Mary Dominiak
LightNews LightNews
banner
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Mary Dominiak
@bardicvoice.bsky.social
290 followers 960 following 230 posts
Aerospace enthusiast, democracy supporter, BLM, LGBTQIA+ ally, atheist, writer. Former EPA.
Posts Replies Media Videos
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Just a few books … (there are four more six-foot-tall freestanding bookcases around the room). Also, two cats, a piano, and an organ …
A bookcase full-wall headboard with equine sculptures on the top surrounds a bed with a green paisley bedspread.
November 24, 2025 at 2:51 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
My first photos using my new Seestar S30 smart telescope: last night’s Beaver Moon, captured from my front yard. I have to master manual focusing on a dinky iPhone 13 mini …
Just past full Moon image against black sky. Just past full Moon image against black sky. 4x zoom. Just past full Moon image against black sky. 4x zoom. Just past full Moon image against black sky. 2x zoom.
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
I worked Fairfax County’s most populous precinct, 332 Coates, and these were the results we posted tonight.
The summary of results for precinct 332 shows (in part, excluding unspecified write-in candidates never exceeding 13; Dem candidates listed first): Gov: Spanberger 1503; Earle-Sears 358 Lt Gov: Hashmi 1452; Reid 404 AG: Jones 1391; Miyares 440 House Delegate District 8: Shin 1462; Massey 376 Public School Bond Issue: Yes, 1414; No, 378
November 5, 2025 at 3:23 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
My sister — about to turn 72 — did her very first solo protest today as part of #NoKings. She made her own two-sided sign using my foamcore stock and thick rainbow Sharpies, and bought a yellow sweater vest from a local thrift shop. I’m very proud.
Colored text on white backing reads: “Democracy does NOT have Kings! No Kings!” The word “Democracy” appears in blue, while “Kings” is orange. A sign with hand-printed text in colored Sharpie on a white background reads: “Democracy = government of the PEOPLE by the PEOPLE for the PEOPLE. NO KINGS!” The word “KINGS” is in orange. A selfie of an older white woman with an oval face, very short grey hair, and tinted glasses wearing a turtleneck-style yellow sweater vest.
October 19, 2025 at 1:14 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
My participation in the #FairMaps rally at SCOTUS on Wednesday got documented on the local NBC News 4 broadcast tonight! Guess the cameraman liked my sign …
A still shot from a TV screen shows a white woman holding a sign saying “VOTING RIGHTS are for PEOPLE — NOT PARTIES.”
October 17, 2025 at 12:23 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
I was part of the large peaceful protest at SCOTUS this morning before and during the arguments on the Louisiana voting rights case. #FairMaps
White homemade protest sign reads: “VOTING RIGHTS are for PEOPLE — NOT PARTIES” on front. White homemade protest sign reads: “FAIR MAPS” on back. A printed sign by the Transformative Justice Coalition features a photo of Congressman John Lewis and text reading “PROTECT OUR VOTE!” Photo of a small part of the crowdof people assembled at the west steps of the US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.
October 16, 2025 at 1:31 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Hey — that’s me with the Fair Maps sign! The flip side faced front …
A white sign sitting on a chair simply says FAIR MAPS in thick, hand-drawn green Sharpie. A white sign sitting on a chair says “VOTING RIGHTS are for PEOPLE — NOT PARTIES”
October 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
At the National Air and Space Museum for the first full-scale in-person event since the IMAX theater reopened!
September 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Met the delightful @thespacegal.bsky.social Emily Calandrelli at my museum today; she did a book-signing meet & greet with hundreds of people from 10 AM until almost 3 PM, bubbly and engaged the whole time. STEM space astronaut rockstar with all the kids! (And staff …)
Three smiling women in front of a “The Space Gal” sign: me (older woman with short brown hair wearing a blue docent shirt and black pants); Emily in a black knee-length dress covered with silver glitter stars; and museum Blue Crew volunteer Sarah, a tall young woman in black pants, a sleeveless gray shirt, and a royal blue vest.
