Five Star Friday's 192nd Edition Is Brought to You By Grace Hopper

This week's Five Star Friday is brought to you by deployment in Afghanistan, a visit from an old friend, ethnicity and journalism, the end of a day, absurd proofs for God, the giant task of parenting, moving forward into a happier future, and Grace Hopper, the mother of computing:





Happy Friday!

"Same Difference" from Nothing But Bonfires:

Here is the thing about people you've known forever: you don't forget how to be with them. It's marvelous as a magic trick, but the jokes that were funny then are funny still. One of you starts with half a memory and the other recalls the rest of it. You tumble backwards through the past, stripping the years of their stories, grabbing greedily at them as you plummet further. Oh, remember that time when—?

Yes! Yes, I remember.

"The One Question I Won't Ask" from Prematurely Nostalgic:

Sure, I learned that it's not appropriate to perpetuate stereotypes. And yes, I learned why it's important to explore the stories and voices that are hidden in the margins. We even had a class dedicated to it; Critical Issues in Journalism, where we had to complete a community mapping exercise. (Along with my teammates, a group of three white girls, I completed a report on the Ethiopian disapora who've settled along the Danforth.) But they didn't teach us the most important skill — if the story doesn't explicitly focus on race, when is it okay to bring up ethnicity in an interview?

"Pretty Much Irrefutable Proof That There Is a God" by Jim Behrle at The Awl:

I don't think the Things Just Accidentally Evolved Thing really completely explains it all in any way that means anything. The Earth is a little too perfect in its imperfection. And sex makes us do an awful lot of dumb things there is just no way we would ever do. The world is a weird, wild place. And someone is laughing all about it. Probably Tom Cruise.

"An Open Letter to All Parents From a Non-Parent" from Trying to Be Good:

When I have a baby, I hope we get to hang out more. Maybe you can wipe my crotch for me before he cracks his head on the bathroom tile. Maybe I will have a chance to make you a cup of tea before she spills it all over the floor.

Let’s smell the top of their heads together.

"Just Write: Moonlight" from Perpetually Nesting:

Piano plays quietly in the dark hot summer nursery, the only other sound is the humming fan. Despite the bath, the smell of detangler still mixes with sunscreen. The day is hard to scrub away. There’s something hopeful about the smell and the song.

"In the Days of Trebuchets" by Mr. Big Dubya at DadCentric:

...my mind started wandering and I could see my 14-year-old self fiddling with the stereo in my bedroom at my parents' house. The plastic dustcover protecting the turntable (that's for LPs kids) had a 94.5 WCOZ sticker plastered to it and there were four or five LPs on the spindle. There might have even been The Who's The Kids Are All Right 8-track in the player. Anyway, all I could think as this tableau played through my mind was, "Where the hell has the time gone?" Thirty years, give or take. Most of the guys I'm serving with right now weren't even born when 14-year-old me was fiddling around with my stereo. Hell, odds are, their parents probably weren't even dating. Even worse, their parents might not even have been 14 yet. Crap.

"Make Changes Without Criticizing the Past — Your Future Will Thank You For It" from Danielle LaPorte:

Not only does dissing how you got to where you are dishonor your past and make for some negative juju, it weighs on your transformational process. How you regard your past influences how your future unfolds.

Please come back and share good writing with us over the coming week to be featured on the next Five Star Friday. If you have read a really good piece on someone else's weblog, submit it by Thursday at midnight CST to have it featured on Five Star Friday.

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Comments

[Sarah]

Great collection this week!

[matthew]

As usual, a nice collection of articles. Thanks for sharing.

[The Blog Fodder]

Loved the proof there is a God. Too funny