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: Culture (popular and otherwise)
Letter I want to send
Dear History Channel: After listening to your ad for “Custer’s Last Survivor,” in which you state: “New evidence is highlighted that there may have been a lone survivor of the iconic Battle of Little Big Horn whose account of ‘Custer’s … Continue reading
Music memories.
Today was Day 2 of the Hardly Bluegrass Music Festival in Golden Gate Park. I was there and it was wonderful. There were all sort of people: young hippies with long hair wearing tank tops and straw hats with rolled … Continue reading
A couple of my lists…
Most annoying major characters in fiction: Holden Caulfield, Catcher in the Rye Cathy & Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights Marianne Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility Romeo & Juliet, Romeo & Juliet Valentine Michael Smith, Stranger in a Strange Land Chance the Gardener, Being … Continue reading
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
The combination of my sons playing in the other room, and my occasional reviewing of the iconic 1996 version of Pride and Predjudice has given me an idea: Jane Austen D & D. “Roll 18, receive offer of marriage from … Continue reading
What does it say about me…
….That under “L” on the books on my phone, the two books are Lady Chatterly’s Lover and Little Women?* *I also have Black Beauty and Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. I have sort of catholic tastes.
Quote of the Day
” [J]ournalism largely consists of saying “Lord Jones Dead” to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive.” G. K. Chesterton, “The Purple Wig.” I am working my way through G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown stories, and every so often … Continue reading
There is a reason that the quote by Don Marquis is on my sidebar. Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” project, is a prime exhibit of ideas not being responsible for the people who believe in them. I … Continue reading
Even stormtroopers have mothers.
It’s been a hard year. Part of the pain thus far has been the death of two people in my circle of acquaintances, friends and relatives. They were not people I was really close to, and I know as I … Continue reading
Hysteria.
On Saturday I saw the movie “Hysteria,” which was ostensibly about the invention of the electric vibrator in Victorian England. It was a cute, slight, and rather obvious little movie, with the ending inevitable after the first ten minutes. But … Continue reading
Self-Help movies?
The Bible for mothers-to-be for over the past two decades (I used it for all three of my pregnancies), What to Expect When You’re Expecting, was recently made into a “heartwarming” and critically-panned romantic comedy. It’s not the first time that … Continue reading
Wii woes.
I am trying to change my habits. Really. Truly. Part of this change is actually engaging in physical activity. As my doctors and I get the dosages of the pain meds into something that vaguely provides an acceptable balance between … Continue reading
The Jedi way.
I have always thought that the process of creating Jedi laid out in the last three Star Wars movies (I always count them from release date) was far from ideal, bordering on child abuse. And now I think I can … Continue reading
The Wild Things mourn.
I often use Facebook to find things to write about. It has been an active week for my friends, and I have twenty-two open tabs with articles from everywhere – Cracked.com to the New York Times. I also have a … Continue reading
Playlist for today…
“Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On,” Jimmy Buffett*“Closer to Fine,” Indigo Girls“End of the Line,” The Traveling Wilburys“Corner Of The Sky,” John Rubinstein (from Pippin)**“Happiness,” Anthony Rapp, B.D. Wong, Ilana Levine, Kristin Chenoweth, Roger Bart and Stanley Wayne Mathis (from the revival of You’re … Continue reading
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