Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

General question: what sorts of meaningful, special gifts do men like? Ties seem a bit boring unless the recipient loves ties. There's not really a jewelry equivalent. Flowers are feminine. If I don't have a perfect gift (a tee-shirt with a witty statement that they would love, tickets to the movie they desperately want to see, etc), what are some other options I can look at? I'm not a great gift giver in general, and men are even harder. I can give other girls flowers or chocolate or a cutesy bath thing. But I don't know what to give my guy friends, the casual friends or the close ones.

Specific question: my ex is also my best friend. His birthday is in just over a week. I bought him a dragon statue, but I'm afraid it won't arrive in time. What do I get him? Not boyfriend, but he was. Best friend, but not a girl. It's a weird level of how nice is too nice and seems to imply more than is really going on versus the fact that I really do want to give him something he'll love.

I calmed down once I ordered the dragon, but then I looked at the shipping date and freaked out.

He's not into sports. He likes fashion, but is still developing his style, so I don't know what exactly he'd want next. His favorite color is blue. He loves dragons (hence the awesome statue). He loves ties, but only high-quality ties. And he already has a ton.

Any ideas would be welcome. Even if I don't use them now, I'll keep them for Christmas. And it will calm me down.

Get him dragon ties! http://maelioutfitters.com/ (A missionary from my mission and good friend started this up. They're pretty cool.)

Alternatively, bake him cookies or something. Because I know I would love it if someone baked me cookies.

Thoughtful gifts are best, but hard to do. One of my daughters knew I was interested in playing on the Wii, and that I was found of Doctor Who. She gave me a Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver Wii Remote.
Really cool. Actually the charger on it doesn't work, but it is a cool gift.

I have a ton of ties, every one of which has been a gift. I still like them.

I like swords, and one of my daughters has given me a Middle Eastern knife/sword, a sword plant, and an umbrella that looks like a Samarai Sword. In different years. Very nice.

I like chess, and chess sets from around the world given to me as gifts (for the most part) now adorn my office.

One year I opened a Christmas present to find inside a piece of Christmas wrapping. My young son thought the wrapping was so pretty he would wrap it for me as a gift. Once I understood I thought it was wonderful.

I like books, DVDs, garden tools, and stuff I think looks nice and is useful. Another daughter gave me a little foldup bench to sit on while gardening. I use that thing all the time.

I've gotten the gentlemen in my life ties, yes, but also spiffy socks, leatherbound journals, photo posters when I'm feeling mushy, awesome books like Raymond Chandler's The Simple Art of Murder, flowers if I feel the need to apologize, and vacations if I'm feeling extravagant.

I think a journal or book is the perfect gift for the we're-friends-but-really-let's-not-date men in your life.

vorpal blade wrote:...and an umbrella that looks like a Samarai Sword.

I almost got a Samurai sword disguised as an umbrella once.

I think chocolate is okay to give to guys. As far as generic gifts, I guess mugs are a good one? But it's better if you know something about the person. My dad's hard to buy for and I usually end up buying something off his wishlist or chocolate (the more nuts in it the better).

Tangentially related, I had found a great book for this guy I was dating and I was going to give it to him for Christmas, but then we broke up before Christmas. Luckily it was a DI find so I wasn't like "man I wasted two bucks!" but it was still kind of disappointing.

food, food food food, yum! (Wait, is it lunch time?)

You should check out Cup of Jo's gift guides.

What about electronics? My husband would be thrilled to bits if I got him a gift certificate for something like New Egg or Fry's or Steam.

My brother really likes to cook, so I buy him food things. Squid ink pasta, interesting spices, cookbooks, oddly specific cooking utensils like olive grabbers. And bacon-themed objects are always a winner. I got him a bacon car freshener once, and I got my dad bacon bandages once. My dad loves Bob Dylan, so I've given him a few DVDs and live albums over the years.

Thanks everyone!