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Holiday Guide: Diane's Wish List

Holiday Guide: Diane's Wish List

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Tees for Tots -- and the Rest of Your List
I am in love with TrulySanctuary's "Not the Black Sheep" and "Don't Hate" tees in sizes for everyone from babies to grandmas. TrulySanctuary was created when the owners decided their daughter Truly-Louise deserved something more than pastel puppies and kitties. Which means I want to give my nieces -- the hippest kids in my life -- each a tee. ($26, TrulySanctuary.etsy.com) And for adults, I want to give every Occupier on my list one of Frank and Jan's awesomely good new tees, "Unemployment Is the New Black" or "Gossip Is the New Pornography" ($24, FrankAndJan.com). And each year I buy myself something from the cool DykeTees; this year I gobbled up the "Queer. Here. Get Used to It" tee ($25, DykeTees.com)

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Paul Frank Stripe Hard ABS Pilot Case
I love this bright little rolling suitcase that's small enough to carry everywhere, because it's well, cheery enough to make me think of sherbet and hipster girls even when I'm crowded into the back of a puddle-jumper flight. ($80, PaulFrank.com)

Lighting Up
Market Street Candles make sumptuous candles poured into tiny teacups, rice bowls, sake glasses, and even anime-arted bowls, but I love the Zen Collection (with their tiny lids) the most. ($34, MarketStreetCandles.com)

Xbox 360 and Kinect
I live with my Xbox like it's a fifth member of the family, so when the Kinect -- the game that captures your body's motions -- came out, I couldn't have been happier. My whole extended family gets down with Dance Central 2, the new dance game sequel that expands the Dance Central universe with new simultaneous multiplayer and all-new routines set to an unstoppable soundtrack featuring Lady Gaga, Rihanna, La Roux, Nicki Minaj, and more. If that's too femmey for you, then the Kinect Sports: Season Two is great too; it has six new sports (tennis, darts, skiing, golf, baseball, and football). You can get an Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect in a bundle if you don't already have the console. ($297, Amazon.com)

The Holy Grail of Lesbianism: The L Word Complete Series DVD Collection
All six seasons of The L Word are now available together for the first time, and whether you loved the show or hated it, this is admittedly the must-have of the holidays! This fan fave collectible includes the entire exhilarating and frustrating series as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes special features. There's a never-before-seen cast reunion (watch it repeatedly just to see Ilene Chaiken admit a failure), inside the wardrobe closet, L Word short videos, rare photos from Jennifer Beals, the Sundance diaries of Leisha Hailey, and much more. ($127, Target.com)

Sugar Skull Dia de los Muertos Headband
This super LGBT-friendly British designer Janine Basil makes headbands, fascinators, tattoo-embellished, and action girl headbands (with words like Kapow!), headpieces inspired by Lichtenstein art, and tiny burlesque-style hats, all of which I can not get enough of. She's even rolling out some specifically for Pride this year! ($28, JanineBasil.etsy.com)

Star Wars Lego Minifig Alarm Clock
Everything from Think Geek is awesome, but this Darth Vader with a big digital clock built into his stomach has poseable arms and lots of fangirl spunk. Who cares if it's made for kids? ($29, ThinkGeek.com)

Twig Terrariums
Michelle and Katy, the girls behind Twig Terrariums, are brilliant little indoor-worlds visionaries. They offer up tiny terrariums that are wholesome (think pastoral gardens) or edgy (think zombies in those gardens) and the usual Zen meets Irish grasses. While we love their Le Petit Vie Kit (a tiny easy-to-build terrarium), they'll also create something special for their LGBT customers ("Dare we say that we specialize in gay-ariums?" asks Michelle. "Um, we do!) like this lovely lesbian terrarium. ($25 and up, TwigTerrariums.com)

Sunbeam Multi Plate Dessert Makers
I discovered this at my BFF's bridal shower: a little machine that lets you make your own homemade sweets as easily as you would a waffle! I'm in! Interchangeable plates allow you to make brownie bites, doughnuts, cakes, and even whoopie pies in just six minutes. There's nothing not to love about this thing. ($35, Amazon.com)

The Big Lesbian Love Collector's Set
Four films -- The Four-Faced Liar, Itty Bitty Titty Committee, My Normal, And Then Came Lola -- on one disc makes for an easy housewarming gift for new dykey neighbors. ($30, wolfevideo.com)

