What is a recent milestone that you’ve hit? What would you like to celebrate this week?
Sunny Side Updates with TBIN 🧠🍜 Week 26
Happy 6 months to The Brain is a Noodle! I definitely had to google this, but at half a year old, apparently, human babies sleep a lot:
At this age, babies typically sleep about 11 hours at night (many straight through) and take around two daily naps that add up to three to four hours, though it can vary.
This is also when the average baby can sit up.
What is the Medium publication version of a baby who finally sleeps through the night and can sometimes sit up?
Unsure.
Will I ever stop measuring elapsed time using the question “what can a human baby who has lived this duration of their life do?”
No. And you can’t stop me. 😂
Shortform Theme of the Week
This week’s shortform theme is: What is a recent milestone that you’ve hit? What would you like to celebrate? Whether big (like a baby learning how to sit, I suppose) or small (made a to-do list and checked off “make a to-do list”), milestones deserved to be honoured and celebrated. It helps spur us forward and keep the motivation running through the journey, whatever your destination is.
Submit your shortform piece (<150 words) now to share your thoughts!
This is just a guideline for inspiration! You may submit shortforms related to other concepts if other ideas come to you! :)
✍ April Essay/Creative Non-Fiction Prompt
We will now accept essay submissions that are fewer than 2500 words that fit with the monthly prompt!
As an avid podcast listener (and someone in the midst of launching one — what, wait, no, shh, you didn’t read that, it’s a secret!), I’m really interested in your creative non-fiction pieces on the topic of: podcasts!
Some questions to mull over:
- What kinds of podcasts are your favourite?
- Is there some commonality among all the podcasts you listen to?
- How has listening to podcasts changed your life?
This prompt is active from now (yes, now! ) until April 30th, 2021, 3pm EST.
The Brain is a Noodle*
*This is factually incorrect. Please absolutely do not go out and eat brains.
🍜 Piping Hot New(dle) Pieces of the Week
Challenge: *highlight* the ones you bookmarked/ read and make sure everyone gets highlighted at least once! ❤
🧠🍜 [1] Running by Matt Ray ‘As a boy, I was always Running, running, running From one place to another Red-hair trailing behind me’
🧠🍜 [2] Mistakes by Spirit ‘I fell asleep I woke up with a sense of maturity’
🧠🍜 [3] For Your Consideration by Adam Deitsch ‘I must say, I wasn’t expecting much that said, I didn’t make too big fuss. Checking my stats after a bit of a stay there appeared to be something else at play.’
🧠🍜 [4] Heat Rising by Hilda Carroll ‘The desire to fuse with you completely melding our bodies into sublime oneness.’
🧠🍜 [5] Partly cloudy girl by Jac Gautreau ‘She was a partly cloudy girl Fickle, skittish, Irresistible And she made me love the rain’
🧠🍜 [6] Connect 4: The Musical Lit Game by Jennifer McDougall ‘Remember the game Connect 4? Yes, the one you slide round discs into, strategically attempting to get a line of 4-in-a-row before your opponent catches on?’
🧠🍜 [7] Is Life But A Dream — A Prompt Response by Toya Qualls-Barnette ‘Dreams are the dreamer The two cannot be separated They give reason to our being Even when we can’t believe what we are seeing’
🧠🍜 [8] The Multiverse of Poetry by Adam Deitsch ‘they come in any form when poetry is born there are odes you’ll find prose’
🧠🍜 [9] My Response to Jennifer McDougall ’s Story ‘Connect 4: The Musical Lit Game’ by Michael Burg, MD ‘Relational, engaging, unique, enjoyable and more. All the good stuff in one small-sized package. (Notice I didn’t write ‘M!e!d!i!u!m’-sized.)’
🧠🍜 [10] All are fighting their own battles by Meenal Gupta ‘Many times, you get so much carried away with your own emotions and situations that you forget the impact of your words on others. You say things that may seem funny and normal to you, but what about the one who is dealing with that as a huge life issue?’
🧠🍜 [11] Written Blueprint by Spirit ‘writing is like DNA what it births is its own if no one’s saying it someone has to say it So we say it’
🧠🍜 [12] bound. by David Majister ‘even closing my eyes does not block you out’
🧠🍜 [13] What Are Doctors For? by Carlos Garbiras ‘He always aims with his unique jocular style at your jugular.’
🧠🍜 [14] And You’re Gone by Evan Wildstein ‘Well, you don’t say, and you don’t say maybe, much, but enough to let me know that you’re second-guessing.’
