Five Star Friday's Edition #100! That's, Like, A Lot of Five Star Fridays.

Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.

     — Don Delillo

It's another Five Star Friday held over to Monday due to house guests, family, and a variety of other factors that made the entirety of last week and the weekend flash by before I could even take note of what was going on. I even also almost missed that this is the 100th edition of this little corner of the internet. Inconceivable!

Happy 100th, everybody!

This Five Star Friday roundup is brought to you by fatherhood, sudden illness, sex education in schools, finding inner peace, a loyal friend, rehab, prostate cancer, a feisty baby, a C-section, life lessons, cleavage, and daycare.

I know that some of you have been sorely overlooked. This, too, is inconceivable, so please leave urls to your own excellent weblog writing in the comments.

Happy Monday!

"Top Ten Ways to Find Inner Peace" from sweet | salty:

Peace. Miss Universe wants it. So does Miss Wichita Home Heating.

Do any of us know what peace is, though? Because the moment they inform Miss Wichita Home Heating that all the machine guns in the world have been plugged up with daisies, all those soldiers standing there will be left to ponder the fundamentally distressed state of individual humanity.

And they will freak the f*ck out.

"I, We" from Zipbag of Bones

Two from DadCentric:
"12:01 (Part 2)" by TwoBusy
and
"On Walking the Line" by Whit:

I walk a line called fatherhood and my balance is precarious at best. Toes fall over edges smoothed with kind words and late night hugs. Feet slip upon surfaces left wet by tiny tears and early morning accidents. It is a path that my father walked before me, and his before him, but the scenery is vastly different.

"I'm Definitely Not Dead" from Hyperbole and a Half

"Regarding the Birds and the Bees" by EarnestGirl at Canada Moms Blog

"The Way Balls Bounce" from B. Hockey J.:

So he tells me this yesterday like he’s saying “Look. A ball bouncing.” and that’s the way I heard it too. I’m just listening to all this stuff about catching it early and radiation or removal and a good prognosis until we finally hang up and everything’s silent. Not emotional. Silent. A silence much bigger than quiet. It’s the calm before I begin to question my aptitude for being a son.

"Snapshots From Before Going Home" from One Crafty Mother

"Ten Life Lessons From Improv" from Voix de Michèle

"Little Napoleon Apple Tornado Blues" from Thunder Pie:

Of course I never said nothin' to her about the bottles she whipped by my face. She wouldn't of had the time to ponder my aches and just as sure as a buzzard likes hot guts, that lass would have hung lead on my bones without lifting her eyes from that Dora.

"I Call Bullshit On the Offense" from Raised Queer

"Want" from Whiskey In My Sippy Cup

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.

And because you are a fan of finding good new writing on the internet:

Subscribe — Subscribe to this website to keep up with us every week.

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Five Star Friday's Edition #99

When a man publishes a book, there are so many stupid things said that he declares he'll never do it again. The praise is almost always worse than the criticism.
     — Sherwood Anderson

This Five Star Friday roundup is brought to you by riffing on horror films, old wounds, bullying, 1970s crafting, money, a child's naïveté, domestic abuse, mommyblogging, living simply, a ghost, postpartum depression, reality, career choices, money, a victim of sexual assault, the loss of a parent, the changing face of social media, female body hair, and a surprising flow of good fortune.

Also, please leave urls to your own good weblog writing in the comments, and let us see what you're up to.

Happy Monday!

"Jimmy Krueger — With Bonus Audio!" from Stop Motion Verbosity:

But you should listen to what I’m telling you. Don’t nap. Don’t do it. I’ll getcha. Now, Estelle, my wife? She doesn’t care. “Oh, Jimmy, whatever, I’m making a meatloaf, like I have time for this? The dreams and the killing? No, go on, whatever,” she says to me, “and if you pass by the Deli get me some lean ham. Lean!” Like I would go in and order all the crappy ham on purpose or something. No, so Estelle, she don’t care.

