We brought this Washington Post article by Gene Weingarten, about violin virtuoso Joshua Bell busking unsuccessfully in a DC subway, to your attention before. And now we're doing it again, because it won a Pulitzer for feature writing. Excerpt follows.

It's hard out there for a young writer, especially if you're blogging all up on the HuffPo! Jessica Wakeman wasn't sure how to make her writerly dreams come true, so with adorable naivete, she asked Vanessa Grigoriadis, the successful but occasionally-mocked writer of Rolling Stone articles, Britney meltdown-profiles, and creative-underclass blogger chronicling. Vanessa's response? "You need a strategy."

Sloane Crosley: the 29-year-old publishing publicist is everywhere these days, pending the release of her first book of essays, I Was Told There'd Be Cake. (It's been this way ever since young Leon Neyfakh at the Observer profile-swooned over her "shiny hair.") Does she use her much-lauded publicist superpowers on herself? However, we have a feeling that Sloane knows there might be haters out in that catty little media world of hers... and thusly attempts to takes herself down a peg in her author bio for her essay in Esquire, which is a long, possibly over-cute rumination on why she ended her book the way she did.

Organizers and managers of an "international prostitution ring" called the Emperor's Club VIP are now in custody. They charged $1,000 to $5,500 for the ladies' services, and denoted how much the gals were worth by giving a one-to-seven diamond rating on their website. That's a lot of carats! Here's their website, offering "most preferred international club for those accustomed to excellence. We offer a convenient variety of services globally." Oh, wait, it's been disabled. [WNBC] Oh, wait, but semi-celebs may have offered their services there...

Charla Krupp recently published How Not to Look Old, which was mentioned in Time magazine's article, "How Not to Look Old on the Job." They didn't mention she was married to Richard Zoglin, says Portfolio. But some say this is not a big deal?

Well, first of all: try posting it on the internets, under your real name, on the Cosmo website! Have we learned nothing about the perils of dateblogging? For what it's worth, our favorite Cosmogirl, recent Smith grad Leo, has tried everything. Including consulting Cosmo's sex articles for advice! (Noooo, girl, those aren't real.) So just how bad was it? Details, plz!

Nineteen-year-old Max Gogarty (who just so happens to be the son of former Guardian travel writer Paul Gogarty) is free, white, and preparing to travelblog his way through Asia. Young Max is from London, in his gap year, and "spends his money on food, booze and skinny jeans, writes for Skins in his spare time. He's off to India and Thailand to have a good time, and you can join him in his weekly blog." Let's take a look at the single blogpost that prompted such furious commenter reactions that the Guardian actually closed the comments section.

"Seated in Teen Vogue's head office, at my desk and facing my new Mac, I suddenly wonder how I got here," 20-year-old Canadian actress Stacey Farber muses on her brand-new intern blog. She waits until the end of her long, rambling journal entry to answer said question: "PS. For those of you wondering, yes, I am also an actress on Degrassi: The Next Generation." We know how Teen Vogue loves to hire small-time television stars! But what does one wear to a Teen Vogue interview, and what does said internship entail?

We haven't checked in on young Cosmo web assistant Leo (Smith '07), in awhile. She's blogging about life as a Cosmogirl-in-Training; it's subtitled "one socially awkward girl attempts to transform into a sexy, social butterfly." Last time, we worried that her catty Hearst coworkers were brainwashing the sweet 22-year-old into becoming a typically snide, jaded young maglady. It's sort of working! Now she's wondering about "playing the field"—you know, dating a guy, but not exclusively. Is it "immoral"?

"There's a great quote in the latest Philip Roth book (Exit Ghost)," Mayor Bloomberg announced during his State of the City Address. "'I came to New York,' the character says, 'and in only hours, New York did what it does to people — awakened the possibilities. Hope breaks out.'" But actually, as City Room points out, the book is pretty much not hopeful at all after that point, with the character leaving the city "more or less defeated." When asked if Mayor Bloomberg had actually read the book, his press secretary said he had not, but luckily, "he's read enough books to recognize a metaphor when he hears one... The Old Man and the Sea is not just about an old man and the sea." Looks like we've been schooled! [NYT City Room]

Hey, kids! Still trying to make it in New York? Want to work in the fast-paced, exciting entertainment industry, for a "hip hop media mogul"? Are you "available and on call 24-7"? Got a recent pic of yourself ("for our files")? Then apply to be the personal assistant of P. Diddy! (Wait. Isn't it illegal to ask prospective employees to include a photo, unless they're an actor or model?) Anyway, Idolator hears that it's for a VH1 show. (As this job includes "coordinating business, social, and personal affairs," I'd just like to mention that I saw Mr. Diddy at an Eighth Avenue porn store several months ago. Don't ask.) Click for the memo!

One person who won't be hit by layoffs at the Chicago Sun-Times: Garry Steckles. The newspaper "consultant" is a restaurant owner in Saint Kitts, and spends as much time as he can on the beach, but "help[s] out" at the newspaper whenever he's needed. And he's just been promoted, so he's exempt from the job cuts. His secret? Steckles grew up with Editor-in-Chief Michael Cooke. [Chicago Reader]

Harvard students start small in experimenting with rapacious, vaguely illegal capitalism: making fake IDs! Listen, you can't blame the kid for trying. In a few years he'll be pulling stunts like this at some hedge fund and it'll all be totally legal, or at least protected by his future employer's kickass lawyers.

Do you ever wonder if that homeless guy in that MTA ad that says, "Give to the homeless. Just not here," is really homeless or is he some disheveled sad-looking old man playing the part? Turns out, the answer could be both. Welcome to the world of real-person modeling, where sad-looking old men are the next Giseles. In this week's (strangely alluring!) Times Style section, Bernice Yeung took a look at Ugly NY, a real-people modeling agency. Guess who's a model? Frightening concoction Amanda Lepore! A night technical director at Fox TV! A woman named Messy Stench and some really really ugly dudes. And guess where Ugly NY founder scouts for new talent? On the uptown-bound No. 1 train—the ugliest line in all of the transit system!

In our line of work, we're used to seeing tall black bearded ladyboy hustlers with long legs, big smiles and a penchant for self-promotion. But even in this hurlyburly rough and tumble world of free booze, those stupid VIP bracelet things that are a bitch to remove and burly doormen, Andre J stood out. His smile was the most radiant, his legs the longest and his ability to sell himself unparalleled. The first time we saw him, he was on a corner in Soho. New York's Amy LaRocca was all up in his shit. That led to his appearance in the Look Book, then the Look Book book. But the last time we saw him, he was working the door at some Save Darfur benefit Lydia Hearst threw and also skipped. Imagine our pleasure when we saw his face in the Sunday Styles and we learned he had made it. It was indescribable!