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Archive for the ‘Six Word Memoirs’ Category

Monday IS a Six Letter Word

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , on May 4, 2011| 3 Comments »

Six-Word Memoir book cover image

"The Book"

One Life, Six Words, What’s Yours?  The quest continues and the challenge remains – can you? Will you? – try to put your life into just six words, no more, no less!  Well my life, you say, is way too big and complex to distill into six words! Maybe, maybe not.  Some GREAT writers have done and each week I post about 5 Six Word Memoirs from the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning. 

Some weeks we focus on a theme and this week’s was supposed to be about FOOD, our love of, our abstinence from, from taste sensations to tasty tidbits and tasty recipes and of course the throes of dieting. WHATEVER you are thinking or feeling about food is your source of a Six Word Memoir.

This is what I received last week:

A pinch of this and that – Heather

Packing my bags. The adventure continues – Weez

Far away California, grandkids, Jersey coast – Heide

Diet ice cream flavor? Green Tea! – Me

And from the above-referenced book…

I hope to outlive my regrets. – Bob Logan

All night phone calls complete me – Harry Manning

Texas childhood can lead to wisdom – Kristen Ahlemeier-Olfe

Sweet life, good sons – I’m rich –  Roger Waggener

Barrister, barista, what’s the diff, Mom? –Abigail Moorhouse

Ok readers, I’m going to try again and this one is for EVERYONE! Mother’s Day is around the corner, let’s sum up Mom in SIX WORDS!






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6 Words Can Tell It All

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2011| 1 Comment »

Colum McCann at the International Forum on the...

Colum McCann

It’s Monday and therefore we have to really THINK about expressing ourselves, our lives, and whatever else in the way of theme I throw at you!  Last week I suggested that we use the holidays that were upon us as possible inspiration to summing up life in six words, no more, no less and this is what we’ve come up with:

Contemplating where we go from here – Susan Celtic Lady

Friends, fabulous Seder dinner, free haircut – Heide

Yellow peeps, purple chickens don’t exist – Spinny Liberal

Let’s be happy while we’re here. – Heather

Easter: Jesus and Peeps-Resurrect fertility – Spinny Liberal

Easter Parade: A mile of smiles – Me

Easter Sunday-Eggsactly what I expected! – Me

Well that was fun!  And while I’m thinking of a theme for next week, I want to share with you some more of the wonderful Six Word Memoirs from the book,   Not Quite What I  Was Planning-Six Word Memoirs by writers Famous & Obscure.

Study mathematics. Marry slut. Sum bad. – Don Robinson

Took scenic route, got in late – Will Blythe

Raised Jehovah’s Witness. Excommunicated at 22 – Kyria Abrahams

I like big butts, can’t lie – Dave Buss

I’m enjoying even this downward dance – Colum McCann

Without ideas, intelligence could not exist – Ornette Coleman

How about after we have all gorged on matzoh brie, brisket, ham, hot cross buns, and chocolate bunnies and surely DIET is a word being bandied about in many  a household – that we make next week’s theme about food or denial thereof.  If you’re blessed with a great metabolism and the personal conviction to work out to stay in shape or you love food, love to cook, love to eat or kvell when dieting- give it to us in SIX WORDS!  Maybe it’s a taste from your childhood, maybe it’s a gourmet meal in a top chef’s restaurant, maybe it’s just the smell of bread or cookies baking.  Whatever it is, please send it in Six Words, No More, No Less.

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A Day Late and A Dollar Short

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , on April 19, 2011| 7 Comments »

DSC04059 Six-Word Memoir banners

Six Word Banners

Well that’s me and sorry that my six word title had nothing to do with today’s (OK yesterday’s) Six Word Memoir theme which if you recall was about love and relationships (of all kinds).   So first let’s get to those clever gems sent in by some of my readers:

Rich is coming home. Thank goodness! – Susan Celtic Lady

She better be the last one! – Spinny Liberal

I loved. I lost. Leaving Vegas. – Weez

Listen to gut when wavering – Heide

Can’t wait till tomorrow. Maya Thursday! – Anonymous

Second marriage – my best friend forever. – Me

Since last Monday, a couple of other events have occurred;  First off, we had April15th, the dreaded Income Tax Due Day come and go with a blessed 3 day extension, Passover began and Spring showed itself for maybe 2 of the last 7 days.  Here are some Six Word Memoirs reflecting this past week.

Tax day, Ocean Grove, no line! – Heide

No more pancakes. Thank you Passover! – Lauren

Tennis, lunch, read, nap, dinner, bed –Heather

I do think themes are a good way to get you thinking about summing up an experience in just six words, no more, no less.  This week is a continuation of Passover and ends in Easter, not to mention some people are on Spring break.  Let’s try to come up with something along those lines.  AND remember there REALLY IS A SIX WORD PROJECT  online at Smith Magazine.  The editor and publisher ACTUALLY stopped by the blog one Monday and read what we have been doing and encouraged all of you to visit the site and post your own Six Word Memoir.  www.smithmag.net

See you all in the blogasphere.

