Each year, about this time, I have dozens of people ask me what I'd like for my birthday. Coincidentally, this follows my annual "Only 21 shopping days till my birthday" email, text, and flyer campaign.

Anyway - this year I have given my birthday wish some serious thought. After all, it's not every year a woman turns 39. (In my case it's only been a couple - not every) Many things were considered as gifts - and dismissed for one reason or another. After the dust cleared I was left with 2 desired gifts: World Peace or an Amazon Kindle.

Let's examine some pros and cons of each:

Amazon Kindle:

Cons: I don't have one. It isn't free. My friends all have one and I don't. All the cool people in the marketing department at work have one.

Pros: There are some free books you can get on there. It has several cool accessories so everyone can feel like they are contributing to my birthday. It's password protected so curious 6th grade boys won't be able to read my "historical fiction". A person could actually download books (in 60 seconds - WOW) on world peace so that they could read up on it and know how to maximize it if they were ever given that for their birthday. I'm just sayin... Gift wrap available from Amazon for a low price.

World Peace:

Cons: According to Wikipedia - some experts believe that as humans we are inherently unable to achieve such a widespread condition at one time. Many businesses that thrive on the business of conflict would wither up and die - increasing the unemployment rate in an already struggling economy. If World Peace was achieved - the beautiful contestants on "Miss America" wouldn't have anything to strive for. Finally, how would you wrap it?

Pros: Everyone would get along and no one would have to go to war.

So - as you can see - these are both completely viable options. After all, you do have 3 weeks until my birthday.