Hrecommended: The 2008 H-list*

I've skipped making this list for a few years because there wasn't much new to suggest, but here are a few ideas:

• Magazine subscriptions from Utne Reader, Paste, I.D., Photography Monthly, or Wanderlust
• Sketchbooks and Journals -- sometimes a gluestick, scissors and a fistful of pencils works better than ColdFusion
• Journal to the Self or Keeping a Nature Journal -- what to do with those blank pages
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• Great Arrow Greeting Cards -- silkscreened and stunning
• For kids, Automoblox or a BugZooka
• High quality first aid kits -- I like the Adventure Medical Traveler for flights/hikes and the larger Adventurer for car/home. In addition to the usual painkillers and bandages, both of these have wound care options not present in most kits. I also suggest QuikClot as an addition.
• Slacker G2 -- portable "radio"
• Netbooks -- OLPC, Asus, etc.
• Crappy Cameras from Holga or Lomography
  
  * after Oprah's O-list