Technology and design in plain language.

Inspired by Hemmingway’s powerful six-word short story (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and SmithMag’s Six Word Memoirs, I ran a contest to see who could give me the most original and clever six-word autobiography.

The story was limited to six words, but the topics were all over the place. Some people gave a strictly autobiographical breakdown of their lives:

Burton Andrews » Internet and Tae Kwon Do addict.
Bud Gibson » Lived all over the world. Teach.
Joe D’Andrea &raqu0; Born. Played. Learned. Worked. Loved. Living.
Aaron O’Dell » Born, Raised, Loved, Lost, Surviving Reborn.

Other people focused on specific parts of their lives or personalities:

Matt Marshall » You’re only normal because I’m crazy.
Mark Norwood » Child four, let’s hope no more.
Nathan Gardner » Intense anticipation, followed by daily jubilation.

Spiritual truths were another shared theme:

Renee Doiron » Complication inspires fear, yet Faith conquers.
Katie Hostetter » One passion, one vision, one voice.
Angela Prince » Born in sin, raised in Christ.
Tim Challies » Born dead: redeemed. Reborn: alive.
Matt Gridley » When tired of religion, chose Christ.

Several people expressed angst:

Melanie Aroniss » I don’t have a life story.
Cody Loveland » Always in trouble for stupid things.
Bryan Collick » A treadmill: building stamina, going nowhere.
Rob Kenny » Waiting to find out the punchline.

While others still were painfully self-aware:

Jeremy Killian » I am compensating for something inadequate.
Angela Prince » Madly in love, scared of loss.
Becky Stanton » Becky, you need to lose weight.
Kristina Ferrone » Always leaving the better things unsaid.

But the award for the most original and clever autobiography goes to Becky for her frank and hilarious entry.

Becky Stanton » Born naked and hungry. Better now.

The t-shirt is all yours, Becky! If you email me your address and the shirt size you’d like, I’ll send it out ASAP.

I also have to give Andy Klimek an honorable mention for his submission which made me laugh out loud:

Andy Klimek » I poop parties and raise eyebrows.

Interested in reading more? Visit NPR’s featurette on six-word memoirs by famous authors.