They are charming me against my will.

Every time I see a post start "People aren't worried enough about..." I think: I assure you I am! I am plenty worried! Worry is my default right now. I was awake at 3 a.m. fretting about the US Forest Service. I am worried about TREES. How much more worry would you like from me?!

I have two children. They attend two different schools. Both schools have had a lockdown this academic year due to a believable but hoax threat. What a country we have created for them.

Merit, you guys. We are a merit-only society now! Why are you looking at him like that?

This is going to hurt the crab leg budget.

Fine work, Bangor. Excellent job.

I will never get over how we failed--and continue to fail--this population in horrific ways.

Parents of teenagers, if you are wondering when they will finally begin acknowledging that you know a thing or two, I have the answer: senior year. Somewhere in the midst of a thousand college/scholarship essays my daughter began placing value on my writing and editing skills. About time.

It was 55 degrees and sunny today and I swear my soul reentered my body. (I know this is false spring. I do not care.)

I feel like I need red string guy to explain who is on what side these days. My capacity for global political strategy is always limited, but looks like WWIII is going to stretch it to the max.

Also 'That Guy at the Party That Smoked Cloves.'

This is one of the videos the NYT has verified and links to in their reporting. NYT: "Video verified by [NYT] showed ... rescuers digging through the rubble with building cranes and shovels, and piles of bloodied, dusty backpacks." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/28/w...

I don’t care about the SOTU. I don’t even want to read think pieces about the SOTU, that’s how little I care.

This is great but woooooow did we get to see exactly how many institutions were delighted to throw in the towel on their equity statements. Like, immediately.

I'm posting this one to get your attention. Now go read the whole thread.

This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.

Don't move on. Call. Today.

I'm seeing a lot fewer stories about Minneapolis, so please continue to amplify them. The media will move on to other pressing stories--Epstein, Nancy Guthrie, Olympics--because that's what it is designed to do. It's up to us to continue to press this one.

This is honestly the hardest part for me. We are still at a point where so many men (the majority?) refuse--simply refuse--to see women as fellow human beings. And that this is the prevalent view at the highest tiers of society.

Read all of these witness testimonies. These are brave people.

Thinking again about that community leader in a podunk town decades ago who, when I asked her how she dealt with the inevitable obstructionists and naysayers, simply said "I invite them to join me. If they decline, I just drive around them." It's still as good a guide to change as I've ever heard.

I had coffee with a friend this morning and I'm still thinking about how we literally just stared at each other with big WTF eyeballs for like five minutes before we started talking. This is the new handshake.

Midcoast Maine Food and Necessities Drive 1/30-2/14

Imagine what’s happening in the camps.

Instead of circling the social media drain today or giving your energy to assholes, go read Letter From Birmingham Jail. Figure out which part implicates you. Then go do something to fix it. letterfromjail.com

I would love local leadership and police departments to go beyond "we don't cooperate" and move into "we will protect our community from abuses like they pay us to do." But I guess that's just a bridge too far.

A few days ago I had to reactivate my Facebook account for the first time in four years for a specific reason. With fresh eyes, I was overwhelmed by what a hellscape that place is. I am deactivating again this evening. I promise you can live without it. I PROMISE. Flee.

I meant to bake two kinds of cookies yesterday and two kinds of cookies today but yesterday got kind of screwy so I am baking four kinds of cookies today and I am here to tell you that this was a very, very bad tactical choice.

This is overall great, but as someone from rural Maine I particularly want to draw attention to her focus on what the military means to a certain kind of rural man. Not only is it the only job they feel can get, it's the only job they feel they are *fit for.* That is a key difference.

I feel like this is a severely "Okay, Gen X" complaint but am I the only one who feels like albums are too damn long now? At no point do I want to listen to 20 songs in a row by one artist. Go back to 10-12 songs like god and CD storage limits intended.

One of the worst parts about living in a tourist area is the shoulder season where you build plans around a favorite place's closing date only to learn they closed early. Just because. 🙃

"Did Women Ruin the Workplace?"

Hey, look, a coordinated public response to a short-sighted policy had results. Sometimes this stuff works. (Also this is an excellent example of why rural America needs champions who get it.) www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/18/s...

Abortion is supported by 3 out of 4 Mainers, but a popular network of clinics that provides it alongside primary care has been shut out of Medicaid by the Trump administration, which also targeted Planned Parenthood. n.pr/48jMkt4

I don’t want to seem out of touch but I don’t actually understand the economy anymore.

Eons ago someone recommended Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers and I finally got around to reading it. It is an absolutely gorgeous book but reading it at this particular point in time feels like opening up your skull and letting Hoffman punch directly into your brain. Is that a rec? Who knows?

This is a great loss. I strongly recommend Alice's book Year of the Tiger. It challenged and opened my mind and heart in ways few books have.

I have been browsing the news for 90 seconds and I have already seen too much.

You know what CD2 needs? Someone else running who doesn't actually live in the district. We are not your consolation prize. *screams into the void*

A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.

Me, a near-lifelong CD2 resident, watching the takes on Jared Golden's retirement unfold:

Did my first stint as an election clerk tonight. It was a very satisfying kind of fun. I got an insider look at elections. I had many short and cheery conversations with neighbors. I was reminded that no one gets shit done like a pack of middle-aged ladies. Good times.

Proofreading my daughter's college application essays and MY GOD she uses commas like a drunken bachelorette attendee with confetti. My sanity is threadbare as it is. I may not make it through.

Delighted to see people donating to their local food pantries/banks. PLEASE give cash if at all possible, which 1) allows pantries to buy what they need and 2) allows you to deduct the amount on your taxes, thus giving the federal government less of your money to spend on *waves hand*.

I don't know who needs to hear this but you do not have to cleave to political candidates as part of your identity until death. They are human beings applying for a job. You can look at the options, weigh what you learn over time and make the best choice you can. They aren't part of your soul.

The feeling when the child you had to force on hikes and other outdoor adventures with threats--and who whined her way through them--writes her entire college essay on how important nature is to her.

I actually stopped using Spotify back when everyone said they were going to (I think it was a Joe Rogan thing?) and have been happily using Tidal since. It also pays musicians more. I don't think any big tech company is awesome but you don't have to feel completely gross about where your money goes.

Not a shitpost: #NoKings is feel-good performative activism for comfortable mostly upper and upper middle class white folks and that’s good, actually. Millions of people in the streets protesting a fascist regime is good. It is good for the normie baseline to be massive displays of public dissent.

After weeks of trying I finally won over a Very Serious Person with one of my little jokes. Look, I know it makes me insufferable but there is no greater dopamine hit.

Sitting at the top of a mountain, looking at this view, and listening to a couple nearby casually discuss fascism in America. You know, as we do in 2025.