Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.

Like a chastity belt, the package tour keeps you out of mischief but a bit restive for wondering what you missed.

a celebrity is someone who no longer does the things that made him a celebrity.

This is your dividing line, by the way, between child and nonchild - when the first trouble happens that Mama can't fix.

One's travel life is basically as incommunicable as his sex life is.

The fact is, the cocktail party has much in its favor. Going to one is a good way of indicating that you're still alive and about, if such is the case, and that you're glad other people are, without having to spend an entire evening proving it.

Drinking: something to do while getting drunk.