After you've recovered from the coma-inducing tryptophan coursing through your veins tomorrow, grab your friends and family and head over to Post Oak Boulevard for one of Houston's favorite traditions: the 23rd Annual Uptown Holiday Lighting. This year's party will kick off at 4:00 p.m. and features live holiday music and festive concessions like cotton candy and kettle corn (we didn't know those were festive, but we like them anyway) before Santa himself shows up......

::Poison Pen Reading Series with Robert Wilder:: Robert Wilder has taken an extremely fun column about parenting from the Santa Fe Reporter and has turned it into a book, Daddy Needs a Drink: an irreverent look at parenting from a dad who truly loves his kids. He's written for NPR, Salon.com, Details, Newsweek and elsewhere, and when he's not writing, he's teaching -- hence his second book, which came out in December: Tales from......

Yes, we know that this column usually runs on Mondays. But on Monday, we were dodging the crowds in search of a couple of final presents, and were still reeling from the woodshed beating the Texans received at the hands of the Colts. We saw beleaguered soccer moms parking their Suburbans at the mall with better timing and depth perception than some of Sage Rosenfels' passes on Sunday. Anyway, on to the links: - Chuck......

So you've done enough shopping and the relatives are driving you crazy -- take an hour away from that insanity and go see some extremely fresh theater. In a Jar...at the Smithsonian, written and directed by Crystal Jackson, is running Thursday through Saturday at DiverseWorks. Six pieces of absurdist comedy (3 monologues, 3 one-acts) and none of them have to do with Santa, reindeer, chimneys, dreidels, or caroling -- thank God! In a Jar...at the......

If you're anything like Houstonist, you haven't finished all your holiday shopping yet. In fact, if you're anything like Houstonist, you've barely even started. But don't worry: We're putting our gift lists together and pulling out some of our more inspired ideas to share with y'all. From music to DVDs to T-shirts to wet wipes, we've got you covered — but seriously, you probably won't want to give the wipes as someone's primary gift.......

Good morning, Houston. Hey, guess who's having a birthday today? Well, OK, it's technically not Houstonist — our second birthday was back on Nov. 20, but we figured that if the queen can have two birthdays, so can we. And so we're throwing ourselves a little birthday party tonight, and you're all invited. It starts at 6 p.m. at Monsoon Wok, Lamar at San Jacinto (yes, street parking is free downtown after 6). Six......

So, if Thanksgiving is all about pie, pie and more pie, Christmas is all about cookies, for us, for Santa, for everyone we can pawn them off on give them to. Here at Houstonist, we love food, cooking it, eating it, telling you how to make it and where to find it. We'll even let you know if it's all "meh" not so much. Holiday desserts are the best and the calories do not count......

Here we go, the big mother of all holidays. Love it, or hate it – it’s nearly December and whether you’re into Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or whatever else you may be into, December is a really bigass month. If nothing else, the streets are more congested, people drive even crazier than normal and the average Houstonian is pelted with food, drink and festivities. Yeah, we hate drinking and eating, we know how you feel......

Now that Halloween is over, you’ll start hearing Christmas music everywhere you turn – on the radio, while shopping, and from that annoying singing Santa doll on your cubicle neighbor’s desk. Well, we have a sanctuary for you from Michael Bolton singing “Silent Night”: the "Houstonist iMix. Our picks for November include a track from excellent new CD from now Austin-based Sam Beam, otherwise known as Iron & Wine. The latest from Seattle’s indie-pop Band......

With so many fun and interesting gallery openings this evening, we thought we would briefly give you a few options and let you, dear readers, decide which one to attend...or maybe gallery hopping is your thing! Eating, drinking, being merry, viewing art and what-not. Either way, there is much interesting work on view this beautiful fall evening in Houston. First up is the opening of Jack Zajac A Survey: 1967-2007 at Gremillion & Co. Gallery.......

In the wake of last week's firing of Tim Purpura, the Astros have a hole to fill in the General Manager's office. Team President Tal Smith (pictured, on left) is running the show for the time being, but a long-term replacement is required. Yesterday, owner Drayton McLane, Smith, and former vp Bob McClaren interviewed three candidates, and more interviews will take place before the end of the week. Let's take a look at the candidates......

We told you and told you: if you got your iPhone earlier this summer, you were going to rue the day they marked it down (not to mention the day the site for hacking it went live). That day, ladies and gents is...now. The cheaper-iPhone announcement, however, pales in comparison to other things Apple's got for us, just in time for months of drooling before we all write up our lists and mail them to......

It would if it were Christmas in July, right? Or at least the temps might climb down to a mild 75? See what the air is like at the Contemporary Arts Museum tonight, where ArtsHouston sponsors Steel Lounge Underground. Instead of carols, there will be DJs Majora y Minora in from Austin, spinning electro, disco, techno, house, and all other forms of I.B.M. (Intelligent Booty Music). And for holiday fare: free sushi and veggie......

With Harry Potter on the brain, we realized it's been awhile since we strolled into McGonigel'ss for some good ole open mic fun. Every Tuesday night at the Mucky Duck, signers and songwriters fill up the small, cozy Greenway Plaza pub with the sounds of acoustic guitars and tapping feet. Tonights songwriters include Shake Russell, Jed & Kelly, and Mary Cutrufello. From Bar Harbor, Maine to Santa Fe, New Mexico; from Los Angeles, California to......

