*Come with me dance, my dear
Winter’s so cold this year
You are so warm
My wintertime love to be
Winter time winds blue and freezin’
Comin’ from northern storms in the sea

With this issue, we bring you love, peace and joy…

Love. Isabella Rossellini loves bugs. And the kinkier the bug, the more she loves it. This, among other things, are revealed about the famed model and filmmaker in Aileen Jacobsen’s interview with her this month. Rossellini, the daughter of controversy (as well as the inventor of one or two) has been living on Long Island—not far from Pulse HQ—and loving it for years now. She is timeless and triumphant, as you’ll find in the interview. She does what she wants—silly, sexy, strange or otherwise. She is inimitable. And her unique perspective on art, life and love joins our editorial portfolio this month—a timely reminder that love of even the smallest things is a great love to have.

Peace. Pat Rogers’ Talking Walls column features an exhibition of art that encourages peace, quite literally. Artists from the Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation were tasked to reconcile our present times to the place in history future societies will assign us, emphasizing hope rather than despair, and peace rather than the ravages of war. The show, on view at Guild Hall in East Hampton through January 16, focuses on nine war-torn cities. Cultural details and historic elements are abstracted in gold leaf and natural elements to render the feeling of how painfully beautiful, and ephemeral, faith in man can be. Peace, glorious in gold, waits on Pat’s pages if you can’t make it to East Hampton. Share them with those you know as well as those you don’t.

Joy. Transcendent Herbie Hancock infuses the joy of jazz in all genres of music by working with a broad range of musicians. He’s been riding the elusive magic dragon of jazz down countless rabbit holes to create breakthroughs in virtually every genre since his debut album Takin’ Off in 1962. In his interview with Steve Matteo, Pulse’s music editor, Hancock talks about the joy of working with a diverse array of musicians. But there is joy in the concentric ripples of the man, too. One ring brings the experience of Hancock’s beautiful imagination to new music lovers who might not know him. In the next, those same outsiders step into the brilliant joy of jazz. Some people are a conduit like that; they are prisms through which the world passes in a multitude of directions. And if there’s one New Year’s resolution worth making, it’s that we could all use a little more of Herbie Hancock’s brand of joy in our lives.

Of course, the issue wouldn’t be complete without our annual Favorite Things: The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide. Whether your celebrating Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Ramadan or holidays with somewhat smaller aisles at the Hallmark store, we’ve compiled the best gifts (to give or get) ranging from jewelry to technology to accessories or toys for kids big and small. And to aid you in dropping those required subtle hints, you can catch the whole thing at lipulse.com and forward a link to your favorite gift giver.

Play? Sure, once you’ve got love, peace and joy covered, it’s only right you want to play. Award-winning fashion photographer Gary Lupton, joined by the creative efforts of Long Island’s top jewelry, fashion and beauty boutiques, staged a mid-winter’s dream for this issue. Set at Planting Fields’ exquisite Coe Hall, this is a scene you’ll want to play out with your special someone whether dressing up for a night on the town or staying in. Looking for Suggestions? Our Big Night Out profiles the best places to raise a toast on New Year’s Eve.

*Come with me dance, my dear
—nadA

PS. As always, Long Island Pulse will close for sabbatical December 10—January 3, during which you might experience a delayed response when contacting your favorite Pulse people. If your matter is urgent, you can try finding us—we’ll be everywhere on the planet testing State Department warnings in Europe and the Near East to tracking powder on the slopes surveyed in Peter Bronski’s annual Northeast Ski Report (check out his Powder Play in this issue).

*Wintertime Love, The Doors