Boston

Giving money to a junkie

~ MaryG ~ 2 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.
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Remember how ready we were to get those first Covid vaccines the minute they came out? We were so so sick of staying at home!

Well, as someone who worked in an educational setting, I was eligible a bit earlier than some. I could get a vaccine, but I had to go to Boston Medical Center to get it. BMC is located deep in Boston’s South End and is known for serving vulnerable populations, low-income individuals, immigrants, and those without insurance. For many years, there was a massive homeless encampment known as “Mass and Cass” just a block or so from BMC. Hard drugs were openly bought, sold, and used at Mass and Cass.

Tents and makeshift shelters near Mass & Cass (the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard)
Photo by Jim Davis/Boston Globe

Anyway, I got my first Covid vax at BMC and then just wanted to get out of that area ASAP. On the way back to my car, a very thin, desperate-looking woman approached me and asked for money. She said she needed it for food. I gave her a $20. That was all I had. She was extremely grateful. She turned the bill over in her hand, like she couldn’t believe it was an actual twenty.

I’m not sure what motivated that. Pity, yes. Selfish desire to be left alone (just let me get back to my car lady) Kindness? I don’t know. Is it kind to give money to a junkie? What if that $20 enabled her to overdose? A better person might’ve tried to walk her back into the hospital and get her some real help.

10:30 – 6:30

~ MaryG ~ 10 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?
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Rough estimate, but I sleep from around 10:30 pm to around 6:30 am.

If I wake up and see a 4 or a 5 (or god forbid a 3) as the first number on my watch, I try to go back to sleep.

I’ve been known to Hurkle-Durkle until well past 8, but not that often.


A spectacular painting by Firelei Báez, now on display at ICA/Boston—I love how you don’t see the horses at first.

Mini vacation

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

Describe your most memorable vacation.

Sometimes a one-nighter in your own area can be fun. I haven’t spent much time in Boston since I left my job, so it’s good to be back in the city.

The view of Cambridge from Boston’s Back Bay. The Charles River is reflecting the pink fireworks. That glowing dome on the left side of the horizon is M.I.T.

Happy Birthday to all Americans. We are 248 years old today. Long may we run. 🇺🇸

Beyond the basics

~ MaryG ~ 14 Comments

What are the most important things needed to live a good life?

I think books, music and art make life worth living, once basic needs (food, shelter, safety) are met.

I got to go to an art show by a dear old friend from college last night. It is her first gallery show. In college, she was a double major in art history and religion. For decades, she’s worked as a museum educator and administrator.

She always had an artist’s eye and soul. We studied abroad in Italy at the same time and traveled together on our fall break. A fellow blogger’s post about the city of Bergamo (Italy) reminded me of that trip. We went to Bergamo, Parma, Verona, Venice, and Milan.

Her artwork involves deconstructing everyday packaging and reassembling in very cool ways.

A large piece by Julie Bernson on display at Gallery Kayafas in Boston
Julie taking a photo atop the Duomo in Milan in 1985.

The late comeback

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently?
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I’m not typically someone to not say something. I will speak-up when needed. I trust my instincts.

For example, when an ambulance (with no siren or lights in use) nearly ran over a woman in a Boston crosswalk, I made a mental note of the name of the ambulance company (which was from a different part of the state), called the main office, and got the driver in trouble. Another time a FedEx driver (a complete stranger) beckoned my young son to his truck when he was walking by himself and asked him to carry a package up the driveway. I got that guy in trouble too.

Being a native-born Masshole who participated in the hellish Boston commute for decades, I’ve also been involved in my fair share of road rage flare-ups. I’m quick to flip the bird to the deserving. I’ve been involved in one or two shouting matches with other drivers while sitting at traffic lights.

One time two young men with a Harvard window sticker cut me off dramatically on a winding thoroughfare, only to end-up at the exact same ATM as me minutes later. I went up to them and said, “Did they teach you to drive like that at Harvard?”

The only times I remember regretting not saying something are when I couldn’t think of a comeback fast enough. I hate that.

Ponytail Harvard guy from “Good Will Hunting”

Click here to watch the best comeback in the film.

Saying yes

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments
Daily writing prompt
How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?
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I was good at saying “no” to things for many years, especially volunteer roles in my church and in the schools. I had too much going on with the kids and work. I did my part for various fundraisers and events, but I wasn’t one to get roped into running the whole thing. In fact, a woman once told me she admired my ability to say “no.” (possibly a backhanded compliment)

Now that I’m retired (there, I said it) I’m ready to say “yes” to more things, especially if it’s something fun. Kudos to my husband, who is still working, but says “yes” to quite a few of my proposals. He doesn’t agree to everything I want to do together, but I’d estimate that he says “yes” 75% of the time. For example, we went and saw ALL TEN Best Picture nominees before the Oscar broadcast. And he’s been especially good about visiting museums with me. (He likes museums too, but it’s a bit more of a sacrifice for him to make the time to go.)

