Music

Magic hands

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments

If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be and why?

I was just saying to Molly, my church’s Music Director, I wish I could touch all ten of my fingertips to hers and have her piano skills transfer to my hands.

She can play anything—beautifully. She can sight read any piece of sheet music (from classical to pop) and play it perfectly the first time.

She accompanied me on my recent solo performance of a Broadway song and she made it so much better.

I took about six years of piano lessons, but I never got good. Anything I learned to play took hours and hours of practice.

Molly started playing at age 9 and never stopped, She got a B.M. in Piano Performance from Butler University and then an M.M. Collaborative Piano from Boston University. She said going through Conservatory-type training was brutal, but that was when she achieved true mastery.

I’d like the mastery, with none of the work.

I’d play for myself, play for others, maybe join an ensemble, and definitely plop down on those public piano benches and bring joy to the people.

Moral dissonance

~ MaryG ~ 31 Comments

What is one way you have grown this year?

I’ve grown physically fatter this year. I’m not saying I’m fat, but I’m not thin.

The year started out with a very upsetting situation caused by my family of origin. I lost weight over it. Some people might call that the upside (I wouldn’t), but I didn’t mind being down five pounds.

Now it’s all back – and a little more.

I’ve thought about trying those new weight loss drugs, but I hear they take away your appetite and that doesn’t appeal to me at all. I love food, especially dessert.

So, I’m trying to cut back on portion size and eat more salads. I’ve also been swimming laps almost every day, now that the outdoor pool is open for the season.

I always feel guilty complaining about eating too much when hundreds of millions of people, including tens of millions of children, around the world don’t have enough food.

What’s the name for that feeling?

Food guilt…privilege guilt…moral dissonance?

If you don’t have young kids or grandkids, you might not know Miss Rachel. Rachel Griffin Accurso is a wildly popular American educator and YouTube creator whose gentle, research-based songs and videos teach toddlers language, social skills, and emotional development. Miss Rachel uses her massive platform to speak out against child hunger and mistreatment, including in Gaza, Sudan and US immigrant detention centers.

Follow her on social media: @msrachelforlittles (Instagram)

She is one of the good ones.

You do you

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments

What is something you wish you could tell your 20-year-old self?

You are not responsible for your sister’s problems. That’s on them. Distance yourself from the dysfunction—now. Pay attention to your own feelings.

Lose the Catholic Guilt. In fact, just bag the Catholic Church church now. You were never really Catholic. You’re a Unitarian Universalist.

I know you think you couldn’t dislike any politician more than Ronald Reagan, but someone so sickening will arise in 30 years, you’re not going to believe it. Pay attention to the seeds of that catastrophe being planted now. Fight them. Observe and use your privilege.

“Welfare Queens” aren’t real.

They’re gonna legalize weed right around the same time as the catastrophe, which will be helpful. Yup, you can just walk in and buy it! And you won’t have to worry that it’s laced with anything.

Go see The Cure live.

Always tip the musicians

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s a cultural tradition from another country that you wish existed in yours?
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I’m not sure which countries have the most spontaneous public singing and/or dancing—Brazil? Ghana?—but I wish we did more of that here.

I wish it would just happen in the grocery store and other ordinary places. For example, when it’s someone’s birthday in a restaurant, I think everyone should pause and help sing the birthday song.

During the closing credits of the movie The Sheep Detectives, which we saw in a full theater a couple weeks ago, they played I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers. The woman next to me started singing, so of course I joined her, then she stood up and started dancing too. Her kids did not seem at all embarrassed. It was great.

More of that please.

New Orleans gets it. They’ve got more people making music and dancing in the streets than any other US city I’ve ever visited.

Baby Beluga

~ MaryG ~ 20 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s a song that always puts you in a good mood?
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One of the great joys of being a grandma is singing with my granddaughter. And she can really carry a tune at age ONE, which is amazing to me. It turns out she likes a lot of the same songs her mother did thirty years ago. The all-time favorite is Baby Beluga by Raffi. This song will always make me smile.

