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
We interrupt the scheduled blogging for this announcement…
Ben Affleck got ROBBED. We now return you to the normal Wild Winds of Fortune schedule.
My new bucket list.
Since I am close to finishing my art museum list, and inspired by Ken Burns’ series on the National Parks, I am creating a new list. There are fifty-eight national parks (fifty-nine if you count Pinnacles which will be one … Continue reading
I really need to pay attention to things when I make stuff up when cooking: the totally kick-ass cranberry sauce I made with star anise, crystallized ginger, and chipotle powder has just been pronounced by the Resident Shrink to be … Continue reading
The Rocket Scientist in McMurdo, from yesterday: He’s the small speck of white (those are his pants) in front of the blue building. He wrote yesterday that it was warm (34 Fahrenheit!) and that he had seen an Emperor penguin. … Continue reading
Today, the Rocket Scientist has Antarctic “Survival School.” He’s excited. I’m not. Before scientists are allowed to go into the interior to do their research, they have to demonstrate that they can handle the conditions. They are tossed on the … Continue reading
Musically speaking, I tend to be well behind the curve. I was late to the party that was gangnam style — I still don’t get it — but I love this parody: NASA-Johnson Style.
The Rocket Scientist just texted a picture of him and other scientists in the plane that will take him from Christchurch, New Zealand to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. They have been prevented from going for days, and yesterday they got an … Continue reading
But I was good.
My sister and her family gave me a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas.* Today I went to redeem it. I was good: I did not buy very much. I bought Les Miserables, because I want to reread the … Continue reading
Mental illness & gun violence: we need to be careful, here.
It has been several weeks since the Connecticut shooting, and I taken the time to reflect. My thinking has evolved from my early knee-jerk reaction (how crazy was this guy?), which I think is a good thing. On the page … Continue reading
In defense of "adorkability."
In its list of word we will be glad to never see again, the Today Show included “adorkable.” They’re dead wrong about this. “Adorkable” is a great word: it neatly encapsulates a concept I have been trying to describe for … Continue reading
Les Miserables: A Review.
I have never been a fan of Les Miz on stage.* It’s bombastic, overblown, and repetitive. I originally had no desire to see the movie when it came out, even though I generally go see every movie musical that arrives … Continue reading
Goodbye 2012, and good riddance.
I sit here on the last day of 2012, looking at the past 366 days. Thank God that’s over. It’s been a bad year. None of my immediate family or closest circle of friends died, and no one ended up … Continue reading
T-shirt du jour
Worn by the Rocket Scientist this morning: “1% of the known universe contains over 99% of the known life! #OCCUPY EARTH #ASTROBIOLOGY
The best gift I’ve ever given.
The Red-Headed Menace listed “dihydrogen monoxide” on his wish list for Christmas. So I gave him a full liter of the stuff. He loved it.
Christmas Day.
I am sitting here on the couch in my mother-in-laws house. It’s been a couple of years since we have been here. We have not yet opened presents — we are waiting for my brother-in-law and my nieces to arrive. … Continue reading
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