What’s Something Outside Of Your Comfort Zone That You’d Like To Do This Week?
Sunny Side Updates with TBIN 🧠🍝 week 30!
Thank you to everyone who had joined the Writers and Editors of Color (WEOC) segment yesterday for my interview with the “Writers for Change” Speaker Series on Twitter Spaces!
It was certainly something outside of my usual comfort zone (me?????????speaking????????????????) but it was so worth it! Getting to chat with like-minded writers and share tips and meet new amazing Medium writers has been so fun and I can’t wait to see who might be involved next week!
If you want to join, follow Allison Gaines and Tee (EICs of WEOC) on Twitter for updates! There are weekly Twitter Space drop-ins Sunday at noon (EST) — come join me!
Which brings me to this week’s shortform prompt…
Shortform Theme of the Week
This week’s shortform theme is: What is something outside of your comfort zone that you’d like to try this week? This month? This year? … This lifetime?
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!
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] #Ongoing Adventure: Party Time! by Thalia Dunn ‘You have been waiting impatiently for today ever since you opened the invitation. And now, at 3:30, you are ready for whatever unfolds.’
🧠🍜 [2] Getting To Know Courtenay S. Gray by Courtenay S. Gray ‘When I was ten years old, I loved to write stories and read books. Go figure! I also loved to play video games, and I loved to watch Harry Potter.’
🧠🍜 [3] Back To Baby Steps by Pretheesh Presannan ‘I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can? I can? I can? I can… but I don’t want to?’
🧠🍜 [4] The battle between mind and heart by Olivia Th ‘My mind longs for peace, while my heart desires turbulence, It wants to take down its defense, It says things that make no sense It wants to struggle, it wants to feel less’
🧠🍜 [5] Answering TBIN May Prompt Questions by Tatum Hamernik ‘Before I get into the questions, I will let you in on a little secret. I started a challenge where I am supposed to submit to 30 publications in 30 days.’
🧠🍜 [6] An Interview with “The Brain is a Noodle” by Katrina Bos ‘I loved to read. At that age, it was mostly Judy Blume, Flowers in the Attic, and all the other classic young adult series from the 70s/80s. ‘
🧠🍜 [7] My Noodle-Brained Interview with Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) F by Will Hull ‘Play baseball or out on the bike with friends, but baseball won. I don’t think that joy thing is absolutely correct, hope not. It’s still a soft spot in my heart and always will be, but no, it is not something I do nowadays. The skills have waned, and the body doesn’t pull up like it used to at age 10.’
🧠🍜 [8] #OngoingAdventure: Don’t Meet The Stranger by Jennifer McDougall ‘Your stomach stuffed with freshly-delivered ramen and your head resting against the faux camel hair pillow, you sink further into the couch. Briefly, you consider the invitation and then decide it is time to let it go.’
🧠🍜 [9] #OngoingAdventure: Curl Up In A Ball by Jennifer McDougall ‘After watching the poof of smoke steal away the mysterious letter, you curl into yourself on the floor. You had never felt this kind of sadness, heartbreak, and loss in your entire life.’
🧠🍜 [10] #OngoingAdventure: Curl Up In A Ball by Jennifer McDougall ‘After watching the poof of smoke steal away the mysterious letter, you curl into yourself on the floor. You had never felt this kind of sadness, heartbreak, and loss in your entire life.’
🧠🍜 [11] Kao Soi by James G Brennan ‘Kao Soi is a popular street dish you will never forget and probably hanker for on the return home after a mega holiday in Thailand, the Thai version is promoted here, well, it would be now; I live and eat Kao Soi there.’
🧠🍜 [12] Ready In Two Minute by Brajendra Kumar ‘I love delicious food. We have a lot of variety to enjoy our food. I have some interest in noodles but not much. In India, Maggi noodles are very famous because it gets ready in two minutes and it is very yummy, also addictive.’
🧠🍜 [13] May Interview Questions with The Brain is a Noodle! by Punch Drunk Cola ‘I was a very active child. I engaged in a lot of physical activities. My parents encouraged me to join sports competitions, even if sometimes I would be the only girl.’
