Advance Notice. The Grilled Cheese Invitational.

It's back! Celebrate Grilled Cheese Month this April with the ever-indulgent and ever-wonderful 2nd 8th (??) Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational happening April 23rd.

Gorge on that perfection which is known as the grilled cheese, in all kinds of versions, nicely split up into four categories: the classic Love, American Style; the any bread-butter-cheese Missionary; the anything goes Kama Sutra, and the all-dessert Honey Pot. And in between those sumptuous cheesy bites, check out costume contests, cheese-calling competitions and other shenanigans. And just like last year, you can even sign up to be a judge (just $5 more on the admission price).

Set the date now: Tickets are only $12 ($15 at the door), which includes free samples from the sponsors. Happy cheesin'!

The Grilled Cheese Invitational is occurring April 23rd on April 23rd at the at Los Angeles Center Studios, located at 1201 W. Fifth St. in downtown.

-- Chau Tu

Do It. Help Belle and Sebastian write about love (and have them write about you!).

Scottish indie-twee-pop band Belle and Sebastian are pretty well-versed in the language of love. They even appropriately named their latest album Belle and Sebastian Write About Love. But now they're turning the tables on their fans.

In possibly the coolest idea for a contest in a while, the band is asking their fans to submit 300 words about love. It can be anything about love -- who, what, when, how, etc. Then, using a code found inside all physical copies of Write About Love, you can use those 300 words to enter a contest to have B&S frontman Stuart Murdoch (a love legend, as you may have it) come to your hometown, hang out with you for an afternoon, and then write a song about you to be released on a future B&S 7" to be released later in the year. You can have a song written about you! By a well-known rockstar! He'll hang out with you too!

So get on to writing those love words already! And trust me, getting the physical copy of the album is totally worth it too -- not only can you enter this awesome contest, but the music is pretty excellent as well (the title track just happens to feature the cutest cameo by Carey Mulligan...yes, that one).

Get more details on the contest here. Good luck!

-- Chau Tu

Do It. Submit a video to the Guggenheim's YouTube Play.

There's no doubt about it--YouTube has changed the world. It's changed the way we use the internet, the way we interact visually, the way we live our lives. In the simplest terms, it's done all this by having given everyone the ability to be a filmmaker, for better or worse.

But the Guggenheim Museum is thinking for the better. Inspired by the fact that YouTube allows for creativity and creation regardless of budget, background, experience, etc., the museum is presenting "YouTube Play," a global online initiative in search of the most innovative and original videos out there. They're looking for what's next in the online video world, and what kinds of creative opportunities the rise of YouTube has brought to this generation.

So let's show them what you've got! Got a creative video from the past two years? Be it a music video, narrative work, animation, documentary--anything original--you can submit it now to youtube.com/play. From there, 200 videos will be selected to go up for judging by a select group of experts, then pared down to 20 to be shown at a special event in October. But hurry--you've only got until July 31st to submit your video. Can't wait to see the submissions!

-- Chau Tu

Do It. Win 75 Penguin books.

The same company that brought us so many favorites as "On Beauty," "The Tao of Pooh," "Angle of Repose," and "Tortilla Curtin," (or maybe those are just my favorites) along with "The Joy Luck Club," "Three Cups of Tea," and "Eat, Pray, Love" is giving away 12 sets of 75 books in celebration of their 75th anniversary.

Contestants are asked to write a 250 word essay (a little more than the length of this post) about why a Penguin book of their choosing is their favorite, and the winner will be chosen by July 12.

The deadline is June 25, but it feels like it would take that long to narrow down the choices of favorite books, and then summarize in one short paragraph why that book is your favorite.

75 free books?! Count me in.

-- Lauren Williams