I’ve got an awesome prompt.   Last Saturday see, my friend Paul told me about The Moth and intrigue swept my heart. (I love when that happens). The best part? Turns out The Moth (a compelling storytelling concept and podcast series) became a “thing” after the founder used to have people over and “forced” them [...]

The summer wound down with a pop. We knew it was coming, but when those balmy Chicago nights ended with a cold snap, it took us by surprise. Lis and I spent the entire warm weather months doing what twenty-something single Lincoln Parkians did — attending street festival after street festival, Cubs games, and rooftop [...]

Please describe a blind date.   Make it up or give us a little truth is stranger than fiction.   Bonus points and adoration from afar: If you make it up, include “Finland”, “chenille robe”, and “casserole” in your submission.   Please post your submission in the comments OR post in your blog and leave [...]

Annoyingly, I didn’t want to like the suburbs. Instead, I prefer to align myself with eclectic Aaryn, whose vision is to buy an urban loft with open common areas for diversity and individual expression. I thought (hoped?) the suburbs would be too plebian, too vanilla for my delusional hippish tastes and if I didn’t like [...]

  Olivia “Youthton” John and Toots, before school drop-off.   Toots started kindergarten today. In the days leading up to this morning, she periodically admitted she was “nervous,” a revelation wholly unlike her, the social girl who tells strangers about the time “daddy had a weiner operation and laid on the couch all day.” Either [...]

1. Who are you? 2. Where did you come from? 3. Where are you going?   Please post your submission in the comments OR post in your blog and leave a link to your blog in the comments.   And also — First time to PROMPTuesday? Welcome! Read a bit about this weekly writing exercise [...]

  It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s an experiential overview!   I’m still not sure how to incorporate product reviews (henceforth referred to as “experiental overview” into my blog yet, or if I even want to, but I have found that I’m game if the following four bullet points are addressed:   1) The [...]

I feel pretty safe in my new home. Unless the crickets mount a full offensive, I don’t think I’ve got any to worry about breaking-in-wise. This is really saying something, because I’m the girl who imagines nightmare scenarios of robbers jiggling the front door handle while I hop into the girls’ room, drag a heavy [...]

You’re in a mental institution. What finally drove you crazy?   Please post your submission in the comments OR post in your blog and leave a link to your blog in the comments.   And also — First time to PROMPTuesday? Welcome! Read a bit about this weekly writing exercise here.   (Want to see [...]

The problem with waiting so long between posts is there’s so much to say and not enough time to say it. There’s no logical way to string together an essay combining stories of my plane rides to and from New York, my slow introduction to suburbia, the weird thing happening to my right boob, and [...]

I’m going for two prompts today because I can’t make up my mind. Truth told? Ambivalence follows me in many aspects of my life…and it’s hard for me to settle on just one thing…always (and THAT’S the one constant). So to honor rather than decry my wobbling, I’m bequeathing double prompts. Choose one or do [...]

[A photo essay with very few wisecracks.]   I returned home from New York last night and absolutely needed to show you some of Jill and Marky’s wedding ASAP.   You’ll see why.           (How’d this get in here? It’s weird. It’s like some crazy loon made a random guy take [...]