🧠🍜 [14] So you wanted to know about Adam Deitsch … by Adam Deitsch ‘That’s an interesting question, because it points to one of the issues I had with applying to graduate schools this year. I write about a lot of things… because I’m interested in a lot of things. ‘
🧠🍜 [15] I Was Prized by Amy Pierovich, Ed.D. ‘My smile, my hair, my clothes, belie that I was prized. My mother loved me, my father too.’
🧠🍜 [16] Tour de Force by Amy Pierovich, Ed.D. ‘Piercing, stabbing, endless pain called migraine. You demand my attention. Tour de force, the lion’s roar, you command the game;’
🧠🍜 [17] #Ongoing Adventure: The Special Agent by Adam Deitsch ‘You look at the invitation, the unfolded origami, and the strawberry marshmallow. You look back up at Gail. Maybe bringing your friend and her baseball bat weren’t quite enough for this type of situation.’
🧠🍜 [18] #OngoingAdventure: Game Night by Adam Deitsch ‘You hang up the phone, the Nunchuk in your other hand. You throw the phone on the bed and haphazardly change into some outside clothing with one hand.’
🧠🍜 [19] Cheese Sandwiches by Adam Deitsch ‘who doesn’t love to eat a cheese sandwich melty, stringy, gooey, and chewy’
🧠🍜 [20] This is the Best Interview You’ll Read Today by Nia Simone McLeod ‘Honestly, I did the same things at 10 that I do now: writing, watching television, listening to music, and playing video games. Since I turned writing into my job, video games are probably what brings me the most joy.’
🧠🍜 [21] Chili Mango? by Adam Deitsch ‘So, I bought this bag of Chili Mango… I’d eaten the dried cantaloupe, the dried tangerines, and the dried strawberries from this company.’
🧠🍜 [22] My Favourite Noodles Dish by Dr. Preeti Singh ‘Noodles are a universal favourite dish in the world. I am very fond of noodles and I like many different types of dishes made with them.’
🧠🍜 [23] Tempus Fugit by Jupiter Grant ‘Time flies by like the swiftest of arrows, slicing through air at a lightning fast speed.’
🧠🍜 [24] May Interview Questions by Jen ‘I think when I was 10 years old, I grew a love for reading books and magazines. I remembered I read comic books, kids’ novel series, and kids graphic books.’
🧠🍜 [25] Missing You by Amy Pierovich, Ed.D. ‘I am missing you. My love goes deep as the ocean, runs wide as the breadth of the sea,’
🧠🍜 [26] The Milky Way by Amy Pierovich, Ed.D. ‘A dark universe of dreams, fomenting in my mind.’
🧠🍜 [27] Our World by Amy Pierovich, Ed.D. ‘What kind of world allows for the color of your skin to matter more than what lies within.’
🧠🍜 [28] #OngoingAdventure: Ask Who Else You Can Call by Jennifer McDougall ‘“You sound like someone who wants to help everyone,” you say in your best Barry Manilow voice. “I’m sure you want to help me, right?”’
🧠🍜 [29] Song — The Song of Sisyphus by Sruthi Korlakunta ‘I really wanted to write a song but I am musically challenged. So I decided to write it to one of my favorite tunes.’
🧠🍜 [30] Fruit Snacks by Adam Deitsch ‘I wrote a poem complaining about a flop of a snack that really disappointed me. It was deeply dissatisfying, but I’m going to eat it anyway, because I hate to waste.’
🧠🍜 [31] Gooey by Fatima Imam ‘Writing prompt: grid’
🧠🍜 [32] The One Thing That Would Make Your Life Easier by Bob Pepe ‘The warm flow of water The cleaning has begun’
🧠🍜 [33] The Purpose & Pursuit by TC Hails ‘Doubts will come and go, that’s part of the course, rest, but make no mistake this doesn’t mean you quit, EVER.’
🧠🍜 [34] The Smart Grid by R. Rangan PhD ‘Briefly, The U.S. electric grid is nothing short of an engineering marvel. It comprises more than 9,200 electric generating units, with more than 1 million megawatts of generating capacity connected to more than 600,000 miles of transmission lines and a fascinating ecosystem of assets owners, manufacturers, providers, and government officials — all working together to run one of the most reliable electrical grids in the world, and something nearly ALL of us have taken for granted for most of our lives.’
