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
Hi, I’m Pat. Will you hire me?
It’s downright depressing. I am 48, with a J.D. and a lot of life skills under my belt, with a recent work history with a former supervisor who is willing to praise me to the skies at a workplace where … Continue reading
Anyone who knows me for any length of time knows that I am irretrievably opposed to capital punishment. Nonetheless, some people just deserve to be taken out and shot: the doctor who published the study linking autism and the mumps, … Continue reading
So this week, in his first week in office, President Obama* signed an executive order stating that the detention center at Guantanamo Bay was to be closed in a year. There were immediate protests. A few, from the very far … Continue reading
I don’t know about you, but one of the things I am looking forward to with the new administration is the capacity to feel outrage over my government again. For years, the Bush administration committed atrocity after atrocity. There was … Continue reading
Here we come a caroling….
Last Saturday I attended a caroling party, and I discovered an unpleasant truth about myself. I am turning into a Puritan, at least where Christmas is concerned. The Puritans, you may recall, prohibited Christmas celebrations as being ungodly. I wouldn’t … Continue reading
Writing Exercise #1
[Note: This is the first of several attempts to make myself write whether I feel like it or not. It’s pretty rough going. Feel free to skip.] During the late campaign, Sarah Palin showed herself to be a thoroughly undistinguished … Continue reading
Decisions, Decisions…
To work on my beaded Christmas/wedding presents…Or do my necessary resume distribution for the day…Or blow off both of those and go see Milk at the Castro Theatre with friends. I need a Magic 8 Ball.
Reclaiming myself
I am going to engage in that most hackneyed cliche of bloggers: complaining how hard it is to find something to write about. I pride myself on being a good writer. Good communication skills are part of my self-identification. Yet … Continue reading
Picture!
In response to my last post, Barbara requested pictures of Elvis. Attempts to scan the ad were unsuccessful, due to my lack of ability with the equipment I had at hand, but I do have a picture snagged off the … Continue reading
Good News
I realize that, because this blog has been nearly comatose, nobody is reading much anymore, but just in case you are …. One of my beading pieces, officially named “Lilliputian Christmas Tree” but unofficially called “Elvis,” is featured in a … Continue reading
It has been way too long since I have posted here. But I had to break radio silence simply to point out out that I have been a Tampa Bay Rays fan since before they stepped on the ever verdant … Continue reading
Two MIllion, Six Hundred Thirty Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty Minutes
As Keith Olbermann would say, today marks the 1827 day since the declaration of “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq. 1827 days. 365 days x 5 + 2 leap days = five years. How do you measure the years? In inches of … Continue reading
Jeremiah Wright was Barack Obama’s pastor. Hillary Clinton — and others — have said that Obama should have left his church after Wright made his controversial statements. Okay. But a pastor is not the church. He may run the services … Continue reading
I have been thinking a lot lately about the Jeremiah Wright controversy. Aside from the double standard — what about all of the conservative politicians over the years who have embraced right-wing religious figures that condemned the United States for … Continue reading
Sibling Rivalry…
Now the Manning boys have matching rings. How sweet.
The Wild Winds of Fortune 