Here at SBM, our year is divided into several seasons. There’s The Run-Up to New York Comic-con, the newest season, which takes up the time we used to spend celebrating Seasonal Affective Disorder by staying in bed until 3 pm. We’ve only been through this season once before, but we can already see that it will involve endless questions about “Where is the party?” and “Can I still get a table in Artist’s Alley?”

Immediately after comes The Run Up to San Diego. Yes everything from March to July is involved in this. This season involves anxiety, nightmares, juggling hotel reservations, trying desperately to get in touch with studio publicists, avoiding being on panels before 11 am, fashion choices, and many questions about “Where is the party?”

After San Diego comes a season called “Summer” which consists of a trip to the beach (if we’re lucky) or, failing that, a park. It lasts about a week.

Then comes The Run Up To Halloween. We don’t think we need to explain that much.

Today marks the beginning of THE HOLIDAY SEASON. How do we know that? Because a very precious holiday tradition–as much a part of the season as Santa or holiday specials featuring the voice of Burl Ives– starts–Starbucks rolls out its Christmas drinks! That’s right. Celebrate the joy of the season over a Peppermint Latte, and share treasured family memories of Christmases past spent sick, fighting or in jail over a vanilla soy misto. Nothing says Festivus like Starbucks and this year they promise to make it specialer, bigger, bolder and spendier than ever. Truly, it is a blessing.