend. Friendships deserve an even playing field, so it's hardto think of yourself as the friend of a celebrity until they know as muchabout you as you know about them. Which is why celebrities are SO interestedwhen you interrupt them somewhere in public and tell them about your uncleSid's gall bladder operation. I wanted to be friendswith Timothy Leary so he had a hell of a lot of catching up to do becausehe knew nothing about me and I knew a lot about him, or at least I thoughtI did. I shifted into show-and-tell mode, whipping out a book of Polaroidsfor him to peruse. He enjoyed my madness immensely and I proceeded to tellhim something I'm sure he heard a million times. My life was profoundlychanged by his research into psychedelia, combined with reading Tom Wolfe's"The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," the Beatles, and meeting a guy namedMario in 1970 who claimed to be the husband of the actual Alice that ArloGuthrie sang about but who supported his acting habit by selling acid atLee Strasberg's studio where I happened to be studying at the time. But I digress. Thefirst and foremost influence that Timothy Leary had upon me was my art,which simply didn't exist. Before my first acid trip, I wasn't an artist.I had never played guitar, had certainly never created any impressionism,and hadn't written a single word other than school assignments. Maybe Iwould have discovered these talents on my own, but if my Polaroids remindyou of acid flashbacks, welcome to the club. On acid, what I do to my Polaroids,you can do to reality. Move it around a little. Make big things look small,small things look big, marvel at the infinite depths you're capable ofperceiving, as though reality were a 3D comic book and for the first timeyou were looking at it with the red-and-blue glasses. Pre-acid, I was onlyinterested in being an actor, moving to New York to study with Lee Strasberg,and getting in a Broadway play. On acid, I actually attempted to give aperformance from Spoon River Anthology in front of the man himself, a performancehe declared "interesting," a performance that convinced me that actingwas a very strange profession. While personally communicating with theinfinite miracles of the universe, I had a very hard time convincing myselfthat the most important thing I could be doing was pretending to be a fictionalcharacter while reciting dialogue written by a writer I'd never met. Post-acidI walked home from the Village to my boarding house at 39th and Park, pickedup my roommate's guitar and started playing. It wasn't long before I wasa better guitar player than actor, and I ended up composing music for severaloff-Broadway shows. Way off Broadway. The Company Theater at La Cienegaand Pico in Los Angeles to be precise. Other acid trips wereless eventful and I stopped taking it, but not before playing with my firstSX-70 Polaroid camera and discovering I didn't need acid to change realityto my own specifications. We talked and talked.He wasn't a drug addled guru and I wasn't an acid burnout. He was extremelyintelligent. My vision of Leary had been fogged by his media image, andI had forgotten that he was a Harvard professor. Luckily, some others forgottoo and that's how he escaped from prison. The most amazing story he toldme was this one... When he was bustedby the Feds for possession of one single joint of pot and sentenced to20 years in a Federal penitentiary, the prison officials did what theyalways did with new prisoners, they gave him a psychological test to determinewhether he would go to a minimum or maximum security prison. He passedthe test with flying colors and was sent to minimum security where he promptlyescaped. What the officials didn't know was that Leary himself wrote thepsychological test for the Federal prison system when still at Harvard,so he knew exactly what answers to give. After a couple hours,my birthday present had to leave, but in his new life as Hollywood gadflyI kept running into him over the years at video shows and art galleries.I'm glad he lived long enough to experience the Internet, and if you haven'tseen his site, it's still up at http://leary.com/ and well worth a peek. Excuse me, there'sthe door. Emulsional Problems

