For cartoonists, getting published in The New Yorker is quite an achievement, but even the tried-and-true among them aren’t immune to rejection.  They loved you last week, but this week you’re “too lowbrow”?  It stings.  Matthew Diffee, who managed to sneak into The New Yorker between rejections, compiles the cast-aside submissions of well-known cartoonists in The Best of the Rejection Collection: 293 Cartoons that Were Too Dumb, Too Dark, or Too Naughty for The New Yorker.  Join him and several other rejectees as they celebrate the book and the agony of defeat on Thursday, January 12th at Manhattan’s Strand Books.

It’s that time of year again—time to break out the tinsel and the holiday sweaters and, of course, the cookies! Yesterday was the Workman holiday party, and we really pulled out the stops. In addition to gifts under the tree, a rockin’ holiday band, and a record-breaking dance number (more details soon…!), the party also saw the return of a favorite holiday tradition: the annual Workman cookie swap.

A very small sampling of the many desserts at the party

What is a cookie swap, you ask? It’s just that: a swapping of cookies. Partygoers whipped up a batch of their favorite cookies—often, you probably won’t be surprised to learn, out of a Workman cookbook—and then laid them out for display. Then everyone who brought in baked goods could put together a sampler of all the other cookies they wanted to take home. And even those of us who didn’t make anything were allowed to try a few—you know, in the generous holiday spirit and all.

This year the edible offerings were as great as ever, with cookies running the gamut from peanut butter thumbprints to chocolate whoopie pies. Among the many highlights were treats from two of our favorite cookie books: Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunch Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich and Lauren Chattman’s Cookie Swap! Below, check out (on the left) some Snickerdoodles from Chewy Gooey and (right) some Chocolate Peppermint Dirt Cookies from Cookie Swap!, lovingly baked by Workman employees.

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Gearing up for your own holiday party? Whip up a plate of delicious ginger cookies from Artisan’s spectacular Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy and you’re sure to wow all the holiday revelers you know; the recipe’s below. (And keep scrolling for a few choice shots from the party!)

Partygoers mingle and jingle.

Red-and-green peanut butter thumbprints (!!)

The Reprints---Nancy (at the back on the spoons), Erin, Liz, Bob, David, Jeanne, and Mike (below)---rock out.

No keyboard? There's an app for that.

Donated gifts under the tree---and Cheryl and Griffith Day of "The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook" on top!

Happy holidays, from our family to yours!
—Avery

Now that Thanksgiving’s over and the family has scattered  (at least for now), there’s a good chance they somehow manage not to feel so far away. Between FaceTime, Skype, email, and other modern modes of conversation, it’s fairly likely you’re not missing a beat — either you’re texting them or, more likely, they’re texting you. So, in celebration of this in-between holiday time and the When Parents Text blog’s 1^st year anniversary (a holiday in itself!), we present you with this lovely video:

Hey, visitors to and residents of New York City! What if I told you that I can get your beautiful mug on TV sets all across the nation? And what if I told you that not only would your face would be adorned with a sweet fake mustache, but that you’d be helping to set a world record?

It’s true! This Thursday, November 10, join Dan Rollman and Corey Henderson, authors of The RecordSetter Book of World Records, plus dozens of other RecordSetters as they set the world record for Most People Wearing a Fake Mustache While Watching the Live Broadcast of a Morning Show. Aspiring RecordSetters should show up at 7 a.m. at the corner of 44th Street and Broadway, outside the set of Good Morning America. We’ll position ourselves behind the big glass windows so people all across America can watch as we make history.

What do you need to participate? Just yourself, a fake mustache, and a camera-grabbing orange T-shirt—so the folks at home are sure to see you. No orange shirt? Just show up and we can provide one. And there’s no need to invest in a fancy ‘stache, either: An eyeliner pencil or even a (non-toxic!) marker can get the job done.

The RecordSetter's toolkit

For inspiration, I offer this related record: Most People Wearing Fake Mustaches in a Book.

Check out lots more World Records at the RecordSetter website, where you can brag about records you’ve set and find others that are just begging to be broken. And follow @RecordSetter on Twitter for up-to-date record-setting info. See you bright and early on Thursday!

Have you ever locked eyes with a handsome stranger while pushing your cart through the produce aisle, but been unable to think of something charming to say? Have you ever ridden next to someone cute on the subway, only to watch her get off at her stop before you could pluck up the courage to ask her name? Have you ever had a moment, but missed the connection?

Join us at the launch party for Brooklyn artist Sophie Blackall’s new book, Missed Connections. Sophie will discuss her art and the inspiration behind the book, and then audience members will be invited to share their own missed connections stories. You can visit WORD’s website for more information, and RSVP on Facebook.

