Do you love to write, but think you don’t have the time? FBC is here to prove you wrong! Occasional Daily Special features pieces written by FBC members during the 20-minute prompts of weekly membership meetings. These writing samples are raw, unedited, and completely brilliant examples of what you can do with a writer’s brain and 20 dedicated minutes. Nurture yourself by feeding your creativity. You have the time, and the world deserves the power of your words.
Notes from the author: To be honest, I ignored the prompt and instead worked on a piece I created at the Di Luna event*. It’s a guide to American Muscle Cars where I use each car to examine an aspect of masculinity. I used the 20 minutes as my free writing time for the day. These are the parts I wrote during Tuesday’s meeting.
*The “DiLuna event” was an FBC, in-person writing workshop held in April at DiLuna Candles in Tucson, Arizona. It was so popular, it’s now a regular offering - 5:30pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, starting in June. More info: fifthbraincollective.com/fbc-workshop.
American Muscle Cars: A Man’s Guide
Ford Mustang:
The Mustang was developed by Ford Motor Co. in 1964. The name Mustang was chosen because it suggested an image of freedom, of running free and never stopping until you desire. Is the freedom a freedom from all restrictions, a freedom of the open highway that lets you go anywhere and do anything? Or does it also suggest a freedom of responsibilities, of men abandoning their families and obligations to move on and find another temporary amusement? What kind of freedom does the Mustang allow you to have? What kind of freedom do you choose? How far will you go to be free? Or to put it simply, what kind of man are you?
Pontiac GTO:
The Pontiac GTO is widely considered the first true muscle car. First manufactured in 1964, the letters GTO stand for “Gran Turismo Omologato,” which is Italian for “Homologated Grand Touring Car.” “Homologation” is a term meaning “sanctioned” or approved, meaning that the car was approved for competing in Italian road racing. Homologation is a specific form of sanctioning, one that involves meeting a complex list of conditions for approval. Approval represents what one can do, and by consequence what one cannot do. You are sanctioned for participating in society according to a complex set of rules, but those rules change and are fluid, unlike the rules for car racing. What men can do today, they may not be able to do tomorrow. This is what change means. But some changes never take effect for some men, and people who know them. A very famous and powerful man once said, “When you’re a star, they let you do it” and he spoke from experience. Who sanctions you? What are you allowed to do? And why? And what will the punishment be? “When “Homologation” is only for some men, what does that mean for all of us?
Chevy Camaro:
The Chevy Camaro was first produced in 1966, as Chevy’s response to the Ford Mustang. It was created to serve as direct competition in the muscle car market. It would prove to be a success, and the competition was a benefit for both companies. But is competition always healthy? A man’s ego finds being challenged one of the greatest offenses ever. How does a man respond? Learning to respond is one of the hardest lessons in life. Some men tie their ego into everything they do and everything they own, and cannot help lashing out when challenged. This is frequently encouraged, and even applauded. Learning to separate yourself from what you own and what you do, to accept someone else’s efforts as more successful, is a lesson some men never learn. Men who cannot accept that ultimately become what they once were—children.
Victor Valdivia has always written things. Song lyrics when he was little, plays and scripts in school, articles for college publications, reviews for music and film websites as an adult. But he never considered himself a writer until he worked with Frankie Rollins and the Fifth Brain Collective. When he joined a community of other writers who made him feel like one of them, like a peer, he realized his creativity is just as valid as anyone else’s. Now he calls himself a writer because, while he can always learn more about craft and technique, his talent with words is his and no one can take it away from him.
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Stellar, Victor! I loved all the questions you posed as you set to dive deeper into masculinity, behaviors, expectations, and what it means to be a man. Great work!
I learned so much from this! I love the form of this piece: cars as both artifacts and insights. Thank you from a fellow 5th Brain-er