Thoughtful Gifts

With the stores crowded by desperate shoppers, people spending more time looking for gifts than with family, it is easy to be discouraged by the blatant commercialism of Christmas and feel that gift-giving has lost its soul. However, though the mass media and conglomerate of department stores would wish this on us all, it is possible to give and receive the perfect gift.

I had the pleasure of dinner with Bernicky and his family yesterday, and the warm atmosphere and Christmas tunes was a delightful respite. Check us out wearing our little paper hats that came in our Christmas crackers:


(Bernicky, his daughter, his long-time friend, his wife and his son)

The family also very clearly spent some time selecting appropriate and thoughtful gifts: chosen by Bernicky's wife, this lovely scarf and teddy bear promoting breast cancer awareness is also a donation to breast cancer research, which is meaningful to both the giver and the receiver. Denis also knows my PC tastes and picked up a 1GB flash drive, along with useful tips on using a portable browser and email program (I'll shortly be downloading Firefox Portable).