OK, here are my hints. Thanks, Sorcha, for a list to start from.

1. what is your age range? Entering crone range

2. gender? F

3. Do you have a favorite color? Earthy, also bright natural dye colors...if a Navaho would wear it, I'd like it.

4. favorite authors/ type of book? Contemporary fiction: Eliz. Berg,
Richard Russo, Michael Malone; also informal, personal books on writing.

5. what books have you really been wanting? Berg's latest, anything by Russo, or malone; Write it Right. Paperback good, used best!


6. what type of music do you like? Wide-ranging but picky. Just about any kind of purely acoustic guitar, classical, blues, whatever. Also baroque chamber music, also re-releases of 50's jazz, especially ballads.   

7. what cds have you really been wanting? Have been hankering lately for "Dancing Down the Stony Road"

8. What movies (vhs is in the price range) have you been wnting? Haven't a clue.

9. what is your t-shirt size? Big...really big.

10. do you collect anything? if so, what? Mostly seashells and rocks picked up on local beaches. If my SS lives near the sea I'd love to have a few of each from local beach.

11. what are some of your other hobbies?   Folksinger, gardener, cooking (when pushed to the wall), writing (unfortunately not quite yet in the professional range).

12. do you prefer gold-tone or silver-tone jewelry?   I've fussy pierced ears, so need silver or gold earwires, but aside from that silver, or whatever, bold but not heavy.

13. please include anything else you feel is important that would help your secret santa know what you would like.   Natural, I like natural. I have a basket someone made me from seaweed that is one of my treasured objects for as long as it lasts. I'm not into store-bought. I've no wall space and little flat space for display so have gravitated toward miniature things. I think I'd like anything that was important or meaningful to my SS.   

Remember that "negative hints" such as allergies might also be helpful. Am uninterested in food, probably because I'm allergic to just about everything. I don't like big coffee table books cause I don't have a coffee table. I'm not terribly good at taking care of things, fussing over things, cleaning things. I once turned down a beautiful antique chair because I knew that in one year with me it would be unrecognizable.