Hurray! We’ve made it to Ten Bites out of our Memoir Elephant and so far we have recorded and explored snippets based on a variety of prompts: School at Seven, Jinks and Japes, Magic and Fairy Tales, Sports Day, Camping, First Jobs, Childhood Illness, Dressing Up and Cycling!
Some of you have been here since the start and amazingly Irene, Geoff and Tracey have managed to participate every week with a good few others being stalwart regulars – particularly Suzanne, Sherri and Charli. For everyone though, a huge big thank you for sharing a bit of yourself. I think the variety and diversity helps each of us examine our own lives anew.
If only I could sing.. but this chap will have to do it for me
Looking for an obvious prompt for this tenth week, I pondered the significance of Ten, but I’m not much of a numerologist nor did I have the time or patience to trawl the sheer volume of stuff that comes up in an internet search for “Ten” – I got lost in my discovery that Pythagorus was a vegetarian and an early feminist.. Which led me to Π of course and then..
.. around to maths and then the school report for Max that has just landed on the mat – I was thinking of scores. I didn’t want to go with school reports as my 10 x I remembers would all look the same, like lines for detention..
“I remember Lisa must try harder, B- / C+”
“I remember Lisa must try harder, B- / C+”
“I remember Lisa must try harder, B- / C+”
There have been a few weeks where the prompt has constrained a few so tightly, they were unable to participate, so this one is especially for Luccia – I hope it’s broad enough and abstract enough to mean something to everyone. And let us focus on the positive this week: here’s a chance to blow your own trumpet, take the mick out of yourself or quietly let us know something we would otherwise not guess is special about you.
10 out of 10 is our theme but I’ll leave it to you to pick anything you excel at, be it a hobby, academia or even a certain strand of trivia. We’ll be glad to hear of the ordinary as much as the extraordinary or if you want to take a funny look at an obsessive part of your life or character, choose a trait you ‘excel’ at. (Anne Goodwin highlighted one or two of mine in her article this week on procrastination and precrastination..)
At the moment I’m torn between writing about my perfectionism or uber-ability to fly by the seat of my pants or my childhood beliefs I really was a Dr Doolittle. I’m sitting back to ponder though.. I don’t want to influence the outcome this week by going any further, just yet!
If you’re new to the Bite Size Memoir Challenge, this project is designed to help anyone record and share some personal memoir in small manageable bites. I post a prompt every week and welcome contributions from anyone – you don’t have to be a writer. For ideas on how to participate please read the post introducing the challenge here.
Here’s how you join in:
A REMINDER OF HOW THE BITE-SIZE MEMOIR CHALLENGE WORKS
- Each Friday I’ll suggest a topic by 2pm UK time (BST) via my blog and Twitter (using the hashtag #BiteSizeMemoir – You don’t need to be on Twitter to participate.)
2. The challenge will be to write about the topic using
either
10 x “I remember statements”
or
150 x words (prose, or poem if you want to stretch yourself)
Either will make you pick and choose your words carefully whilst keeping a tight focus for time’s sake. You might want to write more, to keep at home, but please only submit one option within the limits for sharing (i.e. 10 statements or 150 word prose/poem)
3. The Deadline for sharing your ‘Bite’ will be 2pm (BST) the following Thursday. You can share in either of two ways:
a) Post your response in the comments section of the current topic – I will find it and cut and paste to the compilation of responses. (You may not see your comment appear immediately but don’t worry – I will find and share it)
or
b) If you have a blog you can post your response on your own blog with a link back to this post, and then also provide the link to me in the comments section. I will then link your contribution back to your post, in the compilation of responses.
4. It would be great if you felt able to include the country the events took place in – I think it provides a significant context for other readers. As an example look at the compilation for “School at Seven”
5. I will aim to compile responses and share them via another post before the next challenge is issued.
A few rules:
- If you need or want to be anonymous that’s fine – When you post a comment just put ‘Anon’ or a nickname in the name field. It does ask for an email address as part of spam filtering but only I will see it.
- Please keep others anonymous to protect their privacy and dignity – change names or use initials etc.
- If you’ve got an axe to grind, please do it somewhere else.