From Claude:

Raffi Cavoukian, known simply as Raffi, is one of the most beloved children’s musicians of all time. Born in Egypt in 1948 and raised in Canada, he transformed children’s music with his 1976 debut album Singable Songs for the Very Young and went on to create iconic songs like “Baby Beluga,” “Banana Phone,” and “Shake My Sillies Out.” What set him apart was his genuine respect for young audiences — his music was engaging and wholesome without ever being condescending. Generations of children have grown up with his songs, and beyond music, he has been a dedicated advocate for child welfare and environmental stewardship.

I can accompany some nursery rhymes—like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star—on toy piano.

You Gotta Have Art

~ MaryG ~ 20 Comments

In the spirit of trying new things in this new phase of my life (aka Retired Grandma), I performed a full length solo song in a “Café Musicale” fundraiser at my church last night. It was set up like a cabaret with lots of round tables and a decorated central buffet with desserts & apps and twinkling lights and candles. There was a variety of acts, including a couple of bands, duos, trios and two other soloists (one of whom was a professional).

I sang Anthem from the 80s musical Chess. In the show it’s sung by a Soviet chess player who is thinking of defecting. When I heard it recently, it resonated with me in a new way given all that Americans are experiencing with a wannabe dictator in office. I had a fantastic professional accompanist on piano.

I think it went well. I wasn’t overly nervous and I got warm applause and some very heartfelt comments afterwards.

So, as my 60th year is about to wrap up next week, I can truthfully say I’ve already tried some new things in this new decade.

I took watercolor classes and started painting again, successfully performed a solo for a room full of people, and registered for week long Dance Camp.

Oh, and as an update on that art show (where I was disappointed that my painting was hung so high), I found out last night that it was moved and placed at eye level. The organizers apologized for where it was hung originally and said it was one of their favorite pieces in the show! It’s going to travel with the rest of the pieces to a real art museum in October.

Proof of performance. I’m not a professional singer so I’m not going to upload the video of me singing, but it’s a very moving song. You can listen to “Anthem” from the Original 1988 Broadway Cast Album here. The show was recently revived and is currently playing on Broadway.

Undoubtedly the best thing about being 60 has been spending time with my granddaughter. The second best thing has been engaging more in my foundational love of the arts. Painting, singing, dancing and writing this blog have all been so fun and important to me this past year.

As GenXers will remember the old public service announcement: You Gotta Have Art!

Beloved Community

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s something you’d love to see in the future, but know you probably won’t live to witness?
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I grew up on Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Free to Be You and Me, Zoom and Schoolhouse Rock. Even the rigid old Catholic Church (my nemesis) got a makeover in the 70s as a result of Vatican II. (Think felt banners and folk music). Also, I was a Camp Fire Girl, which was much more “hippie granola” than Girl Scouts.

Camping with the Camp Fire Girls in 1975

Granted Reagan and AIDS in the 80s put a dark tint on my rose-colored glasses, I still somehow believed we were headed toward a more perfect union where the “general welfare” was the goal.

Kids who grew up in the 70s have the Preamble to the Constitution lodged in their brains forever thanks to Schoolhouse Rock!

The election of Barack Obama in 2008 brought those old feelings back. Justice, equality, peace, happiness, community seemed achievable.

MLK’s vision of the Beloved Community resonated strongly with many 70s kids who also loved Sesame Street and other PBS shows promoting those ideals.

I now feel as if I was living in a highly privileged bubble, which has been unequivocally popped.

I’d like to stay positive for the sake of my kids and grandkids, but I just don’t know if we’re going to see anything like that in my lifetime.

We’ve gone so very far in the other direction.

A UFC Fighting Cage being erected at the White House in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday—kinda just says it all.

That’s a wrap

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s a moment in your life that felt like it was straight out of a movie?
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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?
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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 ~ 25 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.