Me, I got to wait another week for when we traditionally give
our gifts (although most of us break down and give on both days).
The good thing though is this way shopping is cheaper/faster. :-)
And one tradition quite particular to our family (although I’m
sure others do it secretly too) is that of the self-gift: each person
gets to buy (and wrap and place under the tree) a gift of his own
choosing (usually something small though) so that he gets at
least one thing he likes for sure. Mine is this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4494938.stm

The jacket is sweet.

hhp

Si,
I got the same Kern zip too! My best gift was from my daughter who gave me a T shirt she made with Leporello on it!

My wife spilled the beans early and she is getting me a digital camera for my birthday in a couple of weeks. Now I won’t be the only person at TypeCon without one :-)

ChrisL

Hrant,
Who knew the bible could be that racey :-)

ChrisL

My wife gave me the 1923 ATF Specimen Book & Catalogue! Yes!

I’ve wanted one of these for years, since I became aware of them (thanks to Typophile). At 1,100+ pages, my bedtime reading needs are taken care of for quite some time.

Letters of Credit by Walter Tracy
Anatomy of a Typeface by Alexander Lawson
The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
Logo, Font, and Lettering Bible by Leslie Cabarga
Wordplay 2nd Edition by John Langdon

I’ve got a lot of reading to do! Oh and for those wondering I’ve found no errors in my US printed version of Langdon’s second edition release of Wordplay. I did find one page with a few random bold letters, but the reproduction quality of his work is spot on. I did recieve some other small gifts, but it was just good for the family to be together as I had no real material wants this year besides the books!

Vinyl:
Lee Hazlewood: Portrait of an almost lady
Lee Hazlewood: Poet, Fool or Bum
Billie Holiday: Songs for Distingue Lovers
The Stooges: Fun House

Plus, Guided by Voices: The electifying conclusion (actually a very good and long concert film)

Happy Ears

1912 American Specimen Book of Type Styles (ATF) and Barnhart Brothers & Spindler Catalog #9 (c 1905). Evidently, my wife thinks I’ve been VERY good this past year...

I also got a Veer Kern zip up, this camera and a nice green velvet jacket, some cool pajamas, and something that I probably shouldn’t mention here.

—-

jlt : http://www.hewnandhammered.com : rnrmf!

and PS, I totally want one of Hrant’s **** Jesus calendars.

—-

jlt : http://www.hewnandhammered.com : rnrmf!

Josh, I knew you’d like it. The thing is, you need to get a continental -and preferably Teutonic- friend to buy one and send it to you. Apparently some of the models are feared of possibly being considered underaged (consent-wise) in the US (which is -rightly- seen as overly puritanical) so they refuse to mail any over here, just in case. The true god of our age is Liability.

hhp

Veer kern zip up here too. I feel like such a geek for putting it at the top of my list. :)

I didn’t get any type-related stuff, unless you count the Chip Kidd book (which is really great, by the way). I have been doing like Hrant and getting something for myself the last couple years. This year it is an iSight. Not sure exactly what I’m going to use it for yet, but it is a little techie gem. Last year I got a deal on the complete Monty Python DVD set.

I’m turning 50 tomorrow and already know one thing I’m getting. :-)

Hey Mark, my father’s birthday also falls on Dec. 26. As kids, we routinely forgot about it and had to scramble at the last minute to find a card, much less a present.

Are you bitter from a lifetime of combined birthday/Xmas gifts? ;)

I gave myself the gift of seeing the Great Horned Owl for the 7th day in Central Park. You don’t think of Great Horned Owls and Manhattan in the same sentence but he/she is here.

> I’m turning 50 tomorrow

That can’t be right - you look younger than me!!
But of course: Happy Birthday!

hhp

Happy Birthday Mark! Have fun with your camera. :-)

My family decided to go do-goody this year and buy gifts only for the kids - the rest of us are gonna give to a charity. So I’m the only person here without a Veer kern zipup (whatever that is) altho I do have the “fancy” t-shirt from Veer.

And I have to buy my own digicam - mine crapped out a month ago.

Hmmm, digicam with fanncy Tshirt, sounds like a film project :-)

ChrisL

Patty,
Try this link for the KE RN zipup:

http://www.veer.com/products/merchdetail.aspx?image=VPR0001260

ChrisL

I got Thinking with type and some money. Which really means maybe some new type.

Jon

I got this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810949652

I got myself a couple of warm socks and am very happy about it.

I got my kids a bunk bed — which is really a present for me because I won’t have to run such an obstacle course to get across the room anymore. That might be wishful thinking.

I also got a set of noise cancelling Senheiser earphones to block out the office.

:)

Happy week between, everyone!

“I also got a set of noise cancelling Senheiser earphones...”

Kristina,
or perhaps to block out the noise of the kids jumping off the new bunk beds? :-)

ChrisL

My sole typographic gift, “jan tschicold, a life in typography” by ruari mclean.
From a non-designer friend, incidentally, so Chris, I hope you’ve been enjoying all the plumbing equipment you’ve been getting from acquaintances you told you were a plumber.

My book combined nicely with another gift — a bottle of old Islay scotch. But not all at once!

Nick did you get any new subjects to shrink so you can look at them through your scary magnifing glass?

Dan, many of the examples in the tschicold book are actual size, which is good.
But there are quite a few which are “reduced”, and as they are sharp “line” rather than halftone images, I have been able to examine them with favorable results, magnifying glass in one hand, glass of scotch in the other.

“so Chris, I hope you’ve been enjoying all the plumbing equipment you’ve been getting from acquaintances you told you were a plumber.”

Nick! LOL!!! You remembered that! :-) What a fitting gift they would be :-)
Actually, I should give plumbing fittings to the doctors involved in my recent Roto-Ruter job since they seem to be more intimately involved with my pipes than I care to know!

ChrisL
PS: What is your favorite page in the Tschichold book? I like his written note to the printer on page 110—“Don’t center it!”.

”...magnifying glass in one hand, glass of scotch in the other.”

Now I see why you like the Scotch Roman types :-)

ChrisL

What is your favorite page in the Tschichold book?

Along those lines, the one where he’s crossed out an entire page proof he didn’t like, with a big “X” and the comment “all wrong. Jan Tschichold.”

However, on reading the book I’ve realized how influential Tschichold has been on my work. I recognized many of the pieces from Typographische Gestaltung. The reason is that my wife had a better education in typography as part of her art foundation course in Winnipeg, than I did in mine in the UK; and she possessed a copy of “Asymmetric Typography” (the English version of Typographische Gestaltung) which had just been published in Canada at that time. It was the first serious work on typography that I read.

I got a Glock 27 and a box of Federal Hydra-Shok rounds.

I like your photo Nick, it’s really cool. If I were you, I’d use the magnifying glass to look at your bottle of scotch. Santa gave me a smokey peaty malt scotch whiskey that is excellent and hidden away from visitors and friends. Like Hrant, I celebrate a second Christmas in January and really like his self-gift tradition (which I don’t have). I’m going to suggest it to my family. (I’m working on the oh-you-shouldn’t-have expression right now!)

“I’m working on the oh-you-shouldn’t-have expression right now!”

LOL!!!

ChrisL

I have the self-gift tradition, too. I’ve got this nice bottle of 12-year-old Glenmorangie that I am just taking out right now. Mmmmm.

My only typographic gifts were “American Type Design & Designers” by David Consuegra (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581153201), and “The Solid Form of Language” by Robert Bringhurst (beautifully letterpress-printed, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1894031881/qid=1135743897).

Despite quite liking both of those, I think my favorite gift I received has to be the uber-deluxe edition of “Watchmen” that my wife gave me (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401207138 or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen). This has always been one of my all-time favorite works, and it’s great to have the added material and a physical tome that does it justice. I still have my two softcover copies for loaners. (I think maybe I loaned one to John Berry, actually - need to check on that some time.)

Cheers,

T

I usually get a bottle of Lagavulin from my in-laws, but this year they surprised me with a bottle of Poire William instead. I love just opening it and inhaling deeply: like having a pear shoved up your nostril. Wonderful.

I did get something scotch-related though: a set of four trendy Riedel stemless riesling glasses. Lately, I’ve been reading more and more whiskey experts recommending drinking fine scotch from white wine glasses rather than the kind of tumblers I’ve been using for years. All the arguments in favour of the wine glasses, how they concentrate the aroma, etc. make eminent sense, but I always felt effete with my dark smokey scotch in a delicately stem’d wine glass. But now I’ve found the perfect solution in these perfectly shaped wine glasses without stems.

