Blogging challenge

December 17, 2024September 18, 2025 ~ MaryG ~ 13 Comments

Thank you Stephanie for nominating me to participate in this fun blogging challenge.

How did you come up with your blog name?

I turned 50 (as one does, if one is fortunate) and felt the urge to do something new, like start a blog. Fifty just sort of “happens” — it sneaks up on you and seems a bit more dramatic than either 30 or 40. Whereas there’s a good chance you’ll live to 60 or 80, there’s only a very slim chance (0.0173%) that you’ll live to 100. You can be pretty sure your life is more than half over at 50.

If your blog was a person (fiction or real), who would it be?

Hmmm…this one is hard. I’m obviously no Anne Lamott, but if she had a blog, I have no doubt I’d read every post.

What helps you create new content if you feel like you need some inspiration?

I like a writing prompt like this one (thanks Stephanie) or the WP Daily Prompt.

Do you have a specific style of blogging?

Gosh, I don’t know. Let’s ask ChatGPT.

“Her writing style is confessional, characterized by personal reflections and candid expressions of her thoughts and feelings. She discusses topics ranging from family traditions, such as holiday baking, to her reactions to current events, often conveying a sense of humor and resilience. This confessional style is popular among bloggers, as it allows for a personal connection with readers through the sharing of intimate experiences and emotions.”

Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with?

I do love 80s memories, music, and trivia. Maybe a bunch of GenX bloggers could all tackle a shared topic like “where were you when…(the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up)” or something like that.

Is there anything more you wish you had or would like to learn as a blogger?

Honestly, no. I like my blog, I love my regular readers (I like reading their blogs too) and I really have no desire to write fiction or get published.

I would appreciate it if WordPress would come up with some new Daily Prompts. After responding to them for a full year, it says I’ve already “answered” each one daily and doesn’t offer a new one.

My nominees:

S.J. Asher

Anyone else who wants to join in the fun!

New Logo

December 9, 2024September 18, 2025 ~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

My blogging friend Chris (A New Life After Cancer) told me about the free AI Logo Generator in Word Press.

If you can find “Create a logo with Jetpack AI” in the desktop version of WordPress, that’s where you can have your little negotiation with AI.

Based on my site alone, this is the prompt it generated for me: A logo for “50 Happens,” a site dedicated to Gen X moms who embrace life’s challenges with calmness and resilience, featuring a modern and uplifting design that embodies strength and positivity.

OK, but I did not like the colors in this one ☝️ and do I really want to limit myself to moms?

So, this was next: A logo for “50 Happens,” a site dedicated to Gen X women who embrace life’s challenges with calmness and resilience, featuring a modern and uplifting design that embodies strength and positivity. Feature colors like pink, fuschia, purple, and blue

OK, but let’s face it, I’m not this Zen ☝️. I curse and say harsh things on my blog sometimes, especially about Dear Leader, who will be with us for at least four more fucking years. 🤮

Next try: A logo for “50 Happens,” a site dedicated to Gen X women with children and grandchildren who embrace life’s challenges with humor and resilience, featuring a modern and uplifting design that embodies strength and positivity. Feature colors like pink, fuschia, purple, and blue.

OK, NO, this 👆is ugly. Now I’m getting frustrated! I’ll give you one more chance AI. Please enhance the prompt yourself!

A logo for “50 Happens,” [a site dedicated to Gen X women with children and grandchildren] [who embrace life’s challenges with humor and resilience], [featuring a modern and uplifting design] [that embodies strength and positivity] [with an elegant and playful style] [and a harmonious blend of colors like pink, fuchsia, purple, and blue].

Hey, I like that one! Good job AI.

My only criticism would be to make the image bigger within the pink square, but AI really does not want to do that for me. She said enough is enough—this is what you get!

OK, I’ll take it.

Phone calls for Harris

November 3, 2024September 18, 2025 ~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

I signed up for a two-hour shift making phone calls for Harris tomorrow.

A friend sent this message earlier today:

Hi everyone,

I just finished a get-out-the-vote phone bank for MoveOn.org. It involved asking voters to remind 3 friends or family members to vote. It was fun! Remember this is coming from the person who would rather chew nails than make these calls! It was easy, lots of people answered, most were friendly, many agreed to remind others and one even agreed to volunteer. I had some great conversations. The link to sign up is already below, but here it is again: https://mobilize.us/s/y58Kqy
One person said she was definitely voting for “Miss Kamala,” all her family members had voted, but she would remind younger co-workers who might not otherwise vote.

There are lots of shifts left between now and the election, and it’s a great antidote to election anxiety.

Lynn
(she/her/hers)

I really don’t feel like making calls, but defeating Trump is my self-professed Number One Objective of 2024. I’ve written more than 30 blog posts focused or partially focused on him. I started this blog nine years ago, exactly as Trump began his ascension. In many ways, he has been hanging over my life and my blog like a dark cloud the entire time.

So I better get off my butt and join my grandmother friends in making some calls to voters tomorrow. We gotta leave it all on the field!