"The Haunted Chronicles" from Princess Prose

"Just Talkin’ Tuesday: Defining Postpartum Mood Disorders" from Sharing the Journey

"Talking About What We’re Not Supposed To Know" by Hockeymandad at Miss Britt:

For my entire life, I always thought my parents favored my sister. At times, it has definitely created resentment towards her and although I’ve gotten over it, it was there. Now I understand why I may have had that impression. My sister was the baby who didn’t die. As much as my parents tried to be as fair as possible about everything, the extra little things were always noticed and bottled up by me. At least now I understand why that may have been.

"Let's Craft With The 1970's!" from Frog and Toad Are Still Friends

"My Money Troubles" from CSquaredPlus3

"Thirteen" from elle:

why can’t i remember the details of the way he yelled at me when the candle i’d bought him accidentally caught fire in his bedroom while we were asleep? why can’t i focus on the day he lashed out at me in his mother’s living room when we finally confronted him about the abuse- i can still taste his breath and feel my heart pounding inside of my chest when his nose touched mine and threatened me: “i’ll show you abuse”, he said while grinding his teeth. but why isn’t that the man i remember? why do i remember the boy i sat with on the deserted beach with in the middle of summer when i was sixteen?

"Fuzzy Wuzzy Was Disgusting, or Was She? It's a Hairy Situation When It Comes to Mo'Nique, Amanda Palmer, and Their Shaggy Sisters" by Schmutzie at MamaPop

"What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?" by Darren Sproat at Then Life Happens

"Mommybloggers Are the Mary Kay Ladies of the Internet" from The Extraordinary Ordinary:

I'm a mommyblogger, but the recent so-called negative mommyblogging media hasn't bothered me. Sure, that same patronizing tone exists for us, but I can take that with a grain of salt, especially when I realize that it happens to most mothers, sadly, no matter what they do "on the side," or how well they do it. Mommyblogging is just simply misunderstood out of ignorance or a skewed perspective for dramatic effect, and that may always be the case.

"Feel Good Fridays - The 'Good' Napkins" from Etiquette Hell

"Compassion for the Dying" from It's a Beautiful Wreck

"Swanning Alert Level Yellow" from I, Asshole:

Sometimes I get a little closer to where I want to be, and sometimes I stagnate. I wallow around gloriously in the filth of my complete lack of progress, and sometimes I flee from it. New things happen, like I am slightly less petty than I was a few years ago, and this is mitigated by the fact that now my gums bleed sometimes. You should probably assume this is all cryptography, it is probably better that way.

"In Her Shoes" from More Mindless Rambling

"Fifteen Years Later" from kerrianne.org

"RIP Social Media Expert, c. 2010" from DavidBinkowski.com:

I've been telling clients that 2010 is going to be the year of accountability as it relates to social media. This means accountability using real numbers (read as: sales) and not fluff (read as: Twiggler.net says we reached 2,001,450 Twitterers with those 3 re-tweets!!1!). With this accountability would come the fall of the social media expert. Talk can only take you so far before it hits the fan and you're called out. That doesn't mean the "experts" are going away, though, at least not without a fight.

"No Doubt This Was All Orchestrated By a Higher Power" from AmyMusings

"Control Where They Can Find It" from On Bradstreet

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.

And because you are a fan of finding good new writing on the internet:

Subscribe — Subscribe to this website to keep up with us every week.

Show your pride — Take one of our badges for your website and spread the word.

Five Star Friday's Edition #98

It is rarely that you see an American writer who is not hopelessly sane.
     — Margaret Anderson

This Five Star Friday roundup is brought to you by racism, mental illness, the unfair dislike of a child, a would-be mother, child prostitution, grief, losses, a renaissance festival, an Easter egg hunt, prejudice, more grief, mommyblog infighting, personal truth, an über-cute puppy, a realization, the state of a body, breastfeeding, Facebook, wanting to find The One, surprise intimacy, fatherhood, friends, love, a virtual science fair, social media, and motherhood.

If you feel so moved, leave urls to your own good writing in the comments.

Happy Friday!

"The Power Of Rich White Folk And Why Gandhi Was Only Half Right" from Miss Britt:

Change happens when we become the change we want to see in the world, and then say to the rest of the world “Enough. No more.”

