Books

White Lotus Avoidance Day

~ MaryG ~ 1 Comment

My husband and I are major consumers of “prestige TV.” We get all the channels and watch all the shows. (Severance, Succession, Hacks, The Last of Us, The Bear, Handmaids Tale, etc.) We watch together and we talk about the shows. TV is our thing.

Sometimes a show is too violent for me, so I relinquish it to my husband to watch while I’m at choir or doing something else. (For example, I bailed on The Sopranos fairly early on and I never watched Breaking Bad.) I always have a few shows I’m watching on my own, because I stay up later than him. Currently, I’m watching Marie Antoinette on PBS Passport on my own. Downton Abbey is another example of a show that my husband didn’t watch with me, though he fully embraced The Gilded Age, so it’s not that he won’t watch period pieces. (We’re big fans of Wolf Hall.)

We plan our TV watching out in advance. Sometimes, a very important show—like last night’s White Lotus season 3 finale—needs to be watched live (rather than on demand) in order to avoid spoilers, which will undoubtedly be everywhere today!

We fully intended to watch the White Lotus season finale live last night, but then my husband got tired and wanted to save it. Obviously I wouldn’t watch it without him, so now I will spend the entire day trying not to read anything about it, which basically will require staying offline altogether.

So, as the stock market crashes (I’m assuming another Black Monday is underway) and people are distracting themselves by discussing whatever happened on White Lotus last night, I will try to finish reading my library book today.

Ironically, the book is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (author of Normal People) and I could totally see it getting made into a Hulu series (like Normal People did) that I would end up watching on my own because my husband doesn’t like shows that are too “relationshipy.”

Comments closed due to abject fear of White Lotus spoilers.

Related: Consider the Source

Image from Pexels

Ireland planning 🇮🇪

~ MaryG ~ 19 Comments

As I prepare to turn sixty in 77 days, I am working on my Bucket List (things I want to do and places I want to see before I “kick the bucket”). I’ve always been one to keep a “to do” list (I like getting stuff done), but this one is fun. I started it shortly after my dear friend Carla unexpectedly got sick and passed away in 2022 at age 57.

I try to really think about places and experiences that call to me, not just rack up instagrammable, exotic locations. I have reasons for wanting to see these places. For the bigger trips, I try to keep the budget to $10,000 (or less) for the two of us for a full week. I know that’s a lot of money for a lot of folks, but believe me, I know people that spend a whole hell of a lot more than that on their luxury vacations. I would say we are “budget conscious” travelers, but I will splurge on special experiences like dinner in the Eiffel Tower or a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.

Here’s where my Bucket List stands now:

Grand Canyon ✅ (June 2023)

Paris ✅ (December 2023)

Finger Lakes & Hot Air Ballooning ✅ (May 2024)

Tanglewood ✅ (August 2024)

Yellowstone National Park ✅ (September 2024)

Northern Lights ✅ This wasn’t a planned trip, I just got lucky! (October 2024)

Key West ✅ (February 2025)

NEXT UP: Ireland ☘️

Is there any other foreign country that looms quite so large in the American psyche? I don’t think so!

Like millions of other Americans, I am a descendant of poor Irish immigrants. My great grandmother Mary Barry was from Dublin.

My mother’s father’s mother, Mary Barry, with six of her children, including my maternal grandfather Henry (far right). She was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1880 and died in Queens, NY in 1952. She immigrated to America, through Ellis Island, in 1903. She was 23 years old and arrived with three US dollars to her name.

This trip to Ireland will mark my first group tour experience. We’ve never been on a weeklong tour before. I usually book the hotels and do all the planning myself, but since it’s my birthday, I wanted to give myself a break and have someone else do the planning.

I looked at many types of tours (including on bikes and boats), but ultimately decided to try a Rick Steves tour. Good old Rick—PBS super nerd! I love his guidebooks and his travel philosophy in general. Plus, he is a well known weed-smoking liberal, so the chances of having any Trumpers in our group are slim.

So now, I need to start reading more about Ireland. I’ve already watched many of the recent TV shows and movies set there, including the excellent miniseries about The Troubles—Say Nothing.

Our tour is in the Republic of Ireland only, but I’m contemplating taking a trip up to Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK) at the end of the trip. We will be staying a few extra days in Dublin, where our son will join us, so I need to make some plans for that time.

Please send your Dublin recommendations and any advice you might have about planning a day trip to Belfast.