If you live in the US and have some time on Monday or Tuesday, you can use this link (or the one above) to sign up:

https://track-mg.mobilize.us/CL0/https:%2F%2Fmobilize.us%2Fs%2FXSg67M/1/01000192f4afee2c-54e7c91e-cd19-4693-a83d-a9e5af0ef9c7-000000/sV9xaKVYJa9D2NZc-zQNL5kTcP0pHVc6zXxry3G8maA=377

Freedom

August 8, 2024September 18, 2025 ~ MaryG ~ 16 Comments

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

OK, one reason I like my blog is that I feel free to say what I want, including about politics.

In the old days (before Trump), I thought Facebook and other emerging social media was fun. Find old friends and classmates, reminisce, post pics, share news, chat about nonsense, etc.

Then everything went to hell and I had real and permanent falling outs (fallings out?) with the Trumpers in my sphere, as did millions of others.

I’m still on Facebook, but I try not to post too many political things, with abortion access being an exception. (I will not shut my trap about that one until it’s no longer an issue or I’m dead.)

People who read and comment on my blog (and vice versa) are 99% online friends only. I will likely never meet them in real life. But there’s a freedom in that. They’re choosing to read my thoughts, and I theirs.

With 89 days left until we (hopefully) send Donald Trump packin’ for good, my Facebook and Instagram friends (all people I know or have known in real life) have my blog to thank for my relative level of self-control.

So, I can say this on my blog: I am loving the energy right now. From Kamala entering a packed and cheering rally to Beyoncé’s “Freedom” to the Tim Walz dad jokes. It’s soooo good. This is the kind of optimistic, joyful, caring country I want my granddaughter (coming soon) to grow up in.

The Daily Prompt and Joe Biden

July 11, 2024September 18, 2025 ~ MaryG ~ 7 Comments

According to WordPress, I’ve already answered today’s daily prompt, so I guess I’ve lapped myself. I’ve been posting regularly for about a year now. Here was my answer from last time this prompt came up:

Yeah, no, I don’t think so

Regarding Joe Biden, I’m getting more and more fearful that he’s just totally going to F*** us all by not dropping out. This article by Mark Leibovich is pretty harsh, but I tend to agree.

“It is now obvious that Biden has in no way internalized the disaster toward which he is defiantly ambling—or, more to the point, toward which he is leading his party and his country (and, for that matter, NATO, Ukraine, thousands of as-yet-not-deported immigrants, and unprosecuted Trump “enemies”). He seems fully indifferent to any consideration beyond his own withered pride and raging ego.”

I’m trying not to care about politics as much, because it’s just so damn depressing right now. I’m spending a lot of time trying chicken salad recipes and rearranging furniture. I’m trying to take heart in the fact that I (and most everyone I love) live in Massachusetts and perhaps we will be relatively insulated from Trump 2.0, but I know in my heart that nobody will escape it.

Complicated recipe, but very good in the end, especially on Day 2. The flavors really seemed to ripen.

Cold Rice Noodles with Grilled Chicken and Peanut Sauce

Cold Rice Noodles With Grilled Chicken and Peanut Sauce Recipe Download

The Socials & the Daily Prompt

January 14, 2024September 18, 2025 ~ MaryG ~ 3 Comments

In what ways do you communicate online?

I have a Facebook (FB) and an Instagram (IG). I used to be a regular, lighthearted Facebook contributor, but then Trump happened. I could not NOT weigh-in. So, that alienated a small number of friends and certain relatives. A couple of old but significant friendships ended largely due to Facebook bullshit. I got more interested in Instagram during the COVID lockdown. I have far fewer connections on Instagram. It’s just mostly about the pictures, and I really like to take pictures. I use IG more than FB now, but I occasionally still share something on Facebook. And I check Facebook multiple times each week to see what other people are posting, especially the big announcements. (Sadly, it’s now the main way I hear about high school and college classmates’ deaths.)

Because I hated my boss for the last few years, I’ve kept my LinkedIn up to date and I use it pretty frequently—mostly for private messages. Like Facebook, LinkedIn is good for tracking people down. Almost everyone with a job has a LinkedIn profile.

Also, because ~~I’m cool~~ I have two GenZ children, I have a Snapchat, which I use with my kids and a couple of close friends.

This blog, which I started when I turned 50, but largely ignored after Trump got elected, is now my favorite way to communicate online, so thank you WordPress readers and commenters! I enjoy reading your posts too–especially your responses to the daily prompt. It’s fun to see all the different directions people will go with the same few words. For example, ItsAmyISaid is a terrific writer and frequently gives us a wonderful original poem like this one, in response to the daily prompt. Check her out.

And yes, I use whatever these are—stickers? Bitmojis?

Why write?

August 21, 2023September 18, 2025 ~ MaryG ~ 2 Comments

What do you enjoy most about writing?

I think I like to write mostly because it’s therapeutic. Getting some thoughts out of my head and onto “paper” helps me let them go and move on. I originally started this blog when I turned 50. Here’s a post I did then called “Why Blog?” Reading it now (8 years later), it still seems about right.

Also, I’ve always been a reader. I love fiction and memoirs. It seems that many people who really like to read also enjoy writing. The difference between me and a real writer is the discipline and dedication to craft. I’ve found some real writers here on WordPress using the “Discover” button on Jetpack. I loved this post by Jodi Lee Reifer. I’m not ready to tackle an essay like this about my own sister, but Jodi’s thoughts (so beautifully expressed) truly resonated.