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

Baby Gift Suggestions Berkeley

Berkeley Parents Network: Baby Gift Suggestions Berkeley Parents Network Home Members Post a Msg Reviews Advice Join BPN Help/FAQ What's New Search Baby Gift Suggestions Berkeley Parents Network Advice Babies Baby Gift Suggestions What's the one ''must have'' item? What was your best baby shower gift for under $20? Memorable Baby Gifts Gifts for Twin Babies Present for New Family in Hong Kong Checklist for Baby Needs related page: Baby Gear what/where to buy Present for New Family in Hong Kong November 2001 My brother and his wife are about to have a new baby inHong Kong. I'd like to send them a gift that would be useful, and perhaps difficult to get in there. Does anyonehave any sense of an American item that would be usefuland harder or more expensive to get there? Thanks. Have you seen the Birthday Cakes that FTD Florists make up? All theingredients are things for the baby made up to look like a birthday cake.Or throw a shower for them with your friends and then send everything over.Hong Kong pretty much has everything we have so it would be difficult tofind something unique unless you want to go the antique route (earlyamerican cradle or crib). I don't suppose they have too many of those around there.marianne When I had my baby in Hong Kong my friends and family inthe States sent lots of clothes....probably because theyare light and easy to send. However, it was like sendingcoal to Newcastle....since HK makes a lot of baby clothes.What I appreciated most were parenting magazines, books for me (What to expect in the first year, travelling with children, etc.), books for the baby, music - especially a tape of lullabyes, the black and white infant toys- expensive in HK, the baby bjorn backpack - also very expensive in HK- but available, a cheap nightlight that can stick to the wall (with batteries). You also might wait until after the baby is born to findout what they need. US medicines - baby tylenol, etc. are expensive there and a medicine kit for baby would be a great gift. As would some bathing products thatare natural - try the Real Goods store next to Smith Hawkins. HK is very dirty and something 100% cotton, cuddly, or just non-toxic is great. Good luck! Amelia It's pretty easy to get mainstream baby stuff in Hong Kong, soyou might want to go alternative (Berkeley) stuff. We had lotsof success with a "boppy" nursing pillow, Sear's Baby Book, and "natural" baby wash stuff. My sister sent Tucks Pads andLasinoh, neither of which are readily available there. What was your best baby shower gift for under $20? Gwynne What was your favorite baby-shower gift for $20 or less; and where can you get one? I got a ton of great gifts, but the best thing is what I bought for us afterward (and what I now buy for new parents): a set of burp cloths. With our 5-month-old, our motto is "you never can have enough burp bloths." You can buy a set of really good ones on Baby Center (www.babycenter.com). It sounds really dull, and it won't get the ooohs and ahs at the party. But later your friends will thank you and remember you. And the burp cloths will still be in use long after Baby has outgrown the clothes. Fran my favorite gift for under $20 are packages of flannel receiving blankets from Target. I used them all the time for my newborn, and they made great (heavyduty) spit-up cloths too. Susan favorite baby shower gift for $20.00 or less: 1) diaper covers try barefoot baby catalog or biobottoms catalog for really nice ones 2) gift certificate to a used baby clothing store Dianna Baby gifts: My two best baby gifts were: a very large, colorful, translucent scarf. This was actually the wrapping for a tiny pair of booties which my son never wore. But I got more use out of that scarf that you would believe. I used it to shield me when we were breastfeeding in public, as a blanket, as an emergency changing or napping surface, to carry things in, to play peek-a-boo with, the list goes on an on. I'd bet this tie-dyed scarf was bought on Telegraph ave. for under $10 (admittedly, 11 years ago). Second was a gift from my sister of baby tylenol, pedialyte drink, and various things of that nature such as a dropper, and medicine measuring spoon. It's just the kind of thing that one, in the happy euphoria of having a baby, doesn't think of needing, and just the kind of thing you will need some morning at 2 am. Perhaps this last present is best coming from a close friend or relative, though. I felt we got the most use out of bath toys. Two, three years later, we were still playing with bath toys we got as a baby gift. Another gift that was billed to me as "guaranteed to put your baby to sleep" was a "Lullaby Light Show." It's a wind up musical light. I've seen them at Toys R Us. We didn't really use it until our son was closer to one year old, but then it became part of our bedtime routine until he was about 3. After my baby was born, my view of shower gifts changed quite a bit. I had always gone