Holiday Gift Suggestions 1996

Originally published November 1, 1996, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1198

In the past I’ve always contributed to the “What five things are good to give for the holidays” listing that CBG annually does for the holidays. More often than not, I make it a BID column (as I’m doing now).

I’ve recommended a number of things with great zeal, because in addition to being a writer of stuff, I also love stuff.

Especially neat stuff. If I see something that’s neat, and it’s at a price that I can live with, I’ll get it. Indeed, I’m difficult to buy gifts for, because if something neat has been on the market for any length of time, chances are that, if it’s of interest to me, I’ll get it. Neat gizmos or plush versions of animated characters or cool laserdiscs or interesting books.

And as we would get towards the end of the year, I’d recommend to you guys, basically, the things that I had acquired during the year that I thought were the neatest of the neat. Hëll, let’s face it, if there were a Space Cases action figures line, I’d probably be recommending that wholeheartedly. (In answer to numerous questions, by the way… at the moment, no, there’s no Space Cases merchandise. Nickelodeon thinks there’s no market for it. Yeah, right.)

But of late, various things have happened in my life and I’m reassessing my priorities. I’m trying to figure out what true joy I get from acquiring things. I look at everything that I’ve garnered throughout the years.

And it’s just—stuff.

It doesn’t mean anything. Not really. Not in any deep sense of the word.

It’s just stuff. Like the George Carlin routine. Stuff.

And what am I supposed to do now? Recommend more stuff that other people can buy, because this is the time of the year when stuff is of major concern? It seems pointless, a hollow exercise.

What five things should you give for the holidays?

1) Give money to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, www.cbldf.org. They fight for freedom of expression, freedom for anyone to pursue those comic books that they themselves find entertaining, without having to answer to anyone or worry about legal persecution. And if that charity doesn’t do it for you, then pick one that does and give to it. More than that, support it if at all possible. Work as a volunteer. Stuff envelopes. Attend rallies.

2) Give time. Life slips past with hideous velocity. You can blink and miss it. And there’s so many things, so many people, clamoring for your attention that you can just screen it all out because you’re busy with other things. You don’t know where to look first, so you don’t look anywhere. Give time to your children that you wouldn’t ordinarily. Give time to your spouses, before you have no more time together. Be more patient than you might be inclined to be. Listen. For God’s sake, listen, because if you don’t listen, people will have to shout at you and keep shouting in order to get your attention, until it’s too late. And you can find yourself with nothing, wondering, “What happened? I thought I was paying attention? When did all this occur? What did I do wrong?”

3) Give of yourself in big and small ways. Support local organizations, make yourself a part of your kid’s education, go along on a school trip. If people come up to you in the street asking for spare change, give it to them. Contribute to food drives. Adopt a pet. If you’re walking past someone’s house and their newspaper is sitting on the sidewalk, pick it up and toss it onto their porch so they don’t have to walk out as far to get it. Read to your kids.

4) Give your full support and loyalty those who are your friends. Let them know they can count on you, no matter what. Do whatever is necessary to help them whenever they need you.

5) Give a dámņ.

What do I want for myself?

Some peace. I just want some peace.

I feel as if everything is spiraling out of control lately. That, no matter how much I try to hold on to things, they dance just out of my reach, like shadows flickering in flame.

And to be honest, I came close to dropping this column. I’ve already lasted far longer than I ever thought I would.

And I’m tired.

I’m tired of angry letters from gun nuts. I’m tired of people thinking it clever to put me on mailing lists for the GOP or the Rush Limbaugh newsletter or ultra-conservative religious organizations. I’m tired of being attacked not only for what I am, but for what I’m not (I got e-mail from a fan in Spain who claimed that the main thing I’m known for over there is that I “hate Image”).

I’m tired of metaphorically opening up veins and spilling it out onto my keyboard. When I write my fiction I can hide behind my characters. Here, there’s no hiding. It’s just you and me.

But I think about the good the column has done, the people I’ve made contact with, the positive aspects. And I’m sticking with it for a while, even though part of me wants to pull back, to say, “Enough. Enough.”

I just want—some peace.

Oh—and a videotape of the Israeli musical Kazablan.

(Well, I didn’t want to get too maudlin.)

(Peter David, writer of stuff, can be written to at Second Age, Inc., P.O. Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705.)