If this refreshed thread is going to do for this year's (2012) hints, then I need to make a few changes. Some of these are the same as previous years, but things evolve and situations change...

I really like getting things from my Secret Santa's geographical abode -- your music or that of your friends, local travel brochures, maps, rocks or shells, food -- even crumpled local newspapers used as packing material. (I have in my possession Divine's obituary in Spanish that was in a crumpled newspaper protecting something I had mail ordered. )

1. what is your age range?
63 to 63 (unless you're counting by decade -- then I'm six). I'm not old; I'm retro!

2. gender?
Goddess, fer-pete's-sake

3. Do you have a favorite color?
Blue, green, blue green, purple, bluish purple, magenta. I avoid orange except in things I eat (and the occasional accent flower.)

4. favorite authors/type of book?
Uh, I need books like cats need wings, but brochures or books on your vicinity's early gravestones or gravestone carvers (or stonework, from standing stones to cathedrals and walls) would be a welcome addition to the library.

5. what books have you really been wanting?
Any of Jeff Faux's books, or a used copy of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (cuz I've got the second book and don't want to read it until I read the first).

6. what type of music do you like?
Everything from Louis Killen to Louis Prima. Prefer getting something by you, your friends or someone you think I should hear.

7. what cds have you really been wanting?
See number 6.

8. What movies have you been wanting?
Uh, Curmudgeon and I probably have the largest private collection in New Hampshire, USA. Old (or current) TV shows -- Boris Karloff's "Thriller" (c. 1961), Jack Lord in "Stoney Burke", "The Big Bang Theory"...PBS stuff.

9. what is your t-shirt size?
H for homungus (I like 'em roomy). I'm goddess-shaped, 3X is best. I don't yet have (alas) a Mudcat T-shirt or sweatshirt.

10. do you collect anything? if so, what?
Rubber (or other non-edible) squid, maps, hippocampuses, rubberstamps and printing paraphernalia, skulls and interesting bones, rocks, shells, green men, mermaids...I think I collect collections.

11. what are some of your other hobbies?
Gravestone rubbing and research on gravestone carvers, learning how to cut slate, gardening, making bead jewelry, rubberstamp art, needlepoint...avoiding housework.

12. do you prefer gold-tone or silver-tone jewelry?
Silver -- but I need jewelry like cats need wings. (Cats already have wings; they keep them neatly folded when not in use.)

13. please include anything else you feel is important that would help your secret santa know what you would like.
Edible or drinkable treats don't take up any space, plus I can share them with Curmudgeon.

Remember that "negative hints" such as allergies might also be helpful.
I'm allergic to penicillin & a lot of antibiotics, blue mussels and carnations, not that I think this will really help my SS (aw, no penicillin chewies!). And I really don't care for the color orange unless it's edible or a flower up against a blue or purple backdrop.

Linn