Gifts and whatnot

I loathe it when someone's birthday is coming up and I know full well they're expecting a present [thus any and all f-list people with impending birthdays should know it's not about them as the only people who fully expect gifts live near me, k? the rest of you just have the grace not to complain when you get one, three months late] and they don't give me any friggin' ideas. I also hate giving a gift that isn't loved or at least liked. It's worse than getting a gift you don't like because you actually spent money on something for someone and they're possibly trying to fake their way through the, "no, you really shouldn't have" portion of the exchange.

So hints are appreciated. Hell, sometimes I'll take flat out requests/demands.

( In which I ramble on )

So what do you get for the girl who used to be the easiest person to shop for? Used to be all you had to do was find something that hinted at being dark and spooky, overly emotional, sadness personified, or so terribly bitchily cute and you were set. Then she found her boytoy and country and it's like... Sort of like watching old shows you used to love as a child, but now you're an adult and you wondered if you were on crack.

&nsbp; Things that would have normally been perfect a few years ago? Now are simply met with a blank smile and you know full well they've been shoved in a closet somewhere, or regifted to someone who doesn't like them anymore than she did.

  Has she simply matured and I remain the same and refuse to acknolwedge said "progress"? Or has she managed to do something she's done so well in the past and submerge herself so fully in someone else's likes and dislikes that she's lost her own sense of what is unbelievably nifty?

Then there's another slew of birthdays and gifts to send in a belated flurry, and the bridal shower will require a gift, then immediately following is another birthday. Still, I love buying stuff for other people.

And Welcome to the Black Parade is on the radio. :D