A Tale of Three Gifts

Gift One

In February of this year a close friend of mine wanted to surprise his girlfriend with something very special for Valentine's day, so early one morning we drove down to the Tiffany's in Phipps plaza, Atlanta GA. On our way, we stopped at the bank for him to withdrawl some money.

"If I pay by card I'll end up spending more than I should."

The place was packed-- tons of people lined the display cases and the employees bustled about everywhere. The security guard eyed us suspiciously and let us pass without saying a word. Behind us I heard him greet the next customers, I suppose we probably looked irreputable as neither of us had shaved and were wearing polos and jeans.

We idled around the store for a while, minds boggled at the sheer quantity of diamonds, until we were approached by Mr. Sean Duffy. He was very polite and helpful, and gave us some water to drink while we looked. Not long thereafter, with some minor assistance from his wing-man, my friend had whittled all the potential gifts down to just one necklace that was the diamond embodiment of his gal.

As he took the neat stack of bills from my friend, Mr. Duffy thanked him and asked, "Can I get you gentleman anything else? A coke, some water-- maybe some doughnuts?"
I replied with a laugh. "Well, he's supposed to be buying me breakfast for waking me up so early, but some doughnuts sound good." He laughed and retreated to the back. When he reemerged, he had two paper plates of three glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
"I warmed them up for you. Feel free to look around while I wrap this up."

It was only then, standing over the engagement rings and holding a plate full of warmed doughnuts, that it became clear to me what exactly I'd agreed to. We wandered a bit and tried to stifle our giggles while the other customers glared at us and our doughnuts. Surrounded by millions of dollars in diamonds and jewelry, we ate Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Pics or it didn't happen

Gift Two

In late February of 2005 I attended a movie night at a friend's appartment. After the sucessful Valentine's Day Anti-Party screening of "Fivel Goes West" we'd been organizing parties more often than spontaneously throwing them. I took my usual seat on the couch and noticed dozens of gold plastic rings littered over the coffee table.
"What's the movie for tonight?"
There were two girls in the room at the time, one with whom I'd gone on two or three dates before she let me down easy and we parted amicably. The other was her friend whom I was tutoring in Chemistry (in TL fashion, I'll call her Felicity). She was busy looking through her Audrey Hepburn purse, and didn't glance up when she responded: "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

Tiffany's? For Breakfast? Sold.

I smiled and picked up a plastic ring in understanding, "Awesome, I love that movie," before getting back up and going to the kitchen for a glass of ice. I heard from the living room Felicity say to her friend, "He likes Breakfast at Tiffany's? I am *not* falling in love with him."

I considered that she was expressing solidarity with her friend over her turning me down, but something in her voice told me that it was something else. I played it cool, and over the next few months Felicity and I began spending more time together, eventually dating, and ultimately becoming An Item.

In June this year I travelled back to the Tiffany's, where the security guard greeted me and my companion with a smile and a friendly welcome. I knew what I was after, but I turned down several employees' offers for help.
"I'm waiting for Sean Duffy."
He approached me with a smile and helped me find the perfect engagement ring for Felicity.

Is it just me? Or.... ?

In July she and I travelled to visit my family at my great-grandfather's old cottage, ever since I was a child it has always been my home. On the sand-dunes of Silver Lake she accepted my ring, and agreed to spend the rest her life with me.

Later that week I played in the GeForce ProAm... ahh, memories

Gift Three

Before our engagement, Felicity had taken an interest in Magic: The Gathering. I've played Magic since I was a kid (roughly '94), and while I'm not always active in the scene, she understood how much the game meant to me.
"If you could have any card you wanted, what would it be?"
I responded right away, "A Black Lotus. Well, maybe an Ancestral Recall. Probably the lotus." I suspected she was up to something, but I let it pass. A few months later she asked me, "So, what sort of lotus would you want?... for your birthday."

The jig was up! But it was better that way, she'd been looking at a Beta lotus, but had no idea if it was the right edition to buy (short answer: not unless you feel like spending too much money, they all sac for 3 mana).

On my birthday that year I recieved my Black Lotus, and I have never been so elated at a present-- even knowing beforehand I was getting it. I'd never seen one in person before, and I couldn't believe that it was in the room, much less mine. "You know what you have to do," she prompted while I sat in amazement, "if you don't, I will."

My heart stopped. She was referring to the bend-test. An authentic Magic card can be bent gently until the top and the bottom of the card touch without creasing in the middle. I knew she wasn't bluffing, and I knew I had more experience. I mustered all my courage, pushed my inner child out of the way as he screamed "Please no! Please, it's too beautiful!" and watched as the edges grew closer.
It passed.

I always said as a kid that if I had a Black Lotus I would bridge-shuffle it into any deck I felt like.
The shit kids say, amiright?

This story continues beyond the gift, but only a little more. The past weekend I ventured to Dragon*Con with my fiancee Felicity, where I got to listen to Richard Garfield discuss the evolution of Magic. After his panel and a fitting standing ovation, I followed the crowd downstairs to where he would be signing cards. I was so nervous my hands were shaking.
+ Show Spoiler +

An aside-- last year I met Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy at Dragon*Con and geeked out pretty hard.

"You guys just do really good work, I've been a big fan of MST3k and you guys just do such amazing work, it's all been really good. Especially MST3k the movie I thought was just really good work..."

etc, etc, typical rambling fanboy nonsense.

Sorry I geeked out guys, but the work you do is really awesome

Felicity hasn't let me live it down, and I doubt she ever will

While I had my Black Lotus in my pocket, I wasn't sure I wanted it signed. This one was more than a Black Lotus, this is My Black Lotus-- my childhood wish granted by the woman who Gets Me enough to understand how this card was the Impossible Dream for the young little nerd I used to be, almost as impossible as the dream of falling in love with a lady who wouldn't roll her eyes at Magic and love me for who I am, goddamnit; this wasn't an ordinary Lotus, this slip of cardboard was a symbol of how deeply she understands me and a testament of her devotion to me-- and he's going to write on it. With a pen.

Realizing I might not get another chance (and that Felicity would tease me mercilessly for chickening out) I stayed in line, promising myself that I wouldn't geek out and that if there was anyone in the world who was allowed to write on My Black Lotus, it was the creator of all Black Lotus (and probably Christopher Rush too).

"Hi."
"I just have one card for you to sign, if you don't mind. And I just wanted to say that aside from Magic, my friends and I played Booster 9s in college."
Dr. Garfield looked up at me with genuine suprise, "Really?"
"Yes, sir, it was a lot of fun."

He signed my card, I thanked him, and I walked away from the table with my tattooed lotus and head buzzing. The guy who was behind me in line came up to me a moment later, "So man, you gonna sell that now?"
"Not a chance in hell"

+ Show Spoiler +

In response to you casting Autograph, I'm going to respond with OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. Here's a small bonus from Dragon*Con
+ Show Spoiler +

Me in my handmade guild tabard.
I don't play WoW any more, but I'll be reppin' the Jack Rolling Dandies for life.
Moments after this picture was taken, this NPC gave me a quest, which I did not complete.

Extra bonus without an extra spoiler, Leelu Dallas was there:

Yes, she had a multipass

And a tip, if you're ever at the Tiffany's in Atlanta, ask for Sean Duffy. He doesn't always have doughnuts, but when he does he shares.
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Edits:+ Show Spoiler +

1)left out part of a sentence and fixed a punctuation error, 2) spelling

A Tale of Three Gifts

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