Author Archives: Pat Greene

When I started this blog, it was, for the most part, discussions of the events of the day filtered through my own particular life experiences.  I did not write very much about my family, and, although more, not all that … Continue reading →

I had talked about how I needed to find a way to make my trivia abilities a paying proposition. Last night, I did, sort of. The scene: an Applebee’s in San Jose. The set-up: a local trivia contest (i.e., not from … Continue reading →

Remember how I talked about my prowess at trivia? It deserted me last night, as Team Echidna came in four points behind the winners (the wonderfully named Empathetic Bullfighters).  Still, we were a team of two, they were a team … Continue reading →

The freezer died yesterday.  It is difficult to tell if it is totally gone, or just has frozen up and needs to be defrosted (it’s an old freezer).*  So last night I and the Resident Shrink went out and bought … Continue reading →

One of the Not-So-Little Drummer Boy’s jobs this summer is painting houses.  He came home a few minutes ago. Me:  You have paint on your ear.NSLDB: Cool.Me:  Wait, are you saying this is a fashion statement?NSLDB: Of course.Me: Is everything … Continue reading →

And this time I lost. It started with the Red-Headed Menace and I talking about, of all things, his birthday wish list which included Princeton Review Study Guides.  (For perspective, he’s only a sophomore. Obsessive, much?) Since he hadn’t said … Continue reading →

One of my favorite shows these days is History Channel’s How the States Got Their Shape.  It is full of odd factoids that my magpie mind latches onto, and has an engaging and warm host, Brian Unger.  And let’s face … Continue reading →

The quote of the week comes from the Red-Headed Menace: “Teenage boys are like zombies, except we don’t eat brains.  We simply eat everything else.”

It’s that time of year again. The Rocket Scientist left this morning for the Arctic Circle.  Because of an inter-agency dispute that went to high levels of government in Washington, there was a delay in shipping materiel up to camp, … Continue reading →

“That’s one small concession to deficit realities, one giant blow to the dreams of children who want to be astronauts when they grow up.” Great Quotes From the End of NASA’s Space Shuttle Era, by Jim Santel, in McSweeney’s Forty-two … Continue reading →

There is a big brouhaha in some leftist circles today as Internet activist Aaron Swartz was indicted by the U.S. government on a variety of charges. According to the email I got from Demand/Progress, “As best as we can tell, … Continue reading →

Often on Tuesday nights, the Resident Shrink and I (and the Rocket Scientist when he can join us), collectively known as Team Echidna, go to a bar called The Loft  in San Jose to play Brainstormer Trivia.  We’re pretty good:  … Continue reading →

If you’ve just seen HPDH2, you really need to look at this piece from the Tonys.  Daniel Radcliffe is a wonderful actor, and I am so glad that he is moving well beyond his Harry Potter persona. [Edited to add: … Continue reading →

I have been given an assignment by my therapist.  After I told her about my list of fifty things that were good in the world, she gave me homework:  list fifty things I have done to make the world a … Continue reading →

The kind of ancestors we have had is not as important as the kind of descendants our ancestors have. Source unknown. The Rocket Scientist has developed a passion for genealogy.  He has traced his family back as far as he … Continue reading →