What is your best/ worst roommate story?
Sunny Side Updates with TBIN Week 31!
It’s week 31 with TBIN and this week, I’ve been seeing a lot of great posts in response to shortform themes that are … quite long! This is telling me that the prompts are taking you far beyond the 150 words, though for some, the 150-word limit is helping with starting you off with something bite-sized.
So, I’m here to announce new changes to support all writers, whether you fall in the camp of More Thoughts to Share or Team Need Something Bite-Sized!
I will now accept prompt responses (whether weekly shortform prompts or daily poetry prompts) in any format, any length. If the prompt takes you further than a poem or a shortform, let’s support that! Be sure to indicate that you are responding to a prompt in your piece, particularly if you’ve taken a surprising direction with it :)
Non-prompt pieces remain restricted to “bite-sized” pieces. That means, if you’re not responding to a prompt and aiming to submit a piece, these should either be:
- shortform (<150 words)
- poem format
Clear as mud?
Here’s a flow chart:
Shortform of the Week
This week’s shortform theme is: Roommates. Do you love them? Do you hate them? Did you have weird ones? Because I had one who shaved his beard hairs straight into my toothbrush and sometimes, in quiet moments, I still randomly remember this horrendous fact 🤣
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! :)
✍ May Interview Challenge
Come join me in the monthly interview challenge! In this challenge, I’ll give you 5 reflection questions, 5 this-or-that choices and 5 “prompts” to promote your articles!
Excited to get to know you as writers and overall cool human beings!
This challenge is open from now until May 31, 2021.
🌠 Ongoing Adventure Fiction Series!
I’ve finally launched a project that my child self has always wanted to do: create a collaborative never-ending story with branch-offs into multiple different storylines!
I’m so excited to see what direction this story will take so please don’t be shy on submitting!
Here is chapter 1!
For the most recent chapters, search “#OngoingAdventure” below! (PC users, CTRL+F is your friend. Mac users, 🤷♀️, I’m going to guess it’s CMD+F?)
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] Procrastinate, Postpone But Create Videos by Dr. Preeti Singh ‘I don’t make, I cannot make, I procrastinate, I postpone making videos.’
🧠🍜 [2] Focus on Fitness by Brajendra Kumar ‘We want to be fit, fine, and healthy. If we are healthy, we feel more strong mentally and physically. Yoga and exercises make us active.’
🧠🍜 [3] Who Am I? The Down-Low On The Low-Down by Jennifer McDougall ‘Interviewer: Today we will be getting the muck on Medium writer Jennifer McDougall. Many of her pieces are penned from a satirical foundation and cover topics about the messy aspects of life from running and travel to sex and relationships.’
🧠🍜 [4] Write A Story by Jens ‘I like to write stories that I would read if I were to stumble upon them at the bookstore.’
🧠🍜 [5] It Was Time! by Shivangi Patel ‘I made a decision to leave my job during the pandemic and take a break from 9–5 so I can clear my head, get enough distance from the stress that I built up working all those years and find my way back to a peaceful life.’
🧠🍜 [6] #OngoingAdventure: The Strangers Outside by Anthony Jackson ‘After seeing your glowing recycling bin, you left your apartment. On the corridor there was a man, he seemed to be expecting you. His eyes turned from blue to red.’
🧠🍜 [7] Take a Short Break by Tree Langdon ‘Welcome to my place.’
🧠🍜 [8] In Favor Of Stupidity by Pretheesh Presannan ‘Do not suppress the pain — the pain of your own stupidity.’
🧠🍜 [9] Brain Dump #2 by Jen ‘I opened the book Flipping chapter-to-chapter Hooked on each word Grasping every page between my fingers — escaping my reality’
🧠🍜 [10] When Overwhelmed, a Friend May Be the Answer by Kim McKinney ‘Selling my house When the market is good, Will allow me to create the life Best for me now.’
🧠🍜 [11] A Small Thing by Courtenay S. Gray ‘What is a small thing? In the palm of your hand or the porthole of your soul.’
🧠🍜 [12] Find The Time To Love Yourself (Today) by Divina Grey ‘I have homework and laundry to do. I have exams to study for, I want to swim with my kids, and there’s grocery shopping to be done.’
🧠🍜 [13] Pastéis de Belém by Rachel Ramkaran (she/her) ‘It’s the nineteenth century and the understanding is: cleanliness is, indeed, next to godliness. Hence, nuns and monks are draped in crisp, neat cassocks, starched with egg whites and water.’
🧠🍜 [14] “Tarts and Crusts and Fruit, Oh My!” by Thalia Dunn ‘A poem for pies, buttery crusts, sugar and spice — this is the life!’
🧠🍜 [15] Apple Pie by Kyomi O'Connor ‘I learned to bake for you to make you happy’
🧠🍜 [16] Nibbles At Home by Will Hull ‘Savouring my treats From two different cultures’
🧠🍜 [17] #OngoingAdventure: Dress Up As A Pink Marshmallow by Jennifer McDougall ‘It had to mean something that the invitation had included a pink marshmallow. Why? What was the significance?’
🧠🍜 [18] Seasickness by Coco Joan ‘Is a disagreement between the visual and vestibular senses. Your eyes disagree with gravity, And the body concludes that You are Sick; But what’s wrong is not with the body.’
🧠🍜 [19] Learning Karate by Anthony Jackson ‘Karate looks like a mystery for me, it has this kind of mystic essence. I’ve always loved martial arts, visually. ‘
🧠🍜 [20] The Knows by Las siete y más ‘The Sun is coming out What will come out of this day Who knows?’
🧠🍜 [21] Crime and Humor by Warren Brown ‘As an author, I now think of the possible murder scenarios around the tree.’
