You say: No more buying things no one needs. No more feeding the landfills. No more soulless, injection-molded plastic traveling by ship from sweatshops halfway around the world.

Christmas, as we all know, is the day Christians celebrate the birth of their savior, Jesus. The story of his birth in a manger, attended by the three Magi bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, is the humble tableau most of the faithful picture when they think of this sacred event. It’s a solemn scene that’s observed by 2.1 billion people, or one third of the world’s population.

I’m sure you’re dying to buy a pair of fun, ultra sexy skinny jeans for your girlfriend, wife or daughter this holiday season. As popular as the skinny jean has become, many women around the area are afraid that their body type just isn’t right for the style. The truth is anyone can wear skinny jeans as long as you keep in mind a few things: fit, comfort, color and footwear.

Kris Kringle, Secret Santa, the Office Gift Exchange. This is dangerous territory, fraught with politics, heirarchical nonsense, petty personality conflicts and class struggles. What to buy? How much to spend? Why spend at all? Should your feelings toward a co-worker be reflected in your gift?

There is a wide range of holiday musical events occurring over the next few weeks, with something for every taste. Here are some of the highlights, in a semi-chronological order:

Shall we define the traditional Thanksgiving? A cursory bit of research located a menu from the year 1621—before the advent of the fork—which apparently included the following:

Steer clear of pricy gadgets and kitchen tools—your gift recipient wouldn’t know what to do with them anyways. Instead, a selection of gifts highlighting the essential skills for the kitchen, as well as some vital beginner tools, will release your clueless cuisiner to be as free as a Cornish game hen in the kitchen, and give you some sofa time for a change.

For breakfast—Holy Toast! The Visionary Bread Stamper: Before putting your boring Wonder Bread in the toaster, give it the Holy Toast! treatment. This cast iron stamp will make an impression of the Virgin Mary on the bread, glorifying the final product with a divine image of the mother of God. Holler an “Amen!” as you dress Mary’s golden visage with your favorite preserves. Available at worldwidefred.com.

There’s a certain menace in the name we’ve given to the day after Thanksgiving: Black Friday, touted as the busiest shopping day of the year. Historically, “black” days mark infamous events that caused large populations great stress and suffering: destructive wildfires, gruesome battles, stock market crashes and financial panics, even perceived acts of God against legislative bodies (as in the case of Black Saturday, August 4, 1621).

During the holidays, one should do away with the modern notion that guests and family must call ahead before paying a visit. One’s door should be open to all comers, and that takes preparation. Stock up on beer, wine, cider, tea, cocoa—whatever your basics comprise—but add to your liquor cabinet some warming drinks, such as kirs and brandies, cognacs, rums and bourbons. Pick up mulling spices (whole nutmeg, cloves, star anise, cardamom and cinnamon sticks, plus oranges, lemons, honey) to add to cider or wine. Keep on hand a couple of bottles of champagne or other sparkling wine, maybe even a bottle with gold flakes in it; these make great gifts in a pinch.

Even the most disciplined among us occasionally has a little too much celebration and the inevitable hangover ensues. Here are some tips to help prevent and treat your holiday hangovers:

Books are, quite simply, timeless gifts. They possess empowering knowledge, they help to bridge the sometimes huge societal divides created by race, sex, religion and culture and, just as important, they entertain us. Because we think books are so great, we wanted to find the very best ones published this year to recommend to you. To achieve this aim, we reached out to a few local literary figures, people who are in the business of writing and selling books. Following, you’ll find their suggestions.

We are flush with the usual wide and varied selection of music-related gifts to please the rock snobs on your list. Here are a few of the top picks:

The gift wrap competition started out the same way I imagine most Christmas traditions do: a little too much nog, a hypothetical suggestion, someone takes things a little too seriously. Ten years later we’ve got performance art, spring-loaded gift delivery mechanisms, gifts baked into fruitcakes, an electric nun.