Music

That’s a wrap

~ MaryG ~ 19 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s a moment in your life that felt like it was straight out of a movie?
View all responses

I remember walking around in the airport in Paris—Charles De Gaulle—in December 1985. I was waiting for my flight back to Boston after my semester abroad in Rome. I was listening to my Sony Walkman, which had the songs that had been the soundtrack for the entire semester—Take on Me by A-Ha, Money for Nothing by Dire Straits, 99 Luftballons by the German band Nena.

I was hungover. I was sad. It was the end. Back to America. I knew it was going to be culture shock. So many things had happened that semester—some good, some bad—but all of it was new and exciting. I had traveled through Europe with friends, had a fling with a fellow student who was studying in France, been semi-stalked by an Italian guy, smoked hash and saw Sting perform live, been chased down the street by a very angry nun who was mad I’d let my friend use my roommate’s bed in the convent, been subjected to my first public masturbator (aka “The Jerk”), ordered entire meals in Italian, been awakened on a train by a French security guard who didn’t like my friend’s Filipino passport, got all my clothes destroyed by an Italian laundromat, and seen the most magnificent art and wonders of western civilization from the Mona Lisa to the Colosseum to Pompeii to the Vatican.

Walking through that airport felt like the last scene in a movie—a very 80s movie.

Here I am in Rome in 1985 with my short 80s hair and my friend Scott who was in my program with me. Scott was my close friend Carla’s boyfriend, but she was studying in cold old England for some reason. Girl Code obviously eliminated any chance of a fling with Scott, but he was so cute, right? Look at those legs.

Changed for Good

~ MaryG ~ 10 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s a show that had the perfect series finale?
View all responses

I have loved all five seasons of the series Hacks with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder and I know the series finale is being released today. I will make a point of watching it as soon as possible so that I don’t accidentally read about it.

In the olden days, you had one shot at seeing the series finale. You had to watch it when it aired—or wait forever for the rerun to come out. Most people didn’t get VCRs until the later 1980s. (And even then, “taping” your show was an unreliable process.)

The series finale I remember being the biggest deal was M*A*S*H—the long running dramedy series set during the Korean War that followed the doctors and staff of a mobile army surgical hospital. The show ran for 11 years. I was a senior in high school when it ended in 1983.

Although I had not watched every episode along the way, I knew the main characters well. I’m pretty sure I sat and watched the finale in real time and probably shed a tear or two.

According to Google, the M*A*S*H finale, titled “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” was 2.5 hours long and was one of the most-watched television broadcasts in U.S. history, drawing about 106 million viewers. In 1983, the total population of the US was 234 million people. So literally, half the country watched the M*A*S*H finale.

In case you’ve forgotten the very end (like I had), here’s when Hawkeye and BJ say goodbye.

Even though I haven’t seen the Hacks finale yet, I’m assuming there will be a similarity with M*A*S*H in that two people who have been through some major shit together will deeply understand that they’ve been changed for the better by the other person.

It’s like that song from the musical Wicked says:

Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

Dance Camp

~ MaryG ~ 23 Comments

I’ve made my first questionable decision of 2026.

I’ve registered and paid for a five-day dance retreat in Maine in August.

I’ve been hearing about “Ferry Beach” from my fellow Unitarian Universalists for decades. This mythical coastal retreat center has transformed many a life. They’ve got retreats for everything from Yoga, to Women’s Healing, to Buddhism. My church friend Ron, who leads our monthly Sacred Circle Dance, is co-leading a week-long Sacred Circle Dance retreat. I brought the flyer home and stuck it on the refrigerator about a month ago.

With my husband’s knee replacement recovery taking for fucking ever, we have zero travel plans. Nothing booked. Nothing to look forward to. And I have no idea when or what type of travel he’s going to be up for.

This led me to Dance Camp. I tried to convince my two friends from high school that I rarely get to see to join me there, but so far, no dice.

So…I went ahead and registered for five nights by myself in the mythical UU retreat center. Dancing 5 hours a day with strangers, could be a terrible idea. I mean, I like our monthly dance, but this is going to be waaaay more than that. There’s a chance I might hate it and bail out after a night or two.

In any case, I’ll have finally experienced Ferry Beach.

30 Greatest Songwriters

~ MaryG ~ 25 Comments

I heard the NYT “30 Greatest Living Songwriters” piece described on TV as a “last gasp of legacy media” to remain relevant. Maybe so. But hey, I’m a dedicated consumer of legacy media—and no publication has had more cultural sway in my 60 years than The New York Times.

