Six Words, Six Months to Come up with Them

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


How lovely. Six word memoirs.

I know. Me, too.

Had to be a crappy ad gimmick or college drinking game, but it’s not. It’s addictive and sadly beautiful when not slyly sexy or funny or enigmatic. The good kind of enigmatic, not the annoying kind usually meant just to show off.

From SMITH magazine, bathroom reading that may spoil us all for the dreck we usually settle for in…you know…there. No one can resist the challenge. Check this and this and this and this….

I’ll never sleep again until I pull this off. And realize I’m depressed by the truth I’ve managed to tell on myself. Here’s a taste (from Ron Rosenbaum’s site, above):

Explained Hitler, Shakespeare. Couldn’t explain self.

But there were so many efforts I admired more, ranging from the humorous:

Maybe you had to be there.

—Roy Blount Jr.

to the meditatively profound (I think):

Melancholy marvel at how everything connects

—Lawrence Wechsler

to the sly and sexy:

Catholic girl. Jersey. It’s all true.

—Mary Elizabeth Williams

to the shamelessly smug:

I always suffered fools fairly well.

—Richard Ford

to the sadly romantic:

I waste time looking for love

—Sean Gannett

to the rueful:

Left Aruba for Maryland. Pretty dumb.

—Barbara Phillpis-Seitz

to the self effacing:

Well, I thought it was funny.

—Stephen Colbert

THANKS FOR READING. NOW ONE QUICK ASK...

Trump and his allies are clamping down on the press—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and the power of the federal government. While major media outlets cave, Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member just chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Will you help us make the most of it?

Every dollar you give online through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

The forces working to demolish trust in the media and the very idea of shared facts are not slowing down. If you believe in kickass, truth-telling independent journalism, now is the time to show it. Please give what you can—any amount—and know that every dollar will go twice as far.

payment methods

THANKS FOR READING. NOW ONE QUICK ASK...

Trump and his allies are clamping down on the press—using lawsuits, lies, intimidation, and the power of the federal government. While major media outlets cave, Mother Jones won’t back down. To help us stand strong, a generous board member just chipped in a $50,000 digital matching gift. Will you help us make the most of it?

Every dollar you give online through September 30 will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

The forces working to demolish trust in the media and the very idea of shared facts are not slowing down. If you believe in kickass, truth-telling independent journalism, now is the time to show it. Please give what you can—any amount—and know that every dollar will go twice as far.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate