Playing with Myself

Belatedly, but done.

Step One

-- Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered ...whatever you're comfortable with) to your journal. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

-- If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

-- Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your journal so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step Two

-- Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

-- If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use -- or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free -- do it.

You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf -- to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not -- it's your call.

There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just... wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

My Wishlist, in no particular order:

-- Plain Cadbury dairy milk bars from the UK. The version that Hershey produces in the US just isn't as good.

-- A donation to Pet Refuge. That first Christmas dog? I fostered him until he got adopted.

-- Postcards. I love them. You don't even have to say anything on them. Someday I'm going to scan all my postcards into the computer. Send to: Kelly Jones, 17221 Hagey Street, South Bend IN 46635

-- A poster version of this picture. I had a wall-size version, many moons ago, but it has been lost in one of the moves.

-- The Shadow: Comics, books, and good CD recordings of the radio programs. I wish Universal would put out a letterboxed DVD version of the cheesy movie remake from a few years ago. I suppose I ought to buy the full-screen version before it goes out of print.

-- Cross stitch patterns for medieval stained glass.

-- Lego minifigures (aka the little Lego people). I love them all. I mix and match. I'm trying to customize some, and plenty of sacrificial victims volunteers are necessary.

-- Hardcover copies of The Wire in the Blood by Val McDermid and any Nero Wolfe mystery by Rex Stout except The Doorbell Rang, which was put out in a bookclub edition in 1965 and so is available in many, many places.

I spent the entire morning trying to figure out the formula the Compensation Advisory Organization of Michigan uses to calculate manual premium to determine whether a risk is eligible for experience modification rating versus merit rating.

Translation: how the fuck did the rating bureau come up with this rating?

The bad news is that I ran with incorrect information and let an endorsement go through that cost our client $2,500. The good news is that the endorsement is going to be reversed. The bad news is that the producer won't let me tell the insured that until we can explain why the change occurred. And honest to Jeebus, the answer seems to be that the CAOM decided so.

It's sort of the equivalent of your dad telling you can't do something because he said so.