🧠🍜 [35] Milk Tea by Kyomi O'Connor ‘I love to drink black coffee though sometimes, but not all the time’
🧠🍜 [36] We Are Dreaming by Courtenay S. Gray ‘Don’t ask me if I’m dreaming. Ask me if I am thinking. I think, therefore, I am. Perhaps we are held within the snow globe world, with organisms that are akin to those above. ‘
🧠🍜 [37] Fall Back Script by Pretheesh Presannan ‘I don’t like what I am feeling. I know the only way out is to go through it. So it comes down to way in or way out. But again I don’t like this.’
🧠🍜 [38] Dead Annoying by Emily Wilcox ‘Death — ugh — he’s such a moron. Sauntering round like he owns the place. Veiled in black, lurks in the shadows, Then just like that he’s all up in your face.’
🧠🍜 [39] I ❤️ Hugs by MaggieLaFae ‘There are hugs of joy and of pain, hugs when we greet and when we part, and many hugs in between.’
🧠🍜 [40] Anch Of Vee by Courtenay S. Gray ‘We are the overwhelming, we are too overpowering to pedestrian noses, and tongues.’
🧠🍜 [41] Missing Love by Yana Bostongirl ‘A few years ago, I recall tears streaming down my face as I painstakingly trimmed the dying leaves from my ailing houseplant. Both of us were in bad shape, pale versions of our former selves.’
🧠🍜 [42] Anchovies by Hilda Carroll ‘Personally, I’m not a great fan of anchovies, unless they’re chopped up into tiny bits and then dissolved into the base of a sauce. If I accidentally chew a chunk of anchovy, I get the shakes.’
🧠🍜 [43] Figuring Out My Creative Purpose by Aimée Gramblin ‘Personal exploration, of myself and others, is what lights me up, and I’ll discuss that more in the answers below. Let’s get this party started! I’m looking forward to reading the answers you all come up with, too. ‘
🧠🍜 [44] May Interview Questions by Thalia Dunn ‘My top three activities I loved to do when I was ten was read books, ride my bike all over the neighborhood and climb the magnolia trees and maple trees in my grandparents’ backyard’
🔊 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 Tom Handy, Bob Jasper, Marilyn Flower, Not quite Steve Fisher, Lanu Pitan and Rebecca Stevens A. for these pieces!
The Eggcademic Corner
🥓 Quick brEGGfast Bites
What I’m watching: GREY’S ANATOMY
What I’m reading: Daring Greatly — Brené Brown
What I’m listening to: California — Kina Grannis
S🍳mething to chew over
I want to taste the sweet, sour, bitter and spicy of life. — May 2, 2021
🎊 Top 3 articles of the week
Celebrate with me!
Of all the spaces in my place I actually invested the most into the kitchen when I first moved in. Even though it’s only a kitchenette (or perhaps especially it’s a kitchenette), I was mindful in what I bought and what I saved for later.
In the end, this also created the most damage. This is because rather than noticing the signs at the beginning that there wasn’t a good fit, I came to trust and learn from her. With this foundation and trust comes this ensuing self-doubt on whether I truly was self-victimizing.
after my 100th video of watching house tours of gazillion-dollar mansions
I found the one symbol of wealth that explained it all:
the pot filler.
😭 Flop 3 articles of the week
Give these a little love, will ya?
Wanting a positive experience is a negative experience. Accepting a negative experience is a positive experience.
There’s this saying that if you truly find what you love to do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Perhaps it’s true for some, but it’s not true for all. For some, passion directly relates to motivation; for others, they could have all the passion in the world but struggle with other aspects that make it tough for them to implement their goals.
Lucy loves egg waffles SO MUCH, they bring back so many childhood memories. She ALMOST bought an egg waffle iron but thought it best not to go down this slippery slope of having egg waffles accessible 24/7, one batter away.
🧠🍜 Thank you to the Noodle Team!
challenge: pick 3 writers you haven’t met yet and get acquainted with their pieces!
New writers: 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!
