Clear your schedule later this week so you can get first dibs at Chronicle Books' Summer Warehouse Sale, which runs this Thursday through Saturday. Hundreds of sweet titles by the beloved SF-based publisher will be 65% off, and you'll get a free gift with purchase. more ›

This adorable holiday video illustrates just how incomparably fun, cool, and clever locally-based publishing gem, Chronicle Books, is. It also goes to show that the Chronicle staff is full of some darn good-looking and snappy dressers. more ›

The sexy cats over at ValleyWag have the fresh MySpace office shots that you want. Or not. more ›

Yowza, Chronicle Books! All you need to know about this book is right there in the graphic. Didn't we promise this book to you guys last month too? more ›

Oooh, we love giving stuff away -- and this one's for the dedicated craftster/stoner crowd -- the good folks at the hip DIY local publisher Chronicle Books want to teach you how to build your own bong. Duuuuuuuude! more ›

Number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 55. more ›

Whether you're expecting a tax refund or if you had to cough up a pocket-full of dough to the IRS, we've compiled a list of things to do in the city on a budget, all for the cost of a movie – or less! more ›

Tartine Bakery is the perfect illustration of the Yogi Berra aphorism: nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded. We live walking distance from the 18th and guerrero shop, yet we shun the place many a week-end morning, not feeling up to standing in that long line, no matter how good the frangipane croissant or the banana cream pie. (Also, we slightly resent them for creating a smaller portion of the yummy bread pudding topped with seasonal fruits, instead of the earlier one-size-fits-all. We know have pang of guilts ordering the large one, the only one we ever want, but now made unreasonable by the smaller one). more ›

We're sure you're familiar with the brooding dark haired girl known as Emily the Strange. Clothing, shoes, comic books, calendars, CD's, you name it, Emily's done it. And Sfist is proud to call Emily a native to the Bay Area. Rob Reger and an illustrator for Emily, Buzz Parker, will be signing books at Things From Another World this Saturday at their Metreon location in San Francisco, be sure to go and get something signed. In case you don't already have an Emily book to bring, Chronicle Books has offered free books and journals to three lucky SFist readers. more ›

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells: 58 more ›

Photographing people shouldn't be intimidating for the photographer -- or the model. San Francisco based photographer Patrick Roddie explains how to put your subjects at ease, find the best light and come away with non-posed, expressive portraits. His recent book, , showcases Roddie's talents through eight years of photos taken of the Burning Man festival.

SFist interviews artist Jill Bliss, founder of blissen.com more ›

And a Gong xi fa cai and/or Gong hay fat choi, depending on your dialect, to you! It's Chinese New Year's! Lunch is on your Asian-American friends, who should be flush with red envelope cash today. It's the year of the rooster on the 12-year Chinese lunar calendar, and people born either this year or who are turning multiples of 12 are supposedly independent, hardworking, and aren't afraid to tell you about it (roosters crow in all languages, we suppose). Along with the ringing-in of lunar calendar year 4027 comes the usual spate of well-meaning celebration of cultural difference yet sometimes vaguely-Orientalist news coverage has begun as well -- those of you trying to do business in Asia may have some wacky hijinks trying to get in touch with folks who've gone home for the holidays! For those of you who are less inclined to set off firecrackers or shake down the elderly for oranges, Jeff Yang gives some practical suggestions on celebrating Chinese New Year in a more modern way. The annual Chinatown parade not this weekend but next, on the 19th. This weekend, though, is the also-beloved Miss Chinatown USA Pageant, at the Palace of Fine Arts. more ›