College Gift

Somerville College - Gift aid and deed of covenant for UK Tax Payers Somerville College Skip to Content The College | Prospective Students | Current Students | Former Students | Conferences | Notices | Contacts Home | Alumni and Friends Events | Degree Day | The Association of Senior Members | Missing Members | Development | Contact Us | Site Map Gift aid and deed of covenant for UK Tax Payers Deeds of Covenant have been superseded by the new Gift Aid scheme. However, if you have a covenanted gift to the College which was set up before 6 April 2000, you need take no action. Your donation will continue as before and will be tax effective under the Gift Aid scheme until the deed expires. If you set up a deed of covenant on or after the 6 April 2000, you will need to make a Gift Aid declaration to ensure that your gifts remain tax effective. Gift Aid is a scheme by which you can give a sum of money to charity and the charity can reclaim from the Inland Revenue the basic rate tax (currently 22%) on your gift, at no extra cost to you. That increases the value of the gift you make to the charity. Under current regulations for example, if you give £10 using Gift Aid, your gift would be worth £12.82 to Somerville. If you are a higher rate tax payer, you can claim relief on the difference between the basic rate and higher rate of tax on your annual tax return. Please note:You must pay at least as much tax as Somerville will reclaim on your gift(s) in the tax year in which you make them (tax credits on dividend income will count towards the tax paid). The tax year runs from 6 April in one year to 5 April in the next. If you have any queries about Gift Aid, please speak to the Development Office. You can make payments by cash, cheque, postal order, direct debit, standing order, debit or credit card or even in a foreign currency (including the euro). Subject to a few rules, you can give any amount, large or small, regular or one-off, and Somerville can reclaim the tax. In order for Somerville to claim Gift Aid on your gift, you need to make a declaration confirming that you want your gifts to be treated as Gift Aid donation. Please click here to access a Gift Aid declaration form or contact the Development Office. Accessibility Statement © Somerville College 2003. Last Modified: 2:27pm on the 28th of January 2005

