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What to Get My Geek for Valentine's Day?
A reader writes "Help!!! I've been dating my geek for three months and I'm in a bit of a dilemma. So I thought I'd ask the men of Slashdot what they would want as a Valentine's Day gift. I'm looking for something out of the ordinary that will knock his socks off. Somthing clever, crafty and unique. The budget is $100. My geek's interests are typical geek fare, games, computers, music and gadgetry. So! You, men of Slashdot, tell me what you would want to recieve for Valentine's day and help me make my geek happy."
It's not enough that he has a girlfriend, she has the brains to get him a geek toy too. Like i said - lucky bastard
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition....
If he's anything like most of us geeks, we'll buy the geek toys ourselves to make sure we get exactly what we want.
So, my suggestion is, get him something non-geeky that he'd like or has commented on that shows you realize he is much more than just Geek.
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This story is kinda fishy.
"A Reader" writes... A reader of Slashdot that doesn't know what a geek wants as a gift, Okkaaay.
This whole thing seems like a big shill story to get people to post links to ThinkGeek, which is of course owned by the same company as Slashdot.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I've often wondered why there are no girls on slashdot. Now I know.
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
Being a lonely geek myself, I would say that I would be happy just getting to spend my day with a girl I love. The only thing that I would ever want would be her company for that day. There is no material object on the planet that would make me as happy as just getting to spend time someone I love. Just to hold her in my arms, and enjoy her company. Maybe sitting out in a park bench in the middle of the night looking out over a lake at the cityscape.
You need to be original, so what you should do is not buy him just anything but you should give him a memory. Things can break, but a memory is alwayys there so plan a roantic dinner with candles, inscence, rent his favorite movie, and prepare a home cooked meal (if you can't cook buy something and make it look as if you prepared it). You don't want to out do him because then he will hate himself, and after dinner go for a walk and then finally go back to your place put on the movie, cuddle up next to him and just enjoy. Thats the best present you can give him, because a memory like that is priceless. Hope I helped and good luck
MonkeysKickAss
Call me old fashioned, but even though I am a geek, I don't really want or expect geeky gifts for valentine's day. That's what Christmas and birthdays are for. Is it just me or are gifts for this occasion suposed to be romantic in nature and not practical? That said, $100 would probably cover the tab for a nice romantic dinner out at a nice restraunt. Or, if he's geeky enough to still live in his parents' basement, you could always rent a hotel room...
These all last much longer, and go much deeper, than any consumable, in my opinion.
Regards,
John
Falling You - beautiful
Well, so far everybody has suggested some kind of sexual favour... but either it's happened already or you have reasons why not. Oh well. Here are ideas you can actually tell him about in front of your parents:
Divide et impera!
Hey, some of us are geeks and proud of it. I have no problem with someone calling me a geek when it isn't done in an insulting manner. Even then I often take it as a compliment.
This is a good thread. My gf has a hard time shopping for me sometimes. I maintain a list of DVDs I want, and she often snags something off that list. A lot of geeks maintain a wish list somewhere. Other times, it is just something I've mentioned I've wanted.
Although, one time I had been mentioning wanting an umbrella for a while, but hadn't gotten my butt to go shopping for one. So she hands me this blue-purple umbrella. For some reason, women seem to think purple works for guys. I had to be careful not to offend her, but I ended up going to the store and returning it for a nicer black one.
I do have some male friends that like purple, but most of them are gay. The general advice about shopping for men, still applies to most geeks.
The difference for geeks is they like cool toys and often care a lot about quality. If you get something that normally comes in a cheap plastic, but they make a nice shiny metal one. Most people might not care, but a lot of geeks will like the nice shiny metal one. I wish I had an example, but I hope I got the idea accross.