Good morning, Houston. Another day, another ranking: This time, Houston is the second most dangerous place in the U.S. for letter carriers — at least in terms of dog bites. According to the U.S. Postal Service, 94 mail carriers were bitten by dogs in Houston last year, putting us slightly behind Santa Ana, Calif., which logged 96 bites. The safest city in the country: New York City, of all places. Who knew? The USPS......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. I am confused about all the controversy surrounding the big chocolate Jesus. It seems to be a logical way to combine at least a couple of the disparate elements of the holiday that have always been particularly confusing to me (a giant egg-laying rabbit who bestows chocolate eggs to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus). So what's the deal? There are many questions regarding......

Two internationally acclaimed artists join the Houston Chamber Orchestra for a diverse program tonight at the Hobby Center. Pianist Charles Asche performs as soloist in Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58.” Asche has performed throughout the United States, in Russia and South America and is currently on the piano faculty at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He was among the first American pianists to perform in the......

Good morning, Houston. If you've ever been sitting in an endless business meeting and thought to yourself, "A Half Lord of the Fishes would feel really good right about now," looks like you're in luck — as long as you can work your way into a meeting at the Hotel Derek, which will begin offering yoga breaks for people in meetings at the hotel this week. The breaks aren't going to teach you yoga;......

We were still feeling kind of bad about last week's shelterporn feature, the regrettable, vaguely Mediterranean townhome in the West End — so we decided to make up for it this week by finding some decent Mediterranean architecture. What we came up with is this Memorial Drive home, where we think Norma Desmond would feel right at home. The house is brand new, but according to the realtor's description, it's meant to be reminiscent......

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Texas. Happy birthday to you. The Republic of Texas was born 171 years ago today when forty-one recently elected delegates gathered at Washington-on-the-Brazos and unanimously decided that Texas should be free. They would no longer tolerate the dictatorship of Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna. The revolutionary war escalated. The Alamo fell. Santa Anna was captured at San Jacinto. And, the rest is......

Good morning, Houston. If you attended mass on Ash Wednesday, we hope it went more smoothly than one at the cathedral in Santa Fe, N.M. During the mass, CD players duct-taped to the undersides of pews began blasting sexually explicit language — as you might expect, it was disruptive. Church staff members took the CD players to the basement, after which a bomb squad arrived and blew two of the three players up. For......

So far as we can tell, everyone survived the holidays and are settling back into their new year groove. Some of us may have pushed the limits of sanity further than others, but for the most part, we’re alive and kicking. Somehow Houstonist managed to pull a fast one on jolly St. Nick this Christmas, ‘cause the tree sure was stocked full of goodies. Santa must have overlooked that one thing that one night. Wheeew!......

On Sundays, Houstonist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in Houston. The opinions expressed below are entirely those of the author. So it’s Christmas Eve, and you aren’t done with your shopping. Sure, you’ve carefully wrapped a present for your mother that is so amazing it will remove the memory of every bad gift she’s ever received, and your kids each have their own Play Station XVIII. But you still have to buy for your......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

We have the feeling Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc will be a little more careful when he plans his skit for the Galveston municipal Christmas party next year — it seems a "naughty elf" bit he and a couple of other city officials did at this year's party didn't go over too well. (You'd think the very idea of a "naughty elf" skit would signal trouble ahead, wouldn't you?) At the party, LeBlanc climbed onto......

Houstonist has gotten all manner of Christmas cards this year: cards with cartoon characters, cards with poinsettias, cards with manger scenes and kittens and robots and sledding Victorians and lots of gold foil. But so far, we haven't received a card depicting Santa as a Nazi. But maybe we should just sit tight and see what happens: According to KTRK, someone's sending out such cards and pretending that they're coming from local universities. The cards......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor mrp1001. As our holiday week continues, we would be doing the community a great disservice if we didn't mention this fantastic homage to the Texans. I'm sure a lot of fans will be extra nice these last few days and ask Santa for a super bowl... or a playoff berth... or maybe just a winning season? Anyone? If you've got a camera, and you love......

Christmas is coming and petty yard theft is on the rise. Houstonist didn't think yard ornamentation had much street value - but apparently, it does. First, someone made off with the baby Jesus in Santa Fe, and now, in Friendswood, a thief made off with a snowman, reindeer and a 10-foot tall snow globe. Apparently, when one swipes a large decoration, it's best not to have your no-seatbelt-wearing passenger riding around with an inflatable snowman......

On Sundays, Houstonist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in Houston. The opinions expressed below are entirely those of the author. Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Dilettante, One of my coworkers insists on pouncing on me first thing Monday morning, before I’ve had a chance to grab some coffee or even sit at my desk, to ask me how my weekend was. I think she just wants me......

Houstonist is getting back in the swing of things, and will be bringing you more culinary events for your perusal and possible participation. The wine dinners at Churrasco's are a pretty decent bargain, after all, for $60-ish per person, depending upon the size of the tip/gratuity (we spend more - we've slung hash and drinks for money and tend to tip big), you get all THIS, featured wines are from New Zealand . DATE: December......