41st INSTALLMENT : 12/18/06

Welcome to a delectable holiday-themed installment, jam packed with side-splitting humor, poignant dysfunction, and deep revelations! Instead of the customary six pieces, we're including EIGHT personal essays for your enjoyment.

Stalking Santa by Tamara Becher (Script coordinator, Fox drama Standoff; only known survivor of Mexican Wrestling's most fatal move: El Suplex de Muerto.)

The Christmas Secrets by Valerie Ahern (TV writer/producer, Desperate Housewives, Married.. with Children, Drawn Together.)

Accidentally Great by Paula Killen (Writer/performer/playwright/monologist; essays featured on This American Life; plays performed in Chicago, LA, New York.)

Jesus in the Mailbox by Taylor Negron (Actor, film: The Aristocrats, Punchline, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. TV: Friends, The Practice, ER, The Tonight Show, own HBO Special.)

My Emotionally Challenged Christmas by Cindy Caponera (Second City alum; Actress, playwright, TV writer/producer, Saturday Night Live, That '80s Show, Strangers with Candy, My Boys.) Keep it to Yourself by Albert Stern (Writer and monologist, one-person shows in New York City; Member of NY storytelling group, Mouthpiece.) Slouching Toward Gratitude by Annabelle Gurwitch (Actress, writer, NPR commentator; author, Fired! Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized and Dismissed.) High Atop the Christmas Tree by Shannon Starr (Screenwriter; was reporter for the Riverside Press-Enterprise)