Butch and Harold's Sticky Decor
Stickr Pockets are the latest from the brains behind Stickr Frames and Stickr Art, all of which are beloved by lazy apartment dwellers like me. With Stickr Pockets, you can display tons of things on your walls (think concert tickets, letters, pictures) without hooks or hammers. And when you move, peel 'em off and take 'em with you. ($15, ButchAndHarold.com)

Primavera for Your Face
I know, the name confuses me too, but the holistic and all-natural aromatherapy and skin care products from Germany's Primavera, which I discovered at Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa in Corona, Calif., are wonderful. My money's on the essential oil air sprays, the Sleep Therapy Lavender bath oil, and Energizing Ginger Lime lotion. (Prices vary, PrimaveraLife.com)

The Ultimate Geek Boy Gift: Smallville: The Complete Series
This 62-disc set has all 218 episodes plus five hours of never-before-seen special features that include an unaired Adventures of Superboy pilot from 1961, a retrospective look at the series with over 100 minutes of season featurettes, a decade of Comic-Con featurette, and very cool packaging to make it a winner with fans. My favorite part: a Daily Planet newspaper, written by DC Comics, that highlights the important storylines developed during the 10-year run of the show, and an episode guide with heretofore unseen production art (storyboards/sketches) and behind-the-scenes photos. I'd buy it just to see Pam Grier and Helen Slater guest star. ($210, WBShop.com)

Ingenious Inventions = Pivot Power
Quirky, the offbeat social product development company that has re-engineered the business of innovation, fast-tracking the development cycle to new extremes and making invention accessible to everyone from housewives to, well, forlorn journalists, has great gifts that were essentially developed by online collaborators. This year I picked up Pivot Power, a crazy-long and funky power strip that pivots so you can fit tons of those weirdly sized adapters we all have now. $26, Quirky.com)

Funky Self-Indulgence
I'm old but cool, and this great Skateboard Mirror from Suck UK would make my apartment look like the hipster hangout I dream of in my head. ($199, Amazon.com)

Home Swag from Apt2B
This gay-owned company curates the coolest home swag you can imagine, so everything in the store looks like it deserves to be a on a Bravo set (not Patti Stanger's, though). Owner Mat Herman has impeccable (but affordable) taste, and I can't wait to get the coolest thing on the site: the Black and Blum Do It on Your Balcony Hot Pot Barbecue. It is your barbecue and herb-garden in one and looks like a terracotta pot but conceals a barbecue grill underneath. You can literally grow your herbs on the top to season the food you cook on the grill. Tiny, cute, sustainable. Love it! ($124, Apt2b.com)

The World's Healthiest Deep Fryer
I don't mind being a cute fatty but I still don't want to suck down gallons of oil in order to enjoy French fries. Now I don't have to. with Hammacher Schlemmer's amazing Healthiest Deep Fryer, which through some modern miracle of technology can make two pounds of crisp, succulent fried food using only one tablespoon of oil. Some how an internal convection oven heats to 338o F and evenly circulates hot air and food slowly revolves around the nonstick basin while an integrated paddle automatically turns and mixes ingredients with the oil and other seasonings to ensure even cooking. Strange, wonderful, and goodbye, Fry Daddy! ($300, Hammacher.com)

The Only Indoor Smoker
This one is perfect for that dad, brother, or basically any nonvegan butch who loves to barbecue but gets sidelined by six months of winter. This indoor pressure smoker combines a pressure cooker and smoker in one appliance, cooking food up to 70% faster while wood chips release their wonderful outdoorsy flavor-enhancing smoke -- all in your kitchen! It cooks barbecue brisket in only one hour -- a full five times faster than traditional methods. You could probably do other things with it, but who'd want to, with that brisket option? ($250, Hammacher.com)

Oster MyBlend Blender
This cute but powerful little blender lets you make a smoothie in a sports bottle that you can take with you and then reuse for a water bottle all day long. BPA-free and perfect for heading to the gym. ($30, Oster.com/myblend)


Futuristic Reads
It's no secret that I love magazines, but finding a rack that looks contemporary instead of like one you'd find in Archie Bunker's bathroom is no easy feat. But this amazing Illuzine Magazine Rack makes pubs look like they're floating on air. ($30, ThinkGeek.com)
deliciousdiane
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Diane Anderson-Minshall

Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.
Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.