"Scared and Crazy" from Spin Me I Pulsate

"This Day Has Got to Be a Joke" from Poppy Mom

"A Letter to My Spirit Children" from Flutter:

I am sorry this life will pass without us seeing our love come to fruition. I feel that I am leaving you in safekeeping. I just wish the hands that guide you in this life would be mine.

But I am not strong enough.

"Hi. It's Me." from The Bloggess

"Welcome to For Your Tears" from For Your Tears

"Losing" from What Matters:

I missed, oddly, babies in my belly for the first weeks after each was born. They seemed safer there. I miss places I've moved from, people that used to be in my life. The memories are foggy, though. There is no muscle memory that can replicate my grandfather's giant hand - with leathery back, crooked strong fingers, and calloused palms; the smell of the ocean after hours at the end of a hot day; the first voices of each of my children.

"I Offer You My Hand In Marriage and a Pair of Boots: A Living Out Loud Entry" from An Acorn Dreaming

"For My Madeline" from The Spohrs Are Multiplying...

"Jesus Is Risen. Let the Games Begin." from Steam Me Up, Kid:

The egg hunt is the ultimate in sibling war. Sometimes I'll go the psyche-out route and show up wearing a crown and a Superman cape carrying a boombox blasting "Eye of the Tiger". Other years there is covert bag sabotage, and one of us will just follow the other around, picking up their dropped eggs. If all else fails, I pretend to vomit in the bushes. That always rattles him.

"Surf Photography of the 1960s and 70s" from Raymi the Minx

"Privileged Posting" from Stop Motion Verbosity

"Men Kill Their Weak; Women Kill Their Strong" from I Am Doing the Best I Can:

I know that I, and many other Women Bloggers, will never stop speaking our truths. Including those on motherhood and the many other stages of women's lives. When those other women are done raging against our uppity, ungrateful, selfish ways ( which again, means to me : "I wish I had the cojones to do/say what you are doing/saying") I am happy to welcome them into the fold.

Forgiveness through empathy trumps pooping on peeps any day.

"When Does Your Body Not Feel Like Your Own?" from Occipital Hazard

"When It Comes to Breastfeeding, We Can’t Handle the Truth" from The Feminist Breeder

"Injury" from Slouching Past 40:

I thought about the way I'd patted my mother in the emergency room. It was the same way I patted my favorite baby doll when I wanted her to go to sleep. I understood that I'd learned some profound things that afternoon; it felt like the beginning of my education. Reading, writing, they suddenly seemed as pale as my mother had turned under those bright hospital lights.

"On the Question of The One" from Mommy Is Moody

"Reach" from cribchronicles.com

"Not a Care In the World" from The Eleventh:

With the advent of Facebook, I find I am so bombarded with your need to share every facet of your daily life and decisions, that I am numb to your needs, desires, hopes, dreams and fears. In short, I no longer give a rat’s ass about what you think, who you love, where you shop or how you live.

"Driven to Distraction" from Not Undecided

"Team WhyMommy's Virtual Science Fair" from Stimeyland

"An Orange Kangaroo In Denmark" from B. Hockey J.:

I’ve been looking forward to this DC trip because one of my secret fantasies is about Jackson not talking. But now that he’s gone, I want him to know that, yes, I was thinking about an orange kangaroo in Denmark and I want to say “Dude. I love rooming with you, even if you are a racist.” Sometimes, you forget to think about your arms until one of them gets chopped off to go crash cymbals for Barack Obama.

"The Name's Chamberlain. Oliver Chamberlain." from The Creative Junkie

"What We Can Do to Stop Child Prostitution in the United States" by Kim Pearson at BlogHer

"A Hundred Beating Hearts" from Cry It Out:

We were on the couch, watching some G-rated affair that, like all movies, eventually proved too scary for her. But in those first magical moments when light sparkled on the screen and our faces were stuffed with popcorn, Emme suddenly jumped up and grabbed my cheeks with both hands.

"I have a hundred hearts," she whispered. And her eyes burned like fire.

"Getting In Touch" from The Fence

"My Heart" from But Why Mommy

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.

And because you are a fan of finding good new writing on the internet:

Subscribe — Subscribe to this website to keep up with us every week.

Show your pride — Take one of our badges for your website and spread the word.