With few changes from past years:

1. What is your age range? "A certain age."

2. Gender? F

3. Do you have a favorite color? Dark greens and blues.

4. Favorite authors/type of book? I already own far more books than I will ever manage to read in my lifetime

5. What books have you really been wanting? I recently discovered Rebecca Solnit's essays after reading Men Explain Things To Me. I'm planning to look for something of hers aimed at writers.

6. What type of music do you like? Ecclectic - folk, classic, blues, rock, jazz

7. What CDs have you really been wanting? Yours! The one you perform on or produced

8. What movies have you been wanting (DVD/BluRay)? I have NetFlix and a nearby well-stocked public library. I can find anything I'm looking for

9. What is your t-shirt size? Medium or Large, depending on how much shrinkage may be involved

10. Do you collect anything? if so, what? I've been decluttering for years. Please, no collectibles! I am a tea drinker, but can buy most any kind of loose tea from around the world. I seem to have an interesting collection of tea balls.

11. What are some of your other hobbies? Gardening, photography, sewing, beading

12. Do you prefer gold-tone or silver-tone jewelry? "Tone" is the operative word - there are enough metal allergies in my world that if it isn't a good quality of real gold, or sterling silver, I can't wear it. Puts me out of the SS price range, sadly . . .

13. Please include anything else you feel is important that would help your Secret Santa know what you would like. It's the process I enjoy - reading pages from your hometown paper used to wrap inside the parcel, a view of your world and interests. Please keep it small so it doesn't cost a lot to mail and it generally ships faster that way anyway.

14. Remember that "negative hints" such as allergies might also be helpful. I am allergic to coconut - and in this day and age, coconut oil and other parts of the nut are in many things, such as soaps, shampoo, lotions, and foods. The chemical names don't necessarily tell you they're coconut products, but things like "sodium laurelth sulfate" (the sudsy part of soap and shampoo) comes from coconut. So personal care items or processed foods are not a good choice for me.