Also, books! What should I read to help truly understand the heart of this country and its people, from whom so many of us Americans descend?

I’m open to the classics, as well as modern fiction, historical fiction and nonfiction.

TYIA

☘️ 🇮🇪

Related posts:

Greetings from Ireland

More Ireland

I’m a Dubliner

Last Stop in Ireland

Food and Signs in Ireland

Thursday Doors—Dublin Unitarian Church

Deactivated

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments

OK, I’ve deactivated my Facebook as a first step in trying not to care as much about the election. I’ve never done that before, but apparently it can be reactivated easily. I was just seeing way too many upsetting posts, particularly from feminist groups documenting the horrors that women in the Trump Abortion Ban States are enduring.

Also, I’m done reading The Washington Post. My husband reads it daily, so we won’t cancel it, but honestly, fuck Jeff Bezos. I’m so tired of these asshole white male billionaires and their outsized influence. And while I’m at it, fuck Joe Rogan too. Did you know that little shit is only 5’7”? I am taller than Joe Rogan. And of course, it goes without saying…FUCK ELON MUSK.

Aaaah, now that that’s off my chest…

Back to my efforts to not care about anything other than my own inner circle.

I have some fun things to look forward to:

-Luncheon today: I’m attending a ladies lunch this afternoon. (Actually, I think there’ll be one man there, but he’s cool.) The guests are all church friends of mine so there is absolutely no chance that any of them are Trumpers.

-Babysitting next weekend: My husband and I are going to babysit our adorable, perfect infant granddaughter for a few hours next weekend! I cannot wait to see that little angel again. I can already tell that having grandchildren is going to the absolute best part of being 60+.

-Book group meeting next week: I get to see one of my favorite groups of women. I am so fortunate to have this small group of book-loving friends with whom I can be completely open and always feel supported. (We are reading Solito by Javier Zamora this month and I need to finish it this weekend.)

Also, I had a realization that if Trump wins the election, I’m probably going to seek out a paid position (perhaps a part-time one). I’m going to need something else to focus on, other than the news and volunteering for lost causes. And I think I can still make some decent money in my field, which would mean more resources for the people I love.

I bought an octopus

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments

I bought an octopus from a glass blowing artist. She’s just under a foot tall.

Marcella

I hadn’t been planning to buy an octopus, but then I read the book “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt, a novel about a grieving woman and a one-eyed Giant Pacific Octopus named Marcellus. After that, I visited a glass studio where the artist makes all types of sea creatures, waves, shells and other things. I was a bit confused why all his octopi had two eyes. It turns out I was not the only one left a bit confused about this by the book:

Octopuses and Accuracy

Anyway, I had picked out a large, glass conch shell. It was all packaged and ready to go, but then I saw an octopus I wanted more.

She wasn’t quite finished so I had to go back and get her later. I picked her up Sunday.

My octopus has two eyes and will be called Marcella.

Shane Dorey in his glass blowing studio

Related:

The Makers

Fantasy Dinner Party

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments
Daily writing prompt
If you could host a dinner and anyone you invite was sure to come, who would you invite?
View all responses

I can’t deal with a group larger than eight for dinner. I’d probably invite a bunch of creative types, especially funny ones. They might be hard to cook for, but the conversation would be entertaining.

Maybe…

Bowen Yang

Barbara Kingsolver (She’s the only guest that concerns me. A Pulitzer Prize-winning writer would be an amazing guest and I’ve read most of her books, but does she watch TV? Could she deal with all these funny people?)

Kate McKinnon

Greta Gerwig

Wanda Sykes

Quinta Brunson

Matthew Gilbert (retiring TV critic for The Boston Globe—I’m going to miss him so much!)

Image from Pexels

Bucket List

~ MaryG ~ 8 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What countries do you want to visit?
View all responses

Speaking of buckets…way to go Boston Celtics! 🏀☘️ NBA championship #18.

This morning’s Boston Globe

I started a Bucket List (I’ve heard some say “Life List”) in the notepad app on my phone a couple years ago. I update it whenever the mood strikes. Sometimes a TV show, movie or book will shake up the order. For example, I read a book called “Independent People” by Haldór Laxness (a Nobel prize winner in literature) which resulted in Iceland getting booted from my list.