Christmas gifts for Dad

Christmas gifts for Dad UK - Buyagift Gift ideas for dads online search site map Hot Links Driving Days Ferrari Driving Super Cars Rally Driving Single Seater Off Roading Mini & Classics Skid, Bike & Learn Famous Venues Silverstone Thruxton Goodwood Knockhill Prestwold Hall Brands Hatch Oulton Park Rockingham Flying Days Fixed Wing Flights Helicopter Flights Aerobatic Flights Flight Simulators Vintage Flying On The Wind Relaxing Days Style Makeovers Wine Tasting Lifestyle Experiences Cookery Courses Locomotion Spa Breaks Relaxing Spa Days Total Luxury Days Overnight Breaks Out & About Days Out Sky's the limit Family Fun London Eye & Cruises Wet n' Wild Watersports Powerboats Sailing Ultimate Gifts Speed Demons Extreme Pilots Natural Wonders Ultimate Indulgence Other Gifts Out of this World Gadgets Something unique Date to remember Animal Adoptions Adrenalin Fast Movers Something New The Classics Other Activities For Kids Singing / Music Birds of Prey Animal Magic Sport / Leisure Learn How On a budget Sky's the limit Something Special On a budget Sky's the limit Traditional Gifts Helium Balloons Hampers Flowers Wine Cases Champagne Best Sellers Top 10 Driving Top 10 Flying Top 10 Relaxing Top 10 Adrenalin Top 10 Activities Top 10 Gift Ideas Open Vouchers -- Christmas gifts for Dad from Buyagift.co.uk What do you buy Dad this Christmas? To help you decide we have listed a selection below of our best selling Christmas gifts for Dad . To view more of the these exciting gift ideas simple click the link belwo to be taken to the 'Gifts for him' category. At Buyagift we believe that the best gifts to give are memories that last a life time and with over 350 unique gift experiences online you will be spoilt for choice. Simply choose the perfect gift for Dad, personalise the voucher and then purchase using our 100% secure server. All gifts come with free delivery. Click here to view our selection of Christmas gifts for Dad Christmas gifts for Dad – What's on offer Super Car Experience A choice of some of the World's finest cars for a truly unforgettable experience. Whether you choose a Ferrari, a Porsche, Corvette, MGTF or a Lotus Elise this experience is sure to fulfil anyone's need for speed. Professional instruction will allow you to make the most of the car and your choice of speedy airfield straights or demanding pro race circuits. Location - UK Wide Price - £179.00 Introductory Flying Lesson With this experience you can let Dad become the captain of an aircraft in just 30 minutes with one-to-one tuition from a CAA qualified instructor. We have various frinedly flying schools located throughout the UK for this once in a lifetime experience. Location - UK Wide Price - £95.00 Be a Firefighter for a Day Know anyone who thinks they could be a fireman? Well knows your achnce to oput them to the test with this fantastic full on experience. The day includes fire engine driving on blue lights, real fire fighting, breathing apparatus wearing in confined spaces, full use of all fire and rescue equipment including cutting equipment, and a final major incident to handle. Location - Redhill, Surrey (South East) Price - £125.00 Hydro Zorbing For One The only water sport on land! A great Christmas gift for Dad, a Zorbonaut and 25 litres (2 buckets) of water (cold or warm) inside the Zorb, you are sitting in a position looking down the 300m hill, you slide from side to side, forwards and backwards while the Zorb revolves around you gaining speed with every revolution Location - Swanage, Dorset (South West) Price - £49.00 Tandem Skydive The ultimate adrenalin experience! After a twenty five minute nail biting plane ride to reach the required altitude, the roar of the engines softens and you realise your time has come, it's now or never as you are over the drop zone. What follows is up to 7,000ft of freefall at speeds of around 120mph. There's nothing on Earth like it, but you're not on Earth are you! Location - UK Wide Price - £245.00 Learn to play golf If Dads not into golf yet or maybe he needs some tips then the two golfing packages on offer here are ideal. Headed up by PGA golf professionals ensuring that your skills are taught in the correct order giving you the most from your lesson. At a range of quality courses around the UK you can enjoy a day of first class instruction from the best in the business using the latest techniques and free equipment hire Location - UK Wide Price - £75.00 Name a star Show Dad just how special he is by naming a star after him!! These original and symbolic gift ideas have become extremely popular gifts to give to friends or loved ones. Location - Free UK Delivery Price - £20.00 Newspaper from your Date of Birth Choose a date over the last 100 years and present Mum with an original archived newspaper from the day she was born. There are a range of titles to choose from and all newspapers come with a certificate of authenticity. Click the 'More Info' button to view the various different presentation packs on offer. Location - Free UK Delivery Price - £29.99 The Anfield Experience For Two Adults incl. Lunch How many times have you gone out to kick a ball about in the park and imagined you were about to walk out for Liverpool at Anfield? Probably more times than you'd care to remember, but of course you can always turn your dream into a reality. This amazing package includes a tour of the ground, a trip to the museum and lunch!! Location - Anfield, Liverpool (North West) Price - £59.00 We have many more Christmas gifts for Dad in this section including more driving and flying days as well as bungee jumping and sailing experiences. To view these and more click here . Site Map Driving days | Driving experiences | Famous circuits | Activity days | Health spa days | Pamper days | Flying days | Gift ideas | Gifts for him | Gifts for her | Experience days | Gifts | Presents | Christmas gifts | Birthday gifts | Gift experiences | Unusual gifts | Unique gifts | Birthday presents | Birthday gift ideas | Present ideas | Gifts for mum | Gifts for dad | Watersports | Corporate Events | Ferrari driving | Brands Hatch | Silverstone Race Track | Knockhill Race Track | BMW Experiences at Rockingham | Oulton Park | Rally driving | Tank driving | Flying lessons | Ballooning | Hot Air Ballooning | Tiger Moth | Acre of the Moon | Name a star | Archive Newspapers | Old Newspapers | Clay Pigeon Shooting | Record a song | Hamper gifts | Wine online | Beauty makeovers | Zorbing | Birthday newspapers | Christmas gift ideas | Christmas presents | Christmas present ideas | Christmas gifts for Mum | Christmas gifts for Dad | Xmas gifts | Xmas presents | Unique Christmas Gifts | Buyagift misspellings | Steam train experience | Orgasmatron | Thames river cruise | Quad biking | Alton Towers | London Eye | Track Days | Thorpe Park | Pillage Putter | Adopt a Dolphin | Champney's Health Spas | Dancing Lessons | Scuba Diving | Ferarri Driving | Tussauds Days Out | Porsche Driving Experiences | Lamborghini Driving Experiences | Sphereing | Car Racing | Forest Mere Spa Days | Animal Adoptions | Chocolate Making Courses | Bungee Jumping | Silver Rolo | Mig Flight | Legoland | Birds of Prey Days |