🧠🍜 [15] Waiting 等待 by Yan Huang ‘WAITING For people For appointments For transport For that one moment -’
🧠🍜 [16] Narc by Spirit ‘Okay so maybe I do have an inflated sense of self but we’re all dying this is all temporary’
🧠🍜 [17] We Can by Paola Perez ‘We start so small in a world so big Unable to walk or even to feed We learn our first words and take small steps Not knowing at all the path we are to take.’
🧠🍜 [18] An April fool by Jac Gautreau ‘Yes I am an April fool I am a sucker for the crocus I root hard for the tired grass As it peeks through the dirty snow’
🧠🍜 [19] The Photo by Bob Pepe ‘Seeing his photo sends my brain into overdrive Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Regret He is smiling at us in an almost mocking tone He is untouchable, he is infinite, he is at ease’
🧠🍜 [20] Your Story Only Ends After It’s Begun by Emily Wilcox ‘We all know how the story ends: Ext: everything is blackness, save for a tiny orb of light, gradually growing in size and intensity. DEATH strides onto stage.’
🧠🍜 [21] Dear Rejection by Sahil Patel ‘Dear Rejection, When first time I met you, I had a completely different reaction.’
🧠🍜 [22] There Once Was a Carlos and Lucy. En Garde! You Two :-) by Michael Burg, MD ‘In the story, Carlos starts with, “He always aims with his unique jocular style at your jugular.” Carlos is, of course, referring to me. Lucy then piled on in the comments with the highly inflammatory “HE DOES, doesn’t he :’)???” Carlos concluded, adding fuel to the fire, with “Totally does!”’
🧠🍜 [23] A year ago she wasn’t even born. by Adam Deitsch ‘Now she’s crawling, squawking, and even talking. Okay, not sentences, but she says a few words like mama and abba, and she’s very familiar with bye-bye and hi!’
🧠🍜 [24] When Amy’s Troll Meets Jupiter’s Orgasm by Jennifer McDougall ‘My “take” was a little less “good-natured poke” and more “chemical combination”…I hope you’ll play along, too!’
🧠🍜 [25] Adopted Food Cravings by Rochelle Silva ‘This dish- I mean poem- was inspired by a conversation I had with a dear friend of mine. She was telling me about how she enjoyed “kottu” at a Sri Lankan restaurant in Singapore.’
🧠🍜 [26] Not-Back-to-Normal-Yet by Carlos Garbiras ‘Peckish thoughts ‘
🧠🍜 [27] Handle With Care by Dana Sanford ‘Opuntia, commonly called prickly pear, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae.[1] Prickly pears are also known as tuna (fruit), sabra, nopal (paddle, plural nopales) from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit; or paddle cactus.’
🧠🍜 [28] A Book That Touched My Heart by Shaista Malik ‘A good book provides instant satisfaction, stirs our imaginations, and above all creates a rich experience. A worthy story has the ability to change our life’s trajectory.’
🧠🍜 [29] Suspended in the Moment by Tree Langdon ‘Sometimes an urgent need rises from beneath your skin.’
🧠🍜 [30] A Humorous Book by Dr. Preeti Singh ‘I read a book by the name of Mrs.Funny Bones. This book was written by Twinkle Khanna, an Indian Bollywood actress who has now turned into writing a column in the newspapers, she is also an interior designer and manufactures candles.’
🧠🍜 [31] No Que Sera Sera On Namibia’s Coast by Matt Ray ‘A cautionary poem about NOT accepting what life throws at you when sailing in Namibia’
🧠🍜 [32] Rage Against The Time Machine by Spirit ‘When smells had colors, and colors made you feel things. And those feelings made you feel things. When we were young enough to pretend our way into imaginary realities that were real. When we were young enough to dream.’
🧠🍜 [33] The Dissection by Courtenay S. Gray ‘I stick my fork into my plate like a Viking, Skewering my enemy with a surging hunger.’
🧠🍜 [34] What am I Watching Right Now? by Adam Deitsch ‘I’m a Marvel guy. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Both DC and Marvel have strengths and weaknesses.’
🧠🍜 [35] Hopeful tenets by Jac Gautreau ‘To find my place on the continuum In a world that markets oversharing I keep to myself I take my own bearings I celebrate my introversion’
🧠🍜 [36] Bentley by Bob Pepe ‘Bentley 110- pounds of pure love Needs nothing but a loving touch’
The Eggcademic Corner
🥓 Quick brEGGfast Bites
What I’m watching: Dicey Business
What I’m reading: Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
What I’m listening to: Coin (IU)
S🍳mething to chew over
🎊 Top 3 articles of the week
Celebrate with me!
