What’s one topic you can do a 15-minute presentation about without any preparation?

Sunny Side Updates with TBIN — week 31!

This one’s a hard one! I’d like to think I can do this for my dissertation topic, but would it be good enough?

The first thing that popped into my head was: eggs. But can I truly talk 15-minutes about eggs? What would I share about them? Would it just be a list of all the manners in which eggs can be prepared? What would be my overall take-home message?

Then it dawned on me.

The thing I can do a 15-minute presentation without any preparation: all the study and organizational tactics I used to survive high school, undergrad and grad school.

From the Eisenhower matrix to the Ivy Lee List to integrating Google Calendar with ToDoIst, I’ve spent such painstakingly long hours trying to squeeze every last productive minute out of me that that’s exactly what I could talk about.

And, big huge caveat, I would end that presentation with a note on self-care. It would be about how I spent about a decade and a half of my life trying to squeeze every last productive drop out of me, yearning for more, never realizing that what I could do before — can be enough.

Shortform Theme of the Week

This week’s shortform theme is: What can you talk about for 15-minutes without any preparation? How would you structure the talk? What points would you make sure to include?

Submit your shortform piece (<150 words) now to share your thoughts! (For prompt-based pieces, you may exceed the 150 word limit, but aim for 150 words if the idea of a longer piece overwhelms you!)

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] Patrick by Kyomi O'Connor ‘Patrick — you’re the first and the last roommate I had in my life’

🧠🍜 [2] The Roommate No One Would Want by Warren Brown ‘His roommate would have cocaine when he was bored, He would chalk out plans and outlines on a large board. His roommate would play the Stradivarius when he was pensive, Making him wish that he had somewhere else to live.’

🧠🍜 [3] The Biggest Asshole by Coco Joan ‘(Trigger warnings: trauma, suicide, and it’s a poem)’

🧠🍜 [4] Just in Time by @treelangdon ‘Measured by scarcity but constantly spent, we manage segments or embrace fluidity.’

🧠🍜 [5] She Always Found the Drama by Kim McKinney9 ‘She was my roommate second semester in college. The drama was non-stop. I lost track of her.’

🧠🍜 [6] I Struggle With English by Will Hullb ‘English is my only language and, while (or is it ‘whilst’?) I am proficient at it, I still bugger it up. Especially nowadays as I dabble — and butcher — English in its two dominant forms: American (aka Modern) and UK (aka Queen’s).’

🧠🍜 [7] Forest Butter by Adam Deitschi ‘To strengthen a forest by water, you’ll need a riparian buffer.’

🧠🍜 [8] An old dog by Alex Godley ‘An old dog can learn new tricks But, It just doesn’t want to.’

🧠🍜 [9] Unconscious Commitment To Laziness by Pretheesh Presannanp ‘to break free from commitment to laziness is to surrender to reality to be awake to the reality you want to do a work but feel lazy’

🧠🍜 [10] My Morning Routine by Hilda Carroll ‘RPM is my morning routine Rise, Pee, Meditate.’

🧠🍜 [11] Delicate Sheets by Josie Elbiry

‘Kneaded with fist and heart to a perfect crumble kept chilled among the leftovers and fromage du lait’

🧠🍜 [12] My Grandma Was My Best Roommate by Trista Signe Ainsworth ‘Sometimes I regret not having the typical experience of going away to college. However, I am lucky that I had a great roommate at home, my grandma.’

🧠🍜 [13] My Air Hostess Room Mate by Dr. Preeti Singh ‘In 1971 when I first started working in a corporate organization, I stayed in a working women’s hostel called Adya Jha Hostel. I was staying in a ground-floor room which had a lot of problem with noise. Whoever came in, would come with a bang.’

🧠🍜 [14] Rethinking ‘Being Brave’ by Niru ‘Be brave now Hold yourself strong. Society’s cliched and overused But highly inadequate song,’

🧠🍜 [15] A Bath Conversation by Courtenay S. Gray ‘When we have a bath, what are we doing? I like to think that along with getting clean; we are also momentarily returning to our possible origins as fish. Perhaps you add some patchouli-scented bath oil or add a glittery bath bomb.’

🧠🍜 [16] Me, before us by Jac Gautreau ‘In the time before us There was just me Me, the unmade bed Me, the Nutella covered knife’

🧠🍜 [17] Making Sense Of Making Effort by Pretheesh Presannan ‘I think, only right effort leads to genuine joy or a sense of satisfaction with regards to whatever we are working on.’

🧠🍜 [18] There Are No Experts on Medium by Evan Wildstein ‘Medium is honest in their mission: Where good ideas find you. They don’t claim expertise finds us. And we should appreciate the candor.’

🧠🍜 [19] The Roommate no one would want by Warren Brown ‘When Brenda invited Serenity to stay, She had no idea that things would go this way. Her roommate had green eyes and dark brown hair, Serenity was gorgeous and everyone would stop to stare,’

🧠🍜 [20] The Only Path To Good Writing by The Dozen ‘The only path to good writing is through bad writing — literally.’

🧠🍜 [21] Mad with Reefer by Mark Tulin ‘State College, 1977, was the setting. I shared a two-bedroom apartment with Les and Ray, two guys from Pittsburgh. Both had their flaws. Les had body odor and Ray used to clip his toenails in the living room while we watched TV.’

