Politics

2046

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments

If your future self could send you one sentence, what do you hope it would say?

I feel like I am my future self. Things are somewhat settled for me. I’m 61, I’m retired, I’m a grandmother, I’m married and I’m going to stay married until one of us dies.

My hopes for the future are all for my kids and grandkids, and for humans in general.

I am beyond horrified at what we’re currently seeing in my country…from the return of measles, to the reversing of the hard won victories of the Civil Rights and Women’s movements, to the alienation of our democratic allies over a wildly ill-conceived war in the Middle East, which is costing us all a shit ton of money and has no end in sight.

I hope 81-year old me can say something like this in 2046:

Dear Mary,

Fear not! After President Trump was found dead on the toilet by his delighted wife, VP Vance was sworn in, but lost in a landslide to President Ocasio-Cortez, who ushered in a new era of democracy, peace, prosperity, equality and optimism, which continues to this day.

Do-Re-Mi

~ MaryG ~ 24 Comments

What’s a skill you consider basic, that most people don’t actually know how to do?

So many people say they “can’t sing” and it bugs me. Everyone CAN sing, but not everyone can sing in tune. My mother is a non-singer. She said she’s so bad at it that she was told to “mouth the words” to her sorority song, so as not to be heard by whatever audience listened to sorority girls sing songs in the 1950s. I’ve literally never heard her sing.

My husband can’t read music or play an instrument but he can sing — in tune. He will do karaoke in a pinch, if required. I think it’s because he listens to a lot of music and sings or hums along.

That is honestly the best way to learn to sing: Sing or hum along with music you like.

If you can’t find a song you like, then sing this one. It’s the classic.

Julie Andrews taught me

Imagine a world where nobody ever says “I can’t sing,” but instead just joins in with everyone else, I think it might actually fix all our problems.

Obama sings Amazing Grace

Don’t be an Eeyore

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

Who is the fictional character you relate to the most?

My husband has a cousin who’s an Eeyore. He just is and, apparently, always was.

I really don’t want be an Eeyore, but it’s hard not to be, if you read any news at all.

Today I hope to snap out of Eeyore.

I think (and hope) I’m more of a Kanga, in need of a quick visit from Tigger to perk up.

Happy Friday.

Impossible dream

~ MaryG ~ 28 Comments

What’s your biggest dream?

We saw The Odyssey yesterday—the latest blockbuster film from Christopher Nolan. Honestly, I was not a huge fan of Oppenheimer, but it’s not like we were going to skip the biggest film of the summer. (As you may have heard, it’s three hours long and cost 250 million dollars to make.)

I did a bit a “research” beforehand (I watched one video and read one article in the NYT), so I knew some basics about: Zeus‘s Law; Helen of Troy; Ithaca; and the Greek gods Zeus, Athena, Poseidon and Hades. I recommend doing that before seeing it or you will be confused.

My husband, who read way more Greek mythology than me as a kid, but didn’t brush up before the movie, was pretty confused. He gave the film a resounding “Meh.” In addition to being confused, he felt that none of the characters were particularly well developed.

My take home message was this: war is hell and (most) men are pigs.

The best scene in the film is when the witch Circe (brilliantly played by Samantha Morton) turns Odysseus’ men into actual pigs. It’s not a subtle message.

And as if to make the point more clear, I read these two bits of news upon my return from the theater:

Pig Trump

Pig Hegseth

As I watched 3,000 year old Troy burn, I couldn’t help but think of Tehran, Gaza, Kyiv, Manhattan and scores of other cities and countries that have seen bombings and other manmade violence in my lifetime alone. Some places are getting drone-bombed right now for God’s sake.

War just never seems to go away permanently. Where there are men, there are wars.

A world without war seems an impossible dream.

Local food

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments

What’s a promise you made to yourself that you’ve actually kept?

When this latest poorly-managed public health crisis started, I promised myself I’d patronize our local farmstands more.

Yesterday, we went to two of them and bought lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, and berries.

