"The first thing I would advise them to do is to breathe. I want them to breathe and relax. Understand that this is a part of a lifetime journey. Look back at yourself. That person is not gone. This is a shell we are in. This is a body and situations happen. You know, I had my daughter, now I look at it like wow, my body is my badge of honor. I went through that and yes, a lot of us have a lot of battle scars. Things that we can’t get over. But we must. We must embrace who we are. Each stage of our life has to be embraced. You have to understand that you are not going to be twenty with tight skin. Skin doesn’t do that. Skin droops and it sags. Be realistic about what you are looking at and love yourself. Please look in the mirror. Please tell yourself how you feel. I believe in visualizing and everything that you say is basically a prayer to the universe and speak it, talk it, talk to people. Talk to your girlfriends. Talk to your family. Talk to your husband. Talk to them. Tell them what you are feeling. You are not alone. There is a whole community of us that need to get better and if we can just stick together and stand together and communicate I think we can, but you are not alone and you are loved and valuable. "

Kelly Park - interviewed on Blogher.org

Podcast of the interview.

Kelly Park was a participant on How to Look Good Naked. Hosted by Carson Kressley of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" the show is basically like "self-esteem through better fashion" boot camp for women who are unhappy with their bodies and looks. Miraculously, the motif of the show is not extreme surgery or diets. The basic message is one of self-acceptance and learning to work, and to love what you've got.

I can't begin to tell you how exciting that is.

There's an enormous storm outside. Forks of lightning going sideways. What makes the lightning go sideways anyways?

My friend Alison just left for England, somehow even though we were not rushing when she left, she managed to leave behind a bathing suit, a bathing scarf, a book she was reading, and her bike, cunningly locked to mine outside.

I finally watched the Olympics last night at a bar with Simon. There was no sound, which was a bit disappointing, but I have to say it is much more fun to sit in a bar with a beer in hand and more in the pitcher and watch athletes (who are like the circus freaks of the 21st century) perform feats of incredible strength and stamina.

I just updated my FB profile to include this LC poem. I read it this morning while I was experiencing a sense of doom related to the production of my thesis:

The Ark you're building
in your yard
Will you let me on
Will you let me off
Don't you think
we should all study Etiquette
before we study Magic

--Leonard Cohen

Phelps crew avoids Toronto protest.

They carried signs with slogans that ran the gamut -- "God is Love," hilarious "Fred Phelps Needs to Get Laid" and "My Canada Includes Sodomy." Protesters from all age brackets (including one baby's very first protest) seemed in good spirits, eager to join together and drown out any unwelcome hatred.

The next time someone asks me why I identify as queer, I am going to say it's because Queers are frickin' hilarious!