Some money to order a new copy of Dutch Type since a pipe burst above my bookshelf and ruined my first one. Also received the Typotheque 2006 diary which is really cool. I don’t know whether to actually use it or put it away as a keepsake/collector type of thing.

Won a bit of an early typographic gift at the last Toronto Type club talk, which was a cd of recently released typefaces from Monotype.

John, I received the same Reidel stemless glasses for my birthday this year. Aren’t they wonderful? I actually got the entire set of both white and red wine glasses. It’s hard to get used to holding the actual glass and not the stem, isn’t it? Admittedly, I picked up some proper scotch glasses straight from Scotland last year. I prefer the weight of a heavy glass in my hand and the peatier the scotch, the better!

yap, just a bunch of clothes. as always

Sounds like a lot of folks around here plan to be, well, needing a designated driver soon? :-)

Cheers! clink! (the sound of a glass of 7 star Metaxa toasting you all) :-)

ChrisL

Or a scotch tasting club!

Santa gifted me with an IOU for money toward a trip to England for my birthday, several gift certificates (as I’m not so easy to shop for), and a few other things that fit nicely into my stocking.

The highlight though was my mom pranking all of us with her sudden ability to play Silent Night on a flute. She started taking lessons on the DL in October and had us all convinced it was some sort of trick.

Oh and getting to see my new nephew. He’s so tiny.

I bought the KERN jacket for my boyfriend in the fall. It seems as if there will be many of those all of the world now. I love it!

But aren’t stems useful for preventing the hand’s
warmth from affecting the wine’s temperature?

hhp

^
This is the drawback of that style glass. But for everyday, most wine drinkers don’t get all the details right. I do well to locate a relatively decent bottle of the basic varietals before they fade, and often warm the wine in the glass with the heat of my hand to bring it around. Clearly those stemless glasses are more of an issue with whites.

Note that I am not planning on drinking wine from the stemless Riedel glasses: I’m reserving those specifically for scotch. I tried them out last night, and they concentrate the aroma wonderfully. My wife took a sniff of my glass of Lagavulin and practically flew across the room :)

Or a scotch tasting club!

There’s been a little talk about having the ATypI conference in Edinburgh one of these years. It looks like we could probably round up a fair number of scotch imbibing typographers for a peaty evening.

”...been a little talk about having the ATypI conference in Edinburgh ... fair number of scotch imbibing typographers...”

Well I guess I’ll have to have my Metaxa in Thesaloniki in 2007 then—there might be a few folks around there who would have a glass with me :-)

ChrisL

I’m in.

Cheers, Si

I never really ’got’ Metaxa, but I’ll join you for an ouzo.

Edinburgh?! Count me in! And yes Hrant, this seems to be the dilemma with Riedel’s white wine glasses but I think John’s found a perfect use for them. Chris, methinks you’ll find a drinking partner no matter what you are drinking!

That’s a deal John, just don’t break any plates :-)

ChrisL

John said: “I never really ‘got’ Metaxa, but I’ll join you for an ouzo.”

Ouzo! Ouch-o! You’re tougher than me, John. I just can’t enjoy that stuff! :P

And I’ll toast you with a beer or two.
Happy 2006.
Tim

“Greene King” sounds good!

ChrisL

Thomas Phinney wrote
“The Solid Form of Language” by Robert Bringhurst
...
Despite quite liking both of those, I think my favorite gift I received has to be the uber-deluxe edition of “Watchmen”

I got the Bringhurst book too, The stroke by Gerrit Noordzij, Typographia polyglotta by Maxim Zhukov and George Sadek, the latest issue of DotDotDot and a collection of essays by Josef Brodsky (I mainly wanted it for his Nobel prize lecture from 1987, but it also contains the author posing with a cat, having a beef with Milan Kundera regarding Dostoyevskij, it’s hilarious).
My girlfriend gave me a bunch of french king size letterpress wood types to play around with when I get grumpy.

Tschüß,

ƒ

In both the solid form of language and Typographia polyglotta they mention the Serbo-Croatian script situation, which I haven’t been aware of before. I think it’ll make an excellent conversation piece on the New years eve party we’re having. No?

