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
I stand corrected.
As the Red-Headed Menace and I drove along this afternoon, I began musing on language. “I was looking at the xkcd cartoon about The Martian. The rollover text said ‘I have never seen a piece of fiction so perfectly capture the … Continue reading
QOTD
From the trailer of The Martian: “It would take over four years for another manned mission to reach me, and I’m in a hab designed to last thirty-one days. So, in the face of overwhelming odds, I’m going to have … Continue reading
Letters…
Dear owners of American Pharoah, I am so happy for you. Delighted. Amazed. And you are right, the sport needs heroes, and your horse has claimed a title that seemed like it would be forevermore out of reach. Fantastic. However… … Continue reading
Hollywood has got to stop sending these messages.
Spoiler Alert: This concerns the movie The Age of Adeline. I will be going into specifics, so if you are planning to see the movie, you may not want to read this. Last Friday, I saw The Age of Adeline. … Continue reading
The Voice wraps up tonight..
Note: This post is about The Voice. If you really don’t care about the show. Don’t bother reading. It’s been a good season on The Voice. There are two artists who I would be happy to win, which is unusual. … Continue reading
You get what you pay for.
A friend of mine makes exquisite jewelry. I make jewelry myself, and part of me looks at her earrings (not her pendants so much) and says, I could do that. I could do that for less than she charges. Except … Continue reading
A good deed done, as far as I am concerned.
The paper cup did it. I saw the preacher as I crossed the street on the square in front of the train station in Old Sacramento. I could hardly have missed him: a crowd ringed the square as he yelled … Continue reading
Fifty things…
It’s been a while since I did one of these things. I am thankful for: 1. Starbucks Venti Decaf No Whip Mocha made with Coconut Milk and Sugar-Free Hazelnut Syrup. 2. That I have a couple of weeks free. 3. … Continue reading
On Immunty.
Most of you know where I stand on the vaccination debate. I refuse to discuss vaccinations with people who put their fingers in their ears and who ignore rationality and science. I have no patience with them. Then I read … Continue reading
A quick lesson on representative democracy.
San Jose, California, had a primary in a special election to fill an empty City Council seat. On a day-to-day basis, city councils have a greater impact on people than who is in the White House. City councils determine police and … Continue reading
This is not unreasonable, right?
I went to Barnes and Noble this morning, intent on replacing books I had lost in the New Year’s Eve flood. Note that these were books I had read and reread, worn paperbacks that I had loved fiercely, with the … Continue reading
The Mists of Avalon reconsidered.
A few months ago, a friend was over for dinner, and among other things we discussed revelations about the abuse Moira Greyland suffered at the hands of her mother, Marion Zimmer Bradley. “I tried to read The Mists of Avalon, because … Continue reading
Odds and Ends, Movie Edition.
We are now in the winter early spring of our cinematic discontent… On the one hand, February and March are deserts of bad movies… On the other hand, I have a couple of weeks after the Oscars to catch Birdman. I … Continue reading
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Unfortunately.
The sky is blue. The air has a lovely crispness, hanging around what feels to be the low sixties. The hills have turned that beautiful emerald green that first seduced me when I visited Stanford, and the buds on the … Continue reading
We failed him.
The first execution of 2015 happened on January 12. Georgia put to death a Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. He had no prior criminal record, and danced around the street yelling “Shoot me!” before pulling out a rifle and killing a … Continue reading
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