When: Thursday, October 6, at 7 PM
Where: WORD Bookstore: 126 Franklin Street in Brooklyn, NY

Plus: Feeling inspired by Sophie’s project? Share your missed connection story with Time Out New York and enter for a chance to win an original signed illustration by Sophie Blackall—an illustration of your story! The winner will also receive a copy of the book, as will two runners-up. Contest ends today, October 5!!

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Brooklyn artist Sophie Blackall found inspiration among stories of lost opportunities when she discovered the Missed Connections section on Craigslist. Enthralled by the idea of strangers seeking out strangers based solely on a single shared moment, she decided to illustrate her favorite entries, compiling her beautiful watercolors first on her popular blog and now in a wonderful book, Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found.

What do you suppose the people below have in common…besides the fact that they’re attractive actors and actresses?

If you guessed, “THEY’RE GOING TO BE IN THE FORTHCOMING MOVIE WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING!!!” …you are exactly right!

Last week Heidi Murkoff herself came into the office for the official celebration—10 years of What to Expect When You’re Expecting on the New York Times best-seller list! That’s 520 weeks (13 gestation periods!) for all you math geniuses. We had ice cream, champagne, and toasted the success (past, present, and future) of the ever popular bible for parents-to-be. Heidi has helped over fourteen million women get through the unknown, sometimes scary, but always exciting, territory of pregnancy. 

While she was here, Heidi regaled us with tales from the set. Much like Love Actually and Valentine’s Day (you saw that, right?), the movie will be a compilation of intersecting stories about… well, you can probably guess. Though Heidi couldn’t reveal who will be pregnant with whose baby, she was excited about the film’s star-studded cast.  We anticipate that the stork will deliver What to Expect just in time for Mother’s Day 2012!

This weekend, champagne corks popped and wedding bells chimed—around the world, to be sure, but they were especially loud here in the state of New York, where the Marriage Equality Act officially went into effect and same-sex marriage became legal. Hundreds of couples flocked to their local marriage bureaus to tie the knot in front of family, friends, and the whole world.

Emily and Nathan share the love.

Some of us Workmanites were lucky enough to be right in the middle of the action on Sunday, when we headed down to the City Clerk’s Office in Manhattan and joined in the festivities. Last week we wrapped up copies of Steven Petrow’s Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners in true wedding-gift style. Then on Sunday morning we donned our tissue-paper boutonnieres and met up outside the government building to greet the revelers.

What we found was spectacular! There was a real spirit of celebration and camaraderie in the air as people lined the sidewalks to cheer the happy couples emerging from the City Clerk’s Office with marriage licenses in tow. People hugged and took lots of pictures, and there was music coming from everywhere. We even ran into NY State Senator Tom Duane, the lead sponsor of same-sex legislation in New York. He was clearly proud to be there amongst the people for whose rights he had been fighting for so long—especially because the law has a direct effect on his own life: Joked his partner Louis Webre, “We had an 18-and-a-half-year engagement!”

Senator Tom Duane and his partner Louis Webre.

Couples, family, and friends wait outside the Marriage Bureau.

One of my personal favorite parts of the day was when two women got married under a rainbow-colored chuppah. After they were officially married by the state, they came out to the park and were married by a rabbi. Then much singing and dancing ensued, and their kids got piggy-backed all over the place. I had never been to a Jewish wedding before, and now I can say that not only have I been to one, but that the ceremony was performed on the streets of New York!

Maggie gets REALLY into the celebrations. (No, she didn't actually get married.)

So fun was had by all, as they say, not least by those who got married. We all had a great time congratulating the newlyweds and handing out wedding gifts—such a great time, in fact, that as you read this blog post, we’re there doing it all over again! Feel free to stop by and say hello this Monday morning, and grab a copy of Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners while you’re at it. Plus check back later for more photos and maybe even some video of the happy scene here in Manhattan.

The gang, with books.

AND! If all this talk of marriage has you worrying about your own love life, be sure to watch Steven Petrow’s latest video on 365Gay.com, where he tells us once and for all if it’s really that big of a deal to lie on your online dating profile (Hint: Yes!).

As you’re probably aware, last month New York state passed the Marriage Equality Act, legalizing same-sex marriage for the entire state! The law goes into effect this Sunday July 24, when thousands of New York couples will flock to their local city marriage bureaus and make their unions official. In fact, so many people are expected to turn up at the City Clerk’s Office here in NYC that the city has set the cap at 764 marriages (divided amongst the five boroughs). Couples—gay and straight—who want to get married on this special Sunday had until today at noon to enter their names in a lottery, and the lucky chosen ones will be notified on Friday afternoon. Can you imagine planning a wedding in just 48 hours?! It’ll be stressful but undoubtedly worth it, especially for those people who have waited years to see their dream become a reality.

