Not my ankles, by the way.

FELLOW RUNNERS: Paul@Brookstone here. Just ran 9.4 miles in my HICKIES elastic laces and I declare them RACE READY. I’m pretty neurotic and was concerned about whether they’d hold my shoe as securely as I like. They’re actually better than laces in that regard. They contour perfectly to the top of my foot. No lace-shifting or shoe movement.

I also love that I didn’t have to quadruple-knot my laces and tuck them in and blah, blah, blah. Should a pebble ever get in my shoe, removing it and getting my shoe back on will take just seconds, as opposed to the minute+ with laces. Try’em out yourself. And next race, show off your HICKIES.

WARNING: It’s Monday morning, and the writer of this blog is suffering half-a-bye-week withdrawal tremors (thanks, Thursday Night football).

Before you purchase your next holiday gift, ask yourself one question. Does your person like football? If so, you now have the power to make said fan scream and convulse and do a little end-zone dance. It’s your holiday. How intense do you want your gift to be?

Top Football Gifts at Brookstone
1) Autographed NFL Football
This is what we in the business call a game-changing gift. Put this under the tree, and we guarantee your partner will change his or her worst domestic habit (whether it’s not taking out the trash or trash-talking your mother).

Football gifts shopping tip: enter your team’s name in the search box here.

2) Bubba Inflatable NFL Player
Here’s another other approach. Instead of trying to change your spouse into a better, more tasteful individual, just put a giant inflatable lineman on your front yard and be done with it.

3) Autographed NCAA Helmet
If anything, the tribal bond is even more intense when schools are involved. If you’ve married an Irish fighter, a Lou Holtz helmet will have them weeping like a baby till the final bowl game has them weeping like a baby.

4) UltraSoft NCAA Blanket
Bonus: cuddle with each other while cuddling up under your colors.

5) Wireless TV Headphones 
Ok, this is more a gift to yourself. If you don’t like football (or at least not enough to watch Red Zone all night), give these to your spouse and save your marriage. Think of the children.

1) Don’t dry out the bird.

Are your relatives looking a little parched after that last bite of turkey? Next year, use the Brookstone® Grill Alert® Talking Remote Meat Thermometer.

Stick the probe inside the breast, pop the bird in the oven, and Grill Alert will actually tell you when the turkey’s perfect, even if you’re in the other room setting the kids’ table. Mmmm, juicy.

2) Lose the pucker face.

Grammy’s hitting it a little harder than you expected, so you find yourself serving wine that hasn’t had a chance to breathe. No problem. You’ve got the Brookstone Aero Wine Aerator.

Insert its tip into a freshly opened bottle and in less than a minute, Aero “breathes” your wine, bringing out richer, smoother and more complex flavors and bouquet. It prevents that pucker face that comes from drinking younger and, ahem, modestly priced wines.

3) Keep your father off the roof.

Yes, thank goodness he didn’t hurt himself seriously last year, but, really, he shouldn’t be up there. Instead of running heavy electrical cords all over the place, use our Cordless Prelit Greenery. It makes it much easier to decorate indoors and out. It also helps keep the mail carrier from tripping over cords in your front yard.

4) Don’t have another tree fight.

During the first December of my marriage, my mother called up and asked, “Did you have the tree fight yet?” How could she have known?

Many (happy) years later, Brookstone brings peace on earth to all couples attempting to marry different holiday traditions…with Color-Changing Christmas Trees. Full, lush, and easy to put up, and best of all, the lights go from all-white to multi-colored with just the flick of a switch. Couples can switch off and have the kind of tree they grew up with.

5) Use Band-Aids® if you run out of tape.

Don’t ask.

Did you hear about the very, very lucky music student?  She got on a bus in Boston with her $170,000 violin, then got off a few hours later in Philadelphia without it.  After a few anxious days, and with help from the bus company and police, she and her instrument were reunited.  Lucky indeed.

I doubt any of us travel with such valuable luggage. But all of us can lose stuff when we’re rushed or distracted. When it happens, most of us think, “It’s probably gone forever.”

Someone else’s problem—until it’s yours.
Of the 2.5 billion bags that airline passengers check every year, 850,000 will in fact be lost forever.  That’s a darn good batting average, but not if your suitcase or laptop is lost. Then, all the others don’t matter.

Here we must give the airlines their due:  Carriers have found prescription bottles, store receipts and even wedding photos in missing bags and matched them with their owners.

But curiously, regulations forbid them from powering up found electronic devices—even though they’re loaded with information that can ID their owners!

Okoban attaches to any item via tag or sticker.

Look to the east for the solution.
As in any other place, people in Japan misplace valuables every day. Yet in the Japanese way of life, someone who finds a stray item will in all likelihood bring it to the nearest koban, or local police office. That’s the idea behind the new Okoban® service from Travel Sentry®.

Okoban harnesses 21^st-century technology to connect you with your lost valuables:

1. You purchase products with Okoban identification labels, or buy Okoban labels and tags for items you already own.
2. You register your valuables online with the unique identification code on the Okoban label.
3. When someone finds your item—anywhere in the world—he or she can enter the Okoban code online. Okoban then notifies you via email or SMS text telling you where your item is and how to get it back. That means you could receive notification that your item has been recovered while you’re still in the airport!

Can’t afford to lose it? Okoban it.
Okoban tags and labels can help you recover practically anything: passports, skis, phones, laptops, tablets, e-readers, headphones, musical instruments, you name it. Plus, you’ll have a personal page at okoban.com where you can securely upload photos of your valuables for insurance purposes. You can even upload scans of your passport and other travel documents, for access in case they get lost.

Okoban, welcome to America.
Japanese and European travelers have embraced Okoban—and now it’s launching in the U.S. with Brookstone. Learn more at okoban.com—and if you already use Okoban, please feel free to post a comment.

iPad tablets and smart phones have come a long way in a short time. A growing arsenal of cutting edge apps makes it easy to surf the web, organize and edit photos and videos, compose music; learn a language, chart the stars, Tweet, Skype and IM. Not to mention a few hundred other useful and trivial things.

So, if our favorite touch screen devices can do everything but change our motor oil and style our hair, why do we all still own laptop computers? Because typing extensively on a touch screen is not as efficient as typing on a keyboard. For serious work—writing, large spread sheets, long emails and blog posts—you need a keyboard. Brookstone recognized this problem early on and developed a Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard Portfolio for iPad tablets.

This multi-function problem solver serves as a keyboard, carrying case, device protector and easel. The wireless Bluetooth® keyboard has a genuine laptop feel for fast typing and operates seamlessly with no docks or cords. The slim and stylish case comes in six colors and features a fold-up design to enable your iPad tablet to sit upright for optimal viewing. The rugged case also protects your iPad tablet without hindering access to built-in cameras and ports.

Brookstone also carries a Bluetooth® Keyboard Case for iPhone® devices. Part protective case, part slide-out wireless keyboard, this innovation will take your iPhone to new heights. The Bluetooth® Keyboard Case for iPhone devices gives you the best of both worlds, allowing use of the keyboard or touch screen while maintaining easy access to cameras, ports and controls.

So, once you get your paws on a Bluetooth wireless keyboard, how will you use it? Write the next great American novel during your train or bus ride to work?  Launch a political rant blog while waiting in the dentist’s office or DMV? Let us know – post your comment here>