🧠🍜 [22] My Roommates Are Not Just Mates by Brajendra Kumar ‘I spent around one and a half years with roommates. It was not supposed to be. The best thing was my roommates were my childhood friends.’

🧠🍜 [23] #Ongoing Adventure: Lead Feet by Adam Deitsch ‘Neon blue goop was slobbered all over everything beneath your shin, and you’re pretty sure the envelope gave you a papercut.’

🧠🍜 [24] In Love with Paradise by James G Brennan ‘You only live twice I’m in love with paradise’

🧠🍜 [25] La Fortuna by Rachel Ramkaran (she/her) ‘Steam rises, heat welcomes blistering feet to soothe knots and aching away’

🧠🍜 [26] How A Cancer Survivor Never Look At Life The Same Again by Yan Huang ‘FALLING In love. Out of love. For you. From the Heavens with gravity.’

🧠🍜 [27] People With ‘Situations’ by Bingz Huang ‘Look at that doctor He received the ‘invitation’.’

🧠🍜 [28] May Interview Questions by Kyomi O'Connor ‘I was creative. When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, we got homework to create small box forms from flat construction paper. As soon as I came home, I did it for hours — non-stop!’

🧠🍜 [29] Mooncake by Chris Mooney-Singh ‘Putting aside all the high-flown myths let me steal you away from the old cake shop and its sexy legends tonight.’

🧠🍜 [30] Why Does Relaxation Feel So Uncomfortable? by Nia Simone McLeod ‘I love having a packed schedule. At the end of the day, I feel fulfilled. Wasted time, on the other hand, makes me feel guilty. Because of how capitalism has conditioned me, rest and rejuvenation feel like wasted time.’

🧠🍜 [31] The Past and I by Sruthi Korlakunta ‘I march on, thinking of my past as “I”. I hold on to it, like it means everything.’

🧠🍜 [32] Eggs for Breakfast by Thalia Dunn ‘Ajitama eggs, soy-based cloud surrounds the sun;’

🧠🍜 [33] What’s Your Story, Morning Glory? by Divina Grey ‘This title came to mind with a quickness, and come to find out that “morning glory” is slang for a man’s morning erection. Huh, you learn something new every day! ‘

🧠🍜 [34] Brain Dump #3 by Jen ‘It’s funny how the tables have turned I ran away from you, I was so fed up that I didn’t know what to do I took the exit when I had the chance to reach the door’

🧠🍜 [35] Purple onion and a knife by Laurie Perez ‘Tucked secretly in a subway seat speeding through life’s dark tunnels under ground, the guy beside you pulls out a purple onion and a knife.’

🧠🍜 [36] Coffee or Cocoa? by R. Rangan PhD ‘As I sat pondering on the prompts, I remembered a recent article I had read about the potential threats to morning routines, namely the threat that climate change poses to the coffee crops around the world.’

🧠🍜 [37] do not take cover by Keegan Roembke ‘take off your covers & peel off your skin, it’s a damn good thing to be naked.’

🧠🍜 [38] The Age of Beauty by Courtenay S. Gray ‘When I was in high school, I became surrounded by a flurry of pretty girls with blonde hair and slim figures. ‘

🧠🍜 [39] 15 Reasons Why Kids Are The Worst (and Best) Roommates Ever by Divina Grey ‘They use all of your expensive shampoos to wash their shark puppet, “Carl,” within the bath.’

🧠🍜 [40] Power Outage by Will Hull ‘Where does short form end? Or nano form begin? How many words? How few characters?’

🧠🍜 [41] Morpheus by Coco Joan ‘Hello again, God of Dreams. You’ve met my son — The one whose life is striated with death Like a baptismal bowl of white onyx.’

🧠🍜 [42] My Favorite Childhood Dessert by B.R. Shenoy ‘The dessert makes me nostalgic for my childhood growing up in Brazil. I fondly remember browsing through the display cases at the numerous bakeries of the small town where we resided.’

🔊 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 Bingz Huang, Bih, Dr. Kavisa Ghosh, Humaira Iqbal, Roy Reichle, and Aldric Chen for writing these pieces!

The Eggcademic Corner

🥓 Quick brEGGfast Bites

What I’m watching: Grey’s Anatomy — started right from the beginning

What I’m reading: Life of Pi — by Yann Martel

What I’m listening to: The Way You Are — David Choi, Kina Grannis

S🍳mething to chew over

Are you sitting curled up like a shrimp? Periodic reminder to unshrimp that back and neck and s t r e t c h. (May 15, 2021)

🎊 Top 3 articles of the week

Celebrate with me!

😭 Flop 3 articles of the week

Give these a little love, will ya?

https://readmedium.com/ode-to-my-panini-grill-fff3ccf24d45

🧠🍜 Thank you to the Noodle Team!

challenge: pick 3 writers you haven’t met yet and get acquainted with their pieces!

New writers: Laurie Perez | Paul Mansfield | B.R. Shenoy | Nada Chehade

Coco Joan | Bingz Huang | Shreya Badonia | Kimberly Carter | Las siete y más | Warren Brown | Trista Signe Ainswort | 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!