“Where did you get your Santa onesie?!” piped the chipper, slightly inebriated girl behind me in the public restroom line. She smiled at me, enthusiastically awaiting my response, using the propped-open door to steady herself while fixing her Santa skirt; I’d noticed that there were at least five other Santa-outfit-clad women in line with us. It was December 8th, 2018, and I was traveling in the capacity of a touring keyboard player, string arranger, string contractor, backing vocalist, and ensemble conductor with Chon—a primarily instrumental, progressive, math rock band from Southern California. A couple of the band members and I decided to enjoy a night out on the town with some of their local friends after the final show of the East Coast leg of our tour. The day of that show, coincidentally, was also the same day as the local Asbury Park (New Jersey) Santa Con pub crawl; yep, I just so happened to be wearing my Santa onesie that night. After all, Mario agreed to wear a Santa hat during the show, so I was confident I would not be the only extra-festive person on stage…”

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