Winning Similes and Metaphors.

Enjoy these examples from Sharp Objects, a dark novel by Gillian Flynn:

I fell asleep, accidentally and hard at nine o’clcok, woke to an angry sun at seven the next moring.

John’s face, despite a night of drinking and very little sleep, was like a petal.

My mother’s pigs were pricked with chemicals till they plumped and reddened like squirting cherries, till their legs couldn’t support their juicy girth.

Challenging Nonprofit Assumptions.

Mark Rovner of Sea Change Strategies has been called a "heretic" for challenging the status quo of the nonprofit world.

You decide if the fund-raising model of the past 50 years--direct mail--needs skewering.

The Nonprofit Technology Network,http://www.nten.org/taxonomy/term/960, features Rovner's latest "seven things everybody wants," which involve leveraging the internet for optimum engagement.

Quitting to Win.

The Dip: A little Book That Teaches You When To Quit (and When to Stick), a slim volume by Seth Godin, founder of Squidoo, argues that winners do, in fact, quit.

They just need to know when to throw in the proverbial towel.

In fact, winners, he says, quit fast, often and without guilt. And then they commit to conquering obstacles he identifies as Dips, Cul-de-Sacs and Cliffs.

Great, quick reading that will get you thinking and help you manuever the inevitable lulls in your career.

Hog Wild.

Celebrities Jeremy Irons, Lauren Hutton, Laurence Fishburne and Dennis Hopper--the iconic star of Easy Rider--are all members of the exclusive Guggenheim Motorcyle Club, founded by the museum's former director.

Less well-connected but no less complicated are the characters on FX's Sons of Anarchy, http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/#Nav/Homepage. The show features asphalt-peeling dialogue.

Glorious Language, Part 1.

Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the hit indie film Juno has a couple of uber-colorful phrases in the May 15 issue of Entertainment Weekly.

I quote them here for your inspiration:

* Laurel Canyon, that picturesque gash of a neighborhood I like to call "Hollywood's cleavage."
* A pickle the size of a Wiffle bat.
* Ah, reality TV: where opportunists delight in exposing opportunism!

Eat These Websites.

Point your browser to these websites and commence drooling.

http://www.smittenkitchen.com/: Because the photos have been dubbed "food porn."

http://www.thisiswhyyourefat.com/: Because "totchos" are a just one creative, caloric culprit of cellulite.

http://www.artisanalfoods.com/: Because Chinese black rice and California wild black sage honey sound noir-ly delish.

www.jerky.com: Because you secretly crave Slim Jims, but alligator jerky sounds sort of... dangerous. In a palatable way.

"After Watching That, I Feel Dirty."

That's what my pal Sherry said after the discouraging finale of the Celebrity Apprentice last night.

Our unsettling observations:

* There was an Insider/Outsider component. Joan Rivers is the ultimate insider.
* Annie Duke was composed while Joan was emotional. Seems we like our women unhinged.
* Annie was reasoned; Joan was reactionary. The audience roared for Joan's nasty put-downs of Annie.
* Annie, was the "invisisble" mother of 4, while Joan's daughter Melissa, was front-and-center with her fawning and freak antics.
* There was reverse ageism. Joan's stamina was repeatedly noted.
* There was more than a whiff of xenophobia as Joan's charity was positioned for Americans, while Annie's aids refugees.

So why does Sherry feel dirty? Why should we all?

Because Donald Trump declared Joan a "role model." And "honorable."

It is discouraging to see a female pioneer in the world of standup comedy diss another female pioneer in the male-dominated world of poker. Women are all too often still their own worst enemies.

More than dirty, I feel dejected.