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It’s Monday, What Are You Thinking? OK It’s really Tuesday!

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , on April 12, 2011| 3 Comments »

Love & Heartbreak Cover

LOVE & HEARTBREAK

And better yet what are you saying in six words, no more, no less?

Well I have only a couple of reader contributions to share with you this week:

So scared of making wrong decision – Heide

Disruptions to daily life are good – Heather

My tax return equals accountant’s fee! – me

Not very many responses this week so here’s a few from the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning-Six Word Memoirs by Writers FAMOUS & OBSCURE

Wanted world, got world plus lupus. – Liz Futrell

Yes to every date, met mate – Maria Dahvana Headley

The Hustle: turn champion into sucker. – Amarillo Slim

I was born some assembly required. – Eric Jordan

I drank too much last night. – Mary McIntyre

How about a theme for next week? As an inspiration to send in a Six Word Memoir or Story or whatever you want to call it…let’s do LOVE and relationships.  We’ve all had one or two or more…some won, some lost, some we should have never been in that game at all lol.  You can be ANONYMOUS if you choose!  As further inspiration I am posting an article that was in the NY Times last month and it is chock full of six word gems!!

What’s Your Six-Word Love Story?

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Can you sum up a relationship in six words?

The readers of the Web site Smith Magazine are doing just that, offering six-word memoirs to describe both love and loss. Some examples:

Love hurts. Choose vodka or valium.

You lost me at hello “ma’am.”

Life’s like chocolates. Picked, processed, pooped.

Hearts clubbed by diamonds in spades.

Passion, fireworks, good loving. He’s gay.

But our domestic partnership was notarized….

Your new wife is too friendly.

There’s nothing sex can not fix.

Finally found love, at age 41.

Note to self: avoid head cases.

He wasn’t worth the panic attacks.

Chocolate is the coward’s bad apology.

Pet-sitting for ex-husband describes amicable divorce.

Loved her madly — then went mad.

Warning, love: I blog my breakups.

What do you think? Do you have six words to share about love, marriage and relationships? Please post your own six-word memoir below. And be sure to check out the Smith Magazine Web site for more six-word memoirs on happiness, teenagers, food and other topics.

There you have it! Please put your abbreviated succinct head and put fingers to keyboard and send it in – PLEASE!

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Not Quite What I Was Planning

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , on April 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

Binghamton, New York, memorial sign for Rod Se...

Rod Serling

SIX WORD MEMOIR MONDAY

This week the title of the book that I quote every week (except this week) in this Six Word Memoir blog post just seemed perfectly appropriate for me.  Nothing seems to be going not quite what I was planning; the income tax return, the trip home, the diet, this very day, the mortgage escrow payment, and before this day is done, I’m sure I can add a few more.  BUT…that’s not what this post is about.

On the UPSIDE, I received several replies to my desperate plea for some reader response to the eternal question; One Life, Six Words, What’s Yours?  So happy that you responded with your own Six Word Memoirs and here they are:

Waiting for Rod Serling to appear – Weez

So much chaos in the world – Gail

From nothing comes nothing-Exercise works! – Heide

Grandgremlins are wonderful, in small doses – Heather

IRS return done. No extension needed – Me

Unfortunately I don’t have access to the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning today,  so I can’t post any of those wonderful gems from writers both famous and obscure; which brings me full circle to my own not quite what I was planning day.



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Six Words Can Say It ALL – Six Word Memoir Monday

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 28, 2011| 3 Comments »

Six-Word Memoir book cover image

"The Book"

It just goes to show you that begging and pleading does work!  I threw myself  on your mercy last week, tried a little guilt and YES, I did receive some great Six Word Memoirs and I’m sooooo happy!  THANK YOU, THANK you, thank YOU!

No entry; dog ate my homework – Gail

This bi-polar weather makes me nuts – Margaret

Snow cutting into my social life – Susan Celtic Lady (she’s in the Northeast)

Day after day, glorious blue sky – Heather (she’s in Florida)

March still roaring! Where’s that lamb? – Me

Nervous twitch is making a comeback – Weez

And some more inspiration from

My baby’s name was Sydney Jane – Margot Bertoni

Love the men.  Hate the commitment – Lindsay Filz

I grew and grew and grew. – Randy Newcomer

Starving artist. Lucky break. Life downhill. – Will Samson

Changing mind postponed demise by decades. – Scott O’Neil

My spiritual path is 100 proof. – John House

 


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“NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING”

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2011| 8 Comments »

Love & Heartbreak Cover

Six Word Memoirs

As the title of the Six Word Memoir book states, this week was not quite what I was planning. I didn’t receive any contributions from the readership, soooo rather than try to write several Six Word Memoirs all by myself, I’m just going to let the book do it for me and for you.  BUT how about everybody just think about a Six Word Memoir to send in.  Maybe we need a theme;  Spring will have sprung, we may get snow this week in the Northeast or anything you want to write about will gratefully accepted and certainly appreciated.

