Over the last couple of days I have received a hodgepodge of gifts from my Santa, most of which made me very happy.

Let me backtrack for a second here. I'm not interested in people spending a lot of money on me. Of course we all have a secret hope that we'll get lucky and be matched with a millionaire, but we also all have a secret hope that we'll be bitten by a radioactive insect and develop super powers. It's not going to happen, but it's fun to dream.

No...The part about Secret Santa that I really like is knowing that someone took the time to try to pick out something they know I would like based on a very little bit of information. It requires a kind of creativity that I wish I had (you know...along with the super power wish? something that's not likely to happen?), and I love it when I can see it in other people. So, I present to you my gifts:

1) My Santa saw that I like spending time outside, but really hate getting bitten by mosquitoes. Being the smart Santa that she is, she thought I might like to try addressing this problem. I hate bug spray. I rarely use bug spray. However...she gave me a whole bunch of little bracelets that are supposed to repel the blood-sucking little bastards. I'm pretty stoked to try it out next summer.

2) My Santa also saw that I like books and saw fit to gift me with a book by Sarah Vowell called Assassination Vacation. I haven't read it yet, but it looks like it's about the history of political assassinations. Importantly, the author is a contributing editor for This American Life, which I LOOOOOOOOOOVE, so the book is bound to be a great read.

3) I like music, but I am very bad at keeping up with the music scene. I think I heard "Wrecking Ball" for the first time this week when a visiting family member sang it to be obnoxious. If I could get everyone who I've ever met (or people I haven't met) to send me mix CDs of whatever music they are currently listening to, I'd be a happy camper. My Santa said that she couldn't do that, but she did send me a CD from a group that I've never heard of before: Trampled by Turtles. I'm super excited to start listening to it (driving over to my parents' house immediately after posting this...it will be in my car's CD player).

4) The 4th gift? I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say that I guess everyone's bound to have a miss sometime.

I kid, I kid. Santa also thought it would be funny to give me Arachnaphobia, a movie that caused me endless nightmares and anguish as a young child. In fact, I think my first post was when I felt the need to come out of lurkdom to disparage this fine film, and wish curses upon all those who made it. I laughed when I opened it. I will have to watch it again and see if there is the same reaction, though this time I will be armed with plenty of adult drinks to distract me if it gets too scary.

Thanks so much, Santa!