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
No, you’re not a martyr to your faith.
People scream about the First Amendment a lot. Usually they claim that their right to free speech is being violated, just because they are boycotted or face demands that they be fired or criticized for making offensive statements on the … Continue reading
Whiny, navel-gazing post of the month.
I have been re-reading a bunch of my posts. I think I have a “voice,” but I also think the voice tends to be over-serious, humorless, and somewhat presumptuous. I know there are political blogs out there, and personal blogs … Continue reading
“Being Poor,” ten years on.
Ten years ago today, in the aftermath of Katrina, John Scalzi wrote one of the most deeply profound pieces on poverty in America I have ever read. I made my kids read it when they got old enough I thought … Continue reading
Hope.
Ted Cruz and Chris Christie mocked Jimmy Carter the day after the former president announced he had cancer which had spread to his brain. This on top of Cruz making fun of Joe Biden earlier this year, three days after … Continue reading
Goodbye, Tree.
Mimosas are not only drinks. Mimosas are trees with delicate fern-like leaves and fluffy pink flowers. My elementary school had a huge mimosa in front, with a low trunk that encouraged climbing, at least after hours when there was no … Continue reading
My cat needs a playlist.
We live close by our vet, and it doesn’t take long to drive there, so I had never really noticed this phenomenon until now. I was taking the lovely Penwiper (Connie Willis fans may recognize the name) to the vet … Continue reading
F*** you, too, Brownie.
[Warning: as can be guessed by the title, this post contains strong language.] Ten years ago, I was telling my friends that people in the Gulf Coast were using “the C-word”: Camille. Growing up in Florida, the refrain you always … Continue reading
To my foremothers
The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, adopted August … Continue reading
This birthright citizenship, who needs it anyway?
A recurring motif of the race for the Republican presidential nomination has been that immigration needs to be curbed, and that birthright citizenship — citizenship obtained by birth on American soil — should be ended. (Carly Fiorna, to her credit, … Continue reading
Look what I made!
I am what I like to call a “process knitter.” My inability to keep track of intricate patterns means that I end up knitting things that are straight and pretty boring. In addition, I have not knitted anything since The … Continue reading
We’ll miss you, “Comrade.”
As writers from Chaucer to Shakespeare to George Orwell and beyond can attest, words change meaning with sad regularity. Usually they change gradually over the years, but sometimes the new meaning explodes out of nowhere. And sometimes those changes come … Continue reading
Oh, well.
I saw John Scalzi in conversation with Tad Williams tonight. Scalzi was funny, and charming, and gave one of the better explanations of the Puppies phenomenon I’ve heard or read (namely, jealously, but it’s a lot more than that) and … Continue reading
Over fifty years after the fact, Pinellas County rejects Brown v. Board of Education.
Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments….it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his … Continue reading
You know you’re getting old when 1) your coworkers have to explain what a “Jager bomb”* is and 2) when you get home your children lecture you about how dangerous it is mix alcohol and stimulants. *Red Bull and Jagermeister. … Continue reading
WWMD.
But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might … Continue reading
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