All Over Albany

Holiday gifts: Kim Neaton

Gifts and giving are on most everyone's mind this month. So we're asking people to share some thoughts on presents, past and present, charities, and wishes for the next year.

Next up: Kim Neaton is the music director at 102.7 WEQX, along with being the host of middays and the local music show EQXposure.

What gifts would you like to get this year?
I'm so lame and not really into presents, but I get excited about nice socks. Last year I got a pair of Darn Tough socks, they're actually guaranteed for life and they're the best, I'm so stoked every time I put them on. So more quality socks are always great (haha).

Also I know whatever my boyfriend got me, it's from Guitar Center. (I wasn't snoopin', he told me!) I play music a tiny bit, but it's something that every day I think, "Hey, you should do that more." So I'm guessing it'll be something that pushes me to dive into that more!

What gifts would you like to give this year?
I like giving gifts that provide an experience. Concert tickets, restaurant gift certificates, things like that. I'm more a fan of collecting experiences than objects, so I like to help provide fun times for other people, to get them out of the house and doing something they may not normally treat themselves to.

Other than that, I like finding unique locally-made things, or something old and weird from an antique store that when you see it, it makes you instantly think of the person you're shopping for.

What charity would you like to support?
Like most of us, I should probably be way better at supporting local charity. The Capital City Rescue Mission is great. They provide three meals a day for the homeless and other struggling residents every day of the year. They also provide shelter and clothes. Most people have that bag of clothes that don't fit anymore or that they just don't wear laying around, just throw it in the car and drop it off there. They have a distribution center full of racks of clothes people can grab for for free.

What is your most memorable gift?
Last year my boyfriend gave me a hoodie that is now my favorite piece of clothing. I had this old Beastie Boys t-shirt that was my favorite shirt, it was so worn out I couldn't really wear it anymore, but I kept it anyway because the design was so cool. He took it, cut out all the images from the front and back and sewed them onto a blank hoodie, making a one-of-a-kind item that let me still enjoy the shirt!

He's the best, I know that thing took him like ten hours to hand sew.

What is your wish for the New Year?
That I get to spend more time out in nature next year. Life gets really busy and we're all so intertwined in technology and the internet all the time. It's getting crazy, and honestly kind of weird, and I think a lot of people can forget what life can be like without being tied to that stuff all the time.

So, I hope for more camping, hiking, and general appreciation of what's around me and not things on a screen. I also hope I can encourage people close to me to do some more of that, too!
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Compiled by Deanna Fox.

More holiday gifts 2016
+ Jamel Mosely
+ Nicki Brown
+ Paul Curran

photo: Yuliya Peshkova