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.
- Follow The Wild Winds of Fortune on WordPress.com
Wild Winds of Fortune Feed
Search this blog
Archives
March 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 
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.
- Art Beadwork Blogging Books Culture (popular and otherwise) Family Feminism Food God faith and theology Health History Justice KIds Kids in all their glory Miscellany Music My life and times nothing special Personal Relationships Politics Science SCOTUS Social Issues Sports The Internet and its perils The World Travel (real or imaginary) Who I am Work! Writing
Tags
- abortion
- Antarctica
- anti-vaxxers
- architecture
- Art
- baseball
- blogging
- Books
- Broadway!
- Capital punishment
- chinchilla races
- computer
- elections
- Everybody talks about the weather
- Feminism
- first
- first-world problems
- Florida
- football
- Gamergate
- Geeks! Geeks! Geeks!
- Get your red hot links here!
- GMOs
- God faith and theology
- Gratitude
- guns
- hehehe
- hehehehe
- History
- LGBT rights and issues
- life
- life sucks sometimes
- Look what I made!
- mental health
- Mindfulness
- Mom
- Moooom!!!!!
- movies
- Music
- My friends are the coolest people
- NASA
- neil-gaiman
- news
- notes to self
- People worth listening to
- poetry
- Politics
- privacy
- Profundities
- Railfan
- really cool things
- recipes
- Reprehensible people
- Space
- technology
- television
- The Interminable Job Search
- The Not-So-Little Drummer Boy
- The NSLDB
- The Red-Headed Menace strikes again
- The Rocket Scientist. the field season
- the search for truth
- The Voice
- The wonderful Penwiper
- things I believe
- torture
- Tragedy
- Trivia
- Unions
- Voting
- What did I do now?
- What I like
- writing
- you have *got* to be freaking kidding me
-
Join 303 other subscribers
Contact info:
Email me at wwf@lithic.net
Author Archives: Pat Greene
Oh, and another thing….
When someone asks a favor from a Clinton aide or someone in Hillary Clinton’s State Department, and that favor is never granted, that is not evidence of corruption on Clinton’s part. If anything, it’s the opposite.
Sheesh.
Dear Mainstream Media (and today I am looking at you, Steve Karnacki): For Pete’s sake, whenever Donald Trump or his surrogates talk about how Obama has let immigration enforcement go to hell in a hand-basket, CALL THEIR BLUFF!!!!! Do not … Continue reading
It could be worse. If you Google “Labor Day hurricane Florida,” the top hit will not be Hurricane Hermine. Instead it will be the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, the strongest and most intense storm ever to make landfall in … Continue reading
Courage.
I have not been a fan of Colin Kaepernick. It’s not really anything to do with him; I’m not a 49er fan generally. (No, I’m not a Raider fan, either.) I would probably be happier if I followed the Niners rather … Continue reading
Now for something completely different….
I needed a short break from reading political news and stressing about the state of our Republic, so I am re-reading various Terry Pratchett books. It was either Pratchett or Pride and Prejudice, and I don’t even have the emotional … Continue reading
Follow up.
Yes, there are racists in Mississippi. There are also racists in Maine (Governor Paul LePage for one) and Oklahoma and California and all across America. This crap is everywhere, unfortunately. Donald Trump’s followers are not just in the Deep South.
Dear Rachel….
Dear Rachel Maddow: I love you, I really do. I have been watching your show for years. But last night you crossed a line. That so many other people cross that line all the time with impunity is no excuse. … Continue reading
Summertime Blues.
By all objective standards, it’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Not by mine. The sky is hazy, perhaps with smoke blowing up from the Soberanes fire near Big Sur. But the temperature is moderate — 72 degrees with clear skies. It’s … Continue reading
No, you really can’t do that.
[I am not authorized to speak for my employer; everything in this post comes from personal experience. I am solely responsible for the content herein.] I’ve watched a lot of political coverage this year. A LOT. Lately, Donald Trump has … Continue reading
I just heard a cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Songs” by Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer. Wow. Yes, I know, there are major cultural appropriation issues. Bob Marley lived in a particular social and political context, and his music is a … Continue reading
Letters.
My dear RBG, I love you. You know that. You have been a beacon of hope for so many of us, a gifted champion for the downtrodden. I hope you live forever. But Donald Trump is right. You acted completely … Continue reading
I-N-T-E-N-T
It is not difficult. Really, it’s not. The difference between Hillary Clinton and David Petraeus, or Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Manning, or Hillary Clinton and Edward Snowden, is… She did not knowingly and deliberately give classified information to people who … Continue reading
Who knew? Hillary’s a Republican!
There’s this politician… Has a 100% rating by the National Abortion Rights Action League. Has an F from the NRA. Is endorsed by the Sierra Club, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, The Natural Resources Defense Council, Planned Parenthood, … Continue reading
I have a new laptop — a Macbook Pro 13 in. (Trying to run El Capitan or Yosemite on my 2011 Macbook Pro was proving excruciatingly hard.) I was considering what to call it following my usual naming conventions (artists). Thus … Continue reading
One more thing…
I cannot write about the Pulse shootings. It’s Florida, and I was in Orlando too recently. (The Rocket Scientist and I walked around the lake where one of the vigils took place.) Take it as given that I grieve what … Continue reading
The Wild Winds of Fortune 