-
If you stumble across this after the deadline, do feel free to contribute and include your blog link in the comments section of the compilation, so others can read it.
Remember to submit your bite for “10 out of 10” by 2pm BST Thursday 17th July 2014
July 17, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Jimminy Cricket Lisa, this is in sweats and buckets, with seconds to go!!! Here it is, so many distractions I can’t believe I did it!!!! Hope you like: http://sherrimatthewsblog.com/2014/07/17/bite-size-memoir-mums-10-out-of-10/ xxx
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July 17, 2014 at 2:18 pm
By the skin of your teeth and the hairs on your chinny chin chin! Thrilled by your excellence at last minuteness and ability to fit so much into your life – 10 out of 10 for all of those talents! Thank you Lxx
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July 21, 2014 at 2:46 pm
…and here I am, ooooh, how many days later replying to this? Honestly…I have to improve! But loved that..haha, I’ll be saying that now every time I slide in here! Nice to know that I really can get 10 out of 10 for something… love it, thanks Lisa 😀 xx
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July 16, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Found this one really hard to do so used your comments to I think Sherri re last weeks prompt and your experience with girl guides. I had quite a different take on my time and we did a lot of camping trips with the scouts and rovers. Great fun.
http://irenewaters19.com/2014/07/16/bite-size-memoir-number-10-ten-out-of-ten/
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July 17, 2014 at 11:52 am
As I try and write mine at the eleventh hour, I am finding it hard myself.. You might get the picture I didn’t stick at much early in life so I can read between the lines of this bite and appreciate what else it says about the young Irene. Another great picture – does it capture your embarrassment? 😦 – I am quite interested in photos that aren’t all smiles. We don’t take many of them do we? Hats off to the persistent photographer in your family – it’s a particular treat of your bite size posts that you have something for every occasion so far! Thank you, Lisa xx
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July 16, 2014 at 5:52 am
Hi Lisa,
I’ve decided to share a little of the ‘ten little steps and stairs’ that were my family. I hope that’s okay. It’s a little different from the other memoir bites. xx
10/10 Family facts
I’m 1/10
6 boys and 4 girls: girl, boy, girl, boy, boy, girl, girl, boy, boy, boy; that’s 10/10
January: 1, February: 1, May: 1, June: 2, July: 2, August:3
1949, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965
My parents married in 1948.
In just over 10 months their first child was born when Mum was aged 26 and Dad 28.
Another child was born, on average, every two years. The oldest child was almost 16 years of age when the youngest was born. Mum was 42.
For almost 17 years, for most of her life as a young woman, my mother was either pregnant or breastfeeding. She devoted her life to child-rearing and raised all to adulthood.
Sadly there are no longer 10/10. The first to pass was the 1958 girl who was taken by breast cancer in 1995.
Large families such as this were not uncommon when I was growing up. Now they are rare.
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July 16, 2014 at 7:50 am
A fabulous little bite of your history Norah! So very different from my own family and also contrasting nicely with the other interpretations this week. A reminder that these prompts are whatever they mean to you and the little bit of memoir we share as a result. I love that it’s different – it fits the prompt with a perfect ten and some interesting mathematical patterns with birthdays and years. Sorry to hear you lost one of your number before her time too, Lisa xxo
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July 16, 2014 at 1:41 pm
Thanks Lisa. Yes, it still saddens me, for her and for her children who were quite young at the time. We can never be sure what life will dish out.
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July 17, 2014 at 11:53 am
No we can’t, which is why we seize today and live it to the max. Hugs xxo
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July 20, 2014 at 10:14 am
Thanks Lisa. Hugs back. xox
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July 15, 2014 at 11:36 pm
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the prompt. Here’s my entry for this week. It brought back some fond memories, and I actually found a couple of old photos in my album…
http://lucciagray.com/2014/07/15/bite-size-memoir-10-out-of-10%E2%80%B3/
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July 16, 2014 at 9:08 am
Hurray! 10/10 for this prompt – relieved to come up with something to elicit some memoir for you Great to see photos of the young Lucy and to share in such a talent. (Not that I do ‘share’ it! I’m rubbish and lacking in confidence when it comes to speaking in tongues!) Thanks you, Luccia! 😀
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July 16, 2014 at 10:59 am
Well, in a way, languages were thrust upon me! You’re nevertheless much better at sports than I ever dreamed of being! 🙂 Thanks for the prompt. It’s good remember what we’re good at, and why…
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July 15, 2014 at 6:05 pm
I made it! Lots of fun thinking about this wide open topic.
