I'm reading these SomethingAwful.com "Worst Christmas Gifts" list, thinking to myself, "What's the best way to go about giftgiving?" (Reading these is causing an actual pain in my stomach to blossom forth into existence.)

So do you think it's better to surprise a person, (Keyword: Surprise.) or to ask what a person wants, remove any and all element of surprise, (Good surprise, at least.) and replace that feeling of surprise with a feeling of hope, which can be dashed against the pavement in the event of failure?