Chloe Woodruff

Nov 19, 2024 | pittnews.com | Abby Lipold |Chloe Woodruff

I remember the commercial well. It interrupted my morning cartoons with flashing colors and threats of jail time. It showed a man stealing a purse from a woman at a restaurant and a burglar lifting a TV through a window in the night. It asked viewers if they would take these items from their rightful owners. What I remember the most was the final catchphrase, written in fuzzy white text on the black screen — “Piracy.

Nov 5, 2024 | pittnews.com | Jake Vasilias |Chloe Woodruff

Mimesis is a biweekly blog that focuses on media criticism through memoir. 4:06 pm My best friend and I replaced my car’s cabin air filter last weekend. It was long overdue — the AC spewed stale air that was barely preferable to leaving the vents off. Even at the strongest setting, it blew only a sigh. After I fiddled with the glove box for far too long, the filter finally loosened from its mounting.

Oct 22, 2024 | pittnews.com | Maxine Van Nortwick |Chloe Woodruff

Mimesis is a biweekly blog that focuses on media criticism through memoir 9:34 am As a little girl, my mother would routinely whisk us away to Philadelphia — a short drive from our home — to encounter the arts. We wandered the maze-like art museum and watched contemporary dance shows in glass-walled performance halls. I once walked the runway for a family friend in fashion school, dressed in pink and blue ruffles. A picture of me exists in that outfit, blowing a kiss to the audience.

Sep 24, 2024 | pittnews.com | Alex Porter |Chloe Woodruff

Straddling a bench, I am urged by a friend to remove “I feel like” from “I feel like friendship is a movie night.” We’re workshopping a piece I wrote on friendship and its complications. They highlight the phrase and stare at me, chin in their palm, reading my expression. “The statement sounds truer to your experience,” they say into curled fingers. “You own that thought.”I swing my leg over the bench so we’re facing each other. “But do you get what I’m saying?” I ask.

Sep 6, 2024 | pittnews.com | Jake Vasilias |Chloe Woodruff

Mimesis is a biweekly blog of pocket-sized memoirs that breathe meaning into the mundane 10:09 am In preparation for this post, I reread all prior editions of Mimesis. The catharsis in those posts stemmed from extracting meaning from existing media. I look back on them with a conflicted sense of pride that permeates most of my other writings. Uncertainty before submission has throttled my creative endeavors more times than I can count. I have tried and failed a hundred times to write a novel.