With the turn of the calendar to December, it’s no longer possible to deny it: the holiday season has arrived. Which means certain things are true:

• There’s a little vibratory buzz in the air. Energy levels increase about five to ten percent. We’re happy! (Or hopefully we can fake it.)

• People appear to get friendlier, unless you’re in a department store, in which case they exhibit an elbow-in-the-eye “survival of the fittest” mentality.

• It’s very hard to hang on to your wallet. If flies out of your pocket of its own volition. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – in fact, what the hell, spend that money!

• We live in a state of complete denial about January. In January, life falls off to a wintry sameness, without a vacation as far as the eye can see. But for now, who cares? It’s the holidays!