First, I must say that I generally get a bit nervous when a gift ships in an exchange like this, without my Santa contacting me at all. Maybe I'm still smarting from how bad my first exchange went, or maybe I'm just a complete control freak. Likely, it's a bit of both. ;-) But, I think a line from the back cover of my book sums it up quite nicely:

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.

So, before my package even arrived, I was a bit apprehensive. Then, when I saw how mangled it had gotten (to the point that it looks like USPS added a label to hold it together), my heart kind of sank.

My fears ebbed away as I peeled away piece after piece of tattered wrapping. I really have no idea how the book managed to stay in such good condition. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would have not have believed the packaging looked the way it did, judging from the condition of the contents of my package.

The second thing I noticed was the handwriting on the envelope of the card inside. That probably should have caught my attention sooner, since it's the same handwriting as on the outer package. I wish I could show it to you, but alas... privacy... ;-) So, then I slice open the envelope holding the card and there's nothing particularly personally identifying there, so you do get to see that! :-)

Without a thorough side-by-side analysis, the handwriting looks virtually identical to that of one of my oldest friends. He and I used to work together, used to live together, practiced Aikido together... he introduced me to Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990) (one of Gary Oldman's earlier movies, and one of the reasons I have fallen in love with him as an actor). This friend could recite the script of The Princess Bride not only verbatim, but with precise timing as well, and of all the characters. When he told me this, I didn't believe him. He then popped in his VHS tape, turned around so his back was to the TV, and recited the movie for a good twenty minutes before I stopped him. He didn't miss a single line! And, no, there was nothing reflective behind me which he could use to see the TV. Needless to say, we were fast and good friends. Unfortunately, he moved away a couple of decades ago and we don't keep in touch as often as we used to. I visit every now and again, but it's just not the same. It's a bit sad when friends drift apart, but seeing his handwriting all over again brought a flood of all of those early days, because after he moved, there was no situation whereby I would come across his handwriting. Funny how a certain style of penmanship can trigger memories as readily as certain smells. Matter of fact, it was such a shock, that I had to look him up to make sure he still lives in Boston!

He does. :)

I skipped over a bit... I didn't see the inside of the card right away. First, I saw Cookie Monster! And, the blue of the card is very close to my favorite color! Needs a hint of green in the blue, but still... one Santa hits two exchanges in one package? Whaaa? I'm pretty sure that there's no way for my Books Santa to see what I wrote to my Colors Santa. I mean, I can't see that for other people... unless I'm missing something? Nevertheless, I love this design! It speaks to me on SO many levels! I can't even tell you how many times I added a The Binge t-shirt to my shirtwoot! shopping cart, only to walk away and remove it from my cart the next day. I love the shirt, but I never ended up buying it for the same reason alcoholics don't walk around with AA shirts! I really feel like I get Tjost on a personal level, just from this shirt! I immediately did a bit of stalking on my Santa to see what was up with the colors, and found a photo of my Santa wearing a shirt which happens to be my exact favorite color! It's a really particular sort of thing, so either the elves have gotten that good, or it's a bit creepy how much alike we seem to be! :)

I finally settle down enough to read what my Santa wrote, and find out that I get to read a bunch of short stories! It's perfect! I can't believe I didn't think of that! (A key point I wrote about in my Books preferences is that part of the reason I have moved away from reading for fun, is that I don't have a lot of time.) The last time I read any short stories, I think I was 13, maybe 14. Out of sight, out of mind! It didn't even occur to me that short stories were an option, because I'd completely forgotten about them! Not only do I get 18 stories, all from different authors, but my Santa also signed me up for SciFi magazine! That hasn't arrived yet (so, no photos of that... sorry), but I will be plenty busy in the time it takes to get here, I'm sure!

Thank you so much, the_liebrarian! I know it must have been hard for you, but even without reading a single one of the stories in Letters to Lovecraft, I think you've made perfect choices and I'm so excited to push aside the real world and dive into a good story (or one and a half dozen) again! :)