This entry will require quite a leap in deductive reasoning but bear with me.

I am a intermittent stamp collector. Actually, my dad used to collect stamps as a kid and started his own collection which I took over in my youth. Then I sort of forgot about it and it lay dormant in my closet along with my old formal dresses and tossed aside stuffed animals. When my parents came to visit, they bundled up everything from the recess of my closet and willingly dumped it all in my basement. Over time, I have been sorting through my knick knacks and stumbled across the old stamp collection.

As I have aged I have gained a bit of wisdom. I am a completely spastic person whose eyes are bigger than her head. I get hooked on stuff, work like crazy until I see something else that catches my fancy. I have learned, over time, that when I am seized by the latest craze, it is best to try and limit its scope since it is highly probably that by next month it will be forgotten. So when I unburied my stamp collection, my first thought was to try and collect everything I had missed between, oh, sixth grade and the present. My rational side kicked in and I decided to limit my collecting desire to a specific specialty of stamp collecting. I decided my focus would be stamps dealing with books and authors. With this narrow scope in mind, I plunged forth.

I found hundreds upon hundreds of web site dedicated to stamp collecting and got sucked into the idea of first covers for a while but never got around to doing them. (Need to put that on my list-o-things-begun-but-never-finished, page 107.) I did, however, purchase a few stamps dealing with authors and books. Now, here’s the leap, from stamps to Christmas……

Since turkey day is over and the big X is rapidly approaching, I have two pearls of wisdom for you.

1. Order your stamps online.

Yes, that’s right, simply head to USPS online and order all your pretty Christmas stamps. For a measly $1.00 shipping fee, you can avoid circling your local post office parking lot and standing in line behind people mailing 50 packages misaddressed to people in Malaysia. You can get just about any stamp you like from the comfort of your computer. If you don’t want the boring stamps you buy in line at the grocery store, this is the only way to go.

2. Try a Game

Ok, this has nothing to do with stamps but I just wanted to pass along this idea. I know, for most people a “game” is something by Milton-Bradley that involves lots of drawing, pantomime, or moving pieces around a board. This is very very sad. There are so many wonderful games out there that are unknown by the masses. Take, for example, the Bean Game. I don’t know how to describe it except to say everyone I have shown it to has been hooked. It is simply the best game I have found and I found it at great little website based here in Oregon called FunAgain Games. They specialize in German board games and have wonderful reviews and ideas. The Bean Game (as I call it) is actually titled Bohnanza and is German. This wonderful store will send you the game and an english translation of the rules which is key. You can’t go wrong with any of the Games of the Year and almost everything has a picture and/or rating. So if you are desperate for something different, give them a try. The Bean Game works best with 4 people. If you have a larger group, Rage is another addictive card game to try too. Also The Great Dalmuti which I have played under the name Rich Man Poor Man is good fun with large groups.

Alright, that’s all of my great ideas for the day. Come back tomorrow, I’m sure by then I’ll be fixated on something else. Lucky you!