All right, here I am in the twenty-first century, and Miss Manners says it is now considered polite to let people know what you want for Christmas, rather than forcing them to go through all kinds of machinations to find out what you do/do not have, what you do/do not want.

Truth is, there is not a heck of a lot that a privileged adult like me actually needs, but there are some categories of things I like and enjoy, so I'll try to make some suggestions that will lead gift-givers in the right direction yet still leave them the freedom to be creative if they want to.

• Baseball gear: I am still playing baseball, but I am pretty well set on equipment and stuff right now. I could use another pair of gray baseball pants (the sizes vary, but the ones I have that fit best are a Mizuno men's medium), and those undershirts with the white chest and colored sleeves. Blue or black sleeves. Gift certificates to sporting goods stores (or web sites) are always good if sizes and choices are too confusing.

• Baseball Fan Gear: Then there is the Yankees. I can always use more Yankees-related shirts, jerseys, jackets, etc. which get worn quite often (and some of my old "lucky shirts" have clearly worn off. . . I don't need any more Yankees tchotchke, though, (bobbleheads, pennants, plaques, mugs) as the house is getting sort of full with it. I like to get autographs myself--they mean more to me than a store-bought autograph, so don't bother with those.

• Baseball scholar stuff: Okay, maybe I am actually getting overloaded on baseball books. That may be because I was so busy the past 6 months, I didn't have time to read as much as usual, so I have quite a backlog. Still, baseball books make a good gift for me. I made a list last year of all the books I have on baseball, but I have NOT had a chance to update it recently. It's online at baseball-books.htm. Second-hand baseball books are just as great (maybe even greater for out of print stuff) than shiny new books, as far as I'm concerned. Now that I have "the Science of Hitting" by Ted Williams, I never need another "how to hit" book ever again. But man, I could really use a "how to field" book.

• Other books: you know, I am not in need of any more books. I don't have enough time to read as it is, and any book I buy is a tax deduction for me anyway. On the other hand, if you read a book that changed your life or is so super-special to you that you want to give me a copy, by all means do. Because although I don't need any more books, I can never have TOO MANY books. Does that make sense? Please buy from your local independent bookstores if you can.

• Motorcycling stuff: A new pair of motorcycle gloves is probably in order soon as mine are getting pretty ripped up. An oil change and tune up is also going to be needed in the spring. Gift certificates to bike shops or even auto parts stores make great stocking stuffers as far as I'm concerned.

• Comix:I still love comic books and graphic novels, but rarely get to buying them these days. Recently I have loved all of Finder by Carla Speed McNeill, Transmetropolitan, WE3 by Grant Morrison, and the three volumes of Megatokyo that are out. The hard part, of course, is figuring out what I don't have. Ask corwin?

• Housewares: When it comes to housewares I really don't like scented candles because they make me sneeze, but unscented candles are cool. I could use more shelvable box-like containers to replace the shoeboxes my photographs are in (the shoeboxes are starting to go). I don't really do bath stuff--I'm too busy to take a bath. I'm starting to have more dinner parties.

• Music:When it come to music and CDs, I don't buy much these days, but if I had more money, I'm sure I'd buy more. I am a total sucker for all the worldbeat instrumental crossover stuff coming out like DJ Cheb i Sabbah, Talvin Singh, Ottmar Liebert y Luna Negra, Ekova, Outback, to name some of the discs on my shelf already. I'm not big on Afro-pop and vocal music, though, and I don't listen to Irish folk (but Afro-Celt Sound System is great).

• DVDs/Videos: This is one of those things, like books and CDs, that are hard to buy for someone if you don't know what they have already. corwin and I are starting to build up a collection of DVDs to match what we have on VHS. The Yankees recent World Series videos I have on VHS but not on DVD (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000) and I have watched the tapes so many times that they are starting to wear out, so that is one suggestion. They are all for sale at MLB.com. There is also a big omnibus Yankees DVD set out now which looks very good and I havent' bought it for myself because of the likelihood someone will have already gotten it for me. The great baseball classic movies on DVD are of interest to me, like The Natural, Bang the Drum Slowly (which I still haven't seen), the Costner films (I already have For the Love of the Game on VHS but so what), etc. I am also a fan of martial arts action movies, though my collection of that is starting to grow. I have almost no Jet Li movies though (other than Cradle 2 The Grave), none of his Chinese movies, and I would love them. Once Upon a Time in China, The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk, etc. As a completist, I would still like to get the theatrical release DVDs of The Two Towers and The Return of the king (yes, I have the fancy director's cut box sets of LOTR, but the extras on the other DVDs are different!) I have become a little obsessed with the Harry Potter movies lately, too. (please tell me they are making more after Goblet of Fire?)

• Clothes & jewelry: I really don't need much in the way of clothes. I don't wear sweaters or sweatshirts. I work at home so I really don't get dressed up much! I think at this point my mother is the only person with an uncanny enough sense of my taste and size to buy clothes for me (corwin is a close second in certain things). She and corwin are the only ones who can really pick out jewelry for me, too. I pretty much never wear jewelry as it is, so leave that category to the two experts. I do always need hairsticks, and doohickeys for long hair of that ilk.

• Food:I'm still cutting carbs, so hold it on buying me cake, cookies, bread, fruitcake, or fruit. Still eating chocolate, though. And nuts.

That's pretty much all I can think of. Oh, and earmuffs. Preferably black, earmuffs.