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)
Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is burning. To quote the CNN commentator, “It was a reminder that there is still beauty in the world…. We all need beautiful things right now…. It is a reminder that there is something bigger in the world … Continue reading
Now for something completely trivial…
I am trying to keep from obsessing over serious things. I have a couple of actually substantive posts in progress, but in the meantime I am going to revisit my list of media crushes. So herewith, media figures I have … Continue reading
“What do you want, a bloody photograph?”
While Railfan* and I were discussing the Inquisition, I remembered my favorite document of that era, the transcript of Poalo Veronese’s trial for heresy for a painting of the Last Supper. It strongly resembles a Monty Python sketch.** The very … Continue reading
Rosebud was the sled.
I will write about the mosque shootings soon (and probably after everyone else). I am trying to get my thoughts together: absolute rage is not conducive to good writing. In the meantime, I want to write about a couple of … Continue reading
The Washington Post wins.
The Super Bowl was, not to put to fine a point on it, a snoozefest. That teams who were there by virtue of bad calls back down the line only exacerbated my annoyance when they then produced one of the … Continue reading
Mary Queen of Scots.
[Spoilers for Mary Queen of Scots.] I saw Mary Queen of Scots last night. I thought they did a pretty good job on the history, although I would quibble with the death scene. They did not age Mary at all, … Continue reading
Today’s amusing fact: the word “scofflaw” came out of a contest the Boston Globe held for people to come up with a name for people who continued to drink even during Prohibition. From Prohibition. Thank you, Ken Burns. It really … Continue reading
History and Hollywood.
Quick — which British monarchs have had the most movies and tv series made about them? Henry VIII and his wives? Elizabeth I ? (Note: be sure to include the upcoming Mary Queen of Scots movie, in which Elizabeth is … Continue reading
The Film Registry turns 30.
It seems impossible that the Library of Congress National Film Registry is 30 years old. Yesterday, they released their annual selections for the National Film Registry. It’s important to note the criteria: films must be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Some … Continue reading
Oh, Baby.
[MASSIVE spoilers for Rosemary’s Baby. I’m not sure it would matter — I think even if you know what is going to happen it would still scare your socks off — but in any case you have been warned.] Over … Continue reading
Art: silly v. interesting.
I am not an artist, nor an art historian, but I do have my opinions. Among them: Jeff Koons annoys me. More accurately, the art of Jeff Koons annoys me. It seems to have an arrogance, a brattiness. It isn’t … Continue reading
I wonder who’s doing their programming.
On Sunday, April 1, NBC showed a live version of Jesus Christ Superstar, I suppose to celebrate Easter. While I have no quibbles with the performance — it was quite good, with Alice Cooper and Sara Bareilles being standouts (for … Continue reading
If you have seen the movie The Monuments Men (which I loved, although the critics didn’t), you know that the Nazis seized the Ghent altarpiece from St. Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. The movie showed this as evidence of the evil … Continue reading
Woodstock revisited.
I have a whole lot of thoughts about the Olympics (among them, if ski jumping is amazing, which it is, then snowboard big air (which is ski jumping with a snowboard where you turn corkscrews in the air while you … Continue reading
Bucket list!
Having completed my museum bucket list, I have been searching for a new one. For a while, I thought I would settle on visiting all the National Parks, but that seems a) impractical and b) does not fill me with … Continue reading
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