I think you’re all sponge-worthy!

They always remember the first time

Virgins: 9 on challenge grid and 5 on the hangout grid makes 14 in total. That seems like a good number for a sacrifice, but we don’t do those anymore. Thanks for joining us! Spread the word if you enjoyed your time this week. We enjoyed having you, and we’re not just saying that. Giddyup!

Nobody drives like me. Nobody. I’m doing things in this car, you have no idea they’re going on

There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that goes into yeah write  each week. Truthfully, Erica held my hand a little bit, but she was patient and never cussed at me once. A big thanks to her for letting me take care of her blog-baby and to you guys for being awesome with me and each other.  I’m speechless. I have no speech.

[divider_header_h3]editor’s pick by Erica M[/divider_header_h3]

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My hair is my life: I cut all my hair off three years ago and I’m just now asking myself why I did it. Being skinny is my other life: I’ve put on 40 lbs in maybe six months and the weight gain is more depressing than the depression the meds causing the weight gain were supposed to control. I complain and complain and cry and cry and my husband Q says: You’re beautiful, you’re sexy, you’re gorgeous, and I wish you could see yourself as I do.

It is with that wish I select Bill’s entry That’s What Makes You Beautiful, a wonderfully affirming post that begins by sharing the best kept secret: you do not look the way you think you look. The post flirts between a world of online dating insecurities and a world in which someone wants to fuck Bill Gates (you go, Melinda) yet reminds its readers of their attractiveness to the ones who love them most and, for that, I say thanks. Thanks, Bill, for the post. Thanks, Q, for the lifelong love and compliments. Congrats, Bill, on the win.

[divider_header_h3]lurkers’ favorite posts[/divider_header_h3]

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lurker’s favorite by Flood G

When I was young, my folks went on a sudden health kick. Among other torture, we had to eat spaghetti squash, instead of pasta, with our tomato sauce. I wept silently at the table while they tried to convince themselves aloud that the squash tasted just like spaghetti.

I saw the same silent tears fall from my own children when I declared that Mondays would henceforth be Tofu Day. So, I identified with Cindy’s at The Reedster Speaks desire for healthy living in My Juicer, It Mocks Me. I also understood her never using the juicer again. I have tofu from April in my vegetable crisper.

I like the conversational tone of this entry and even though we could see how it would end from the beginning, it reflects some truths in all of us: theory always wins over practice, food documentaries are for sadists and the road to Hell is paved with Dairy Queen soft serve.

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lurker’s favorite by Jen W

My pick of the week is Pesky Pippi’s Dates With My Dad Were Visits to Visits to Sears. Pippi’s writing is filled with wonderful sensory details and the best kind of nostalgia. Reading this post I felt like I was with her during that hot summer visit to Missouri. You can see that little girl looking longingly at all the delicious candies and the wink in her dad’s eye when he says she can’t have the candy just then. You can smell those brand new tires on the new red lawnmowers and feel the wind from the fan that is keeping the beach ball dancing.

I love how the heat upon leaving the store warms her small arms and how Pippi, with orange slices in hand, “would take little bites, savoring them, so they would last longer.” I really wanted this piece to last longer! Well done, Pippi!

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lurker’s favorite by Kristin W

Like Jen, I’m choosing Pesky Pippi’s trip to Sears in Dates with my Dad were Visits to Sears. I liked that she was able to find a child-like voice within the clearly grown-up narration. What begins with a beautiful image of “hand-and-finger” ends with a grown-up parent and child laughing about orange slices. The childlike perception is clear in the wide-eyed description of the candy counter: “Its vivid colors and heaps of candy were endless: orange slices, fruit sour balls, giant lollipops, fudge, pecan logs, chocolate honeycomb, candy sticks, golden butterscotch, malted milk balls, Boston baked beans.” Remember when it truly looked endless?

The episode Pippi describes was years ago, and there is definitely a tone of nostalgia and longing throughout. However, I could also imagine today’s parents going through the same routine – replacing Sears for Target and the candy aisle for the $1 bins. Even Pippi’s line about doubting whether or not her Dad actually needed anything at Sears other than the air conditioning sounds current. So, for the voice and vivid imagery within a clearly told story arc, Dates with my Dad is my lurker’s favorite this week!

[divider_header_h3]popular vote winner[/divider_header_h3]

The Child Discipline Holy Grail by Amanda of Werdyab

‘Tweens all over America are going to wonder what’s up as more and more mothers start singing, instead of screaming, their children into submission. Congrats, Amanda, on the win.

[divider_header_h3]random winner of the yeah write #61 ad square  [/divider_header_h3]

Random.org chose #7 and this week’s #7 on the grid after voting and as of this writing was Aidan Donnelly Rowley of ADR. Aidan, if you’d like to promote your blog, small business or pet project in the sidebar of yeah write, please send Erica M a 125×125 banner ad and a link to the project. If you don’t have a banner ad, she’ll be happy to whip one up for you.

Win-win

The thumbnails are now sorted in the grid, with no square to spare, from most yellow star votes to the least. In the case of a tie, like if four blogs all got seven votes each, the thumbnails are additionally sorted by page views. Do not be discouraged if your blog has landed near the bottom of the grid; it is always a tight race. The fun lies in getting better exposure for your blog and in the spirit of competition as incentive to improve your writing and blogging skills. It’s a win-win for everybody involved.

Thanks again, everybody, for linking up, for reading, for voting. And for making yeah write the most welcoming spot on the Interwebs for writers who blog and bloggers who write.  All right, hey, you’ve been great! See you at the cafeteria. 

editor’s note from Erica M

Y’all, in comments, please help me thank my friends Flood, Kristin and Jen for giving me a much-appreciated vacation these last two weeks as they read, judged, wrote and tweeted all the support for four grids totaling 160 bloggers. I don’t know what I would have done without them and this bottle of Tequila I just bought. I love them all so much.

Yeah write #62 opens Tuesday.