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.

Not seeing any of this on the news, so spreading it the only way I know how.

These two signs have been removed from Acadia National Park (Passamaquoddy and Penobscot territory). I am not okay. Source: open.substack.com/pub/barharbo...

I am absolutely furious that I am being forced to give a shit about Jimmy Kimmel.

I mean, if nothing else, perhaps the Graham Platner campaign will help America learn how damn good Maine oysters are. That ain't nothing. newrepublic.com/article/1996...

Everything is terrible but each evening my 15-year-old son goes for a night walk just to see the fireflies. And therein lies a certain kind of comfort.

Remember the halcyon days of six months ago when the federal government didn't go out of their way to just straight up ruin people's lives for no reason? Me too.

brutal thread

My Daily Discovery served this up as my first song. A little on the nose, Tidal.

On the other side of today.

Solid vibes in Ellsworth, Maine today. Estimated 1,000 people which ain't bad for Hancock County.

I think it's worth every American asking themselves if their senator would do this for them. Angus King might. Susan Collins wouldn't even furrow her brow in my direction.

Reading this thread after the fact reminds me of a comment I remember from a similarly stupid stock crash: "The stock market is run by kindergartners." Except now it's our entire economy. Kindergartners.

I strongly recommend listening to the discussion on empathy in the second half of this week's Vibe Check. There's a reason the right keeps talking about it.

Rough one.

I feel like Friday is a good time to talk about things that don't suck. To that end, may I recommend The Residence on Netflix? We are only on episode 6 (DON'T SPOIL IT) but it has entranced everyone in my house, aged 15 to 85, with its excellence.

Another hospital is closing its birthing unit--the one where my children were born. Fewer than 20 hospitals in the state now offer birthing care. Health care should not be a profit-driven consumer good. Period. barharborstory.substack.com/p/mdi-hospit...

She was kidnapped. Straight up.

Video of the international student at Tufts being arrested by "federal authorities" in Massachusetts has been released and it's terrifying. They're not even uniformed officers. Just secret police thugs in hoodies and masks. From WCVB: youtu.be/PuFIs7OkzYY

The Trump administration is trying to destroy an Ivy League university—withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in funding—because it used to have a trans swimmer on its team. Three years ago.

This isn't going to get the attention of Columbia, but it's at least as bad: the University of Maine is having its funding cut off because the governor of Maine dared to challenge Trump.

It looks like there are field offices in Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Presque Isle and Rockland. I'm not going to map everything to make sure, but it could be a 3-4 hour one way drive. And no office in the most populous region, where many people don't have cars.

1/ So everyone remembers this line of demeaning horse plop from Texas Rep. Ima Dingus, right? It was yesterday. Like many other Republicans right now, he's basically pulling the racist, Reagan-era "welfare queens" nonsense and giving it another run. So I looked at SNAP data for his district.

Janet has her moments. This is definitely one of them

My flight home is scheduled for next week. Which is better: drive 3,000 miles with my 85-year-old mother or risk death via fiery crash? A riddle for the ages

In Santa Fe today, where I ran into the protest here and tagged along. Very good turnout (and lots and lots of supportive car honks). I think we can all agree this lady's sign is the winner.