Imaginary Weapons and A Madman Dreams...

I've got a couple of books in mind that I'm going to add, both at the same time, for once. There's no real reason for this grouping aside from the fact that I'm too lazy to make a seperate entry for them both tonight. I'll try to be more dilligent in the future.

Honestly, the only thing these books have in common is that I heard about them on TV. Imaginary Weapons: A Journey Through the Pentagon's Scientific Underworld, by Sharon Weinberger, was featured on The Daily Show a few weeks back, when I was on vacation in San Diego. It's about the "fringe science" used by the Pentagon in researching new weapons and defence technologies. Although it sounds like a good plot for a sci-fi story, you'll find the book on the non-fiction shelves, so heads up. Government psychics could be less insane than you think.

The second book I heard about on the Colbert Report. Jenna Levin, the most attractive theoretical physicist I've ever seen, was pitching her novel (yes, this one is fictional) A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, which deals in another of my favorite subjects, artificial intelligence, with a fictionalization of two of the greatest philosophers on the subject.

People are always telling me I'm not reading enough, so I guess this should be a step in the right direction. And don't worry, I'll add even more books to the list later on.

Gift Cards

I'm really opposed to the idea of money as a present. Getting cash for Christmas seems to really take the spirit out of the holiday. That said, I don't have as much of a problem with gift cards. Especially since so many of the items I want are either obscure or, more likely, too expensive to reasonably be a gift, getting a gift certificate for a store I frequent could be the next best thing. Such cards were partly how I managed to buy myself a PSP in 2005, along with saving, and of course, ignoring imporant things to save for.

So, if you're having trouble finding something for me, feel free to get a gift card. Here are a few places that already have more of my money than I'd like to admit:

Best Buy, the friendly neighborhood electronics superstore. I get a lot of video games there, along with the occasional movie or computer accesory.

Fry's Electronics, located right here in Austin. They're especially handy being practically right next to my ACC campus, and I'd like to start modifying my new desktop computer with some of their parts.

Borders, the big bookstore. I'm not sure if their gift cards are good at Waldenbooks, though I know there's a Borders Express in the Lakeline mall that I'd bet would take their card. By the way, I realize that Borders and Barnes and Noble are pretty much the same thing, but I wanted to pick one over the other so I wouldn't have to go to two places for basically the same thing (books), or, say, end up with $5 for one store and $4 for the other, but the book I want is $9. Of course, I end up in Barnes and Nobles enough that I'll spend their card just as easily, anyway.

Suncoast Video. It's probably the best movie store I've come across. They've got the widest selection of semi-obscure videos this side of the Internet, and I love popping in while I'm at the mall just to see what's new.

Amazon.com. They have everything. Seriously. It's ridiculous the amount of cool stuff I can find there, as my wishlist proves.

On a final note, please don't get me Target gift cards. I spend enough time (and money, unfortunately) there on my own without having extra insentive to buy things. I'd much rather go out shopping and make an event out of my present than have it turn into something I got on a 15 minute break. If possible, I'd like to spend it in my benefactor's presense, so my appriciation can be, um, appriciated?

Please though, don't go overboard. I know Danny put money on his list last year, but I don't want money. I'd much more enjoy stuff. ^_^

Transformers Titanium Series

So here it is, the first thing to be added to my list. Well, first four things, technically. So what exactly are they? First off, sorry, but the only decent picture I could find was the one I already had. What you see in front of you is a tiny statue of a Transformer, in this case, Unicron, the planet-munching chaos god from the first Transformers movie. It's something of a contradiction in terms, a Transformer toy that doesn't transform, but I think they're really cool, and I'd really love to add several of them to my collection. They come in two sizes, the three- and six-inches, the latter set being able to actually transform.

They are all really cool, and I would enjoy any of the set, but there are a few characters I want more than others:
-Bumblebee
-Starscream
-Megatron (the 6in 'War Within' version)
-The Autobot Starship Ark
I've already got Unicron, as well as the six inch Optimus, also from 'The War Within', but really, any of the others are pretty much fair game. And you can get most of them for under $10 at any toy store, so that's a plus, right? (I'm trying to keep price from being an issue, but since so many of the things I want are on the expensive side, I'mpatting myself on the back for starting out low.)