There’s a slice of pound cake under that pile of berries. And yes, I added whipped cream before eating. 😋

PSA

~ MaryG ~ 9 Comments

I don’t think our federal government is keeping us safe.

One area where I don’t trust them at all is Public Health. There’s a literal quack in charge of Health & Human Services.

Therefore, I’m fully embodying my MOM role here on WordPress to warn you about the latest public health threat that sounds awful and is spreading rapidly in the US:

Info sheet from a Massachusetts municipal public health department, which I trust way more than the federal authorities under Trump

This is really going around now and is NOT fun. My sister caught it last week in NYC.

Wash your hands and your cutting boards in hot water & soap.

Scrub your firm fruits and veggies.

Wash all other fruits and veggies under running water for a good long time.

Explosive diarrhea – enough said!

Yes, but

~ MaryG ~ 21 Comments

Are you a lifelong learner?

Yes, but I “study” what I want. I got my BA in History and never went back for a graduate degree because they all sounded so boring and cost too much money. MBA? (snooze fest) Law School? (are you joking?) A Master’s in History? (not interested)

And when I was working, I was never big on “professional development.” I only took the required stuff on topics like cybersecurity. All those LinkedIn courses and certifications on business-y topics were available to me, but I hardly ever opted in. I felt like the best way to get better at my job was to do it, and since I was a fundraiser, the proof was in the pudding. I raised millions of dollars for my employers and clients. Nobody cared that I didn’t have an MBA.

Courses I took outside of work included Italian, photography and music (singing lessons). Now that I’m retired, it’s been studio art classes that interest me most, particularly watercolors.

In fact, just yesterday I participated in a 2.5 hour class called “Yoga, Meditation and Abstract Art.” It was my first time using acrylic paint in decades. My abstract piece really wanted to become some sailboats on a green sea, so that’s what happened.

This started as an abstract, but then a couple of sails emerged. “The FDT” is part of the Resistance 😜

FDT

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments

What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it?

Not to bring up politics AGAIN, but I think the period from Hillary Clinton losing the presidential election (despite winning the popular vote by 2.8M), through Trump’s total mishandling of the COVID pandemic (and the subsequent cancellation of my son’s senior spring of high school), to today’s completely surreal dismantling of the post-WW2 order and the subversion of everything I believed my country stood for, under a wildly corrupt wannabe dictator and sexual predator, has been fucking hard.

Hard to watch

Hard to believe

Hard to afford

And it ain’t over yet…

I’m definitely angrier, sadder, and a bit meaner than I was in 2016.

The old me, going to vote for Hillary Clinton in my silly pantsuit in 2016

I’m staying

~ MaryG ~ 23 Comments

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Honestly, I just want to live in a world where Donald J. Trump no longer exists (and never did). In the meantime, Massachusetts is as close as you’re gonna get to that ideal in the United States.

Did you know that the Orange Cretin never won a single Massachusetts congressional district over the Democratic nominee in 2016, 2020, or 2024? That’s right, not one district ever fell for his bullshit.

I care about public schools and public health.

And, finally, some exciting news…

There’s a very special new citizen coming to Massachusetts very late this year or in early 2027.

My heart’s in Massachusetts.

❤️

Happy Fourth

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments

Like nearly every American of good conscience, I have mixed feelings this Fourth of July. The promise of America is faltering under the most corrupt and despicable administration in our 250 year history. The upcoming midterm elections will hopefully spark some sort of a course correction.

In the meantime, there are children and grandchildren; national parks and beaches; fresh cherries and watermelon to be thankful for.

This land was made for you and me.

Here’s a “Cherry Clafoutis” I made with delicious fresh cherries yesterday.

This is a fairly simple and absolutely delicious use of fresh cherries. We got a cherry pitter to make it even easier.

Here’s the recipe from NYT Cooking.

I substituted Licor 43 (vanilla liqueur from Spain) for Kirsch (cherry brandy) in the recipe. And no I didn’t “scrape a vanilla bean” into the cherries—that step was a bit much!