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
Did you know that "earworm" is the literal translation of the German "ohrwurm"? Now you do!
At any given time, I don’t really get an earworm. I get earworms, plural. All too often, one tune will chase another around my head like squirrels around a tree. Sometimes, it starts with something I hear, which for melodic, … Continue reading
Note to self.
Two mugs of coffee plus a Venti Salted Carmel Mocha would be enough to give anyone the shakes, let alone someone who has some tremors to begin with. What you gain in pure speed in typing (and clarity of thought) … Continue reading
That’s my boy.
At school, The Red-Headed Menace was asked to describe his personality. He termed himself as being, among other things, “quixotic.” Just like his mom.**On the whole, he did a good job of describing himself, which if nothing else shows self-awareness.
Closets — and attics — can be lonely places.
In his talk at Stanford, Judge Alex Kozinski decried the extent to which so many of us live our lives in public these days. We have lost a sense of what it means to be private, he mourned. As examples, … Continue reading
Covering myself.
I am sitting in my favorite Starbucks, with Joni Mitchell playing in the background, trying to say good things about myself. It’s very hard. I have finally gotten the hang of tweaking my resume for individual openings. It’s this cover … Continue reading
New word to hate.
At the privacy symposium I went to, I heard a word I had never heard before. It goes on my list of words I absolutely detest for aesthetic reasons, along with polyamory and gifted (as a verb). That word is … Continue reading
What you can find at .gov, if you look hard enough
Proof that the people at the Copyright Office have a sense of humor: How do I protect my sighting of Elvis? Copyright law does not protect sightings. However, copyright law will protect your photo (or other depiction) of your sighting … Continue reading
Quotes of the day, and an analogy
From Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: “In this Twitter world, having law enforcement monitoring you just increases your fan base.” “People these days often shout so loudly on their phones that using the phone … Continue reading
The reason for that last post
I am attending a symposium on privacy, as I said a couple of posts ago. In one of the sessions, a panelist (I can’t remember his name without looking it up, except that it was not Eugene Volokh) was discussing … Continue reading
I think I like this guy.
Mandy Patinkin says his favorite drug is Viagra. [Predictably, and perhaps sadly, the comments have been overrun by Princess Bride references. Okay, so he was Inigo Montoya. Give it a rest, already.]
Rightful places.
[Written last night by hand. And yes, I do put footnotes in my handwritten drafts. I live for footnotes — or haven’t you noticed? I’m weird that way.] Sad to say, there are not a lot of things which will … Continue reading
Yes, I changed the design. Hope you like it. In case you didn’t notice, the background is the picture I posted in “Understanding Vincent.”
Shopping local
There is a new grocery store in my area. It is a Fresh & Easy, part of a chain that, if memory serves, began in Britain. I love this place. It is small, about only 2/3 the size of the … Continue reading
The Politics of Soundbites.
I hate “gotcha” politics. I long for a mythical era when people of good intent coulddiscuss their differences rationally, and not look for every sound bite thatcan be taken out of context and used to bludgeon their opponent.* I want … Continue reading
DInnertime Conversation.
Discussion at dinnertime: Periods of classical music. Tchaikovsky. The 1812 Overture. The War of 1812 — both Napoleonic and American theatres. Napoleon’s attempt to capture Moscow. Hitler’s attempt to capture Moscow. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, and how Hitler was stupid … Continue reading
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