(Yeah, I know, aside from the obvious – and besides, we’re talking about my little brother here, so get your minds out of the gutter.)
So my little brother is both turning 18 and graduating high school in the next couple of weeks, and I am stumped for cool gifts. He is a much more mainstream person than I was at that age – he is big into hip-hop, and at the moment he wants to go into music production, but I am soooo not the right person to pick a gift that has anything to do with those interests, except something impersonal like an iTunes gift certificate. He’s also big into drawing, and apparently won a citywide prize (in NY) in graphic design.
Any neat ideas? I’d like to get him something special that he will have (or at least remember) years from now. Dad is being absolutely no help here, and my brother is still in that adolescent phase of saying “oh, I don’t know” or “oh, nothing,” depending on what the question was. I’ve gotten him stuff that went over well in the past – the hand-carved stone chess set so he could trample Dad was a hit, but that was a few years ago, when he wasn’t so concerned with factors like coolness, of which I understand absolutely nothing (having been a decidedly non-mainstream bookwormy hippie child). Help!
Tickets? Your location field says Chicago. How ‘bout tickets to Movin’ Out, Mamma Mia, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (playing now) or Hairspray, Annie, Chicago, Evita or Gypsy (coming soon). Or Blue Man Group - not traditional musical theater, but a hella good time. Get tickets for the both of you or a pair for he and a guest.
ETA: I see he’s in New York. Gee…I wonder if they have any live theater there? You can get Ticketmaster gift certs so he can pick the show he wants. (Damn them, The Fantasticks is running again! Want it! Wants it, my preciousssss!)
He’s in NYC (he’s a half-brother, born the month after I graduated college). I don’t think mainstream theater is his thing, though he might really like something like Blue Man Group. Maybe I will call Dad and grill him again.
Depending on the medium he likes to work in, a nice set of pastels and some good drawing paper might be nice.
Nice new back pack?
Or a nice piece of luggage or a good cool laptop bag.
The luggage might sound silly to an 18yo, but most 18 year olds are going to do a little travel. Be it moving or looking for jobs. Or visiting friends that are moving or further education.
We got my nephew a real nice lap top bag for his graduation. Trouble was that he did not have a laptop yet.
Ooops…… My BIL ended up buying him a laptop for it. :snerk: We are all still good friends.
The kid was going away to school and needed a laptop anyway. We assumed he already had one.
My nephew was pretty cute. He said “Next time Uncle, buy me four tires” (he didn’t have a car).
If he’s into graphic design, some hardware for his computer might be nice, if you or someone near you can figure out what to give. Extra RAM or another hard drive might be a huge help.
How about a gift certificate to a music-production store? Some place that sells musical instruments, software, keyboards…
Or, as Phlosphr said, an Swiss army knife engraved with his name. They have modern versions with USB-sticks on them, but even a tradional one is handy for travelling and you knever know when a future producer needs to screw some equipment shut or open, or strip or cut some wires.
Seriously, is he still at school? Going to college? Going to enlist? I’d suggest either something relevant to those or something he’ll keep over the long term. Perhaps a portrait?
Finishing high school in a week, going to college in the fall. Couldn’t enlist even if he wanted to (yay asthma!), and he wouldn’t anyway.
If I could think of something he’d both appreciate now and keep in the long term, I’d do that (thus the previously mentioned carved stone chess set). I’m uncharacteristically quite stumped, however.
Yeah, if he’s into graphic design at all involving computers, and he doesn’t already have one, I second a graphics tablet as a great gift. And they’re available in many different price ranges.
Really nice poker chips, if he plays at all. Small-stakes poker is very trendy among young college boys these days, and it’d be nice to be the one on his dorm floor with nice chips.
A big external hard drive. If he does graphic stuff, those can be huge files, and if he’s going off to college, he may be downloading lots of . . .stuff. Most of the kids I see go off to college in the fall seem to need more hard drive space by Xmas.
A box of condems. He’s going off to college! And if you don’t sneak them to him so that he will have them if needed, who will? Just stick them in with whatever else you give them, with a note that says “we will never discuss this. But be safe”
A television or a monitor or some nice computer speakers or a set of really top-of-the line headphones–either the big noise-cancellation ones for the dorm room or some of those super-comfortable earbuds or nice bluetooth ones if his phone is an Mp3 player.
Nice personalized stationary, subtle and understated and masculine. Lame to get but nice to have when you need it.
God, most of those are degenerate suggestions. But mildly degenerate gifts are what big sisters are for!
A good pocketknife as suggested above, is a great idea, the advantage of a Swiss Army Knife in particular is the array of tools, always good to have a set off tools on you…
the Kershaw Leek linked above is a very nice knife (especially the ZDP-189 steel version linked) the only “problem” with it is that it’s an Assisted Opening knife, uses a torsion bar spring to flick open the blade, and to the uninitiated and/or “Sheeple”, an AO knife could be seen as “scary”, also, some states have restrictions on AO knives, or are trying to restrict them, even though they’re perfectly legal
a SAK is seen as completely nonthreatening, especially the Toolbox style SAK’s
If you buy him condems, get Durex, not Trojan. For a lot of people who don’t regularly use condoms, especially older people, Trojan = THE classic condom brand. But they suck! They’re too thick and you can’t feel anything.
If you consider theatre, definitely bring him to Avenue Q, a show that could woo even the coolest, most apathetic teen boy. Or find out what kind of art he likes and get him a print (or an original if they’re underground/cheapish). Cool Hunting is an excellent resource for interesting gift ideas, especially for people into drawing/design.
The best presents, IMHO, are those used frequently, regularly reminding the recipient of the giver. A list like that for me would comprise these items (I’m 20 now):
[ul]
[li]Leatherman (pocket knife, but better) Squirt S4 (~$35), the model small enough to have with you at all times[/li][li]a black bomber jacket. I think of my aunt every chilly autumn day when I wear mine (~$250?)[/li][li]a badger (no substitutes!) shaving brush. Using this feels great every single day (~$35)[/li][li]a good watch (this is a matter of personal taste) (~$150-220)[/li][li]a 19" or larger LCD computer monitor (~$150+ depending on size)[/li][li]good speakers (~$120-300)[/li][/ul]
You can get Ticketmaster gift certs so he can pick the show he wants. (Damn them, The Fantasticks is running again! Want it! Wants it, my preciousssss!)