Now I blog and drink wine –Peter Bartlett

Egomaniac with inferiority complex defies odds – Lynne Vittorio

I thought I was someone else – Tysa Goodrich

Dancing for now, one day farming – Eleanor Carpenter

Amazing grace: born naked, clothed others – Mark Budman

Followed rules, not dreams. Never again – Margaret Hellerstein


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MORE Six Word Movie Quotes

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 14, 2011| 1 Comment »

What a great week for responses to my weekly plea for Six Word Memoirs!  This Monday I am posting some additional Six Word Movie Quotes.

Star Wars, light force

Luke Skywalker

Mother Nature surely is not happy – Heather

He’s back for a short time! – Susan Celtic Lady

Went bathing suit shopping-discouraging mistake!-Me

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Six Words! No More, No Less – JUST 6

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , on March 7, 2011| 5 Comments »

Opening logo to the Star Wars films

The Movie - Not the Reagan Defense System

People speak in six word sentences – Mmmm there’s concept.  Certainly not me, and not Peter who I accuse of the longest rambling sentences in the world!  However, last week, I quoted an article that appeared in The New Yorker magazine in 2008, SAY IT ALL IN SIX WORDS, in which the author of the article purposely  used several six word sentences.  Maybe six word sentences  are the answer; our life in bullet points!

Twitter says to say it 140 characters, texting requires clever abbreviations to convey  messages without using whole words and there are more and more places where brevity is king.  And then of course, we also had a President who spoke in six word sentences because that was all he could manage without misusing or mispronouncing a word!  (I couldn’t resist).

This week I’ve uncovered another great source of six word sentences – quotes actually from movies!  Here are a few and I would love it if my readers could think of some more and send them in.

“May the force be with you” – Star Wars

“English, motherfucker, do you speak it”? – Pulp Fiction

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner” – Dirty Dancing

“I’m the king of the world” – Titanic

And now to this week’s submissions from some of my readers:

Sun lamps/tanning bed more validity – Susan in the Grove

Life sucks – I demand a refund – Spinnyliberal

Last boss nuttier than Charlie Sheen – Weez

Been meaning to buy that book – Anne-Marie

Weekend with Finley, heaven can wait – Me

And from The Book as I like to refer to Not Quite What I Was Planning Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure:

Not pretty enough so now unemployed – Stacey Smith

 

Mistakes were made, but smarter now – Christine Triano

Likes everything too much to choose – Rachel Lindenthal

Curly haired sad kid chose fun – Stacy Abramson

Ok the challenge is out there, the ball’s in your court…Send me some Six Word Movie Quotes OR your own Six Word Memoir next week.

 

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How To Describe Your Life in Just Six Words!

Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged , , , , , , , on February 28, 2011| 8 Comments »

I was going through a pile of old New Yorker magazines last week;  I had a dual purpose and I attacked this task with gleeful ferocity.  I accidentally discovered this cache (read hoard) in a drawer where my dear husband had been stashing New Yorkers that he hadn’t finished reading yet!

I reminded him of the deal I thought we struck in good faith a few years ago – if you subscribe to this magazine which seems to over-populate an apartment quicker than a  rabbit, then you have to keep the number of copies hanging around to a minimum-say, no more than 3 or 4.  Weeelllllll, someone was not keeping his end of the bargain because there were New Yorker magazines in that drawer from 2007!.

Right then and there, I passed the death sentence on the pile and just before I was about to toss them all, I thought I would thumb through and look for cartoons that dealt with real estate.  Actually that also was part of the deal, to give me any real estate cartoon.  As I flipped through them I started noticing several cartoons that I knew Peter would appreciate because they held some relevance to him.  IDEA! What a great birthday gift;  I ripped out lots of cartoons, phrases and pictures with the idea to put them in an album to give to him.  So I did – I think another post, not this one, will have to feature some of the cartoons – I think it turned out really good!

But of course I have totally digressed…the segué is this – in a 2008 issue an article caught my eye; Say It All IN SIX WORDS. There is was! Right in front of me in The New Yorker!!! “Brevity; a good thing in writing. Exploited by texters, gossip columnists, haikuists. …Life expectancies rise; attention spans shrink. Six words can tell a story.
 That’s a new book’s premise, anyway; Not Quite What I Was Planning. A compilation of teeny, tiny memoirs.  The forebear, it’s assumed, is Hemingway…..”

The article is quite long and I hope to insert more of it from time to time.  The Six Word Project started with a contest for readers of the Smith Magazine online.  The web site was ” flooded with entries.  Five hundred plus submissions per day.  That’s two, three words a minute.  “We almost crashed”. an editor said”.

I’m only look for ten or twenty, I don’t want to crash or be greedy for that matter!!  Here are this week’s reader submissions: PS did you notice the length of most of those sentences?

An entire day – still not enough time – Trish

Winter carnivals, let’s celebrate the season! – Susan Celtic Lady

Accepted into Grad school – decision time – Weez

Sauna: must find one down here –  Susan in the Grove

Should have never checked the scale 😦 – Me

Smith magazine, Ernest Hemingway, Six Word Memoir, Six Word Project.

"The Book"

 



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