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.
- Follow The Wild Winds of Fortune on WordPress.com
Wild Winds of Fortune Feed
Search this blog
Archives
January 2026 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 
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.
- Art Beadwork Blogging Books Culture (popular and otherwise) Family Feminism Food God faith and theology Health History Justice KIds Kids in all their glory Miscellany Music My life and times nothing special Personal Relationships Politics Science SCOTUS Social Issues Sports The Internet and its perils The World Travel (real or imaginary) Who I am Work! Writing
Tags
- abortion
- Antarctica
- anti-vaxxers
- architecture
- Art
- baseball
- blogging
- Books
- Broadway!
- Capital punishment
- chinchilla races
- computer
- elections
- Everybody talks about the weather
- Feminism
- first
- first-world problems
- Florida
- football
- Gamergate
- Geeks! Geeks! Geeks!
- Get your red hot links here!
- GMOs
- God faith and theology
- Gratitude
- guns
- hehehe
- hehehehe
- History
- LGBT rights and issues
- life
- life sucks sometimes
- Look what I made!
- mental health
- Mindfulness
- Mom
- Moooom!!!!!
- movies
- Music
- My friends are the coolest people
- NASA
- neil-gaiman
- news
- notes to self
- People worth listening to
- poetry
- Politics
- privacy
- Profundities
- Railfan
- really cool things
- recipes
- Reprehensible people
- Space
- technology
- television
- The Interminable Job Search
- The Not-So-Little Drummer Boy
- The NSLDB
- The Red-Headed Menace strikes again
- The Rocket Scientist. the field season
- the search for truth
- The Voice
- The wonderful Penwiper
- things I believe
- torture
- Tragedy
- Trivia
- Unions
- Voting
- What did I do now?
- What I like
- writing
- you have *got* to be freaking kidding me
-
Join 303 other subscribers
Contact info:
Email me at wwf@lithic.net
Category Archives: Culture (popular and otherwise)
While watching "Return of the King"…
…why do dwarves speak with a heavy Scottish accent? I keep thinking they should sound German.
Tuna Jerky: Yuck. Tuna Jerky Souffle: Yum.
Elizabeth Falkner is a very nice woman who makes really kick-ass souffles. I have just returned from spending the evening at Orson, her restaurant (which right now is only being used as an event space), where she was hosting a … Continue reading
My current fave show
I have come to love Food Network’s The Next Iron Chef. The first season it struck me as gimmicky, and I was severely disappointed that my favorite chef, John Besch, didn’t win. (In fact, the second season my favorite chef, … Continue reading
Orcs and Ents and Elves, oh my!
The Red-Headed Menace, Railfan and I were watching The Two Towers earlier, which led to some comments: “Do you guys have a LARP* today?” “No, we’re fulfilling our LARP duties by watching this movie.” “The Orcs had a legitimate grievance. … Continue reading
That kid is *strange*, er, creative.
The Red-Headed Menace’s idea for a movie he wants to see made: A live-action Pokemon movie…. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as the old man in Veridian City…. Directed by… [deep breath…] Quentin Tarentino.
OWS, the playlist.
I’ve been thinking. The Occupy Wall Street (and everywhere else, it seems) movement needs a playlist. So, going from only the things on my iTunes: “Fanfare for the Common Man,” Aaron Copeland“Fight the Power,” Public Enemy“We Shall Be Free,” Garth … Continue reading
Thank you, Mr. Jobs.
It is the day for Steve Jobs stories, and I have mine. Years ago, 2002 or 2003 I think it was, I was organizing the VIP Readers Day for the school my kids went to. I had done it for … Continue reading
Fifteen second review: "Contagion"
Go. See. This. Movie. It’s a horror flick with next to no blood. I haven’t been this filled with adrenaline after a film since Cloverfield. It will also make you very careful about washing your hands, much the way Jaws … Continue reading
Laughing hard, I am.
wcg at Live Journal pointed me to the wonder that is #wookieleaks. My favorites, other than the ones listed in the article? “Plans to drain Degoba swamps to build planet sized WalMart meets resistance from green party. ” (@jjd241) and … Continue reading
Perspective
Tonight, Echidna Boy and I were playing (what else?) MarioKart. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll choose the exact same Kart as you, so we’ll be identical.” “Oh, so you can say ‘we were exactly alike and I still pwned you?’,” … Continue reading
My secret weapon…
Echidna Boy is a night owl. Getting him to go to bed before 1 a.m. is very difficult, especially that we don’t currently have the threat of school looming. (He comes by it naturally: my first week of work I … 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
Okay, I’m sorry… One more post
True story: I was on Jeopardy! I was one of the probably well over a hundred people who were cannon fodder for Ken Jennings’ runup to $2 million. (Ken, by the way, is a lovely human being, and very funny … Continue reading
Just one more…
Okay, so by this time you are perfectly fed up with me posting. (Seven posts in one day? Geez, girl, get a life!) And you’re probably fed up with xkcd as well — although that would be a shame because … Continue reading
Nobody’s going to die….
I was planning this morning to blog about the BP oil spill, and my reaction to it. But you know what? It is a lovely day here in Northern California (albeit with a promise of serious heat later) and blogging … Continue reading
The Wild Winds of Fortune 