I checked my Amazon.com wishlist today for the first time in a while, and I was surprised to see that seven new items have been purchased for me recently. I think I know who bought them, too.

The thing is, my Amazon.com wishlist has slowly mutated from a list of things I want into a fossilized, layered record of the rise and fall of various interests, enthusiasms and whims I’ve had over the last few years. There are a bunch of cast albums, as well as DVDs of movies and TV seasons, but the largest portion is taken up by books. Books on evolutionary biology; the history of Christianity; feature writing; musical-theater writing; American history; computer programming; Stephen Sondheim; the Smithsonian; gay rights; and a smattering of fiction. I’ve used my wishlist more for myself, as a bookmarking device for potentially interesting books, because I didn’t think anyone besides me really looked at the list.

Now that I’ve been proven wrong, I’ve gone ahead and pruned some things I no longer want, and I’ve used the ranking device to give priority to certain things I want more than others. The wishlist is now ready for use.

This is all (OK, partly) by way of pointing out that my birthday is coming up in 27 days. So if anyone would like to buy me a present, the wishlist is ready for your perusal.