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
At least there’s some hope.
TCM showed All the President’s Men tonight. I have always loved the climactic scene, where Ben Bradlee says “There’s nothing riding on this except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the fate of the … Continue reading
My own festival.
If I win the lottery, in additional to staying in fine hotels and visiting national parks (sometimes at the same time), I want to rent a theater for a week. I want to have a film festival. Beyond just the … Continue reading
After my last post, and after some online discussion, it became crystal clear to me: I hate Bernie Sanders. I try not to hate political figures: it tends to be counterproductive. (Viewing them with disdain and disgust, however, is a … Continue reading
We’ve been Berned before.
So Sanders is running again. How… special. Look, I don’t care if he runs. I don’t particularly even care if he decides to call himself a Democrat. What I do care about is that unless the Democratic National Committee shows … Continue reading
Another week, another shooting. My heart breaks for Aurora, Illinois. But before anyone mentions the failures of the mental health system, consider that, according to the Washington Post, the shooter had worked for the company for twenty years, and had … Continue reading
Well, there goes that resolution.
It’s that time of the year: when New Year’s resolutions to eat more healthily and maybe lose some weight run smack into Girl Scout cookie season. I had to go to two different Safeways today; I ended up with two … Continue reading
The Washington Post wins.
The Super Bowl was, not to put to fine a point on it, a snoozefest. That teams who were there by virtue of bad calls back down the line only exacerbated my annoyance when they then produced one of the … Continue reading
Another date to remember.
As a friend of mine on Facebook put it, sixteen years ago today Columbia came home. I had forgotten what day it was today. When he reminded me I felt the tears spring to my eyes. I remember. I remember … Continue reading
It’s time for the firing squad. Everyone form a circle.
President candidates are now declaring themselves. Democratic, Republican, and Independent, it appears it might be an interesting race. Donald Trump is running for re-election. The RNC is behind him, of course. There is, however evidence that he is likely to … Continue reading
Linus. And Jimmy Stewart.
I loved all the presents I got this year, but as each year some are more special than others. I have written of the mug The NSLDB got me. My sister-in-law, the fire chief and world’s coolest aunt, gave me … Continue reading
Today’s scary book.
I have just finished re-reading John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza. This may just be the scariest book I’ve ever read, including Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone and Randy Shilts’s The Band Played On. (I did not find the Shilts book … Continue reading
Mary Queen of Scots.
[Spoilers for Mary Queen of Scots.] I saw Mary Queen of Scots last night. I thought they did a pretty good job on the history, although I would quibble with the death scene. They did not age Mary at all, … Continue reading
Today’s amusing fact: the word “scofflaw” came out of a contest the Boston Globe held for people to come up with a name for people who continued to drink even during Prohibition. From Prohibition. Thank you, Ken Burns. It really … Continue reading
Contagion: more than a movie.
One hundred years ago, the Great Influenza of 1918-1919 killed between 50 and 100 million people, more people than any other previous pandemic in history. (The Black Death killed fewer people but a greater portion of the population.)* In Asia, … Continue reading
The job is over, which means that I have no excuse not to pay attention to current events. So, I read the Washington Post and the New York Times. This sucks. While I was working in a place that discouraged … Continue reading
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