The King of Cruel Nicknames

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments

What’s the story behind your nickname?

I wasn’t going to respond to this prompt, but then thoughtful posts by Singing Gecko and Books by Asher got me thinking.

Growing up in the 70s, kids (mostly boys) were constantly coming up with cruel nicknames for classmates, usually other boys. However, girls were not always spared. A couple of boys decided to call me “Popeye” in 5th or 6th grade because of my large eyes. I was so upset about it. I cried and cried. I think my mother finally intervened and spoke to a teacher (which was not her usual style), after the typical advice given to girls back then did not work: “They’re teasing you because they LIKE you” (worst advice ever!)

These memories made me think of the question Kamala Harris has been posing: What kind of a country do we want to be? It’s actually a great question.

Do we want to go back to the time when casual bullying, based on appearance/race/sexual orientation flowed like water from the tap? (If you grew up in the 70s and 80s, you know what I’m talking about.) Or do we want to live in a country where differences are celebrated and everyone feels included? DEI (short for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) should not be used as a slur. And it makes me sick that it’s being used that way against Harris.

I honestly think the cruelty is the point with Trump and his followers.

Image from Pexels

Stained Glass Window

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments

I drove about an hour yesterday to visit a dear old friend from work. It was great to see Dina. She made me lunch and then we took a short ride to her church. Like me, Dina sings in her church choir and I’ve been hearing about her church community for many years. I wanted to see the building so I could picture what she’d been talking about all these years.

It was a lovely, well-maintained, stone church dating back to the 1890s. Inside was dark wood throughout with many stained glass windows. There was one new window, which was dedicated to the women of the church. I really liked it. Instead of biblical scenes, it featured New England flora and fauna including an owl, a squirrel, a cardinal, a blue jay, a chickadee, a rabbit (or two), a fawn, and a big old turkey.

I met the minister (referred to as the “rector” in Episcopalian churches) and he explained that a large part of the window was intentionally left clear so that people could see out into the memorial garden.

It’s not often you see new stained glass windows in old New England churches. This one was completed in 2018.

Can you guess?

~ MaryG ~ 10 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What are your future travel plans?
View all responses

I’ve mentioned my upcoming trip to several people and I keep getting the same warning: don’t get gored by a buffalo

My response: I will certainly try not to.

Any other tips would be appreciated.

An American bison, commonly called a buffalo, in Yellowstone National Park. (Photo by Jacob W. Frank)

The definitive comfort food…

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s your go-to comfort food?
View all responses

…is rice pudding. Baked with cinnamon on top, warm out of the oven, with just a bit of milk poured over the top to cool it off. It’s the single best thing to do with leftover rice. It’s also good cold for breakfast the next day. (It’s typically gone by 11am.)

Here is my Nana’s recipe. I believe she got it from her mother—my great grandmother Lottie (the German one).

Related:

The old recipe box

My two grandmothers

Word games

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?

Wordle 1,126 5/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I also like Bananagrams, which is sort of like speed Scrabble. And it comes in a fun, portable pouch shaped like a banana. 🍌

I guess I like the challenge of trying to remember words and how you spell them—part fun, part aging-brain exercise. I did not love Scrabble as a kid—too much like homework.

As a young kid, nothing beat Candy Land. Chutes and Ladders was good too. As I got older, I loved playing Clue with my friends.

Isn’t it funny that a game about gruesome murders was so popular and widely accepted by virtually all families? Miss Scarlet killed somebody in the library with a f****** wrench?? 🔧 🩸

Heat wave luncheon

~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

What foods would you like to make?

I made Grilled Chicken Salad for my dear book group friends yesterday. This was the second time I’ve made it and I can confirm that it’s a good and reliable recipe.

I found napkin folding demos on YouTube. That one is called “rose.”

Dessert was made by Whole Foods.

Unfortunately, it was too darn hot to eat on the porch, but later we had a lovely, strong thundershower.

The sound is very soothing.
grilled-chicken-salad-dinner-at-the-zoo.pdfDownload

Doom scrolling

~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

Which activities make you lose track of time?

I spend far too much time scrolling. My husband calls it “doom scrolling.”

Periodically, I delete different apps (like Facebook) from my phone or computer, so I won’t spend so much time looking at it, but I always end up reinstalling.

With Twitter, I was pissed at Elon Musk, so I deleted my whole account and can’t figure out how to get it back, so I’m logged into my husband’s account and am forbidden to like or post anything while in it.

Doom scrolling screenshot from “For You” Twitter/X feed

Why don’t they show us more cat videos? It’s the “algorithm,” right? They have us pegged as furious Democrats, I guess. Doom scrolling just makes me madder.

Reviews

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

I did a bunch of GenX things last weekend:

1) Went to see a cover band. The band was called Tusk and they are a Fleetwood Mac Tribute band. They were really great musicians and played all the songs really well. It was a beautiful, warm night. I danced and had fun. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album came out in 1977 and it was my junior high jam. I loved that album so much. I did my majorettes try-out to “Second Hand News.” Hearing it all again, 47 years later, I have to admit, it’s yacht rock.

Tusk playing “Go Your Own Way” – don’t they sound just like Fleetwood Mac?

2) Went to see Fly Me To The Moon in a movie theater. All the movies out this summer seem like they’re for twenty-somethings. This one looked like it was geared for my age group and it was. If you ever drank Tang or Tab, this movie is for you. I thought it was very entertaining. ScarJo’s luminous beauty, the US space program of the 1960s, and a couple of very solid jabs at the Nixon administration were highlights for me. On the downside, the portrayal of the creative, gay movie director seemed like an over-the-top caricature, complete with ascots and limp wrists. Also, the whole plot seemed to feed into the whacko, conspiracy-theory, alt-reality culture we’re now living in.

When we came out of the movie, I had texts from both of my kids telling me Trump had almost been iced. A quick social media search revealed that Trump had stood up after the shooting and dramatically urged the crowd to “fight” and Republicans were blaming Democrats for the entire thing. Conspiracy theories were already in full bloom.

3) On Sunday night, with a growing sense of despair about the inevitability of the United States’ descent into right-wing madness, I happened to watch a Netflix comedy special and it was SO FUNNY. I laughed and laughed. Leanne Morgan was the only female comedian who appeared in the lineup of Netflix specials, so I took a chance on her and I’m so glad I did. She’s exactly my age (born in 1965) and I just loved her references to the 80s and all things wife/mother/grandmother-related. She avoids politics entirely. This bit about Dexatrim being speed had me in tears.

Highly recommend