😭 Flop 3 articles of the week
Give these a little love, will ya?
🧠🍜 Thank you to the Noodle Team!
challenge: pick 3 writers you haven’t met yet and get acquainted with their pieces!
New writers: Bob Pepe | Will Hull | Jason | Courtenay S. Gray
Sahil Patel | Meenal Gupta | Amy Lee Kite | Evan Wildstein | Hilda Carroll | Chloe Hill | Paola Perez | Matt Ray | Wolfie Bain | Dena Ogden | Tasneem Kagalwalla | Yan Huang | Tree Langdon | Stuart Englander | Jennifer McDougall | Aaron Kemp | Rachel Ramkaran (she/her) | LS | Lori Welch Brown | Nicole Jiang | Crystalclearcandace | Em Unravelling | Jupiter Grant | Elle Beau ❇︎ | Suman Sandhu | Adam Deitsch | Mia Z. Edwards | David Majister | JF | Zach Neuman | Chris Mooney-Singh | Toya Qualls-Barnette | Karen Lappa Haas | Alan Henley | Michelle Bonfils | Zach Klebaner | Anna | Deepshikha Bhagat | Carlos Garbiras | Katrina Bos | Lisa Bolin | Sohaib Roomi | The Dozen | Malik Bellamy | Olivia Th | Shaista Malik | Emily Wilcox | Brajendra | Eva Rotolo | Bhavna Narula | Shannon Hugman | Ryan DeJonghe | Ryan DeJonghe | Dennett | Haider Jamal Abbasi | Swagat Choudhury | Vivian | Mark Tulin | Arslan Mirza | Amber Carlson | Dawn | Whatsinanaim | Amy Pierovich | Pooja Rane | Carolyn Riker | Tally | Shivangi Patel | Giulia | ScienceDuuude | Rachael Ann Sand | Divina Grey | Sri Devi Om | Sarah Paris | DISHA GARG | Jen Kleinknecht | janny’s heart | Penofgold | Blank Voice | Kele Mogotsi | Jessie London | Indubala Kachhawa | Radhika Ghose | Mil H. | Zeno Faber | Maziar Ghaderi | Julia Appa | Campbell Christensen | Allison Gaines | Lori Lamothe | Tima Loku | Kim McKinney | Baye Amina | SOULutionMan, aka Yohanan Gregorius | Tom Fenske | Johannes Mudi | Kasun Ranasinghe | Just a Slytherin hissing | Dr. Fatima Imam | Ntathu Allen | Somsubhra Banerjee | Veronica Georgieva | Life is Amazing with Books and Writers | Dandy Lioness | Bola Kwame | Haider Jamal Abbasi | Michael Ranjitsingh | Telling You Something | Krupesh Raikar | Muda El Masry | Rusty Alderson | Jennifer S. | Dr. Preeti Singh | Punch Drunk Cola | Melissa Speed | Ntathu Allen | Denise G | Carolyn Hastings | Tej | Vijini Mallawaarachchi | Amy Marley | Jac Gautreau | Caroline de Braganza | Roz Warren | Melissa Bee | Pretheesh Presannan | Erivaldo Ricardo | Daniel A. Teo | Anuradha Wickramarachchi | Niru | Priyanka Mane | Em Hoccane | Synthia Satkuna, MA Candidate | Alexandra Forsyth | R. Rangan PhD | Sruthi Korlakunta | Connie Song | Fathiyah Zb | Not quite Steve Fisher | Amna Asif | Jacobo the First | Aimée Gramblin | A Fresh Pot of Coffee | Rebecca Stevens A. | Imad | James G Brennan | Mary Keating | Jay Avery | h.a wadi | Pablo Pereyra | Isaac | Jenine Bsharah Baines | Rochelle Silva | Jade-Ceres Violet D. Munoz | Ruchi Thalwal | Clare Almand | Dana Sanford | Naomi Leilani Acosta | Dr. Jackie Greenwood | Fathiyah Zb | Amna Asif | Not quite Steve Fisher
Ps, if any of these links are outdated, please leave a note to let me know!
🧠🍜 Join us at The Brain is a Noodle! 🧠🍜
Last but probably most important
Hop on the jumbo thread!
