Christmas Shopping for 18-year-old

December 23, 2004 6:52 PM

You're an 18-year old guy six months out of rehab with a creative mind and a severely disfunctional family. You've got a GED and a job in sales. You're going to be spending Christmas with your aunt, because you're mom is too messed up to deal with you. What two or three things do you want for Christmas that can be bought for roughly $20 each?
posted by croutonsupafreak to shopping (19 comments total)

some music or movies or videogames? some sort of hobby/puzzle/drug-replacement thing?
posted by amberglow at 6:56 PM on December 23, 2004

Maybe a Moleskine-type sketchbook/journal and a good pen? I'm not sure if "creative mind" extends to writing or drawing, but maybe he could use an outlet of that manner?
posted by stefnet at 6:59 PM on December 23, 2004

18 and in sales?

A nice tie. A leather planner. A gift certificate to Borders/B&N. Movie passes. Gift certificate to Outback steakhouse. Gas money if he has a car (gift cert for local gas station?)
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:59 PM on December 23, 2004

Books. Of his own choosing.
posted by bingo at 7:20 PM on December 23, 2004

Three things I always carry on me are: a moleskine journal (mentioned above), a small pocket knife, and a thumbdrive USB stick. I would have loved to get any of these as a gift.
posted by sled at 7:29 PM on December 23, 2004

A gift certificate to a record store. A gift certificate to a bookstore. A journal and pen, as suggested above. A card that tells you, in a direct but not soppy way, how much your aunt loves you and how much confidence she has in your abilities.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:33 PM on December 23, 2004

A tie. A new shirt in a cool color or fabric. A new belt. Something to hold business cards in.
posted by SpecialK at 8:20 PM on December 23, 2004

If he's computer savvy, I'd second the USB thumb drive / flash stick / dongle wongle. 128 MB at least.

Perhaps a subscription to a magazine of some sort?

A book that you really liked when you were 18?
posted by Alt F4 at 9:12 PM on December 23, 2004

If they're into art, a decent drawing pad, some pencils, and an eraser or two would run about $20.

Otherwise, I'd have to second the idea of a gift certificate to a bookstore or a clothing store.
posted by spinifex23 at 9:38 PM on December 23, 2004

A Discman, if you don't already have an iPod.

The Arcade Fire's CD, "Funeral."

Beethoven's A-Minor String Quartet.

The Moleskine is an excellent suggestion; a collected poems of W. B. Yeats would be good, too, or if poetry is not the right kind of thing, then maybe a good book, like "Down and Out in Paris and London."
posted by josh at 9:44 PM on December 23, 2004

For the man in sales, a coffee mug, a movie and subscriptions to industry specific magazines. If they are reasonably serious about sales, their are countess books on the topic that would make excellent gifts.

If the budget were less restrictive, I'd say a subscription to Salesforce or a copy of ACT. Then again, that may be overkill depending on the kind of sales he does.

And if he's anything like the sales guys I know, two five dollar Red Bull and Vodkas and a ten dollar lap dance would be the gift that keeps on giving.
posted by sequential at 9:45 PM on December 23, 2004

A daily medatation or daily reflection book. Some nice stationary and stamps. A good Day Runner/Personal Planner. A coffee maker or electric tea pot. Sounds like he has a good Aunt.
posted by Mhead at 9:59 PM on December 23, 2004

Holga camera? With a roll of 120 film, please.
posted by departure lounge at 10:50 PM on December 23, 2004

Given that he's 18, and assuming "creative mind" means "a desire or inclination to write," chances are he'd appreciate Ferlinghetti's Coney Island of the Mind, Bukowski's Hot Water Music, and Selby's Last Exit to Brooklyn.

When I first read them, they made me realize that I wasn't alone in the universe.
posted by Luther Blissett at 11:55 PM on December 23, 2004

i think a film camera and/or developing kit is a really good idea, as is a 120 format. unfortunately the one suggested by departure lounge looks pants. i wonder what you could get second hand? assuming you can get the camera for $20 somehow, you can probably also run to the pot/spool for developing, some chemicals and paper. that would be enough to shoot a roll, develop it, and make contact prints in the sun. you could print out help from the 'net. again 120 format would be better because the contact prints are a decent size (almost polaroid).

it depends, as others have said, what "creative mind" means. at that age i know i found photography a good way to start exploring more, err, creative things. i think it helps that it uses machines and chemicals, which made me feel a bit more secure (being a young technicaly-minded male...); i doubt i'd have been confident enough to start writing much in a notebook (even a moleskine....)
posted by andrew cooke at 3:32 AM on December 24, 2004

if the aunt is in another city, a map would be useful, as would some kind of multi-use ticket for public transport.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:57 AM on December 24, 2004

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I think I'll probably get him a gift certificate for books or music, since I know he likes both but I don't know his specific states well.

I don't want to get him anything too valuable, since he's a bit of a couch-surfer at the moment and it could easily disappear from his life.

To clarify, I'm not the aunt. I'm his cousin's girlfriend. Last Christmas his aunt got him one present and nobody else gave him anything, and I want to make sure that doesn't happen again this year.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 10:59 AM on December 24, 2004

unfortunately the one suggested by departure lounge looks pants.

i'm not sure if this means "suck", but holgas are supposedly rich with artistic possibility. Every time i see them mentioned somone always mentions how fun they are.

the fact that they're built shoddily gives them a look that's quite unlike well made cameras, and probably quite satisfying to someone just getting introduced to film.
posted by fishfucker at 3:52 PM on December 25, 2004

here's some holga photos to give you an idea of the look.
posted by fishfucker at 3:55 PM on December 25, 2004