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: Family
Poor Parenting.
This morning the family and I went to Starbucks. I was not looking my best: the events of the past few days had caught up with me. My hair was not neat, and at the best of times I am … Continue reading
R.I.P.
My father-in-law, Jack Glass, died on New Year’s Day. We had known he did not all that much time left — he was suffering from pneumonia after being hospitalized for a stroke. He had spent a lot of time in … Continue reading
Anniversaries I would just as soon forget.
Twenty-five years ago today, I sat in my loft unit in graduate student housing at Stanford, waiting for the third game of the Bay Bridge Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland As to start, when the entire … Continue reading
There are a few advantages to growing older.
I am sad I am aging. I miss having preteens around the house. But… I no longer have to deal with the mommy wars. I no longer have to feel either vaguely guilty or aggressively defiant that I do not … Continue reading
Things as they are.
Life proceeds apace. Much has been happening in the world at large. I feel like I should be commenting on the last couple of weeks of the SCOTUS term, but writing about such emotionally charged cases as the Hobby Lobby decision … Continue reading
This is really tough.
It will be two weeks tomorrow since we buried Mom. I have gone back to work. I know it might seem to be too soon, but at work I have to pretend to be happy and pleasant. It’s a break … Continue reading
My Mom died tonight, on Mother’s Day. She had had a cold, and had promised me when I talked to her this afternoon that she would go see a doctor tomorrow, because she was having a little trouble breathing. Later … Continue reading
A tale of two cars.
Frank came home from the mechanic’s shop last week. The changing of the guard has well and truly finished. Frank is short for “Frankencar,” so named by the Rocket Scientist.* The body, interior, electric system and engine are the same … Continue reading
I’m still alive.
I have not been writing frequently, my desires to the contrary notwithstanding. There has not been a lot going on in my life, although there has been too much going on in the world at large. As I wrote earlier, … Continue reading
Because we’re us
My younger two sons are having what can only be described as moderately heated discussion about the historical timing of the rise of secularism in Renaissance and Baroque art. They are both right about some things but I refuse to … Continue reading
Today’s miscellany.
I think I am getting sick. I have felt cold and achy all day. I just hurt. Of course, both my eldest son and my most affectionate coworker — the one who enveloped me in a big hug when a … Continue reading
It’s that time again!
Ah, Thanksgiving. That means… cooking. A lot of cooking. I rather enjoy it, provided I am organized (ha!) and spread the work over several days. I’m putting this here because it is easy for me to access regardless whichever computer … Continue reading
Chinchillas.
In 1991, The Rocket Scientist and I were tooling around Australian backroads, hurrying to make up lost time between Sydney and Parkes, where the Australian radio telescopes were. In the middle of one stretch running through towering eucalyptus trees was … Continue reading
The kids are all right. I will be too.
It is August. The school year will be starting in a couple of weeks. It will be my family’s last school year. The Red-Headed Menace will be a senior next year. I will never have to go to Back-To-School Night, … Continue reading
Today, the Rocket Scientist has Antarctic “Survival School.” He’s excited. I’m not. Before scientists are allowed to go into the interior to do their research, they have to demonstrate that they can handle the conditions. They are tossed on the … Continue reading
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