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Speaking as a geek in a long term relationship (defininition: over a year, no rings yet though), Valentine's Day is one of the most difficult holidays to deal with. I had intense social anxiety in high school, but even now, years and years later, there are still some things that trigger it for me. Number one is my fear of getting lost--if I have to go to a new place (say, a restaurant) and worse, I have to get there by a certain time (say, a reservation), I'll worry about it for days unless I take a drive during my free time before the event to memorize all the markers and distances. Number two is crowded places with no places to walk around (I usually solve this one with frequent trips to the bathroom or bar.) At Valentine's Day, though, every restaurant is going to be absolutely packed, and there will be no space at the bar.
I'm not saying your geek has any of these problems, but chances are, he's still feeling the stress of his first V-day in a relatively new relationship. The absolute perfect gift for me would be for my girlfriend to show up at my place on February 13th, tell me she had cancelled my reservations, and drive me to dinner. (Regardless of who pays.) It would show that she understands my problems. (And she does--she's been a huge help getting this far, and it was her suggestion that we take Friday off and spend the weekend with my recently divorced mother.)
As for presents though, every guy honestly really just wants the same thing--a great night in bed with no distractions. Pay any roommates to be conviently not there if necessary. If you want to get him something physical though (ah-ha), consider a framed picture of the two of you for his desk at work. Guys like pictures. Honestly. We're just too lazy to get a nice print, frame, etc etc.
This works nicely because guys NEVER ask other guys what they got for Valentine's Day. The only people who ask are women, and women will appreciate you for the thoughtful gesture and will respect him for having such a wonderful girlfriend.
First, most of the geeky ideas are right out. Yes a USB keychain flash drive, or mp3 player or something would be very cool. The problem is when it comes to computer devices or things like that, I'd probably so much rather pick it out unless you really knew what you were doing and did a great job of feeling me out on exactly what i wanted. If you did that, then it'd no longer be a suprise and probably wouldn't work well.
Secondly, the ideas about sex and whatever are all great. However, these sound like ideas from people currently not getting sex. If you're sleeping with your boyfriend already, then sleeping with him some more on valentine's day is probably something that will happen anyway and isn't a great gift. If you wanted to turn sex into a gift, then I think you'd better be doing something that's more fantasy based or something unusual (a trip to VS or a night at the sybaris (or one of those sex hotels if they don't have the sybaris by you).
As for just spending the day together, while that is beautiful and I really want to spend the day with my wife on valentine's day, it's something that's going to be done anyway, and you'd probably feel pretty silly saying my gift to you is spending time with you. (I can't think of many things that would sound more conceited). Since basically, he could reply the same way.
So with those things in mind, here's a few ideas:
1) Take an interest in something he loves that you normally have no interest in. It depends on what kind of things you normally do together, but if you hate action movies renting one of his favorites, or watching star wars even if you hate it, or playing some multi-player games you don't like are all great ideas.
2) Get tickets to an event. This is even better when combined with item #1. If you hate sports and he loves them, he'll really appreciate tickets to a basketball, baseball, or hockey game. Tickets to a comedy show, or some other show (as long as it's something he'd like, and not something you'd like, but he'd hate) would also be great.
3) Agree not to make valentine's day a big deal. He's probably stressing out about what to get you for valentine's day, because he wants to do something special for you, but it's hard to feel special buying the same stuff everyone else is (you are obviously feeling somewhat of the same challenge). That being the case, agree to not buy each other gifts, but instead mutually plan an evening together. Go out to see a show, get some nice dinner, maybe plan some bedroom sports for afterwards that are a little spicier than normal (if you are doing that kind of thing that is).
Anyway, just some thoughts!
Actually, they cost a lot LESS if you get them in a foreign country.
I've noticed many different answers ranging from sex to thinkgeek to romantic dinners, and that is because each "geek" is different. If you go to slashdot and ask a question like this, you'll get diverse answers from the diverse user base. The truth of the matter is that you know him better than anyone, you have all of the customized knowledge of your "geek" who is really just a normal person like everyone else. There is no greater expert than you except maybe for his family members.
