older teenagers
Gifts for Photographers
16th November, 2021
Photography is an eye-wateringly expensive hobby, so you’re unlikely to buy your photographer a new camera or lens. Fortunately, there are a handful of affordable options. Photographers can be an opinionated group; brand preferences are often closer to a tribal identity. I’ll share my suggestions, but double-check their relevance before you buy. Duplicate items aren’t useful to photographers, so also make sure they don’t own a similar thing already. One near-universal recommendation is this pocket tripod from Manfrotto.
S
10th November, 2021
I’ve never read S, but I’ve always thought the concept was fun. It’s a story within a story: there’s the book itself, but it also includes letters, inserts, margin notes, and others which tell a larger story about two readers of the book and the mysteries around the author. It was written by Doug Dorst, but originally pitched by JJ Abrams - so it has a solid storytelling pedigree. This New York Times interview gives a good taste of it, along with a couple of photos.
Chocolate
29th October, 2021
Chocolate is a great gift, for several reasons: Everybody likes chocolate. It’s an affordable luxury. It’s easy to find a story. You must spend more than you usually would. Most people would never spend £20 on a 150g bar of chocolate for themselves; that’s needlessly extravagant. Receiving a £20 bar is a treat: you can savour a few squares over several nights. You could also pick up 2 kilos of chocolate for £20 in the supermarket.
Peaches the Mouse
24th October, 2021
Peaches the mouse is a sewing pattern created by my-darling-boy. It’s an easy craft project: print out the booklet, visit a fabric store for the material, Michael’s for a bag of stuffing (remember: never go in without a voucher), and the dollar store for a bag of buttons and needle & thread. It’s fun to make a mouse with your partner! Put on a good album, sit around the table, and make a cuddly toy each.