rivka

Bill (

wcg) came over last night with my birthday presents. From Skye, a pair of terrifying battery-powered doohickeys. Picture an erratically-wobbling ball with a sort of fuzzy, eyed, raccoon-striped tube attached. It's supposed to be a squirrel, but rather more resembles a squirrel tail with eyes. When you start the little motor going, the ball wobbles around whipping the squirrelly thing about by the nose.

I don't know why anyone would design, make, or sell this thing. That said, I understand exactly why a person would buy it and give it to innocent bystanders. "There, you experienced it too! I'm not crazy!" It's just like the Willy Wonka Xploder bar all over again.

My other present, from Bill, was a cookie press. I'd mentioned wanting one at some point - my favorite Christmas cookies are made in a press - and Bill tends to remember things like that. This, however, is not the cheap aluminum cookie press of my childhood - it's a by-god engineering marvel. It's got a ratcheting pump that delivers precisely the amount of dough per cookie. It's got an ergonomic handle. It's got a removable dough compartment for easy washing. It all screws together like a telescope, including an extra little piece that goes on the bottom to store the template discs. I'm almost frightened of it. It's wonderful.

I'm making cookies this weekend. And they're going to be the most high-tech cookies you've ever seen.