Deep December weather is what fireplaces and whiskey are for. Every first Wednesday of the month, people descend on the Fireside Room to read by the fire and drink $5 manhattans in each other’s company. The live musician this month is Kyle O’Quin, who will pound out gloomy tunes on the piano (incluidng Chopin's funeral march) in honor of it being the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Three special guests (Stranger Genius Award-winning author Lesley Hazleton, frequent Stranger cover artist Aaron Bagley, and art critic Jen Graves) will be sitting there silently reading and drinking like everyone else. (Sorrento Hotel, 900 Madison St, 622-6400, 6–9 pm, free, all ages)