The ’linguistic cleansing’ that took place during the break-up of Yugoslavia is a sad but interesting adjunct to that script situation. The Croats were the most dedicated in this regard — there was a proposal to abolish all words of Serbian origin, approx. 30% of the typical vocabulary if I recall correctly; an official insistence that Croatian and Serbian were totally different, mutually unintelligible languages; and renewed interest in a Nazi-era spelling reform that would have obscured the etymology of most words —, but my favourite bit of weirdness came from the Bosnian Serbs, who for a while during the war required school children to write even their English language homework in the Cyrillic script.

Ouzo is great. But ’araq is better.

hhp

Trouble is Hrant, I have Araqnaphobia :-)
ChrisL

> But ‘araq is better

I didn’t hear that word for a loooong time :)

my lovely girlfriend gave me the “typography” hoodie from Veer,

and i also got a bunch of cool books:

Anatomy of a Typeface,
Thinking with Type
Logo, Font, and Lettering Bible

i hope you all enjoy your holidays and have a safe and prosperous new year!

————————————————
nc

btw
we also got the stemless Riedel glasses which are very nice because i normally drink my red wine in a short glass! they are great!

The ‘linguistic cleansing’ that took place during the break-up of Yugoslavia is a sad but interesting adjunct to that script situation. The Croats were the most dedicated in this regard — there was a proposal to abolish all words of Serbian origin, approx. 30% of the typical vocabulary if I recall correctly; an official insistence that Croatian and Serbian were totally different, mutually unintelligible languages; and renewed interest in a Nazi-era spelling reform that would have obscured the etymology of most words —, but my favourite bit of weirdness came from the Bosnian Serbs, who for a while during the war required school children to write even their English language homework in the Cyrillic script.

I find this very interesting. I’d be interested if anyone’s written more extensive on the matter.

ƒ

My brother got me Spencer’s Pioneers of Modern Typography.

And some students of mine (somehow) gave me a copy of Book One of Euclid, designed by Bruce Rogers. Yowza.

Non-typographically, I also got The Dialogues of Plato (set in Palatino — brrr), and Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (set in Novarese — ech).

Andi:
The last women that said this: “I prefer the weight of a heavy glass in my hand and the peatier the scotch, the better!” — I almost married.
I love a women who loves scotch! (period)

I got a dutch chocolate letter “P”, and a basket of what has come affectionately to be called ’dad’s stinky food’: various odd cheeses, herring filets, black lumpfish, kippers, antipastos and the like with a tasty port.

Tonight it’s a hogmanay event with haggis and no doubt a Scotch or two at the Gibson House. Saturday night it will be Dutch Genever or Bols Advocaat. The genever is a tribute to Henk Krijger (Raffia Initials) the Advocaat to my mother, a kindly Calvinist woman who indulged only it, and only during the Christmas season.

I find this very interesting. I’d be interested if anyone’s written more extensive on the matter.

I read a very good article on the subject in the late 1990s, but have not been able to find it again.

Lagavulin... mmmmm.

I ended up ordering the Veer Kern zipup for a fellow type-geek.

But my best gift was to myself: brand new G5 2 gig iMac with 20” LCD screen! It is so beautiful and 5x as fast as the old G4 tower it just replaced. Best part was getting rid of the honking 20” old school monitor that has been parked on my desk for five years now. I’m smokin’ baby, smokin’!

My lovely girlfriend gave me Jan Tschichold’s Erfreuliche Drucksachen durch gute Typographie for Christmas (well, Advent, really) this year. My birthday was also recently, and I got a bunch of typographic presents then, including:

Typolemik/Typophil by Hans-Peter Willberg
Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
Chronik der D. Stempel AG 1895–1955 by the D. Stempel AG (and set in Gudrun Zapf von Hesse’s lovely Diotima)

Lastly, I also tend to give myself presents for Christmas. This year was Indie Fonts 1 and 2 and P22’s 10-year anniversary book!

Happy Birthday Dan! When was it?

And your girlfriend is a sure-fire winner! Be kind to her.

ChrisL

My birthday was on December 4th.

How could a moderator’s birthday be forgotten? No love for the “Typophile” crew?