On Saturday, we went to a very cool exhibit at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts about Hallyu (Korean Wave)—the surge of popular culture from South Korea that started with K-drama and cinema in the 90s and then spread across the globe with K-pop and its massive fandoms in the mid 2000s. K-beauty and fashion has also been a huge cultural export and Korean designers’ work was on display. After that, we went to a Korean restaurant to round out the K-culture experience.

A K-pop idol’s costume at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Reconstruction of a set from “Parasite,” the 2019 film directed and co-written by Bong Joon-ho. It was the first non-English language film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The costumes from Squid Game
Fashions by South Korean designers
Korean “sticky ribs”

Related post:

Are you retired?

Got what I deserved (finally)

~ MaryG
Daily writing prompt
Have you ever unintentionally broken the law?
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In the distant past, I used my white privilege to break the law intentionally many times with no consequences. I’ll chalk that up to youth and the too-high age requirement of 21+ for American nightclubs. (It really should be 18.)

I have been pulled over by the police a few times for doing stuff unintentionally. The worst was when I nearly ran over an older woman with a cane in a crosswalk. I just didn’t see her. I was pregnant and rushing to an appointment with my obstetrician. Thank God I saw her at the last moment and swerved.

I got pulled over immediately by a Boston cop on a motorcycle, as I should have been. I got a citation for “failure to yield to a pedestrian.” I did, of course, try to get out of it. I played the pregnant card, the woman card, the dumb card…all the cards. I don’t remember if I cried, but I might have. The cop did the right thing and gave me the ticket anyway. That one moving violation jacked up my car insurance premiums for years. I deserved it.

Related post: My life of crime

Ginger the Giraffe

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments

Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?

I was going to answer “no” to this prompt, but then I remembered I’ve been pretending to feed a giraffe I bought at Boston’s Snowport Holiday Market all week.

Her name is Ginger, because she is made from a ginger beer can. She’s imported from Zimbabwe. So far, my husband and son have refused to pretend she’s real.

Ginger having some basil

As previously mentioned, I have a thing for giraffes. If you haven’t seen the new film Wonka, with Timothée Chalamet, it’s worth it for the giraffe scenes alone. For GenXers, nobody can replace Gene Wilder in the role of Willy Wonka. His laissez-faire attitude toward his bratty visitors (“stop, don’t”) is priceless. But the message of the original film comes through in this latest prequel version of Willy Wonka. It’s all about “Pure Imagination,” which is liberally reprised throughout the new film.

There is no life I know

To compare with pure imagination

Living there, you’ll be free

If you truly wish to be

For me, nothing evokes pure childhood-like playtime than a good game of pretend.

Related posts: Book magic, Giraffes, The Mean(ish) Peacocks

Boston’s best neighborhood

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

What is your favorite place to go in your city?

Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, particularly the Commonwealth Avenue mall, is my favorite part of the city. I worked in this neighborhood my entire career, starting with my first job after college at The Institute of Contemporary Art, when it was on Boylston Street.

Back Bay is so beautiful and so historic. Many movie scenes have been shot here. I’ve seen several of them underway over the years, with my closest brush with fame being a glimpse of Benedict Cumberbatch. He was shooting a scene for Black Mass at the Harvard Club. Cumberbatch played Billy Bulger, the brother of Boston’s most famous mobster — Whitey Bulger. I saw the film, but can’t remember if he got the accent right. They rarely do!

Commonwealth Avenue Mall by Robert Davis

Masshole here

~ MaryG ~ 4 Comments

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

I think I’ll stay in Massachusetts. It’s such a boring answer, but with the world the way it is, I really wouldn’t want to risk any other state or country. The long cold winters are a big problem for me, but you can always jump on a plane to someplace warm.

Top 5 things about Massachusetts:

We have many beaches — from Salisbury to Westport, plus Cape Cod and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket

We have mountains — the Berkshires are a magical region loaded with world class cultural organizations like Tanglewood and Jacob’s Pillow

We have Boston — it ain’t NYC, but it’s a real city with an international airport and several wonderful art museums

Most of the people I love and care about live here.

Politics: we were the first state to legalize same sex marriage and pass universal healthcare. We guarantee women’s reproductive freedom and have restrictive gun laws (although loopholes still exist). Trump lost every single Massachusetts county in the 2020 election.

People call us “Massholes,” but that’s just because they don’t know how to fuckin’ drive.