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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Contact info:
Email me at wwf@lithic.net
Category Archives: My life and times
Have yourself a movie little Christmas.
Two days before Christmas, I developed a sore throat and congestion. In prior years, I would have taken some DayQuil and returned to cooking cornbread. (It really feels like a sinus infection.) In these times, though, I arranged for a … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again…
…that time when I go over my favorite Christmas songs. Because, you know, you need to realize that if I could I would start playing Christmas music in August. Only the threats of my family to disown me keeps me … Continue reading
Small victories.
I am not sure I have mentioned it before, but I have tremors. In the past couple of years, they have gone from moderate to significant. (Both typing and eating have become difficult, although still possible. Between tremors and recurrent … Continue reading
Staying alive.
Once again, on Friday I did not go to Costco, even though the Rocket Scientist did. I am stuck in this damned house for a long time yet. Even after things “reopen” around here, given my co-morbidities, I need to … Continue reading
Yesterday
I spent yesterday on a boat. I saw the frigate birds and Nazca boobies soar and wheel over Kicker Rock, and a blue-footed booby perch precariously on a nest halfway up its nearly sheer cliff-face. I saw the maelstrom churning … Continue reading
I hereby resolve….
Many years, I have numerous resolutions. Lose weight, be more disciplined, write more. Always turn aside for the chinchilla races. This year, I have but three, all related to each other. I want to be more kind. I want to … Continue reading
I’ve made such progress.
Before I start, I just want to say that this is NOT a sob story. I don’t want sympathy, let alone pity. I have spent most of my life defining myself by my intellect. I went to one of the … Continue reading
Gratitude list.
The world is as it is. Donald Trump is being Donald Trump. America slides ever closer to losing the tattered remains of our democracy. Europe is a mess. Russia is trying to wreck our elections. People are becoming entrenched in … Continue reading
Let’s try something new.
Yesterday was my birthday. I usually commemorate it in my this blog by going through all the horrible things that happened this week. This year, I think it is really important to keep strong, so I’m going to try looking … Continue reading
Damn you, Felicity Huffman.
God made me for a reason And nothing is in vain Redemption comes in many shapes With many kinds of pain “Travelin’ Thru” Dolly Parton, from Transamerica. “Travelin Thru” is a very special song to me. Depending where I am … Continue reading
My own festival.
If I win the lottery, in additional to staying in fine hotels and visiting national parks (sometimes at the same time), I want to rent a theater for a week. I want to have a film festival. Beyond just the … Continue reading
Time marches on.
We have slid into 2019. Christmas is over — all of you were spared my rant about Christmas music, which I wrote but never published. You have been spared my observations about Christmas presents given and received. I can’t wrap … Continue reading
You don’t know what you’ve got ’til its gone…
Well, it’s been a while… I could talk about work and how Donald Trump’s mischaracterization of what is going on with California elections is both wrong and harmful, but I just don’t have the energy. I don’t want to talk … Continue reading
For the trolls…
Y’all are going to have to carry the banner on this because I am going off the Internet for a while. A few points to toss at the trolls… Dr. Ford has passed a polygraph test. She has asked for … Continue reading
Credibility.
I believe Christine Ford. I understand completely why she would have waited so long to come forward. I was eighteen when I was sexually assaulted. [Warning: rape/suicide triggers.] Although I told a few others, I did not tell anyone in my … Continue reading
Small miracles.
It has been a day. I had to have a minor diagnostic procedure this morning, after which I was going up to San Francisco to meet a friend to go see the Walker Evans exhibit at SFMoMA. As I was … Continue reading
The Turning.
December. Hanukkah starts tonight, and it’s a little more than a week until the Solstice, less than two until Christmas. Darkness draws in ever closer. The gentle black nights stretch longer and longer until they snap. The turning of the … Continue reading
Almost but not really fruitcake.
I don’t like fruitcake, at least not most traditional fruitcake. I was tinkering around with my pumpkin-date bread, and wondering if I could make something that resembles fruitcake. Well, it has fruit in it, but it’s not fruitcake. It is, … Continue reading
Just stuff, Halloween edition.
Although work is not nearly as grueling as last November (not even completely full time, some weeks — it’s an off-year election), it’s still work, and I’m writing even less than I was before this month. Sue me. You know … Continue reading
Treachery.
I have talked about my love of the ocean. The wild exuberant Pacific, the solemn Atlantic. The exotic Caribbean. The gentle Gulf. The Gulf is my ocean, the waters I grew up in and near. The ocean I love more than … Continue reading