When Mariah Carey sweeps the dust from her shoulders and emerges from her summer-time coffin, you know it’s here again. The moment the shops start putting nutcrackers in their windows and children line the streets with ill-proportioned snowmen, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Big smiles are plastered on everyone’s face and for once we have an illigitimate reason to stop being jerks to each other. Even though every one is still a jerk, it’s the thought that counts. And some people in particular are more jazzed about Christmas time than others. They’ve been waiting all year with a holiday gift check list, new cookies recipes to try, and their Christmas cards already picked out. Dedication like that comes once every year for folks with elfish tendencies. They put reindeer antlers on their cars and greet every Salvation Army Santa Claus with a big smile and a crisp $20 bill. What a wondrous season.