Thanks for the memoirs 🙂
http://thisgirlclimbstrees.weebly.com/extra-fun-bits-with-words/ah-to-be-perfect-almost
Ellen xo
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July 15, 2014 at 7:29 pm
So glad you found this fun! A lovely positive piece of peace with oneself without complacency. 10/10 for perfect balance 🙂 Lxx
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July 14, 2014 at 11:43 am
I sort of cheated Lisa as I’m not a ten out of ten guy. Hope it slips just inside the rules. http://wp.me/p4ziei-fp
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July 14, 2014 at 1:15 pm
The agonies many of us secretly share. Sorry this one was more of a challenge than I imagined! Being second sibling to a perfect 10 of an older brother is never easy.
Still a lovely look at a Happy Day and my rules are so bendy this week it easily fits. I sense she’s a perfect choice, Lisa xx
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July 14, 2014 at 3:52 am
A yummy bite this go: http://carrotranch.com/2014/07/14/bite-size-memoir-no-10/
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July 14, 2014 at 6:53 am
A tantalisingly tasty bite Charli bursting with expertise as well as flavour! I get to four examples of excellence here but can anyone spot more?
Each week I marvel at how other people’s memories jog my own so perhaps a fifth for the best analogy yet for the effects of sharing our nuggets of memoir each week “like digging into old couch cushions and finding loose change.” Thank you Lisa xx 😊
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July 12, 2014 at 8:53 pm
Here you go Lisa, not my usual. I decided on a poem for this one. It isn’t even my usual style for poetry (not that I have an exact style) but it is what came out for your prompt. Cheers to you and your #BiteSizeMemoir =)
http://morgandragonwillow.com/2014/07/blow-your-own-horn-bitesizememoir-2.html
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July 13, 2014 at 3:59 am
Frank crooned all the way through your post. Ah, lovely. Thank you for keeping us at the plate, taking bites! I’m glad we won’t focus on grade school reports as it would have read line-by-line like yours. High school was a yin-yang of As or Ds. I either did well or didn’t! I went to college later in life and I was so worried about being a poor student that I took a class and it was the best thing I could have done. Great prompt and congratulations on “10”!
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July 13, 2014 at 5:45 pm
Hi Charli – that’s what part of my later study was about – seeing if I could actually work! Found I could but some scary times ‘sticking’ with it, so practiced was I at not! Lisa xx
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July 13, 2014 at 3:46 pm
Wow! This is beautiful, Morgan. I think this prompt might provoke the most intimate understanding yet of some of our participants, based on yours and Oliver’s responses so far.
Brilliant to tackle it head on – I know I use humour as diversion from strengths and discomfort when I get a compliment ! Thank you, Lisa x
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July 12, 2014 at 8:46 pm
Congrats on getting to the magic tenth bite sized challenge, Lisa. I don’t participate but I do enjoy reading the lovely pieces people submit. I also enjoy your blog because I like your writing – you flow so easily from one thought to another – it’s a pleasure to read.
Looking forward to reading the responses.
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July 13, 2014 at 3:27 pm
It’s a relief to find someone who can follow my ramblings! Thank you Teagan. Please keep up your insights and helpful advice on writing – your timing is often spookily just what I need in the very moment you publish your own blog posts! Hope the book revisions are nearly there. Looking forward to the published work! Lxx
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July 12, 2014 at 3:31 pm
Oliver – UK
A perfect ten.
