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
Stupid people tricks, art division
In 1687, the Venetians besieged Athens, which was controlled by the Ottoman Turks. They shelled the city, including the Parthenon, which took a direct hit, blowing out the center of the building in the process. Odd that a single shell … Continue reading
Barry and Babe…. and Hank.
So, it looks like Barry Bonds will pass Babe Ruth on the all time home run list. To which I say… Big fat hairy deal. One would think, from the way everyone is going on about this, that Ruth still … Continue reading
Last Christmas, I got one of my favorite gifts ever: the complete Broadway soundtrack to Rent. I have listened to the soundtrack an estimated 475 times. At one point, the CDs disappeared — I think my family hid them. No … Continue reading
A picture is worth thousand words: a morality tale.
If you wander down one of the corridors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British art, you will come across a full length portrait of one George Harley Drummond, by Sir Henry Raeburn. George Harley … Continue reading
The Prado Moment.
I still say it was the fault of that damn painting. I had flown to Madrid from the West Coast — six hours across country, with the obligatory four hour layover at JFK, then seven hours over the Atlantic — … Continue reading
Time out from our current discussion on art — Terry Karney has written perhaps not a manifesto but a mission statement on being a liberal. Go Terry!
The girl I love.
She’s not a Hollywood Beauty. She would be classified as being on the large side — she’s normal by most standards, but not for show business. Her face shows a gentle intelligence, but would never launch a thousand ships. Her … Continue reading
On Seeing Art.
You may well wonder at the vehemence in my last post; I did a bit myself. It boils down to this: Art matters to me. Art matters not in an abstract, “Gee, isn’t that pretty” way, but in a visceral, … Continue reading
Ars Gratia Artis
While rummaging around the blogosphere — or at least the small corner of it I forage in — I ran across a link (via Julia over at Sisyphus Shrugged) to Libertas, a conservative art blog. At the beginning of a … Continue reading
Just call me "Iron Chef Comfort Food"
One of my current popcorn shows is “Be The Next Food Network Star.” Like all reality shows, it has the attraction of watching people drive themselves crazy doing things I would never do, in this case for something (my own … Continue reading
Out here with the yellow lines and the dead armadillos.
The fabulous Jim Hightower once said “There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow lines and dead armadillos.” Certainly, in regards to the abortion debate, it seems that the two sides face each other across barricades, lobbing grenades … Continue reading
Looking at the Mountain
Early fall, I had been looking forward to Brokeback Mountain coming out. Not as much as some other releases — Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, and Rent— but I thought it looked quite promising. Ang Lee is a good … Continue reading
The world is a dangerous place. “Ethnic cleansing” by government backed militias in Darfur; eight people killed in a shoot out between police and drug gangs in Rio; protests over the youth unemployment law in France turn violent. Iraq. … Continue reading
Justitia fiat coelum (“Let justice be done though the Heavens may fall.”) — Edwin Horton’s grandfather’s motto In 1933, Judge James Edwin Horton, Jr. supervised the second trial, conviction, and sentencing to death of Heywood Patterson, one of the Scottsboro … Continue reading
Spring Fashions have just arrived!
The Wild Winds of Fortune has a new look. Those of you familiar with my Live Journal will know that I change my layout every few months — or every few weeks, even sometimes every few days, in times … Continue reading
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