Truth be told, I am not a great gift selector. I'd like to think that doesn't reflect upon me in a way that suggests that I don't pay attention to people's desires, but I probably don't pay that much attention to people's desires. My way of picking presents out for people is basically going off of one comment that I vaguely remember them making, and hoping for the best. Here's how I applied my technique to each member of my family:

Mom and Dad: Ahh, you can see problem #1 here is that I have already grouped them together. And generally speaking, they have two hobbies: beer drinking and golfing. The golfing theme has been done. And done again. And redone. To the point that we've beat the dead horse, and then some more for good measure. So that only leaves beer. And that's even been done. Last year, I took them on a "tour" of every wine and beer landmark I experienced since moving to Virginia, by buying them a bottle from every brewery or winery I could get my hands on. Nothing like outlining your drinking endeavors to your parents, right?