So, for a fun activity on Mother’s Day, my son, my husband and I went through the list. We listened to a song or two by most of the songwriters.

The main things to know are that the list is unranked and has some crazy juxtapositions. For example, Young Thug comes immediately after Dolly Parton. Also, some of these folks did not perform their own songs, so they are less familiar.

I have seen many posts about all the songwriters—including Billy Joel—who did not make the list, which I agree with. (He should’ve been on it.)

But as we know—art is subjective. One person’s masterpiece is elevator music to another.

Artists I enjoyed listening to that I didn’t really know before: Missy Elliot and Stephin Merritt.

Artist I forced my son to listen to because she is a legend he should know: Carole King

Artist none of us had ever heard of: Diane Warren

Gift share of the article here.

Who’s not on it that you think should have been? (And remember, they have to still be alive. My husband was pissed David Bowie isn’t on it, but sadly he died at 69 in 2016.)

Great American Bitch

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments

Of course I watched Suffs on public television (PBS’ “Great Performances”) last night. I’ve had it on my calendar for months, and I saw about 25 ads for it on social media yesterday, and a friend called to remind me about it.

Created by Tony Award winner Shaina Taub, this musical recorded from Broadway tells the story of the American suffragist movement and the remarkable friendships, heartbreak, and action that brought women together—or, in some cases, tore them apart.

It’s going to air again tonight at 8pm on PBS. Watch it or record it, if you can.

I will never again call them Suffragettes. They were suffragists.

Hopefully all the Tradwife influencers will decide to take a break from serving their husbands and tune in.

Watch my favorite number from Act I here: Great American Bitch

UPDATE: SUFFS is now available to watch on YouTube.

April showers

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

One thing about being older is that you have so very many snippets of songs, poems, sayings and jingles floating around in your head. Literally decades worth of popular culture is lodged in the ole memory. Half the time, you can’t remember why or from where you know something.

Apparently “April Showers Bring May Flowers” is a saying from England that dates back to at least the 1550s. Imagine. That saying has been kicking around the English-speaking world for over 450 years.

The flowers that bloom in the spring,

tra-la.

OK, just Googled and that’s from The Mikado, which makes sense. I was in that show in high school (embarrassingly, in full yellowface). Gilbert & Sullivan are responsible for a great deal of brain clutter in older people who like musical theater.

Springtime for Hitler and GER-MA-NY

I wish that one from The Producers would leave me, but it just won’t. Must be lodged too deep in the grey matter.

Spring in general has more songs, poems, and sayings than all the other seasons combined. Don’t you think?

What pops into your head when you experience the miracle of spring where you are?

Thoughts on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments

I was planning to watch the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last night. I watched a lot of the pre-game, red carpet stuff on C-SPAN. The reporter kept asking people who they were wearing and it became so awkward that the anchor finally told him to stop. “This is Washington. Nobody has any idea who they’re wearing.”

I was wondering if maybe Trump was going to somehow manage to be charming in his speech. Highly unlikely, but still. And if he was going to be vile and awful to the press (as usual), I wanted to see him embarrass himself until I couldn’t stand it anymore and then go to bed.

After the chaos was unleashed, my first thought was that they’d obviously cancel the event. People in the room (including multiple pregnant women) had plunged to the floor and everyone was shaken. The fact that Trump wanted to carry on (“the show must go on”) seemed to be just another example of his complete disregard for others.

When he then held a press conference at 10:30pm and all the reporters showed up in their formalwear, I felt badly for them. If you had had a night like that, wouldn’t you want to just go home and go to bed? But no…they had to go back to the White House and listen to Dear Leader blather on about his ballroom and lie about all “the love” in the room. (Quiet, Piggy!)

Reporters are people too and I feel badly for them, especially the female ones. Trump treats them like shit. I felt especially bad for the WHCA President & Host Weijia Jiang who tearfully announced that Trump was insisting she reschedule the event within 30 days. (The Commander Commands and the People—especially the Women—Must Obey.)

And then, I just had to go online and see what people were saying. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that the entire country thought the event was staged. That was all I saw in the comments.

I’ve never been prone to conspiracy theories. (Typically, I mentally dismiss people who raise them.) But…maybe.

Could the whole thing have been staged? And if it was, why?

Our government is flailing, people. I grew up in this country and I’ve never felt like this about it before. The on again off again trip to Pakistan is just the latest example. What the hell are they doing? Do they even know??

We have now entered the Twilight Zone. That’s how I feel. Cue the music.