for cuteness when giving baby shower gifts, but after my daughter arrived, I found myself returning gifts we'd received. I exchanged several adorable but impractical outfits from BabyGap and gave away a number of gadgets that went unused, and I decided then that when my next pregnant friend had her shower, I was going to do something based on actual, real maternal experience. So I put together an assortment of little things that had each turned out to be perfect for their purposes -- the perfect teething ring, for example, was one that could be frozen but that had a small nonfreezing handle so the baby wouldn't have to grip ice. The perfect carseat toy was three plastic fish that hooked together and hung from the carseat handle. (They could be unobtrusively nudged to one end of the handle when not in use.) The perfect burp cloths were a dozen cloth diapers. The perfect newborn t-shirt was the type that snapped or tied on one side instead of directly over the umbilical cord. And the perfect baby toy (which was also good for a knowing laugh from the experienced moms when it was opened) was an empty paper towel roll. I popped in a board book because I always like to give kids books, and I wrapped each item individually and then placed them all in a cute gift bag. I've given these bags to perhaps half a dozen expectant parents now -- they're always a source of fun and, well, people seem to appreciate them. This is a gift that can be tailored to any budget -- how thoughtful the choice of items is will make or break the gift's real value. David A gift of a full dinner to be delivered on a evening sometime (first week or two) after baby is born. I got both the take-out pizza and chinese on paper plate variety as well as the full home cooked chicken dinner with homemade apple pie on nice dishes variety. Both types were wonderful. The meals were delivered on a previously agreed upon evening and then the generous givers promptly left us to ourselves. In the case of the chicken dinner, the whole meal was delivered in an ice chest with instructions to return dishes to chest UNWASHED for pick up the next day. A coupon from a local restaurant that delivers would be good too. Although I didn't fully appreciate these gifts until after the birth of my daughter, these were by far the best! I generally give a toiletries kit: For about $20 you can get the teeny finger nail clippers, shampoo, cheap washcloths, mild soap, A&D, tylenol, a little tiny hairbrush. I expand the gift for closer friends to include a cute hooded towel, a bathtub and some tub toys. tampine The best shower gift I got was a sort of receiving blanket with feet. I know you said under $20 and this is about $40 but go in on it with someone because it's truly great! Imagine a five-point star. The baby's head goes at the top point, the two side points fold across her/his body, and the little feet go in "pockets" at the two bottom points. It's perfect because it doesn't get all bunched up in the car seat and baby bjorn-type things since it sort of has legs. Hard to explain, but go look at them at Rockridge Kids. The one I got was long-john fabric but I've seen them in flannel too. Oh, and it comes with a little cap too. Hadley The Fisher Price Soothing Sounds Aquarium! But I think it is $25. It is my son't favorite thing and I think he will love it for years to come. Available at Toys R US. Fisher Price Soothing VIBRATING (this is key) bouncer about $25. Available at Toys R US. Sassy makes a fish shaped rattle available only at Target it seems, and that is far and away my sons favorite toy. Probably around $4 Mustella makes a great starter kit of their soaps and it is about $20. Available at Rockridge Kids. This was a great gift. Judy a very high quality set of childrens nail scissors. Great for when the baby is small, and i *still* use them on my 10 and 6 year old. I have to say that the ONLY shower gift that I am still using is my Diaper Genie. I LOVE IT. I have a "very sensitive" sense of smell and often gag while changing poopy diapers. I would not be able to live in our house if they were not sealed up in the diaper genie. (I remember baby sitting in houses that reeked of diaper pail. I could smell it as soon as I crossed the threshold.) I know that this is not a very "Berkeley" type gift, but I highly recommend it. The gift I give at baby showers is homemade receiving blankets. The moms just nod and say thanks at first, but a couple of months down the road they are very grateful, raving about them. In case you haven't noticed in the stores most commercial receiving blankets are small rectangles of cloth... 