Uber Dilemma

I have been thinking of ordering one of those ON THE DAY YOU WERE BORN newspapers-gift for a birthday present. Holy Shite! I didn't realize they were that expensive! $60 with just vinyl covers; $150 and more for the more elaborate gold-leafed versions.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's a "unique" birthday gift service in which an online place gets a newspaper of choice (usually NYT but also other cities, if not too obscure) for a specific date, which is the birthdate, usually. Sometimes, it's an anniversary or other special date. So anyway, I was thinking this would make a cool, different sort of gift. But this morning, after caffeine, I'm thinking, does ANYONE really like that kind of present? I mean, if someone gives that to me, I think I'd find it interesting but I'm weird like that. What if other people look at it and go, "WTF is this? Why would I want an old newspaper for my birthday?"

Sigh. It's hard to buy a birthday present for someone whom you've consistently given great birthday presents because at a certain point...there's nothing else in the world except VERY EXPENSIVE STUFF. LOL. Ever have that problem?

This old newspaper-for-sale service made me think of niche markets. I mean, what makes one wake up one day and go, "Hey, wouldn't there be a market for old newspapers? What if I start this birthday service?" Which also makes me wonder where on earth does one go looking to buy enough newspapers from decades ago to start this business? Hurts my head to think like that ;-).

But of course, writing is also about finding one's niche too. Some are just niche-ier, heh. And some niches become uber-mod. Take, for example, the fang trend today. Writing vampire stories was a niche market a long time ago but now it's the hottest thing to do, and the niche has become opposite-of-niche. LOL. If you have the word for opposite-of-niche, let me know; I was stuck for ten minutes writing this blog trying to think of a word.

Anyway, back to unique birthday present. Guys have it easy, I swear--flowers and baubles; flowers and dinner; flowers and even a "baby, I'm broke but let's take the day off and let me have my way with you"; flowers and all three of the above. We melt. We go all gooey and soft and womanly.

But buying for boys...I mean, *cough*MEN *cough*...especially boys with too many toys already...is so difficult for me, whether it's buying for my brother or my father or a male friend. When I was a kid, I bought the same gift for my father for ten years--Brylcreem, a hair cream thing that men of his era used to comb into their hair. I could never figure out what to buy for him every year--he was very rich and didn't seem to have a hobby that I could afford to buy--so Brylcreem. I still wonder sometimes whether he thought he had the weirdest kid or just a smartass whenever he opened his present and saw the same thing every year.

The funniest thing is--I have no problem buying something for Ranger Buddy. This year I gave him Memory Foam to cut and put in his shoes for his aching feet. I bought him a twin mattress and solemnly told him this should last him for the next twenty years of shoes. He gravely replied that he might use whatever that's left of it to line his coffin. That is, if he remembered. Haha. Smartass.

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