But keep in mind Valentines day is not like a Birthday or even Christmas, it isn't about getting or giving gifts. As I stated above it is about love and celebrating it. Really the day is not about him or you, it's about the two of you. Getting him a gadget or something may be okay for Christmas or his Birthday because A) it is HIS Birthday so the day is about him and B) Christmas is about exchanging gifts....but Valentines day is about the two of you.
Some of the standard type ideas to get you in the right frame of mind:
Some ideas are lame, some are good, but all of them involve not just him and not just you, but the two of you.
Well you get the idea, I don't want to give away any specifics lest certain other people read this and are not surprised.....But don't underestimate the gift of your company. It goes without saying that you should try to spend all the time with him on Valentines day that you can. If you could take the day off from work and so could he (or school or whatever) and spend it together, that in itself would be a great gift.
Really? Maybe some places. My wife and I waited until we were married, and most of our friends did, too. So we went to a private school, whatever. Even at the university where I did my grad work, there were a lot of people waiting for engagement or marriage. I think it tends to get exaggerated that people don't wait for marriage anymore. A lot of people do, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Suppression, as opposed to repression, is not a bad thing... it just means you think something is special or important enough to reserve it, despite the fact that it may mean delaying gratification. Repression gets people into trouble because it's hard to break the guilt and shame association that they've convinced themselves of, and it ends up screwing up their married sex lives.
Also, I have to say that it's pretty shallow to break off a relationship because your partner wants to wait to have sex. It's only one part of a multi-faceted interaction, and you'll do just fine without for a while.
To reign is to serve.
Who the fsck are you to determine whether someone is a loser? I'm a self-professed geek, and in this day, that's like saying I'm a renaissance man. Being a geek is a philosophy which extends beyond computers, into all things logical and illogical. I see my problem solving (ie - programming) skills as being a form of art. I feel complete and satisfied when I have `finished` a program/module that I know is exactly the way I want it.
Aside from programming (and computers in general), I enjoy other forms of art including photography and sketching. I've been married for 15 years, and I'm a father. I enjoy riding my Triumph Trophy 1200 motorcycle, and training my dog to do agility. But even when I'm doing all of those things, my mind is still racing with hundreds of ideas for the project d'jeur.
I don't know what your definition of `geek` is, but most of the people I know, who call themselves one, use my definition. Not the one in Websters, and they don't feel like it's a limitation either.
One more important point, I would like to direct your attention to, is that you are enjoying the benefits of the geeks. Many of us designed the computers, along with many other things, and wrote the code to contol them. Obviously you don't scoff at the use of these items, and we've made our money doing it.
So again I ask, who are you to determine that being a geek qualifies us as losers. I see you as the loozer, since you don't have the sack or brains to do it yourself.
It's pretty simple... V-Day is on a Saturday, which means no work (hopefully), so it's perfect.
Arrange ahead of time to take the first half of the day for V-Day, and let him have the second half. Take him to the nearest arcade, with $40-50 worth of quarters, or go-kart racing, follow it up with lunch at something cheap but not fast food (maybe Bennigan's or Chili's), then to a movie he wants to see (maybe The Butterfly Effect, or Cold Mountain, but you know better), and have popcorn and icees/slushies or that 128oz. monster size soda.
Next, let him take over, hopefully he'll have something planned for you (remember you arranged ahead of time, so that's a good reminder for him).
When you get back, he'll have had an incredible day, hopefully you'll have had an incredible night, finish it off by taking him home (your place or his), for some intimate time. Do something with him that you've never done before, whether that be letting him get to second base, or your first time having sex in the shower (or the kitchen table, washing machine, etc. ;) )
As for me? My gf and I are currently seperated by that little pond we call the Atlantic Ocean, so I'm having flowers delivered to her, as well as a DVD player (she doesn't have one yet), and the complete Family Guy collection (I know my girl). I'm going to pick up some candles, break out the webcam, and we're going to have a candlelit dinner some 2000 miles apart...