30'x36' or 36'x40'. These are usually 100% cotton and shrink up so that they are much smaller and often no longer rectangular. They make swaddling difficult, are thin, and get ratty looking very fast. Instead, I buy 100% cotton flannel and make square receiving blankets. (2 pieces of flannel sewn right sides together, then turned right sides out, and sew around the edge with a blanket stitch to finish. I usually pick one print for the top and then a solid in a complementary color for the back.) The first ones that I made were 36'x36' but as I started making more I began making them about 40'x40' (have them cut 1 1/4 yds of each fabric to do this) just to waste less fabric. These swaddle a little more bulky, but most parents I know give up on swaddling after the first two weeks... and use receiving blankets as regular blankets after that anyway. Because they are double thick flannel they are quite warm, and are good for use in the winter months. Linda Baby shower gift: I love the little mirrors that hook onto the rear-view mirror in the car so I can see my kid in the back seat without turning around. My kid is 9 now, and I still use it! I've seen them at various baby stores, usually with the childproofing things. Memorable Baby Gifts Feb 1999 Someone gave us a lovely picture frame with our baby's name engraved on it,which we really liked. They are easy to get at Things Remembered (in mallsall over the bay area), there are many styles to choose from, and they arenot expensive. Ann Quilts are always memorable gifts, but there is a catalog called"Exposures" which not only does a quilt, but it puts your pictures that yougive them on the quilt (as sepias or black/whites). I always thought itwould be cool to do a "family tree" quilt and put a picture of the parentsas kids/babies, and then their parents. I don't have Exposure's number offhand, but if you call the 1-800 operator, they'll have the number and youcan request a catalog. It is expensive though, as I recall. Around 250$.But it would be memorable and special! Hilary A really special and unique baby gitf is a DREAM CATCHER. A Dream Catcheras I understand it was designed years ago by the Native Americans and comein many sizes shape and colors. They are a type of hanging mobile that youhang on or over the baby's crib or in their room not just for the baby tolook at but legend has it that it catches all the baby's bad dreams so thatthey will never have a bad dream or nightmare. I have seen some reallybeautiful ones sold right on Telegraph and run anywhere from $10 to $65depending on size and complexity. They have always been received extremelywell by mothers when I have given them. Margie Someone had a horoscope chart done for my son. It was pretty cool to readabout how he would turn out (at least according to the stars!) Of course,this is a pretty expensive gift, especially if you have limited belief inastrology. Diana One of my favorite baby gifts is a music box. The music box that I wasgiven as a baby played the theme from "Romeo and Juliet" and to this daywhenever I hear that song I think of my music box. My Aunt and Uncle gaveme my music box when I was born, and in turn we gave my their daughter amusic box when she was born. I had comptetely forgotten about the musicboxes until I opened the gift from my aunt for my baby. It is so nice tothink that he will have a special connection to a song (His plays "ZipityDo Dah"). Rose I was given a memory box on the occasion of my baby's birth and have reallyappreciated it. I don't know where it came from, but it's basically like acigar box decorated with antique-y Winnie the Pooh figures on it, andentitled "a box to put thing in." It's nice because it can accommodatethings other than papers (like the hospital bracelets, etc) and you can useit in about one second--just open the lid and drop the item in--no need towait for time enough to write/glue/label etc. as you would with a regularscrapbook. Meg Gifts for Twin Babies Nov 1999 I would appreciate some advice regarding twins. I have friends whowill be new parents of twins next spring, and I want to get them a nicechristmas present. Any of you who've recently had twins - can you tell me what was a really useful and fabulous thing [not a service, but an item] that just made life so much better for you? And all of that for around $125 -$150?I thought about a comfy rocking chair, or one of those doublebaby-bjorn things [although that's not the brand], but I'm just not sure.Thanks. I have 9 month old twins and the most useful items so far were:bouncy chairs with toy bars, baby bjorns, snap-n-gos - you attach the car seat to them to make a strollerI found that two of everything was needed so two of one of the above wouldbe a great present. By the way - the double snuggly (like the baby bjorn)was really cumbersome - two baby bjorns are much better. We have 6 month old twins, and the best gifts we got were: a doublejogger (more than your budget but a great gift if you want to go inwith a few other people), a double stroller, and vibrating bouncy seats. Home | Reviews | Advice | Members | Post a Message Join BPN | Help | What's New | Search Please send questions and comments to Berkeley Parents Network . Last updated: May 20, 2004 © 1996-2005 Berkeley Parents Network The opinions and statements expressed on this website are those of parents who subscribe to the Berkeley Parents Network . Please see our Disclaimer for details.

