A collaborative way to know fellow writers better!

A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to the July 2021 TBIN interview questions! Here’s a collection of the responses that have gone live:

Your challenge as a reader is to read the interview associated with your birthday month, listed at the beginning of each link!

• 🔴 Jan, Feb🔴A reflection exercise on writing, work and self-care by Niru
• 🟠 Mar, Apr 🟠 So you want to know more about me — #3 July by Giulia
• 🟡 May, June 🟡Ask and you shall receive by Barbara Dalton
• 🟢 July, Aug 🟢 July Q&A with The Brain…

Write a poem that contains the words strong, shot glass and central

Pungent and strong
the toxins emanate
from this shot glass,
ready to enter
central consciousness
and alter
what you see.

Author’s note: Written by someone who has basically never done drugs ever and is very bad at describing things she’s never gone through, but somehow thought that that would be a central theme to this all. She (I) blame the shot glass.

A blank slate

As part of my new year’s resolutions, I’ve been reflecting on the books I read in more depth instead of letting the narratives wash over me. So far, the streak has been going strong.

Reflecting on the key quotes or moments from fiction and non-fiction pieces has impacted how I communicate in my day-to-day (new, weird metaphors, here I come!!!), and expanded the types of things I’m trying.

Moreover, I’ve started the habit of including reflection prompts that are related to the lessons and thoughts that came up during the book.

Given the mission of The Brain is a Noodle…

Book: They Said This Would Be Fun
Author: Eternity Martis

[1] There Is So Much To Learn About Memoir Writing

Of the memoirs I’ve read thus far, this one has been the most creative to read. Chapters are arranged differently and told in a narrative style fitting to the theme at hand. For example, part of her story is written as a play, particularly in illustrating one of her relationships. Some more serious topics include a useful compilation of statistics using examples across Canada.

Most of all, a number of the chapters end with a quick “survival guide for token university students”. They’re somehow both cathartic and evoke a wincing…

Do you ever go about your day, thinking up inventions that would be really cool to have? Or would save you a lot of time?

Here are the three inventions I wish existed (or existed at a more affordable price).

The Exercise Bike Generator

I most definitely did not come up with the idea of an exercise bike generator; instead, it came from watching the news as a kid and hearing about a gym similar to this one that is powered by your workouts.

It made so much sense to me. As a kid, we got one of those tiny crank-powered flashlights and I…

Normalize that
different people are
going to have
different reactions to things

or have different needs than you do.

Sometimes what you needed the most
isn’t what the other person
needs the most now.

Sure, it’s better than
not caring at all,
discarding another’s experiences
entirely,

but sometimes in hopes
of being kind,
we are unkind
when our intentions of kindness
overshadow the harm we’ve perpetuated
because we aren’t listening.

Tagging Aimée Gramblin | Penofgold | Naomi Leilani Acosta | Krupesh Raikar| Coco Joan | Gun Roswell | Dr. Preeti Singh | Hannah M. …

Monday: A Place To Go When You Need Love

When seeking love,
I go to bed —
no, get your mind
out of that gutter,
I’m looking for
the comfort of sleep.

When seeking love,
I return to the most basic of care,
ensuring that
I get my solid 8+ hours of sleep,
knowing that sometimes
I stay up
to create, to be, to exist
far more than my body
can really handle,
and in those moments of rest
I rejuvenate.

When seeking love,
I return to the calmness of night,
letting my mind enter dreamscape
to string the randomest sequences together,
knowing that my awake brain
will look back in humour
or in revelation
of…

Hello readers and writers!

Welcome to week 42 with The Brain is a Noodle, a bite-sized publication of creativity.

This week’s shortform piece is inspired by an old piece I wrote in much colder weather:

The inspiration behind this piece was that I was sitting right at my desk with one of the 1987312783 mugs I have in my thrifted collection. Though I’m part of a culture that uses mugs for everything (I genuinely never owned drinking glasses until I lived with other college roommates! …