Holly Starley's Rolling Desk

Home
Notes
Chat
BYOE
From the Road
Foibles and All
Meet People
Join In
Archive
About

Foibles and All: Essays on Being a Creature on Our Planet

To the Pain
I want to share my new diagnosis so I can fully thank you for being an integral part of my unmitigated joy.
 • 
Holly Starley
74
The Surface of Love, Battle, and Illness
Last week, a phlebotomist filled twelve vials before I could finish the Dilbert strip on the wall. Carmine clues delivered via MyChart predawn are only…
 • 
Holly Starley
23
Message in Our Bodies
The backs of my hands spoke to unheeding audience. At first, phantom itch below my knuckles: How long will you hope in silence? “Nothing’s perfect,” I…
 • 
Holly Starley
19
Broke and Thawing near Las Vegas
It’s just me, little smoky gasps from beneath a raised hood, and two $1 bills in my pocket. Lime streaks are drying fast on the windshield of B’s…
 • 
Holly Starley
18
Solitude & Community on the Road & on the Page
Out on the road, especially during the early years of COVID, solitude was an unexpected gift. I learned the names of birds and plants, named a few…
 • 
Holly Starley
12
The Intimacy of Sound
Come in, close. Listen. These are the birds I had coffee with as buttercream rays woke the Sonoran Desert. For months, as the pandemic kept me from…
 • 
Holly Starley
35
Are You Here Alone, Too?
Marina, from nearby Bucerías, and I have close to the same years. In Spanish, instead of being a number of years old, you have those years. When I say…
 • 
Holly Starley
21
Witness to the Next Shooting (Only a Matter of Time)
The blast was loud—like a firecracker when you’re sleeping, like glass shattering when you’re home alone. And and and still, it had that expected…
 • 
Holly Starley
30
Bedazzle Your Bikini So You Can Swim Like Michael Phelps
For Jenn, with whom I’ve often laughed till I peed a little and who loves this story. “Bikes are good to go. We better hit the road, lady cakes. We’re…
 • 
Holly Starley
5
I Didn't, and I'm Glad
It's a Damn Fine Thing Everything Changes
 • 
Holly Starley
8
Luis Remembers (and the Recovery of My Own Black Box)
Luis Remembers. Luis remembers taking a class on how to debone a turkey. A French woman taught the class, and two women sat behind him—one who’d left…
 • 
Holly Starley
17
A Series of Kindnesses
“You’re late?” “So late,” I admitted apologetically. The woman narrowed her eyes in determination. “Come.” She beckoned. Before I’d even come to a stop…
 • 
Holly Starley
7
© 2024 Holly Starley
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture