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There’s an annual problem we all share…
… what do you buy someone who already has everything?
The answer is… more!
Well, probably not.
For someone who has everything material, I suppose the right answer is ‘experiences’.
You can wrap them up in fluffy towels on a spa day. You could send them off for a cooking class and have them shouted at by a Gordon Ramsey wanna-be.
Throw them out of an airplane?
If you want to push the boat out, there are subscription boxes for a year's supply of coffee from the upper Ganges armpit.
Gourmet food? Toasted Cumquat seeds maybe, and the good old standby of smelly candles that always remind me of my granny’s wardrobe.
If you’re feeling a bit flush, a bit of Tech might do the job? One of the those new ring-things that tells you if you’re still breathing.
I came across Gaiatop Avocado, Rechargeable Hand-warmers… don’t ask…they’re on Amazon.
How about a;
‘beautiful necklace studded with crystals that mirror the constellation that corresponds with their astrological sign’…
... Amazon, again.
You’ve probably still got time to book Xmas at the Carlton Hotel, St. Moritz.
How about a pair of Fluffy-Cuff, fingerless gloves made in an Alpaca wool-blend, so you can still message on yer iPhone, or…
… a Louis Vuitton, Rosalie Coin Purse, priced at a bargain £305…
... who has coins these days? The buskers in London play guitar wearing fingerless gloves but they all have a PayPal touch thing. You can swipe them a quid as you pass-by.
I was going to suggest a Montblanc, gold plated, fountain pen. At £1,500 they’ve proven to be a hit. Harrods has sold out.
If you are really stuck you could use your creative side and print up your own voucher with a promise to give someone an exclusive hour of your time every day.
It’s not the price… it’s the cost that counts.
How about reading your favourite book aloud. Use voice-memo on your iPhone and send them a chapter a week, as a talking-book… ‘I loved book this so much, I wanted to enjoy it with you’.... thoughtful and cheap.
If all else fails there are actual books!
The numbers are interesting; 40% of Britons hadn't read a book in the last year.
Waterstones reports a 5% revenue rise, which they say is fuelled by an increased interest in fiction by younger readers
A mixed picture. What does it mean... dunno.
Travel books, recipe books, thrillers, historical, fact, fiction? What to chose?
If you are thinking of a book for someone who has an interest in matters NHS, plus all the other imperatives; travel, food, love, historical facts and fiction…
I can highly recommend; Nick Black’s, Bare Knuckle Surgeon.
A meticulously researched history book, woven into a life of intrigue and passion.
Fact and fiction, side-by-side in a powerful combination. History and expertly crafted story telling, bringing a choking, dangerous London, of the 1800's to life.
Written of a time when incompetent surgeons, corrupt royal colleges, nepotism and quackery… the medical establishment… a small coterie of self serving doctors…
... went unchallenged…
… until 1823, when a young surgeon, son of a farmer, who'd survived being at sea, mastered bare-knuckle fighting (Black takes you into the ring with all its gore and consequences) and escaped assassination, did what no doctor had dared.
Risking ruin, Thomas Wakley, took on the establishment by publishing The Lancet... the global publication so revered, today.
Wakley scandalised the establishment and laid the groundwork for modern health care, transparency and sharing best practice.
As much as it is brutal, for the times Wakley lived in were brutal, it is also a tender love story and remains a message for the NHS and healthcare today.
Nick Black’s Bare Knuckle Surgeon, is ingenious. Innovative in its story telling of a London that was filthy and corrupt. People who were impoverished and exploited and where, in the summer; the rich moved out to higher ground and cleaner air.
This book is a Phd in public health and town planning. In parts, as brutal as any airport thriller. It’s a history the medical profession cannot be proud of. There are passages that Jane Austen would approve of.
It’s a great read, where you bump into facts and insights and wonder why you didn’t know them already.
It's a cookbook of broths and pies, the diet of old London. It's an exposé of insurance company cheating. It's a book about fellowship and love. About poverty. The impact of ill judged legislation, greed and power.
It’s the perfect present for anyone, who has everything...
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... and available from Amazon who'll get it to you in time for Xmas, to wrap it up with a big bow, step back and take the credit for being a present genius.
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