Joe Warner: An ode to socks
On Christmas Day, 2013, a 13-year-old Joe got socks. Many would argue that that’s not really anything to write home about; pretty much everyone has gotten socks for Christmas at some point or another. Make no mistake though, many a child’s Christmas has been ruined by these insidious items of disappointment disguised as comfortable and convenient footwear. Maybe Aunt Sherry saw them by the checkout in H&M and thought of you (and how much you’d hate them), or perhaps they were tailor-made to fit your feet by ‘The Rather Large Man In Red’ himself. Either way, the seemingly good intentions of both of these characters are most certainly just a front – and behind their kind and jolly exteriors lies a dark, primal longing; to ruin your Christmas, at all costs. Socks, and those who give them as gifts, are evil. At least, that’s what kids seem to think.
I, for one, quite like socks. They definitely serve a practical purpose – they go on your feet and keep your toes warm, usually by loosely hugging them, which is actually pretty adorable if you think about it. They also make shoes more comfortable to wear, and protect your feet from those nasty blisters. Socks might not be inherently interesting, but they mean no ill will. Even if your feet are particularly smelly (you detty pig) they’ll bravely soldier on, without so much as a whisper of disapproval to the other socks in your drawer. Socks don’t gossip. For all those reasons and more, I’d say socks are pretty cool.
I’d argue that socks are an acquired taste that you develop as you get older, much like how middle aged people seem to appreciate a block of blue cheese or a sparkling glass of red wine. See, I distinctly remember the feelings of quiet disappointment whenever I received socks as a little kid, so you’d best believe I was beyond surprised when on Christmas Day 2013, I was suddenly hit with the realisation that I’d gotten the coolest pair of socks in existence. What’s more, they even had Pacman on them! Lo and behold, I found myself appreciating my first pair of socks – a true rite of passage, and yet another sign that I was slowly morphing into an adult human. Maybe on my 13th birthday, some kind of subconscious ‘sock appreciation’ switch was flipped; did this make me an ‘old soul’? Or am I now some kind of strange sock connoisseur? I have no idea. What I definitely know now though is that this year, a pair of warm, cosy socks sounds like the perfect thing to go at the top of my Christmas list.
Yaroslav Matveev: The gift that made my childhood
My relationship with this present was quite difficult at first. I was growing up when GameBoys were incredibly popular and almost every classmate of mine had one. Obviously, I was jealous and wanted to have one, so I asked Father Frost to bring it for me as a New Year gift. When I woke up in the morning on the 1st January, I rushed to check what was under the tree, expecting to find this small magical machine of fun.
Unfortunately, it was not there, although there was something different… a PSP! A RED PSP to be precise! One of the most advanced devices of that time; with a big screen and lots of games but still, the dream did not come true. Together with the console I got four games: Scooby Doo! Who’s Watching Who?, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Spider Man 3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0. It took me a while to adapt to this device but after all, it is the main reason why I am now in love with gaming! I discovered GTA, FIFA, and Crash Bandicoot with the help of PSP and what’s more, I learnt some basic economics by swapping the discs with my mates, and even trained my memory by remembering cheat codes!
The most important thing about my PSP though was that it was making me happy every day – there was nothing better than coming back home from school and diving into games. I could disappear for hours and simply explore how beautiful and advanced everything looked. Even though I didn’t like it at first, I can surely say that getting a PSP was one of the best things that happened to me in my childhood!
Image: Vicarious Visions