Five Star Friday's 207th Edition Is Brought to You By Chuck Klosterman

This week's Five Star Friday is brought to you by prayer, an uncle's advice to future uncles, a mother's love for her son, maintaining self-esteem after childhood sexual assault, plans and how they can change, beauty standards and queer bodies, grief over the loss of a child, the sweetness in offline living, embracing imperfection, and Chuck Klosterman:


photo credit: David Shankbone

Self-deception allows us to create a consistent narrative for ourselves that we actually believe. I’m not saying that the truth doesn’t matter. It does. But self-deception is how we survive.

     — Chuck Klosterman, Eating the Dinosaur

Happy Friday!

"It All Vanishes" from All & Sundry:

Do you know how sometimes you read something, and it’s like the air in the room grows heavy? Like something you can touch, like you’re held fast by the words. I felt that way, last night. My god.

He is everything I rushed him to be.

"The Power of Prayer" from Zoot:

I believe when someone prays, or when someone simply hopes for something good for someone else, or when people just think positively — then positive things happen. Everyone was praying for my pregnancy to to last, and it didn't. But I still believe the prayers worked because — from the moment I knew the baby had no heartbeat — I felt loved. Because while those prayers were not answered in the way we all hoped, I still knew that you all had prayed for it and I felt that love in a very sad moment.

"Beauty Can't Be Stolen" by Sara Hawkins at Girl Body Pride:

She says she believes us when we tell her she is beautiful. Yet, I wonder if that half-hearted smile and "thanks" means my daughter is starting to wonder the same thing many of us thought as young girls — that they're just saying it because they have to. Or even worse, for me, that those words — "you’re beautiful" — mean something is expected in return. That her beauty is how she'll be judged, the basis of why people like her, or the first determination of whether she's worthy.

"Attn: Soon-to-be Uncles" from Good Youngman Brown:

You never realize how many firsts there are in a human life. The baby will grab your finger with its hand and you will realize that it has never done that before. The baby will smile at you and you will realize that you have never seen that before. The baby will laugh and you will realize that you have never heard that before.

Especially in these moments, expect strange feelings in your throat as it wells up and you grow a deeper love for this baby, child, little person.

"I Had a Plan" from Living in Kellie's World:

With Rickover's final words, I knew I had passed the interview. Two hours later I was in the Navy. My new plan was to complete one four-year tour of duty, leave the service, and then use the GI bill to pay for law school. That's not what happened.

"The Body Electric" from Effing Dykes:

...maybe that's what some people find so fucking scary about us.

The world views female bodies as public property, and when we don't care about keeping the property tastefully and appropriately decorated according to the outlines described in the female homeowner's association handbook (aka Cosmo, Elle, and all TV shows, ever)...people get pissed.

It's hard to control the bodies of women who refuse to take made-up standards seriously.

"And She's Down" from Four Plus an Angel:

The date is following me like a cartoon cloud only carrying rain over one unfortunate character. In two weeks it will be five years since I last held my daughter.

"Days Undocumented" by Roxanne Krystalli at The Equals Record:

Once an embracer of process, I am now embracing the photos not taken, the words not written. I am living in a blank away message, waiting for the lyrics to populate it, and for new processes to appeal photogenically to a pair of eyes perpetually in love with novelty.

"The Self-Loathing Is Strong with This One" from All Things Fadra:

They showed some nice engagement photos they had done for a couple. Something you might see in the newspaper. And then they showed photos that weren’t posed. These were real moments between the young couple, caught on film. The photos showed anything but perfection. Instead they exuded the couple’s real personality and playfulness and emotion.

And that's when Todd and Diane said the magic words: embrace the imperfection.

That’s exactly what I plan to do.

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Comments

[KeAnne]

So glad to see Fadra's post included! Off to read more good stuff...

[Jessica]

I can't thank you enough for including me in the list. Sending people over to read means more may read my daughter's story and that is so comforting right now. Thank you.