F*** Trump

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

Real Passion

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments

As if to better explain yesterday’s prompt about passion, the universe put me smack dab in the middle of true passion.

Team Scotland is playing their first few World Cup games in Massachusetts and the “Tartan Army” has taken over Boston.

The kilts, the bagpipes, the hats, the songs…these people embody passion.

How adorable is this family from Scotland I met yesterday? It’s blue for home and orange for away, in case you were wondering.

I’m not much of a sports fan, but I do love seeing happy people.

Scotland won, the Knicks won…may the joy of others filter into the collective consciousness—so much so that we completely ignore the trashy spectacle desecrating our White House today.

FDT!

NO KINGS 3, this Saturday

~ MaryG ~ 15 Comments

My husband has had a bit of a setback with his recovery, but I’m still planning to get out there to protest Trump on Saturday.

The second round of “No Kings” protests (“No Kings 2”) in October 2025 drew roughly 5–7 million Americans nationwide, making it one of the largest single-day demonstrations in U.S. history at about 2% of the population.  Social scientists and historians often point to the so-called “3.5% rule,” which finds that sustained, nonviolent movements become very hard for governments to ignore when about 3.5% of the population participates—in the U.S., that’s roughly 11–12 million people. 

So, all hands on deck! No Kings 2 was actually a lot of fun. You don’t want to sit on the sidelines for this nationwide protest. Even if you don’t have time to make a sign, getting your body out there makes a difference.

I’m planning to lead singing with a small group from a bandstand as I have done in the past. I can sing loudly and clearly into a microphone, which is the main qualification for this role. I’m not out there protesting on overpasses or at ICE facilities, but I try to contribute my singing voice, when asked. We all need to try to do something to save the Republic. 🇺🇸

Not sure I’ll have time to make a sign, but if I do, I think it’s going to say:

NO MAD KINGS

We The People…don’t want any of this: 

*Abortion bans

*War

*Immigrant hate 

*Measles outbreaks, FFS!

Find a protest near you.