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A couple years ago Mr. Hunting Creek was buying a used computer game from a small store near our home when the young woman helping him with his list suddenly looked up from the list and asked, "Are you J.Hunting Creeks father? Is this J's list? " and of course he is, and it was. J. Hunting Creeks lists are so recognizably him that anyone who knows him , knows him from his list.
His lists from the past have included such items as bars of gold, throwing knives, silk smoking jackets and taxidermy animals, so anyone seeing those items once would never forget them..It is Christmas List as art form. J. considers making a list consisting of pajamas and gift cards to be rookie material. Your list should both reveal who you are and also what you aspire to be. Let that be an inspiration for us all.
Here is the list from this year:
J’s Christmas List 2012
A gun belt
Something from space
A neon sign
A copy of the New York Times from the day I was born, or the Economist from that week. The Washington Post is not an acceptable substitute.
Disguises (pilot’s uniform w/ fake mustache, doctor’s uniform, Dalai Lama/Pope/Prophet Muhammad outfit, etc.)
A prop from a moderately well-known movie (with certificate of authenticity of course)
Something signed by a world leader (G20 members only. Come on, guys)
A functional pocket watch, top hat, and monocle
A full-size flag of either Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, Brunei, Seychelles, Swaziland, or Montenegro (list is in order of preference)
Miracle fruit tablets http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Fruit-World-350mg-Frooties/dp/B004SOMH3M/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1330411083&sr=1-1
Something really tall
A smaller version of a toaster oven, if that exists? Approx. the size of a lunch box
Smaller versions of things in general (not miniature toy versions but actual functional versions of things like those tiny trampolines)
A taser (will be used only on myself, willing participants, or unwilling assailants, purchase only if potentially having my death on your hands is worth the risk)
A breathalyzer
Like, a lot of ankle socks. A lot (for real you guys my dad keeps stealing mine).
Something that would have been worth a lot of money a long time ago, but today is not (has to have been an existing product at the time when it would have been valuable, by which I mean no recent inventions that would have been valuable just because they weren’t invented yet)
Piece of the Berlin Wall – without graffiti, please
Piece of the Great Wall of China – graffiti acceptable if in Chinese
All gifts from previous years are still acceptable, and if you can mix them together that would be sweet (e.g. gold-plated taxidermy animals)
All gifts can be replaced with their approximate value in cash (so that I can maximize utility), as long as the cash is wrapped like a present and accompanied by a note saying what the cash is replacing (in case I want to buy it myself).
Now that you have read the list of a Master, what list would you write? Will your new list include what you want in your secret heart? Sewing lessons from Ralph Rucci? Dancing lessons from a Broadway choreographer? Cooking lessons with Eric Ripert? A trip to Chiang Mai?
Only by learning what we truly desire and then expressing those desires, can we take the necessary steps toward realizing those dreams. The dreams might start with a silk top hat and a monocle, but who knows where they will lead.
Take another look at your Christmas List and see if it needs a rewrite. I know mine does.
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