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
Chinchillas.
In 1991, The Rocket Scientist and I were tooling around Australian backroads, hurrying to make up lost time between Sydney and Parkes, where the Australian radio telescopes were. In the middle of one stretch running through towering eucalyptus trees was … Continue reading
I’m a good mother.
[I wrote this yesterday, but had no Internet.] I am sitting in Woodward Park in Fresno, California. At this point, I have been here a little under an hour and a half. I got up at 3:45, and left the … Continue reading
New Pages.
If you look at my masthead, you should notice I have added three new pages: Beadwork and Recipes, Pat’s Favorite Posts, and Pat’s Gratitude Posts. That second one has far too many links — I need to winnow it a … Continue reading
Snail Necklace Set.
Silver, hematite and freshwater pearl necklace, bracelet, and earrings.
Clarence? Are you there?
While reviewing all my posts to compile my “Pat’s Gratitude Posts,” I realized that I had never finished the assignment given me by my therapist to find fifty reasons the world was a better place because I was in it. … Continue reading
Yes. This.
Yes. This. Jim Wright at Stonekettle Station nails it: “No matter that you be liberal or conservative, that you be a Democrat or a Republican, you do notwant what follows if the President allows deadlock to become a precedent. The President … Continue reading
On my youngest son’s Facebook: On today’s SAT: my blood. Guess who had a nosebleed during the fifth section? Guess who had to say to their proctor “NO I’M FINISHING THIS SECTION, YES I CAN CONTINUE” with three minutes left … Continue reading
Odds and Ends.
I am one of the walking dead this morning: I got in from the ALDS game last night at roughly 12:30, after some hysteria on my part surrounding the printing of a SAT admission ticket (on my part — the … Continue reading
The ACA explained in under seven minutes
[from the Henry Kaiser Family Foundation]
Dreams?
I just remembered this xkcd comic. I need to work on keeping the message in mind. [Warning: bad language.]
The days are getting shorter. The darkness is closing in like a soft blanket. Halloween will be here before too long, and then Thanksgiving, and then, just before Christmas, the turn of the year. All to the good.
I am working my way through the works H.P. Lovecraft. (As I said in a comment to the previous post, I don’t deny my soul might need saving. : ) ) This led to me discovering this afternoon that when … Continue reading
[Note: I should put a disclaimer here: any opinions on this blog about the Affordable Care Act and/or Covered California are solely my own and do not reflect the opinions of my employers.] The job is starting to get to … Continue reading
Today’s Public Health PSA
An article at the Body Politic blog (found via Mike the Mad Biologist) reminds me to remind all of you: get your Tdap. Tdap is the Tetanus, Diptheria and Pertussis booster. We are currently in the middle of pertussis outbreaks … Continue reading
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