gift ideas  (excerpted from Present Perfect)  

Give a collection of jokes or anecdotes, or an anthology of columns written by the recipient's favorite humor writer.

Find (or have made) a witty bumper sticker, button, badge, or poster expressing the recipient's views or personality, such as "Who cares who's on board?" or "My wife says if I go fishing one more time, she'll leave me. Gosh, I'm gonna miss her."

Give a videotape or compact-disc recording of the recipient's favorite comedian.

Give a token representing a funny moment shared with the recipient.

To the kid in him, give a kite, a water gun, a giant bubble blower, a Hoola Hoop, a pogo stick, roller skates, or a skateboard.

Brookstone's large talking photo frame is a fun and clever way to keep a humorous anecdote alive. Simply record a voice message (up to 20 seconds) and insert a relevant photo in the frame. Phone: 800/351-7222. Internet: www.brookstoneonline.com.

The Lighter Side Co. catalog is a great resource for humorous and whimsical gifts for every occasion. Choose from Lucy address books and mouse pads with hilarious photos from Lucy's classic sitcom; plaques with humorous sayings; Betty Boop, Scooby-Doo, and Tweety paraphernalia; clever mugs, clocks, cookie jars, T-shirts, watches, and much more. Phone: 800/232-0963. Internet: www.lighter-side.com.

To ensure yours is the first voice he hears in the morning, give a personal messaging alarm clock prerecorded with your clever wake-up greeting.

If you have any perfectly awful gift ideas, let us know.

Present Perfect: Unforgettable Gifts for Every Occasion is filled with ideas for humorous and whimsical gifts and many other creative gifts. In addition, you get tips on gifting etiquette, shopping, wrapping, special presentations, and much, much more. To order the book, click here.

NEW!  To start shopping for gifts right now, click here.

Have any humorous and whimsical gift ideas you'd like to share?