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Unique Gift Ideas - gift_ideas search | customer service | sign up | gift certificates | shoppingbag Unique Gift Ideas Celtic Jewelry Gifts for Men Gemstone Silver Jewelry SHOP BY OCCASION: St.Patrick's Day Gifts Anniversary Gifts Birthday Gifts Groomsmen Gifts Bridesmaid Gifts Graduation Gifts Corporate Gifts Holiday Decor Valentines Gifts Gifts for Her Gifts for Dad Gifts for Mom Gifts for Men SHOP BY PRODUCT: Silver Leaf Earrings Silver Leaf Pendants Silver Leaf Pins Gold Leaf Pendants Gold Leaf Pins Gold Leaf Earrings Silver Bracelets Silver Earrings Silver Necklaces Celtic Jewelry Pressed Flowers SHOP BY PRODUCT: Gemstone Pendants Gemstone Earrings Gemstone Cuff Links Keychains Leaf Accessories Unique Jewelry Men's Jewelry and Accessories Yerba Mate Gourds Leather Accessories Infusers & Spoons Tapestry Weavings If you came here from a search engine and you are looking for beautiful gifts for special occasions like Fathers day, weddings, birthdays and anniversaries, you can search through our site using our Search box. On this page we aim to bring you links to other sites that we believe you might find interesting or useful. These links have been chosen very carefully. We have visited all of the sites listed here, and have reviewed with great detail many of them. Even though, their inclusion in this list does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by Patagonia Gifts. You can choose from any of the categories below to start browsing. We hope you enjoy your visit and would appreciate any comments or suggestions you may have. We add new links and gift ideas every week. Please come back again to see what's new! Submit your site! Categories Anniversary Gifts - Gift Ideas - Presents Birthday Anniversary Gifts - Gift Ideas Wedding Anniversary Gifts - Presents Arts and Crafts Creative Gift Ideas Ethnic Art and Jewelry Floral Art Pressed Flowers Folk Art Gift Baskets Gourds - Yerba Mate - Bombillas Handcrafted Jewelry Handmade Cutlery Handmade Gifts - Gift Ideas Handmade Unique Silver Jewelry Home Decorating Indian Art Leather Goods - Hats Painting Art Weaving Tapestries and Rugs Gift Ideas Mothers Day Jewelry Gifts - Gift ideas Personalized Gifts - Presents Romantic Gifts - Gift Ideas Unusual Gifts - Gift Ideas Gifts by Recipient Gifts for Men - Man Gift Ideas - Birthday Boyfriend Gifts - Gift Ideas Gifts for Dad - Father Gift Ideas Gifts for Him - Guy Gift Ideas Gifts for Women - Gift Ideas Gifts for Her - Gift Ideas Gifts for Mom - Gift Ideas Jewelry Stores Bracelets - Silver - Gold Celtic Jewelry Earrings - Beaded - Silver - Gold Fine Jewelry Gemstones - Gemstone Jewelry Gold Jewelry Indian Jewelry Keychains - Mens Accessories Men Jewelry Native American Jewelry Pendants - Beaded - Silver - Gold Silver Jewelry Unique Jewelry Special Occasions Birthday Gifts - Unique Presents Christmas Gifts - Gift Ideas Fathers Day Gifts - Gift Ideas Holiday Gifts - Gift Ideas Mother s Day Gifts - Gift Ideas Secretary Day Gifts St Patricks Day - Irish Gifts Valentine Day Gifts- Gift Ideas Unique Corporate Gifts - Gift Ideas Business Gifts - Corporate Gift Solution Executive Gifts Weddings Bridesmaid Gifts - Gift Unique Wedding Anniversaries Ideas - Gifts Wedding Gifts - Gift Ideas Wedding Jewelry about PatagoniaGifts | contact us | guarantee | shipping | testimonials | links Privacy Notice 2000-2005 Patagonia Gifts. All rights reserved. Birthday & wedding anniversary gift ideas: Unique gifts, celtic jewelry, groomsmen gifts, silver jewelry, charm bracelets, earrings, pins and necklaces.