August 16, 2025 at 11:42 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Tuxedo Tootsie having a taxing day; Trespasser laptop-napping.
A black cat with white belly and paws sleeps on a blue blanket draped over a box in a window seat; one of her rear legs dangles over the edge. A brown tabby cat with a white belly and legs sleeps curled up on the keyboard of an open laptop computer.
July 10, 2025 at 8:03 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Too tired to seek out statewide results tonight on VA Dem primaries for LtGov and AG, but here are in-person day results from the precinct I worked. Precinct has 7,058 registered voters; VA does NOT register by party affiliation. 215 were issued absentee ballots; 101 voted early on machine.
Photo of Results from VA precinct 332 (Coates) show 266 in-person voters on machine, plus 3 same-day registration voters and 2 other voters on provisional ballots. Machine results for LtGov race showed 54 Stoney; 37 Lateef; 57 Rouse; 20 Salgado; 67 Hashmi; 31 Bastani. AG race showed Taylor 130; Jones 133.
June 18, 2025 at 2:19 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
My two-sided protest sign for today’s #NoKings event at #FairLakes in Fairfax, VA. I got very colorful when making my points on diversity and on “all” meaning “ALL!”
White foamcore sign with multicolored letters reads: NO KINGS NO OLIGARCHS NO WAR ON SCIENCE DIVERSITY EQUALITY White foamcore sign begins with black text, and becomes multicolored and underscored on its last two lines. The text reads: “ … with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for all” MEANS FOR ALL
June 15, 2025 at 12:41 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Thousands of cars passed our #NoKings protest on Fair Lakes Parkway in Fairfax, VA, and there were at least a hundred happy horns offsetting each rare flipped bird or derogatory shout. Multiply these 32 seconds to fill four hours …
June 15, 2025 at 12:34 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
I can’t draw for shit, but I love seeing the talent of others to inspire whatever I’m going to put on my “No Kings” sign today. I love that Penzey’s spices shared these signs from cooks around the country! www.penzeys.com/media/zp4pkv...
June 14, 2025 at 11:56 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Yay for huge crowds and great spirit at the #HandsOff protest in DC! Folks were fired up, vocal, and more than a few were willing to commit to do more community organizing when they got home. @50501movement.bsky.social @indivisible.org
A massive crowd of protesters covers the hill on the east side of the Washington Monument in DC. My favorite homemade sign reads “Grab him by the Teslacles!” with a photo of Elon Musk beside a graphic showing a red line of the market plunge that followed Trump’s tariffs. A view of the huge crowd looking up toward the Washington Monument from a spot a few hundred feet west of the Sylvan Theater, where the speakers were. A view of the huge crowd looking up toward the Washington Monument from a spot a few hundred feet west of the Sylvan Theater, where the speakers were.
April 6, 2025 at 12:41 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
I’m ready for tomorrow’s “Hands Off!” protest in DC. My double-sided sign proclaims “HANDS OFF!” & “Government Workers & Services” on both sides, with different federal agency acronyms running around the borders & different topics on each side. My t-shirt is from @crew.bsky.social.
White poster with big red letters “HANDS OFF!” in the center, federal agency actonyms running around the outer border, and topics (Science, History, Voting Rights, Social Security, Healthcare, Medicaid, Books, Data, Government Workers & Services) at angles around the center. White poster with big black letters “HANDS OFF!” in the center, federal agency actonyms running around the outer border, and topics (Education, Civil Rights, Research, Museums, Unions, Libraries, Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly, Petition, and Government Workers & Services) at angles around the center. Black t-shirt from CREW proclaims “Ethics & Democracy & Transparency & Accountability.”
April 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
I’m heading into DC for the #StandUpForScience protest
at the Lincoln Memorial from noon until 4 PM today. Hope to see many kindred spirits there!
A protest sign with a white background reads: “SCIENCE Saves Lives, TRUMP & MUSK Ruin Them.” The science-related lettering is blue, the Trump-related lettering is red.
