Greetings, Earthlings!

Now that was a party! It’s like you knew that the gargleblaster grid was going on vacation, and you all decided to bring it. I’d call this one of our best weeks yet, and personally, I was super glad for the extra votes this week. A grand welcome to our only gargleblaster virgin: we hope you had fun and that you stick around through the summer. We also had one hitchhiker – don’t forget to show her some love!

If you’re worried about gargleblaster withdrawal, you’re in luck! We’ll still be giving you an ultimate question every week, and you can still give us your best 42 word answer. Or – and this is where it gets exciting – you can use the question to inspire a longer fiction or non-fiction piece. Whether you’re looking to refine your micro-technique or to stretch your wings a bit, we’re sure you’ll have a great time.

Crowd favorite

I am touched and honored that you picked my piece, Math, as your crowd favorite this week.

We lay on the grass counting stars, each flicker a tick on the measure of time. In the space between breaths I took your hand. You lifted your face toward mine. The heavens calculated the insignificance and the significance of this moment.

With so many excellent pieces to choose from, it means a lot that mine made an impression. Thanks, everyone!

Editor’s pick

I admit it: I agonized over this week’s editor’s pick. I conferred with the other editors. I re-read all of my favorites (which took a good long while). Finally, I went with my gut and chose a piece that really stood out for its unique approach.

Every week, Chamblee54 brings us an unexpected and visually captivating response to the gargleblaster question. His perfectly timed piece No Squares is one of his best, in my opinion. I can’t reproduce the text here without diminishing the impact, so I invite you to read it on his blog. In the various rectangles and stripes found on the American flag, Chamblee paints us a picture of the American ideal “e pluribus unum.” (Out of many, one.) On a technical level, he used rhythm and repetition very effectively to build upon each previous line. When you’ve only got a limited number of words, it’s a tricky thing to repeat them like that. And in the end, he gave us the sum of all those parts.

Fantastic, Chamblee! I’m so happy to award you the editor’s pick prize this week. You can pick it up over there on the left, and I hope our badge will add a little something to your already graphically wonderful post.

Top row seven*

In addition to me, the top row seven includes: GennaClaire at writeamuck for Addition and Subtraction; Melanie at My Own Champion for Independence; C.C. at Conscious Cacophony for Love Sequence Interrupted; Tracy at From the Laundry Room for Drip Dry; Jen at Finding Your Spirit for Conversations at Tea; and Silver Leaf at The Silver Leaf Journal for Love Sums.  You were all particularly awesome this week. Thanks for playing along. Go grab your badges!

The gargleblaster grid is now sorted in order of votes from most to fewest. It’s always a tight race and a wonderful opportunity to learn from your fellow grid-mates. In the case of a tie, InLinkz gives precedence to the post with the highest number of clicks.

* I realize that your browser may not display the grid in neat rows of seven, but mine does. Therefore, the Top Row 7.

Looking for more?

This is your last chance this summer to submit to the yeah write challenge grid (for personal essays and traditional blog anecdotes) or the speakeasy (for fiction). Go check them out – it’s like a preview of the summer grid. Read, comment, get to know the community. And if the mood strikes you, submit your own post: the challenge grid and speakeasy are open until 10:00 PM Eastern on Wednesday. We know you won’t all make the grid every week, but don’t panic! The moonshine grid opens on Friday and we’d love to see you there.

Don’t forget the summer series!

Whether you’re new to microfiction and microblogging or you’ve been doing this a while, we think there’s something new to be learned at the yeah write summer series. Bring three micro pieces to one of our lounges, or branch out and try some longer fiction or non-fiction. We’d love to have you in one of our small group workshops — there’s nothing quite like a deep dive into your own work and others’ to give you some insight as to what works and what doesn’t. Questions? Drop Christine a line.

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