Buy Gift Certificates 100%

GoCollect.com - The Web's Widest Selection Of Collectibles & Gifts Browse 70621 Products Today! Click Here to Login/Register It pays to GoCollect! Click for Rewards Shopping Cart Your Account Customer Service Featured Stores: CowParade | Fresh Flowers | Candles | Framed Art | Halloween -- SEARCH --· Boyds Collection · Charming Tails · Cherished Teddies · CowParade - Official Site! · Department 56 · Dreamsicles · Fresh Flowers · Gund · Harmony Kingdom · Jim Shore · Just the Right Shoe · Lenox Classics · Lladro · Mary Phillips Designs · M.I. Hummel · Pooh & Friends · Precious Moments · Seraphim Classics · Snowbabies · Swarovski Crystal · Thomas Kinkade Art · Walt Disney Classics · Waterford · Willow Tree · Yankee Candles $10 Off PLUS Free Shipping! Click for details. -- GoCollect.com Gift Certificates $75 Gift Certificate Same As Cash!!! FREE With GoCollect Gift Certificate Purchase: White Linen Gift Card & Envelope Personalized Gift Message Removable Gift Certificate Card Colorful & Fun FREE upgraded shipping for Christmas delivery*** --- GoCollect Gift Certificates are the perfect gift with over 70,000 Collectibles from over 250 of your favorite brands! Can't decide what to get them? Let them choose... Give them the gift of the Web's Widest Selection of Collectibles & Gifts! GoCollect offers FREE Shipping & Gifts on orders over $75, 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee, an exciting Rewards Program and Fresh Flowers for any occasion! Great For: Empty Stockings! Under the Tree! In a card! Holiday Fun! Perfect For: Family & Friends Co-Workers & Collectors Last Minute Gifts When You Can't Decide! *Enter your personalized gift message when prompted at checkout. **Gift certificates are not refundable for cash and may not be applied to prior purchases. ***Order by 12 noon EST on December 23rd for Christmas Delivery --- Other Gift Certificate Denominations Night-Owls Get TRIPLE Reward Points NOW - Plus FREE Shipping!!! Click for more. --- Order by Phone (800) 920-4947 · 9am - 6pm EST Mon-Fri -- Please Note: We will be closed Monday, July 4, 2005 in observance of Independence Day. -- Order Toll Free (800) 920-4947 9am - 10pm EST Mon-Sun Customer Service (800) 318-8188 9am - 6pm EST Mon-Fri Sell Your Collection - NEW Auction Alternative! Click for more. -- Affiliate Network Retailer Network Secondary Market Store Locator Contact Information Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Buy Gift Certificates 100% Customer Commitment & Satisfaction Guarantee ©2005 GoCollect Inc. All rights reserved. The GoCollect mark and logo are trademarks of GoCollect Inc. Not receiving replies or emails? Click here .

Gift Baskets Wine Gift

Gift Baskets and Wine Basket Gifts by Wine Country Gift Baskets -- search: click here for advanced search Welcome Guest ACCOUNT SIGN IN ORDER STATUS SHOPPING BASKET Mothers Day -- Free Shipping Online Specials Gourmet Food Gift Baskets Wine Gift Baskets Gift Towers Theme Baskets Candle Gift Baskets -- Spa Gift Baskets Teddy Bear Baskets GHIRARDELLI Chocolate -- GODIVA Gift Baskets -- Wine Country's Private Cellar Wines By Family Kosher Gift Baskets -- Birthday Gift Baskets Coffee Gift Baskets Thank You Gifts Get Well Gift Baskets Sympathy Baskets Romance Gift Baskets Corporate Gifts New Baby Baskets Customer Service Catalog Request Corporate Sales Contact Us FAQ's Make Us Your Homepage Bookmark This Page Tell a Friend The #1 Gift Basket Website! Source:Alexa 5/2005 -- The Ritz Perfect for sharing, this large metal basket is generously filled with some of Wine Country's finest food. This deluxe assortme... $ 99.95 Pacific Heights Five individually boxed and beautifully wrapped surprises. Soft and chewy vanilla caramels, cranberry popcorn clusters, Belgian milk chocolate truffles, Mama Mell... $ 19.95 Crane Lake Duet Whether they prefer red or white wine, you can't miss with this terrific selection. Crane Lake Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are brought together w... $ 39.95 World of Thanks Express your gratitude with this fresh and enjoyable basket. Filled with Ghirardelli milk chocolate with almonds, Godiva milk chocolate hot cocoa, dried apr... $ 39.95 Spa Gift Baskets Wine Gift Baskets Corporate Gifts Gourmet Food Gift Baskets | | Wine Gift Baskets | | Gift Towers | | Theme Baskets | | Candle Baskets | | Spa Gift Baskets | | GHIRARDELLI Chocolate GODIVA Gift Baskets | | Wine Country's Private Cellar | | Wines By Family | | Online Specials | | Free Shipping Customer Service | | Catalog Request | | Corporate Sales | | Contact Us | | FAQ's | | Employment | | Links | | Site Map | | Privacy Policy 2005 Wine Country Gift Baskets. All rights reserved. (800) 324-2793 WCGB01