It's Friday and everyone could use a little boost to properly propel into the (hopefully long) weekend. There's no better self-esteem role model than the very cool Beth Ditto. Her words, from her Top Shelf:

'Being a big person—being a fat girl in this world—is really awesome. It feels good to be myself. I think it’s a special position to be in, and it’s given me a lot of perspective into people’s opinions and how they interpret things. I know when something is my problem or someone else’s. It’s this whole element of therapy that you get for free where you’re like, ‘Is this a social problem or is this my problem? Is this a social epidemic or is this my epidemic?’ You learn a lot about yourself. Words don’t bother me; intentions do...I have no desire to stay super-thin, super-perfect. And when I grow up, I want to look like Patti Smith, that’s how I feel exactly. Mustache and everything, that sounds great.”

Photo by ITG.