Who I am…
I am a lawyer, former mother of teenagers, and a quixotic seeker after and champion of factual truth.
I make the best damn brownies you have ever had that are not regulated by the federal government.
I love movies, Broadway, and intelligent conversation.
I think in song lyrics and movie and television quotes.
I believe in the use of proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar even in text messages. I am willing to debate the use of the Oxford comma, if you know what the Oxford comma is. It also makes me very happy if people use the subjunctive mood when appropriate.
I have been told I intimidate people. I am really just a fluffy-centered teddy bear. Really.
- It's all my fault. No, really. The views expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone and in no way whatsoever represent the views of anyone else, including any past, present, or future employer.
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Words to live by ….
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8.
“Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living.” Mary Harris (“Mother Jones”).
“Don’t boo. Vote.” Barack Obama.
“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Reinhold Niebuhr.
“No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.” Sir Terry Pratchett.
“Damning facts are still facts.” Steven C. Holtzman.
“If you don’t stick to your values when they’re tested, they’re not values — they’re hobbies.” Jon Stewart.
“Darkness never sustains, even though it sometimes seems it will.” Doctor Who.
“Writing is a form of mischief.” Stephen Sondheim.
“An idea is not responsible for the people who believe it.” Don Marquis.
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.” Joseph Campbell.
“Truth is our strongest ally, our biggest weapon, and our best defense.” Me.
“Reality has a well-known liberal bias.” Stephen Colbert.
“The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation.” Jonathan Larson.
“We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
We rise and fall, and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love;
Cannot be killed or swept aside.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda.“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Emma Goldman.
“No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett.
“I believe that the God who made (among other things) light, and space, and number, and time, and the spiral curve of Fibonacci numbers, must be acknowledged to understand more than I do about why there’s pain in the world.” Teresa Neilsen Hayden.
“No, it’s not fair. You’re in the wrong universe for fair.” John Scalzi.
“Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, ‘Liberal,’ as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won’t work, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor.” Lawrence O’Donnell
“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.” Molly Ivins.
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Author Archives: Pat Greene
Today at work was not bad. Well, not for me, at any rate. Yes, a situation which had cropped up a day or so ago went completely pear-shaped. That was okay with me because a) the screwup was not my … Continue reading
Note to kid
Dear Echidna Boy: You learned a valuable lesson tonight, to wit: it is extremely inadvisable to take a picture of a young woman playing Twister when she has her butt up in the air. She is likely to react badly. … Continue reading
My secret weapon…
Echidna Boy is a night owl. Getting him to go to bed before 1 a.m. is very difficult, especially that we don’t currently have the threat of school looming. (He comes by it naturally: my first week of work I … Continue reading
Just a normal family viewing television…
We were watching the Dr. Who episode about Vincent Van Gogh. After grousing about the fictional museum curator anointing Vincent “the greatest artist that ever lived,”* I seriously geeked out over the cinematography of the scene where the Doctor wakes … Continue reading
Well, that’s a relief, sort of.
South Florida catches a break. From the St. Petersburg Times: The powerful Gulf of Mexico loop current, which seemed primed three months ago to thrust oil to the Florida Keys and beyond, suddenly changed course and helped protect much of … Continue reading
Okay, I’m sorry… One more post
True story: I was on Jeopardy! I was one of the probably well over a hundred people who were cannon fodder for Ken Jennings’ runup to $2 million. (Ken, by the way, is a lovely human being, and very funny … Continue reading
Just one more…
Okay, so by this time you are perfectly fed up with me posting. (Seven posts in one day? Geez, girl, get a life!) And you’re probably fed up with xkcd as well — although that would be a shame because … Continue reading
I have taken it very easy today. Pain levels are the lowest they’ve been in a very long time. I have done nothing but hang out, blog (a lot!) about inconsequential things, and nap. Even the discovery that Google Reader … Continue reading
I have added a new quote to my “Words to Live By” sidebar: “ Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Reinhold Niebuhr (Niebuhr is best remembered by most non-theologians as the … Continue reading
Another classic xkcd cartoon….
Another I love (too big to be embedded here) is about tvtropes.org Still another is about dreams (warning: warning, strong language). Randall Munroe is a genius.
Okay, so this is sort of cheating…*
I would just like to note that, as of this post, I will have posted just as many times in 2010 as I did in 2009 and 2008 combined. I think this is a very good thing, and hopefully will … Continue reading
What all that Census data is good for
I just love xkcd.com (larger version at link)
One thing that has come about from working is that I am once again reminded of how it is possible for people to have completely divergent political views and still get along. Tonight, I discovered that one of my favorite … Continue reading
Conversations …
Middle Son, putting away groceries: “There’s no room!” Me: “Fridge Tetris. Learn it.” MS: “I don’t want to learn it. It’s a boring game with no bonuses.”
Unseen Strength
My husband will turn fifty next week. To celebrate, last weekend he went skydiving. I have no plans to ever follow suit. On my fiftieth, I’m getting a tattoo. A butterfly, between my shoulder blades. Something I will always know … Continue reading
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