The early days of April always make me think about my grandfather. His birthday was April 2 and he loved jokes, especially practical jokes. I’m convinced that it was his influence that inspired me to attempt to fool my grandmother on every report card day. Without fail, I’d always try to convince her I’d gotten a bad grade in a subject like math. She only fell for it once, but I considered it a big triumph.

In honor of my grandfather, I’m highlighting the lighter side of things today. The reads here are informative and skew towards humor.

• The Urban Muse 10 Things You Should NOT Ask a Freelancer If you only read one story posted here, you should read this one. It will have you laughing and groaning with recognition.

• Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog Punchlines: What Marketing Can Learn from Comedy

• The Fabulous Geezer Sisters Ruth Pennebaker’s Crisis is My Middle Name

• On the money side of funny, I recommend The Denver Egoist’s Brands + April Fool’s 2010

• While laughter is a gift, there’s no denying that jokes can backfire. Here’s the story of a Denver-based company that contacted a movie studio to get permission for an April Fools’ Day jest. It horribly backfired, leading the company to place a black plastic bag over its sign yesterday. But not to worry, there’s an uplifting update posted today.

Your turn. Any good, light-hearted reads from this week? Any articles or blog posts you’d like to share with your fellow readers here? Please share in the comments.