Honestly, the TV show Twilight Zone was a bit before my time. It’s more of a Boomer thing. I never actually watched it. But culturally, it has been referred to so often that I have a sense of it.

Swimming to the Other Side

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

For the second time, I participated in a creative arts workshop led by Niela Miller—a 91-year old force of nature who is also a member of my church. The workshop is held monthly on Zoom. We were given a prompt to find a song lyric (1-2 lines) that moved us, write it in a fanciful way, and then illustrate it. I went with one of my favorite songs by Pat Humphries of Emma’s Revolution: Swimming to the Other Side. I once heard Pat say that this song tends to come to people when they need it most.

Chorus: We are living ‘neath the great big dipper
We are washed by the very same rain
We are swimming in this stream together
Some in power and some in pain
We can worship this ground we walk on
Cherishing the beings that we live beside
Loving spirits will live forever
We’re all swimming to the other side

I am alone and I am searching
Hungering for answers in my time
I am balanced at the brink of wisdom
I’m impatient to receive a sign
I move forward with my senses open
Imperfection, it be my crime
In humility I will listen
We’re all swimming to the other side

Chorus

On this journey through thoughts and feelings
Binding intuition, my head, my heart
I am gathering the tools together
I’m preparing to do my part
All of those who have come before me
Band together and be my guide
Loving lessons that I will follow
We’re all swimming to the other side

Chorus

When we get there, we’ll discover
All of the gifts we’ve been given to share
Have been with us since life’s beginning
And we never noticed they were there
We can balance at the brink of wisdom
Never recognizing that we’ve arrived
Loving spirits will live together
We’re all swimming to the other side

Chorus

Swimming to the Other Side
© 1990 Pat Humphries
Moving Forward Music, BMI

Petty suburban drama

~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

This story on Instagram about a tax-payer funded Army helicopter hovering at very low altitude outside Kid Rock’s home in Tennessee (presumably to entertain him) reminded me of something my across-the-street neighbor did about ten years ago.

My neighbor Eric, a large and pompous French-speaking Canadian, somehow convinced a helicopter pilot to “drop in” to our neighborhood so Eric could wave to his kids from the sky. We had absolutely no warning that this was going to happen. I was just sitting in my family room one day when the sound of a helicopter became alarmingly loud. I looked out my kitchen window and there was a freaking helicopter hovering just above a tree in our side yard. It scared the shit out of me. I ran to the basement because I guess it seemed safer there. My husband and son ran to the front window and saw Eric’s long-suffering Parisian wife and their two little kids waving to “Papa” from their driveway.

I was so mad. That helicopter scared me half to death. I could not imagine what was happening. You really don’t understand how loud those things are until one is hovering just above your head. What if it had clipped a tree and crashed? How stupid!

I called the police non-emergency line and told them what had happened. They said they had no jurisdiction over the skies, but that it sounded “not right.” They sent over a squad car and some cop had a chat with know-it-all Eric. I don’t know if the pilot ever got into any kind of trouble. (He should have.)

Eric never apologized for scaring me so badly and that was effectively the end of our relationship with The Frenchies across the street. I never spoke to either of them again and only wave if absolutely necessary. We watch from afar as they continue to make questionable “improvements” to their home, including bricking over the entire back half of their property, which we now refer to as Versailles.

That sure is some petty, suburban drama, right?

Oh, and a few years later, when Eric emailed us about putting a basketball hoop in the turnaround (which is public property abutting our yard), my husband was inclined to not object but I told Eric to put his hoop in his own driveway like everyone else. The nerve of that guy!

MAGA “musician” Kid Rock getting a special visit at his home from a US Army helicopter. Our tax dollars at work. 😡

NO KINGS 3: Proof of Attendance

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

Even though I was very cold and took no pictures, evidence of my attendance at NoKings3 has emerged. The best part is that my poster received very prominent placement when I accidentally left it right in front of the speakers’ podium.

My state representative, a moderate Democrat, finally decided to show up at an anti-Trump protest. My district has a good amount of Republicans, so Jim’s been searching for his balls for quite awhile, but he gave a good and rousing speech in front of my very ANTI-Trump poster on Saturday. I consider this a win.

My poster was there during all the speeches, so it’s in a lot of pictures on Facebook.

“Sing as loud as you can” was the instruction from the music organizer.
This is my minister sitting in the chair with a brace on her leg. She is GenX and she is awesome. The world would be a better place if everyone had a minister like her.
It actually is a pretty good poster—one of my best. I just wish I didn’t have to keep making them.