Timewaster's Guide Archive
General => Rants and Stuff => Topic started by: 42 on November 25, 2004, 11:56:17 AM
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Thanks to Amazon.com, I am now done with the bulk of my Christmas shopping. I'm so glad that in our modern society, shopping can be done without actually having to physically go to a store. Having to interact with other people is just barbaric.
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Especially around Thanksgiving. Brenna and I made the mistake of going shopping last year on Black Friday.
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I need ideas here. I've just started tutoring again--just this week--and so I don't know my student very well. Next week we're supposed to give them little gifts, no more than $20. He's 13, he likes math so much he's ahead in class, and that's about all I know.
He's got all the CDs he could ever want, according to his brother. It's too hard to try to figure out what he likes in video games, and who knows what he'd be allowed to play and what system it's on in the first place. He doesn't really read unless it's assigned (sad, I know!), so unless I can think of a really awesome book, that's not really a choice. I tried to get him to read the first story in The Jungle Book last night and he kept pausing and asking me to tell him the story instead.
His brother suggested a cheap CD player (his was confiscated by the teacher), but 1) I don't know I should encourage him to do something his teacher is trying to break him of (who knows, could be a really mean teacher), and more importantly, 2) the CD players I've looked at for under $20 are really junky and I don't think they play mp3s, which I think might be important for him.
42 suggested a novelty item, which is a good idea. Perhaps a mind-bending puzzle or something. Anybody else have an idea, or have a novelty item idea that would be good?
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If he's good at math and likes puzzles, maybe get him one of those metal or wood puzzles you can find at decent toy stores. Then again, there's the old standby: a Rubik's Cube.
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...manga. Volume 1 of Bleach or Naruto. $8 each. Or two volumes of one series.
(Note: neither of those are published by the company I work for. ;) )
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I was gonna say, comic books. It's a great way to get kids who don't read to read. Manga is as good as anything else, and seems to be more popular among kids these days, so that's not a bad idea that Ook's giving there.
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Thanks for the suggestion, Ookla. I'll look for them. I just recently saw a lot of manga in the B&N down at the Pru, and I was planning on going there today anyway.
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http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/categoryvw.jhtml?catid=21&pcatid=21&s=121&e=130&n=10&o=1
That 20 Questions game is the coolest thing ever.
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well, yeah, except that I've seen websites that do an excellent job with 20 questions for free, and have feedback opportunities to make up for anything it misses.