Here’s the latest version:
Grand Canyon ✅
Paris ✅
Finger Lakes & Hot Air Balloon ✅
Tanglewood
Yellowstone National Park
Ireland
NYC comedy club or SNL
Southern Italy (Naples; Amalfi Coast; Cinque Terra) and maybe Sicily
Sweden
Return to Paris in warmer weather and see the sites we missed
Argentina?
Return to SoCal – LA/San Diego; Santa Monica; Venice Beach; Yosemite; Joshua Tree?
Key West
Austin TX
Greece
Acadia National Park

An image from my last trip to LA (you know, the city that’s won 17 NBA championships)
The year was 1988 and George H.W. Bush was on the ballot.

My friend Julie (the eventual artist) made sure we visited the Watts Towers in South Los Angeles.

The famous Watts Towers in LA—a renegade 33-year folk art project by Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason Simon “Sam” Rodia
Apparently some part of it was closed that day, but we got the idea. It’s very cool—a labor of love.

Watts Towers State Park

Long live Judy Blume

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments

Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?

I remember having “Pat the Bunny” as a very young child.

This favorite book for babies was first published in 1940.

Books by Dr. Seuss and his protégé P.D. Eastman (“Go Dog Go”) were good for both learning to read and being read to. Horton was particularly fascinating, perched on that nest while lazy Mayzie flew off to Palm Beach!

As I got older, nothing beat Judy Blume for real talk about real things that I actually cared about. “Deenie” was a favorite and of course, “Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret?”

Book banners like to target Judy Blume books, which is all the more reason to keep buying them, reading them, and giving them to your kids and grandkids.

Florida resident and bookstore owner Judy Blume tells us how she really feels about her governor.

Three books

~ MaryG ~ 3 Comments
Daily writing prompt
List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?
View all responses

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck gave me a much better understanding of the Depression and the Dust Bowl and that whole chapter in US history. The take home message that people were poor to the point of starving, with no safety net, is something that stayed with me.

Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi was not an easy read, but I’m glad I made it through. It was one of several books that became bestsellers during the worldwide racial justice reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. It’s a survey of the history of anti-Black racist ideas throughout American history. It helped lift the veil from my eyes.

I was having a hard time making it through this very dense and challenging material, so I started a short-term nonfiction book club with two friends over Zoom. I’m glad we read it together in the summer of 2020.

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood came out when I was in college and was a huge bestseller. This dystopian novel describes a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime in the former United States where some women are forced to conceive and bear children in the most horrific way. It really motivated my involvement with the pro-choice movement of the 1980s. I recently read the sequel: The Testaments, which was published in 2019.

So much of Handmaid’s Tale horror has re-surfaced and resonated loudly since the Dobbs decision by the MAGA Supreme Court. It’s scary—and infuriating.

Under His Eye

May the Lord Open

Gilead

Aunt Lydia

Alka-Seltzer

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?
View all responses

This prompt took me straight to FOOD. Maybe it’s because I just listened to “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy—the bestselling memoir about a child star with an abusive mother and a really major eating disorder.

Having it all can mean the entire pint of ice cream, the whole row of Oreos, the full bag of chips. And yes, sadly, it is attainable.

Not to make light of eating disorders, but do my fellow GenXers remember those ubiquitous Alka-Seltzer ads? Before the famous “plop, plop, fizz, fizz” jingle, there was this guy (and his long-suffering wife) saying “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”

To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever taken an Alka-Seltzer. They say it’s for “upset stomach and headache,” which sounds like code for a hangover. Did Madison Avenue intend for adults to read between the lines? Have you ever taken an Alka-Seltzer? And if so, was it because you were hung?

Jennette McCurdy (right) and her iCarly co-stars. Her award-winning memoir “I’m Glad My Mom Died” has sold over 2 million copies and been translated into ten foreign languages.

Hello Summer

~ MaryG ~ 8 Comments

Who would you like to talk to soon?

Not who, what.

Summer.

And the wait is over. It’s here. It starts today. It’s the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and it’s going to be in the 80s.

I’m registered for an afternoon slot at my outdoor pool. I’ll get to swim laps and read my book outside today.

Our current book group selection. I need to finish it by Wednesday.

I cleaned (really scrubbed!) my porch yesterday. It’s looking good and is temporarily pollen-free.

My May delivery from BloomsyBox is spectacular and perfectly pink for summer.

Oh, and it’s Gemini season. My time has come.

Hello Summer.

😄 💓 ♊️ ☀️ 🏊 🌸 😎

Related post:

Monthly delights

Summer is our Glory in New England

Summer Reading

I like my porch