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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Category Archives: Art
Art isn’t easy. Especially when it was stolen.
It seems that story of the art found last year in the Munich flat is not going to be straightforward. This art trove, consisting of painting designated “degenerate” by the Nazis, contained pieces by giants of twentieth century art such … Continue reading
Guy Fawkes Day Randomness
It’s day celebrating the patron saint of Anonymous. It’s two days after the great fall, and I have spent most of the day in bed on opiates. Part of this is that I have been sleeping a lot, but more … Continue reading
Artists in residence.
I have left the Borg… for another Borg. The Droid 2 is now a paperweight. I have left the Android universe, and am back in the Apple fold. The iPhone4 is now up and running. In keeping with the naming … Continue reading
For those who like art…
http://www.humo.be/filmpjes/235279/flashmob-brengt-de-nachtwacht-tot-leven This is freaking brilliant.
Closing in.
Many people have “bucket lists” with numerous items on them. Go skydiving, visit every state in the Union, run with the bulls at Pamplona, that sort of thing. I have one item on my list. One, that’s it. I want … Continue reading
Notes from an exhibition: the limits of Aestheticism.
Today I undertook the field trip I meant to have on my birthday but missed due to illness. I went to the Palace of the Legion on Honor in San Francisco to see The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Garde … Continue reading
Understanding Vincent.
My friend Cathy is in town. On Sunday, we went to Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz. Fortuitously, we arrived shortly before sunset, and were able to watch the sun sink into the west over the horizon. It was … Continue reading
How to tell you’re an art snob
One way is when you look at your son’s Art of the Western World book, which he is reading for AP Modern European History, and try to determine how many of the paintings and sculptures you have seen in person. … Continue reading
Just a normal family viewing television…
We were watching the Dr. Who episode about Vincent Van Gogh. After grousing about the fictional museum curator anointing Vincent “the greatest artist that ever lived,”* I seriously geeked out over the cinematography of the scene where the Doctor wakes … Continue reading
Art Wars
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away… Oops. Wrong opening. Once upon a time, er, in Palo Alto, California, there was an arts non-profit organization. It was, although flawed, a good and exciting place. It had potential. … Continue reading
Notes from art class
I am taking a drawing class. Oh boy. I earned this class by virtue of volunteering at a local arts organization for 100 hours — answering the phones and staffing the reception desk, mainly. “No, sir, the pastel portrait class … Continue reading
Authenticity
You have seen pictures of this painting, or maybe the real thing, the formal name of which is The Company of Captain Frans Cocq. It was a group portrait by Rembrandt of one of the militia companies responsible for Amsterdam’s … Continue reading
Who are we?
Thinking back about the last post, about how a society/culture/tribe identifies with its art, I began to consider what this meant for America. Most of our cultural landmarks have not been in the visual arts, for one thing. When I … Continue reading
Stupid people tricks, art division
In 1687, the Venetians besieged Athens, which was controlled by the Ottoman Turks. They shelled the city, including the Parthenon, which took a direct hit, blowing out the center of the building in the process. Odd that a single shell … Continue reading
A picture is worth thousand words: a morality tale.
If you wander down one of the corridors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British art, you will come across a full length portrait of one George Harley Drummond, by Sir Henry Raeburn. George Harley … Continue reading
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