April is quickly drawing to a close, prompting us all to say old woman-esque things like, “Where does the time go?” and, “You call this spring?!”

As always, I’ve been busy squirreling away the best things I’ve read, heard or seen to share with you. Here are my top picks for the month. Make yourself a big green juice, dig in, and enjoy!

I loved this article on native advertising’s brokenness… And how to fix it.

Fascinating reading: Book experts weigh in on the publishing industry’s revolution. There’s certainly a big shift going on…

“It’s an enormous joke on us writers: Collectively, we’re an almost comically introverted bunch; yet in order to find readers, we’re compelled to morph into crack marketers and self-promoters.”

Flights of Fancy: How To Have Your Own Party In The Sky by Ms Veronica Varlow. Planes can be fun, you know!

7 Reasons Kale Is the New Beef. Get yo’ kale on!

Molly wrote about getting an abortion at age 20 and it’s extremely good stuff.

Tablet Hotels made a little guide to New Zealand! (Kat and Shauna, take note! I can’t wait to take them there in November!)

Leo wrote about how to get your family on-board with life changes.

John Cleese on creativity.

Louis CK on platform and recognition: “There’s people that say: “It’s not fair. You have all that stuff.” I wasn’t born with it. It was a horrible process to get to this. It took me my whole life…”

This is a brilliant way for bloggers to use images legally!

There are some very cute (and consistent!) narrative links between Sex and The City and The Carrie Diaries. Here they are!

I really enjoyed this article on Girls — and even if you don’t watch the show, this piece has some really good and poignant things to say about how our generation was raised by the internet and all the things that come with that. Thanks to Janne for sending it on to me!

Jen on why working from home wins. I mean, obviously.

One of the most magical women I know, Sera Beak, wrote about getting the spiritual wind knocked out of her. And her new book comes out soon. YAY!

Ricky Gervais Looks Into the Future (and Sees Robotic Monkey Butlers)…

Derek premiered earlier this year on Channel 4 in the U.K., and will soon be available for streaming on Netflix. Gervais sealed the deal with the on-demand video site after sending an email to chief content officer Ted Sarandos that said, “Netflix is the future. I want to do something.” Sarandos quickly replied, “Anything you want.”

I’m very excited about Betsey Johnson’s reality show. Here’s a minute-long trailer!

Happy ending massages for women? Yep, they exist…

Sarah Wilson asked me to contribute to this post on best productivity tips.

Too cool: 17 kickass vintage photos of women with tattoos.

Sally Hope came to The Blogcademy in L.A. and I instantly connected with her. She is badass, and I think you’ll like her too… Especially when you read this piece. Apparently I’m dauntingly positive and optimistic… Know what I say to that? Fuck off.

This story about people coming together in the aftermath of the Boston bombings gave me goosebumps.

Get back to your astrological awesome!

Any interest in seeing a James St James chola makeover? Oh, who could say no to that?!

How a First-Time Author Got a 7-Figure Book Deal, c/o Tim Ferriss (of course).

Rabbit wrote, Aren’t We All Jennifer Aniston?

In part, there is a feminist thirst for Role Models because we want to see ourselves making it. As women we want to see ourselves represented. But we then ask that our female celebrities speak for all of us and here they lose autonomy. They become Jennifer Aniston, who is the spokesperson for a brand of bottled water. To be a Role Model, too often, is to be unallowed to fuck up, especially if you have contracts with Neutrogena and L’oreal.

Writing for page views is a soul-killer.

Those of you who have been reading since the beginning might remember that I am in love with Rita Konig! Her apartment is so cute.

If you have not yet ripped into your spring cleaning, here are 9 spring cleaning hacks to make your apartment livable again. On a similar note, here’s the complete guide to selling your unwanted crap for money (hooray!), and how to spring clean your Mac.

Not deep, but still funny: 27 life lessons I learned from rap and hip-hop.

3 Articles That Crafted My Perception Of Exceptional Magazine Writing from Thought Catalog. Loved this. The first article she mentioned, about Ashley Olsen, I remember reading at the time, and it’s superb. The third one, on India Syndrome — where people from the West visit India and go mad — is completely fascinating.

After reading about India Syndrome, I found this piece on how transcendental meditation is the new status symbol. The New York Times wrote about David Lynch as a transcendental meditation guru a couple of months ago.

Fast Company did a massive piece on how Jenna Lyons has taken J.Crew from ugly duckling to fashion arbiter!

The Cut wrote about public dieting by way of MyFitnessPal and their ilk. Thoughts?

I absolutely LOVED this piece about a girl learning about erotica through making sexy chocolates. So well-written. Love!

Here are some lessons from the blogging elite. It’s interesting, all of these people use their blogs to serve a different purpose, and have different challenges. Worth a watch.

Uh-oh! 5 ways your brain is tricking you into being miserable! Don’t let it trip you up!

It’s ridiculous to imagine the roles reversed — there aren’t any sad ballads about people snowboarding.

News is bad for your health. Yup. “It leads to fear and aggression, and hinders your creativity and ability to think deeply. The solution? Stop consuming it altogether.” And that’s coming from The Guardian!

Here are 11 perfect Parisian picnic spots. I’ll be bookmarking this for future use!

Thomas Keller says passion shouldn’t drive you.

If you’re releasing a book, you should definitely consider creating a blogger’s kit to help bloggers share the information around.

How does Kris Carr stay happy and healthy when she travels? Watch this video to find out!

Self-publishing is the future, and it’s great for writers!

Advice for babes on the dating scene: try telling the truth. The 10 truth skills listed in the sidebar are brilliant and applicable for everyone.

Here are some hotels that were once abandoned castles!

Eeeesh. Some of these surprised me: brands you didn’t know were owned by giant corporations.

Here are David Ogilvy’s ten writing tips.

Chris Guillebeau wrote some product launch lessons: bloggers, take note.

Sweet Yaz interviewed me on her cute blog! Madlibs style!

Have a lovely weekend,