THE LIST

1. What is your age range? physically: 52ish; spiritually: 3 or 90, not sure which

2. Gender? I'm a lady bear

3. Do you have a favorite color? warm greens and browns, copper, salmon, tangerine...you get the idea

4. Favorite authors/type of book? dictionaries, chiefly odd ones; literary science fiction, preferably more anthropological or sociological than hard science-oriented; fantasy that's brilliantly written and not mind-numbingly dull (examples of what I've liked, though of course I have these, are Mervyn Peake's and Tolkien's great works, Greg Bear's Infinity Concerto, and Charles De Lint's Mulengro; my favorite book of all time is Hope Mirrlees' fantasy/social commentary Lud-in-the-Mist); cookbooks, particularly odd little ethnic ones; children's fantastic literature, the less contemporary the better; folklore-related material; old songbooks of all sorts.

5. What books have you really been wanting? Ummm -- I dunno, I'm quite eclectic actually. If I get an English Santa (oh please), something I can't get here in the States..

6. What type of music do you like? English traditional music (any), particularly with harmonic vocals. June Tabor, just because. Singer-songwriters who have wonderful voices and something to say (John Gorka, Dougie McLean...). Brass bands (Black Dyke Mills...).

7. What CDs have you really been wanting? Hmmm. If Santa is English, anything by Pete Coe, whose original material is stunning and I can't get it over here. Anything by Malicorne, as I've yet to replace my LPs. See above. Again, I'm eclectic. And I LOVE surprises beyond anything.

8. What movies have you been wanting? What region DVDs can you view? Region 1. Odd films (not usually odd in the disturbing sense), the quirkier the better. Examples that I already own: The Company of Wolves, the Wicker Man, the 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, The Circus of Dr. Lao, The Big Fish, Northern Exposure (the TV series)...got the idea? Surprise me.

9. What is your t-shirt size? Never wear them, sorry.

10. Do you collect anything? if so, what? Books and CDs. Arts and crafts furniture and ephemera. Musical instruments. Rocks from interesting places. Anything small and intriguing that can become part of my Elf Chess set.

11. What are some of your other hobbies? Cooking, music, reading, hiking...what else is there, really?

12. Do you prefer gold-tone or silver-tone jewelry? Silver.

13. Please include anything else you feel is important that would help your secret santa know what you would like. My partner loathes Christmas and always wants me to just buy myself whatever I want, so what I would most treasure is a surprise. In no particular order, here are some general thoughts: I love cooking with herbs and spices from other parts of the world. I likes a drop of good beer, I do. I like to sing American Sacred Harp-type hymns and am curious about the English equivalents. I am very short and have trouble reaching high cupboards. I have to wear long, colorful scarves to spice up my black clothing when I sing in the gospel choir at church. I have a small house, so anything very large would have to be inflatable (no inflatable sheep, please).

Claire