🧠🍜 [22] Transforming Society by Warren Brown ‘This is the first step taken by the writer on his journey. This is an important first step as it lays out a pattern for the journey, which the writer must go on as he or she discovers who they are as writers.’
🧠🍜 [23] The Crime Scene by Warren Brown ‘The traveler passes a large concrete sun-dial in the center of the forest. He is shocked at what he sees.’
🧠🍜 [24] What Could I Possibly Give You? by Jupiter Grant ‘What could I give you that could possibly compare to what you gave me?’
🧠🍜 [25] “Good Morning, World!” by Thalia Dunn ‘“Good morning, world” is my daily greeting as I stretch out my arms,’
🧠🍜 [26] Following the North Star by Warren Brown ‘Seafarers use the North star to locate the true North. The North Star is a guiding light of an individual who knows how to locate it in the night sky.’
🧠🍜 [27] Smoking by Josie Elbiry ‘Tomorrow I will wake up and have water before coffee, meditation before curses, God before self-loathing.’
🧠🍜 [28] Innocence by Shivangi Patel ‘A dream where I ended up in my childhood home’
🧠🍜 [29] Hyena on the Prowl by Warren Brown ‘The hyena was on the prowl that starry night, but it was not for food, it was for that female hyena that he had seen so many moons ago.’
🧠🍜 [30] The Harshness of Stillness by Bingz Huang ‘I used to think that I was being gentle with myself when I tried to be as still as possible, both in my mind and body. ‘
🧠🍜 [31] The pebble by Jac Gautreau ‘I dreamt of a minute pebble That fell from the teeming sky Into a mirrored lake I watched it fall in bullet time’
🧠🍜 [32] Love — a Magical Potion Whose Fragrance Engulfs Everybody That Surrounds You by Ruchi Thalwal ‘Painful as the hard seed crack To allow the delicate root to come out in the dark It requires a lot of courage to take its first step in the shadows’
🧠🍜 [33] An Onomato-PEE-AHHHHH Special Poem by Bhavna Narula ‘When we get bored at home and look outside, Mom says hmph You dare not tried.’
🧠🍜 [34] Strength by Kyomi O'Connor ‘A crystal carriage was the life I used to live protected by’
🧠🍜 [35] Master Puppeteer by Courtenay S. Gray ‘I know strength as a plaything, something to be toyed with. I know strength as an estranged neighbour, awaiting contact.’
🧠🍜 [36] Answers From The Search Within by Stuart Englander ‘Rudyard said, “keep your head” Van Winkle preferred to stay in bed’
🧠🍜 [37] My Love for D&D by Adam Deitsch ‘I may have never played it But the thought makes me fidget I think it sounds so cool To fight water monsters in a pool (Maybe even Lo Mein Could be their bane)’
🧠🍜 [38] Take a Breath by Adam Deitsch ‘Take a breath. It’s not something we think about all that often.’
🧠🍜 [39] There’s Nothing Wussy About Worcestershire by Carolyn Hastings‘Salty anchovy fillets for Caesar salad dressing or scrumptious beef stroganoff with Worcestershire sauce’
🧠🍜 [40] Do You Give Yourself Some Pleasant Time? by Pretheesh Presannan‘I don’t know. Maybe something like winding up your day — as the evening is about to give in to the darkness — by sitting alone by yourself and sing to yourself some meaningless songs.’
🔊 Voices to Amplify
We don’t have to leave it to the algorithm to suggest our favourite pieces! Here are some of my archived faves!
Thank you to Nia Simone McLeod, Nada Chehade, Samedra Carter, Andrew Theophilou, Yan Huang and Arturo Dominguez for these pieces!
The Eggcademic Corner
🥓 Quick brEGGfast Bites
What I’m watching: Grey’s Anatomy?????????
What I’m reading: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
What I’m listening to: Hush — Miss A
S🍳mething to chew over
Normalize not telling BIPOC students “they speak English well” out of NOWHERE like SIR THIS IS THE ONLY LANGUAGE I CAN 100% FLUENTLY SPEAK SURELY I DO HOPE IT IS FLUENT [2021.05.05]
🎊 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: Coco Joan | Bingz Huang | Shreya Badonia | Kimberly Carter | Las siete y más | Warren Brown | Trista Signe Ainsworth
Kyomi O’Connor | Kay Bee | MaggieLaFae | Alex Godley | Haider Jamal | Josie Elbiry | Anthony Jackson | Hannah M. Moore | Michael Hollifield | Yana Bostongirl | TC Hails | Orla Kenny | Samedra Carter | Tatum Hamernik | Thalia Dunn | Nia Simone McLeod | Josie Elbiry | Keegan Roembke | Noorain Hassan, BMS | Humaira Iqbal | Zachary Burg | 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 | Swagat Choudhury | Vivian | Mark Tulin | Arslan Mirza | Amber Carlson | Urfa | Whatsinanaim | Amy Pierovich, Ed.D. | Carolyn Riker | Tally | Shivangi Patel | Giulia | ScienceDuuude | Rachael Ann Sand | Divina Grey | 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 | 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 🌻 | Mindsmatter | Michael Ranjitsingh | Anjali Samaraweera | Krupesh Raikar | Rusty Alderson | Jen | Dr. Preeti Singh | Punch Drunk Cola | Melissa Speed | Ntathu Allen | Denise G | Carolyn Hastings | Tej | Vijini Mallawaarachchi | Amy Marley | Jac Gautreau | Erivaldo Ricardo | Roz Warren | Melissa Bee | Pretheesh Presannan | Daniel A. Teo | Anuradha Wickramarachchi | Niru | Priyanka Mane | Em Hoccane | Synthia S. | Alexandra Forsyth | R. Rangan PhD | Jacobo the First | Connie Song | Fathiyah Zb | Not quite Steve Fisher | Amna Asif | 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 |
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!