Welcome back after the long weekend, friends! (If you are an American, at any rate.) Let me tempt you with something from the below:

Our gift guide came out this week!

On the topic of gift guides, I obviously deeply responded to this, at The New Yorker: HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE: HOW TO CHANNEL YOUR INNER MAXIMALIST. (Those caps came with the cut and paste, but they DO feel apt for something about maximalism.)

Speaking of gifts, can we interest you in a KFC-scented fire log for this blessed holiday season? [Travel & Leisure]

I love Ask a Manager, and I just…think you should read this. I don’t want to say any more and spoil it.

At Vulture: How Cats Changed Broadway (Now and) Forever

At Esquire: 70 Hours* With the Winners (and Losers) of the National Dog Show

Closing out our triumvirate of animal stories, at National Geographic: The epic history of the humble goldfish. 

Aw, Emma Stone is getting married! [Lainey]

Also Lainey continues to be the only person from whom I want to hear about this on-going Justin Timberlake thing.

I haven’t watched a lot of skating this season, and ergo I missed this (although I’ve had a lot of thoughts about various Questionable Skating Costumes over the years, as you all know, because I’ve done those rants here already):  Dear figure skating: Genocide is not a fashion statement. [WaPo]

I love the NPR Book Concierge.

Jeez louise, this Anna Faris/carbon monoxide thing is scary! [Celebitchy]

LOGISTICS: Nine Secrets I Never Knew About Airports Until I Worked at LAX. [Bloomberg]

These lists are fun, and this is a good one: The 50 greatest Christmas songs – ranked! (These are pop songs, not like…Latin Christmas Choral Arrangements or traditional carols.) I absolutely agree with the number one choice. [The Guardian]

At Vulture: What Mister Rogers Can Teach Us About Gen X and the Generational Divide

I am generally opposed to live-action remakes of already great animated movies…but the new Mulan looks good. [The Mary Sue]

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