Things I do NOT want for Christmas:
(A Halfway-Helpful Guide to Holiday Shopping For Yours Truly)

1. Expensive electronics of any kind. I have no use for an mp3 player, CD player, TV, Palm Pilot, laptop, etc. The only time I listen to music is in my car, and that's whatever's on the radio; likewise for TV, which I really only watch when I'm at Squishy's. I don't download music. I do not know how to use the more sophisticated functions on a calculator. My contract on my cell phone ends in December or January, so I'm just going to get my new (and free) phone then. I have a camera that I love, complete with an extra memory-stick-thingie. My gameplan is to update all my go-go-gadgets a few months before entering dental school so that my stuff will be super high-tech, plus when you're paying $50,000 a year in tuition, another grand or two spent on computer gear probably won't make a difference.
2. CDs, DVDs, and/or Books. See above for comment regarding music. We have a Netflix subscription and HBO for when I have time to watch movies (which is pretty rare), and I have a library card for when I have time to read (which really isn't that often, either).
3. A watch. I don't wear the watch I have now, that I bought by myself, for myself. Which probably means I wouldn't wear one that somebody else bought me.
4. Framed pictures of myself. It was a cute idea for graduation, but now I've got a dozen framed photos of myself in my cap and gown in my room staring back at me. It's creepy.
5. Appliances. Like most other things on this list, appliances fall into the "If I was really going to use/like it, I would have bought one for myself already" category. That, and I live at home, with no immediate plans of moving out, which means I do not need a toaster, blender, iron, answering machine, etc. separate from the ones I share with my parents.
6. Gift Certificates. Gift certificates are only appropriate when 1) they're from relatives who see you once or twice a year, or 2) at events like graduation parties, sweet sixteens, and the like where money is clearly the gift of choice but you try to get around the "I copped out and didn't put any thought into this, but let's not kid ourselves here and pretend that the person receiving the gift actually minds" issue by dressing it up in the form of a sparkly gift card in its own little envelope.
7. Gloves/mittens. There is a reason why I buy at least half a dozen pairs of yarn/polyester gloves over the course of every winter, and why I don't spend more than a couple bucks on each pair: I lose them constantly. If I wouldn't look like a total doofus, I would totally safety-pin my gloves to the ends of my coatsleeves.
8. Wallets, purses, etc. I purposely buy almost all of my bags in Chinatown because I will inevitably spill coffee all over them before they go out of style. I don't mind accidentally ruining a $15 fake bag by clumsiness, but would feel awful getting some sort of permanent food stain on its authentic $400 twin. Plus, a handbag is a really personal thing in my opinion, or as personal as shopping-with-your-mother-and/or-like-minded-fashion-conscious-friend-to-ask-"Is this cute?" gets.
9. Perfume. At this point in my life, I'm allowing myself only one high-maintenance beauty indulgence, and that's my hair color. Besides, if I don't like how a fragrance smells, I won't wear it. And, as an added hint, taking a friend - male or female - along with you to help pick out a fragrance for someone else is never a good idea. A scent that delights one person will often disgust another.
10. Memberships and/or subscriptions to things. If I really wanted one, or if I had the time for one, I'd have gotten one already.

Hope this was halfway-helpful. It's much easier for me to pick out things I don't want or like rather than things that I do want or like.

A Few More General Tips:
1. In spite of everything I just wrote above, nobody ever went wrong with a gift from the heart.
2. A thoughtful, useless gift is a thousand times more meaningful and appreciated than a less thoughtful, expensive and/or useful one.
3. If shopping for someone else, do NOT seek the opinions of people who do not like him/her, and/or people whom he/she does not like. You will either get facetious answers from the person(s) you consult ("Why not get him another stick to match the one he's got shoved up his ass?"), or they will wrongfully advise you to buy something truly heinous to spite the other person ("No, I promise, she'll LOVE the weight-loss kit!"), or else you'll really just get something that the other person won't be crazy about. They don't like each other because they're different, and different people like different things.
4. Sometimes, if you're not trying so hard to find the perfect gift, the right one will come to you at the right moment.