Now that you’ve recovered from Thanksgiving, it’s time to think about giving back. Start by writing a check to a charity. Unfortunately, the Coco LaChine Facelift Foundation is not a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The holidays are always my favorite time of the year, not only because of the festive décor all over town and the great sales. Take advantage of our gift guide in this issue. And please, let the merchants know you read about them in the Gay & Lesbian Times. I also think that during the holidays, people just generally feel happier. I know I do. So this holiday season, I plan to spread my happy feeling around. And if you are really nice to me, in a Tiffany’s or Prada way, I’ll make sure to tell Santa.

Mama’s Kitchen’s Tree of Life is up at the Hillcrest Village Retail Center. Take a moment and remember someone you have lost to AIDS. And then open your checkbook and write the most generous check you have ever written to an AIDS service organization. Not only will you feel good about it, it is also tax deductible. After 20-some years, the rate of infection remains alarmingly high, especially among people of color, women and youth. If you can’t write a check, consider volunteering. Whatever you do, just don’t do nothing! So go see the tree – not only is it moving, it is beautiful!

On Sunday, Dec. 12, the Imperial Court is hosting a toy drive (for kids and young adults) with a fundraising show at Numbers, beginning at 7:00 p.m. There will be a fun, holiday-themed show, food and an auction. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with a $10 donation at the door, or $8 if you bring a new, unwrapped toy. I will be hosting this show.

Also on Sunday, Dec. 12, is the annual “Come Home for the Holidays” party, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at The Center. The event is a community collaboration that celebrates Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa and other winter holidays. Bring your friends and family as we come together as a community to celebrate the past year and look forward to the year ahead. There will be fantastic music, dancing, wonderful food and much more. Later that evening, The Flame hosts the official after party, with live music, salsa lessons and dancing all night long.

On Monday, Dec. 13, Martinis Above Fourth is hosting the first annual holiday wreath auction as a benefit for The Center’s Queen Eddie Colon Youth Fund. Babette Schwartz is donating a wreath, so you know that’s going to be outrageous and fun. (Babette’s first holiday show is Friday, Dec. 3, also at Martinis.) All Worlds Video’s wreath will have hot DVDs, while Martinis will have a martini shaker set (of course), plus dinner for three. Other wreath donors are Lavender Lens, Woody’s At The Beach in Laguna, the Imperial Court and others. There will also be a silent auction, including a Karl Strauss basket of goodies, a limited-edition holiday ornament from the Clinton Presidential Library donated by Nicole, and many other items. So come enjoy a cocktail with friends, nibble on hors d’ oeuvres, and bring home some holiday wreaths and goodies for a good cause.

The Imperial Court is also in the midst of their annual Blanket Drive Without Borders for various hospices in Tijuana. San Diego Bears is also collecting toys for UCSD’s Youth and Women’s Services, Christie’s Place and Being Alive, as well as canned foods for Grocery Hearts and Special Delivery. Please drop off your donations at the various bar drop-off locations in your area.

Win prizes and make a difference by helping the Gay & Lesbian Times provide the best news and features – take the Gay & Lesbian Times’ online survey. You can win a pair of round-trip Delta Air Lines tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S., one-year 24 Hour Fitness gym memberships, two-night vacation stays in Palm Springs and more. To participate, visit this column online at www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the survey.

I was wondering how long it would take before there is a reality TV show based in a gay bar. Lo and behold, there will hopefully be one soon: A Canadian television company has been scouting for a location all over the country, and they have selected Bacchus House to be the focus of the gay nightlife. The premise of the show will be a fly-in-the-wall view of the action and drama that happens in a gay bar, and behind the bar. The show will take an irreverent look at all the unique personalities that run the bar, from the owners to the bartenders, barbacks, DJs and divas (like moi) that make the gay bar scene such an integral part of gay life. It will also take a close-up look at the bar crawlers and party boys (and girls) from the moment they enter the doors to those that make “last call” their nightly bedtime habit. They will be filming the pilot beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 8, and many days after that. Wait ’til they meet Senorita Franceska! They will also be filming my weekly It’s Raining Men wet underwear contest on Thursday. So come on out and join us for the fun – you might even be discovered for stardom! So there, you heard it here first at the Gay & Lesbian Times!

All this brouhaha about the “Desperate Housewives” ad clip on Monday Night Football just shows you what a hypocritical society we live in. In case you just returned from a trip to Antarctica, there was a big outcry because this clip shows Nicolette Sheridan in a seductive towel-dropping scene with Philly Eagle’s Terrell Owens in the locker room. According to the FCC, they have received over 50,000 phone calls, emails, faxes, etc. decrying the airing of this nasty scene. But a network investigation shows that of all the letters received, the majority came from three form letters (there were 21 other original letters), and the vast majority came from a handful of writers who wrote in multiple times. To think that a few prudish, avid letter-writers can tell the rest of America what we can and cannot watch – and the FCC caving into the pressure – is outrageous. There are more risqué scenes on daytime soaps every day and nobody cries foul. I think we should be more outraged with the fighting in the professional sports arena, or the knife-wielding thug rappers at the VIBE Magazine Awards. But no, let’s concentrate on sex, even when it’s not real, because it is “Oh, so dirty.” Oh please!

Meanwhile, “Desperate Housewives” remains one of the top hit TV shows of the season. Let’s show our protest by watching this show… and thoroughly enjoying it!

The Flame’s new Friday boys-night-out SPIN begins on Dec. 3 with the circuit party’s tribal beat master, DJ Brett Henrichsen, spinning. Brett will be giving away CDs and tickets to the Masterbeat New Year’s Eve party in L.A. The awesome lineup of upcoming DJs includes DJ Mike Duretto on Dec. 10, DJ Monty Q on Dec. 17 and DJ Warren Gluck on Dec. 24. Go see what SPIN is all about, Fridays at The Flame.

Over at Flicks, join in on the fun at their Grab Bag Saturdays, which is the same night as their Wet Underwear Contest. Bar patrons can reach in the grab bag for huge prizes every week. Batteries may not be included.

On Saturday, Dec. 4, at Rich’s, DJ Escape will mix music like you have never heard before. Rich’s house music holiday gift to you is DJ Roy Davies from Los Angeles spinning Thursday, Dec. 9, at URGE. Then on Dec. 11, Lady Bunny will be in the house for “I’ll be Homo for the Christmas” show. Lady Bunny is the producer of Wigstock in N.Y.C., which later became a feature film.

Another N.Y.C. diva, Jackie Beat, now based in Los Angeles, will be performing her holiday show at Bourbon Street on Dec. 9. Time Out New York describes my nasty, foul-mouth sister as, “A crabby alternative to Christmas cheer. Tacky, tasteless and hysterical!” She even made the top 10 list of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights’ 1998 report on anti-Catholicism. Isn’t that enough reason to go see her?

Bacchus House’s Club Domingo Caliente is the new hit on Sunday, with a special show at 9:30 p.m. hosted by Franceska and Alex. Coronas and Sauza margaritas for $1.50 each add some Latin spice. DJ Ruben Casas spins.

Now I know it’s still early, but if you’re a planner, Club Montage’s special Gay Friday Night New Year’s Eve Party will feature DJs Bryan Pruett and Scotty K. Call the club for ticket information.

I would love to hear from you. Email me at coco@cocolachine.com.