That’s what we aim for. From the moment we comprehend the meaning of the words that frame the expectations of our parents, peers, employers and even friends, we are being measured against some ideal where ten is perfect and zero becomes another word for loser. We are human. Each of us is unique and perfect at being who we are, what we are, at a point in time. Mr Gove and his ‘perfect ten’ team of androids may work hard to cram us all into a uniform standard of mechanistic perfection; where he himself is the only ‘ten’ score holder, where the world revolves around production units of numeralised perfection. But I refuse to be an android. I am a perfect ten at being me, myself and I. I tell this to my children. Be the best ‘you’ you possibly can be and you will get a ten from me every time.
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July 12, 2014 at 3:42 pm
Wow, Oliver. This is really powerful. 10 out of 10 from me for a prickle of tears. Beautifully worded reminder that the scorecards other’s design aren’t the ones’ most of us would be judged by. Your perfect Ten is your individualism my friend, that and your constant ability to ‘not go with the flow’. Much love, Lisa xx
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July 13, 2014 at 3:50 am
Love the phrase–‘I’m a perfect ten at being me, myself and I.” That’s the best we can ever be!
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July 16, 2014 at 5:47 am
Great sentiment. Agree entirely – 10/10 at being yourself, no one else can do it!
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July 12, 2014 at 3:49 am
10/10 for that one Lisa! You have given enough scope for everyone to have a go! I might even join in this time. I am one of ten you know. It also reminds me of a poem I learned at school ‘Ten Little Steps and Stairs’ http://goo.gl/TOqv5Z; or the top 10 of everything. Like you, I’ll ponder the topic for a wee while! What will I choose? Congratulations on reaching this milestone!
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July 12, 2014 at 1:21 pm
Thanks Norah, I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with, aside from this fabulous poem! We have an old set of stone steps in the garden, hard to date but our house very old. They’re quite worn and this poem made me think again of the sheer number of boots that must have climbed up and down them to wear them away – amazing to reflect on their history with the suggestions in this wonderful poem!
Lisa xx 🙂
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July 13, 2014 at 11:45 am
It is amazing to think of the history of the steps and the lives of all the people who may have walked them. For me to even think of the age of the steps is amazing as we have no buildings in Australia that would come near it. We do have ancient Indigenous artworks, of course, but no buildings. Not sure how I’ll go with my 10/10. Haven’t worked an appropriate angle yet! 🙂
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July 13, 2014 at 3:57 pm
It’s interesting too that perhaps a dry landscape and previously more nomadic population wouldn’t have required such permanent buildings – as record of time gone by.
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July 14, 2014 at 12:18 pm
Perhaps. I’m sure there are many ways of looking at it. 🙂
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July 11, 2014 at 10:33 pm
Haha! Great post in celebration of ’10 out of 10′ – gotta love Ol’ Blue Eyes! You’ve really got me thinking with this one Lisa…but you know how I love a challenge 😉 Have a great weekend, see you soon ! xx
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July 12, 2014 at 1:03 pm
Thanks Sherri! I think it might be a challenge to pick one thing – I’m veering towards 10 with remember statements! Have a good weekend yourself – We’re sweltering up North!
PS: I think you’re the only one who has had their sound on so far when looking at this post! 😀
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July 12, 2014 at 4:49 pm
Ahh well, I do like to listen to music…! And same here, so humid and sticky but rain on the way and cloudy now. Feels like we are about to get a huge storm and I hope so, hottest day yet I reckon 😀
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July 12, 2014 at 5:27 pm
Yes, probably is here unless that was yesterday – in fact so hot, the tomboy has a skirt on! 😀
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July 12, 2014 at 5:35 pm
Woo hoo, you go girl 😉
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July 11, 2014 at 4:34 pm
Was just finishing off my watery flash fiction post when this came in. I did think of telling you how good I am at washing my smalls in a stream with a block of green soap but couldn’t eke it out to 150 words. Will try to come up with something in the next week.
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July 12, 2014 at 1:01 pm
I’m chuckling away thinking of the details required to write 150 words about washing smalls with green soap. I remember that stuff at school and in campsite washrooms – very hard to get a lather with and then hard to get back out of fabric – I wonder what on earth it was made with!
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July 15, 2014 at 2:55 pm
Jen! You naughty girl! Hilarious, thank you. I’m blushing in that middle-aged British kind of way but wishing I’d had the balls! (Well, I did a few years ago!)
Thank you 🙂
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