We here at Workman are so excited about this weekend’s nuptials that we’ve decided to share a little wedding gift with the happy couples. On Sunday and Monday, a team of intrepid assistants and interns (myself included) will take up posts outside the City Clerk’s Office in Manhattan and hand out copies of Steven Petrow’s Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners—not just to the brides and grooms, but to their friends and family, gay and otherwise, who could likely benefit from a little guidance on this special day and at gay weddings in the future.

Liz adds some wedding flair: a curly ribbon!

After all, “traditional” weddings are steeped in old rituals, but how does the game change when there are two brides or two grooms? Who pays for the rings? How do you introduce two men who are married—as partners? as husbands? What happens to the conventional mother-of-the-bride role when there are two brides, each with her own (potentially domineering) mother? It’s a new and exciting world out there, but it also leaves a lot of questions, all of which are answered in Steven Petrow’s definitive guide to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) life.

Maggie lends Josh a helping finger.

Will you be goin’ to the chapel/government building this weekend to get your marriage on, or even just to enjoy the festivities? Let us know in the comments! And if you’re in Manhattan, be sure to come say hey—we’ll be the ones snapping pics and jumping for joy (oh, and handing out copies of the book).

Nothing says "wedding" like BOOKS.

Want to know more? Check out this radio interview with Steven Petrow on The Brian Lehrer Show (click the link or just stream the interview below), where Steven not only covers the logistics of this weekend’s historic wedding event, but answers lots of caller questions about other aspects of modern life for LGBT folks and the people who love them.

The lottery to get married this weekend in New York City may be closed, but Sunday’s weddings are just the first of many more to come!

The ABCs of summer may really be more like the BBQs and Ts, because that’s all you need on a hot day like today: your coolest, comfiest T-shirt and a delicious meal (carnivorous or otherwise) fresh off the grill. Rob, a Workman sales rep in the UK, and his daughter Flossie know the importance of those two hot-weather staples—and they even know how to put their own spin on the old classics.

While we here in the States were celebrating Independence Day, our friends across the pond were ringing in the summer at Grillstock, a celebration of all things barbecue. Flossie, 14, was game to help her dad sell some of Steven Raichlen‘s spectacular grilling books—that is until she saw the uniform. The Raichlen shirt was cool, with a hot slogan to match (“Hot enough for you?”), but it was also way too big. And did she really have to wear the same thing as her dad?!

Rob, flanked by BBQ books, models his Raichlen T-shirt—just right for a dad, but for a young T trendsetter? Not so much.

So like any fashion-forward T-shirt reclaimer, Flossie busted out her craft scissors and her copy of Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-Shirt and revamped the plain black T into a smokin’ fashion statement!

Flossie shows off her refashioning skillz.

We’ve never seen Generation T and The Barbecue! Bible shelved together, but thanks to Flossie and Rob, we can see how these two books make the perfect summer pair.

How cool is this?! The awesome librarians at Ida Rupp Public Library in Port Clinton, Ohio threw a “Create Your Own Papertoy Monsters” event in June that brought in a total of about 30 local,  glue-stick-wielding kids. According to Jennifer Buch (Ida Rupp’s Youth Services Librarian and monster mastermind of the event) many, many new friends fiends were made that day and everyone had loads of fun.

Eeny, Meeny, Miny...Monster!

Just punch out the templates and glue the tabs together!

Fasten your seatbelts, folks, The Blob is about to come to life!

We at Workman couldn’t be happier to welcome these new little monsters into the world! Rawr! The monsters will be displayed at the library until the end of July, when their skillful creators can collect them and take them to their new monster homes.

Cover Monster Icy Huggy is flanked by OctoPup, Hoorgue, and The Gloomy Pack.

The event was so much fun and such a success that Ida Rupp Public Library will have another Papertoy Monsters event this August – which means Port Clinton, OH will be overrun with cute little monsters! Watch out, Ohio, you’ll have to start installing “Monster Crossing” roadsigns!

Halloweeny leads the Papertoy Monster parade (along with a very literary giraffe!).

For more information on Ida Rupp Public Library’s upcoming events, including the August Papertoy Monsters event, visit Ida Rupp’s website and/or visit the Ida Rupp Public Library Facebook page. And for more news and the always-entertaining monster pics, visit the Papertoy Monsters tumblr page and “like” the Papertoy Monsters Facebook page.