Urban Scout Online Gift Guide, Part 1

If I'm being wholly honest, I am in a sort of pickle when it comes to these here Gift Guides. My intent, always, is to promote local, small stores, even on non-sanctioned days. But I also love the online search, the ability to find amazing gifts that can't be found around the corner or up the street because they simply aren't available in San Diego. Is my online shopping habit traitorous to my small-store friends? Didn't Amazon kill my beloved small bookstores? Didn't video kill the radio star?

But the stuff online is so good...

So with a heavy heart, I bring you the Scout Online Gift Guide, Pt. 1. I plan on showcasing a bunch of great stuff over the coming weeks (till Dec. 20, when most online stores are done because getting you the goods by the 25th becomes nearly impossible). I'll do that on this here blog. And I'll save the amazing local-store finds for the Gift Guide appearing in the Dec. 7 issue of CityBeat and my printed column on the 14th. Conscience vaguely clear.

Now back to Cyber Monday. I don't understand the Amazon rush that appears akin to the WalMart crowds in fervor and fury, but I do like how some of the small stores are adopting to the trend. One of the best gift stops on the interweb is a place appropriately titled Pop Chart Lab because what they mostly do, and do well, is make graphically pleasing charts of pop-culture topics. You may have seen their very popular The Very, Very Many Styles of Beer chart or their Grand Taxonomy of Rap Names, both excellent choices. But I will be reaching for The Insanely Great History of Apple print, as well as my personal favorite, Migratory Patterns of Fresh Princes. You can probably imagine that one—the arrow showing the flight pattern from Philly to Bel Air. There really may be something for everyone here, under the age of 44, that is. I may just pick up The Delectable Kaleidoscope of Candy Bars for my kid. All are priced between $14 and $30 and today many are discounted. But all their T-shirts, many with the same designs, are just 10 bucks today, in honor of the cyber thing.

And since we're talking about print posters, I had to include one more link. Holstee is a company that started with a manifesto that made its way around the web. I think I saw it on Facebook first. It's a brilliant manifesto that they appear to put into practice daily (they went dark on Black Friday). They make wallets and T-shirts out of forgotten materials and have curated a small collection of purposeful objects that also tell a story. But my favorite thing about them is still that manifesto and they letterpress it on recycled paper and sell it for $25. And I think it's a mighty fine reminder of why we are all buying gifts in the first place. (Hint: it has nothing to do with religion or money and all boils down to friendship and passion.)