March 7, 2025 at 2:22 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
I’m somewhere in this crowd! It was a good day. And I ran into the lady with the “Hey Congress, Grow a Spine!” message as we waited on a shuttle bus from Foggy Bottom to Clarendon Metro …
A woman holds a plastic human skeleton wearing sunglasses with a sign taped to its torso that reads “GROW a SPINE, CONGRESS”
February 18, 2025 at 2:34 AM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
My President’s Day is sorted: I’ll be at the DC PolRev protest from noon-2PM Monday at the west side Union Square/Capitol reflecting pool. Track work on Silver & Orange Metro lines will add 30 mins to your trip if you’re coming in from VA.
My protest sign reads: “Federal Workers Serve America: TRUMP & MUSK SERVE SELVES” Screenshot of protest post shows a map of the protest location, a chart of estimated walking times from nearby Metro stations, and text identifying this as the President’s Day Protest by DC PolRev Chapter on Monday, Feb 17 at 12:00 PM at the Union Square/Capitol Reflecting Pool.
February 16, 2025 at 9:18 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
On a black background, white text in all capital letters reads: “My desire to be well informed is currently at odds with my desire ti remain sane.” Very faint grey text beneath the quote attributes it to “Poetry of Monsters.”
January 28, 2025 at 1:39 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
And Trump’s farcical EO claiming there are only 2 sexes fails entirely to account for intersex humans, not to mention how human embryos develop or how chromosomes, hormones, and environmental chemical exposures affect childhood development …
Photo of a page of text that reads: “It’s scientific fact that humans come in two varieties — XX for female and XY for male.” EXCEPT: - You can be born appearing female, but have a 5-alpha reductase deficiency and grow a penis at age 12. - You can be born legally male with an X and a Y chromosome, but your body is insensitive to androgens, and you appear female. - You can be born legally male with an X and a Y chromosome, and have a penis and testes, *and* a uterus and fallopian tubes. - You can be born legally male with an X and a Y chromosome, but your Y chromosome is missing the SRY gene, which gives you a female body. - You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes, but one of the Xs has the SRY gene, which gives you a male body. - You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes and also a Y chromosome, which gives you a male body. - You can be born legally female with two X chromosomes, but your adrenal gland doesn’t produce enough cortisol, and you develop as a male. - You can be born with XX chromosomes *and* XY chromosomes (chimerism). So the next time you attempt to use science as justification for your bigotry, remember that God created humans in many variations, and maybe stop trying to stuff everyone in “male or female” checkboxes.
January 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
I was up way too late yesterday to remain conscious past 2100, so I missed the show. But the full Moon in our high windows this morning was still spectacular!
January 14, 2025 at 1:56 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Our breakfast fox visited for the second day in a row. S/he retrieved the remaining frozen squirrel from its snow-filled hidey hole (the deep dip in the backyard to which our swales drain) and carried it into the neighbor’s yard behind us, which is much less traveled than ours.
A red fox pauses in the snow at the corner of two fences, one wood and one chain-link. A red fox digs at a depression in a snow-filled yard. A red fox crouches in disturbed snow with a frozen squirrel carcass in its mouth.
January 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
My highlight for today was our literal breakfast fox, who found a frozen squirrel in the corner of one of our bioretention planters. (We most often see foxes at our breakfast time, so we’ve teasingly referred to having “breakfast foxes.”)
A red fox in a snow-covered yard is poised to hop up onto a corner of a low concrete wall. A light-colored red fox peers over a low concrete wall at a pile of leaves on top of snow. A bushy-tailed fox digs earnestly in a pile of leaves and snow in the corner of a low concrete wall. A red fox with one paw possessively on the frozen carcass of a squirrel looks directly at the photographer.
January 10, 2025 at 8:20 PM
bardicvoice.bsky.social
Tootsie observes the new year with suspicion from her lofty vantage point.
A black and white tuxedo cat with large yellow eyes looks down at the camera from the ledge of a high window.
January 1, 2025 at 1:33 PM