It’s that time of year again—the season of the office holiday party. Maybe you work for the man and so you go out of a sense of obligation, and usually end up having a semi-decent time (assuming the drinks are free and plentiful). Of course, there’s always that one person who makes it memorable. The key is to not end up being that person. Let this video be your guide this holiday office party season.

Have you interofficed your card yet?

Probably not… Because you either didn’t know of the existence of Boss’s Day (yes, it’s a real day), or you simply refuse to have anything to do with it, for legitimate reasons galore, I am sure.

Well, here are some ideas (incentives, maybe?) at 52projects.com in case you are thinking about sending a card.

Be sure to also check out the newly relaunched workingfortheman.com.

I recently wrote on my 52projects.com site about witnessing a feat of feats: Author and artist Lauren Redniss signed over 7,000 title pages of her new book Century Girl. So yes, the signing of the pages — that was most certainly a feat of feats. But the book, it truly matches the magnitude of Lauren’s page upon page (upon page) signing effort. Century Girl — a “visual biography” — is a work of art that tells the story of a remarkable woman, Doris Eaton Travis, the last living star of the Ziegfeld Follies. It is visually stunning — the colors and art/photos/clippings and presentation make the cleverly inked biographical words LIVE on the page. And though longevity is one of the book’s hooks (”100 years in the life…”) it is really about LIVING life, really, truly living life. It’s an inspiring book on many levels: Doris Eaton Travis’ story inspires you to want to live life to the fullest, and Redniss’ creative, beautiful presentation inspires you to want to tell stories in amazing ways, whether it’s through words or photos or paintings or music or poems or all of it together. So the book is definitely worth checking out. Higly recommended.

Samiul Haque Noor, of Sammy’s Halal at 73rd and Broadway in Queens, is the winner of the 2006 Vendy Awards!

Runner-up for the second year in a row was the Thiru “Dosa Man” Kumar, who operates at Washington Square Park South at Sullivan Street.

And let’s not forget the other two finalists: The Vendley Brothers’ (Jesse, Brian and David) “Calexico” operating at Wooster and Prince Streets, and Piedad “the Arepa Lady” Cano at 79th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. They represent the tastiest of the thousands of vendors that add character, falafel and one New York story after another to our streets. The event was a fundraiser for the Street Vendor Project (SVP), which advocates on behalf of vendors.

All the finalists were there serving food, and all the food was delicious. Reverend Billy gave a rousing speech just before the winner was crowned, and his enthusiasm and energy was indicitive of the entire event as a whole.

You can see some pictures from the evening here. Be sure to view the picture of SMITH’s one and only Larry Smith — I’m thinking his hunt for the perfect myspace photo is over.

* “Vendelujah” coined by Reverend Billy.

I recently posted about the Vendy Awards coming up this Oct. 22. Wanted to post this video that documents what a vendor goes through as she tries to legally set up shop on the streets of NYC. The person explaining the situation and introducing the vendor is Sean Basinski, who runs the Street Vendor Project.

Last year, one of the best events I went to was the Vendy Awards. I wrote about it here, and you can see pictures here. Good food, good cause, good time. The Street Vendor Project (SVP), which runs the event, will be presenting the 2006 Vendy Awards on Sunday, Oct. 22 at the St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery in NYC. Mark your calendars and buy your tickets now ($50 each). And also, take a moment to nominate your favorite vendor cart — the Vendy finalists are chosen based on your votes. The finalists will be at the event serving food, and there will also be an open bar. It really is just a great time, and it’s all for a good cause — The SVP is a legal project that advocates on behalf of street vendors. Read the excellent about us section at the SVP website to learn more about their good work. And be sure to also check out this article in the New York Times about the upcoming event and NYC street vendors.

Then you’ll be very happy to know of this resource: Midtown Lunch. The site features reviews of lunchtime eatery options in Manhattan’s Midtown area, and it’s an invaluable resource. For those who work in the area, like I unfortunately do, no explanation is needed as to why this site is so necessary, but for those who are lucky enough to be able to grab lunch elsewhere, I’ll sum it up: $9 subpar sandwiches at every soup/salad/sandwich joint, and a slew of restaurants of the overly priced/lowest quality variety. But clearly there are options, as Midtown Lunch is proving with its insightful reviews.

It’s a mega-project, indeed, but Dr. Melissa Hope Ditmore has done just that. She’s the editor of the Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, a years-in-the-making, one-of-a-kind reference work just published by Greenwood Press. The encyclopedia collects and details information about a complex subject matter that is often viewed or thought of in very narrow, cliche-ridden terms. It’s a serious work, but not just for academics. Here’s what Fleshbot had to say, and be sure to check out this interview with Ditmore that I posted at 52projects.com.

Like a lot of people, I often complain about not being able to find good Mexican food in New York. So I was really glad to find out about this new book, Nueva York, by Carolina Gonzalez and Seth Kugel. In an interview by Dan Avery in Time Out New York, Gonzalez talks about her new book and adresses the issue of why people complain about not being able to find good Mexican food in NYC: “Because they’re expecting Tex-Mex. But New York’s Mexican immigrants come from Puebla, which has its own cuisine and culture. They make cemitas, which are eggy, sesame-seed rolls filled with beef, avocados, chipotles — everything you want in a sandwich. Yes, it’s true you can’t find a good burrito here. So stop looking for the damn burrito and start eating all these other great things you can find.” Enough said, point taken, and I am now on the hunt for cemitas!

I just posted an interview with Julie Blattberg over at 52projects.com. She’s the author of the new book Backstage with Beth and Trina. What’s really fun about this book is that it features a format from the tomes of our youth — scratch-and-sniff scents. But instead of strawberry and banana, there’s beer, leather and latex. Beth and Trina are rocker chicks, after all, determined to get backstage and, well, party with the band. Read the interview here, and check out the book.