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: Politics
Do you ever feel like you are in a movie? I do right now, except that if any screenwriter attempted to capture and put down on paper the current state of our government no studio would greenlight it. The whole … Continue reading
Heroism.
Before I start, let’s acknowledge that yes, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski showed courage in their early and continuing opposition to the Republican health bill. I don’t contest that, nor do I minimize their efforts to prevent a bill that … Continue reading
Three suggestions.
Can we tone down the “impeachment!” talk? While I think that is where this will end up eventually, a) it is a long way down the road (it’s not like Trump will go gently into that good night), and b) … Continue reading
Compassion.
I weep for you,’ the Walrus said: I deeply sympathize.’ With sobs and tears he sorted out Those of the largest size, Holding his pocket-handkerchief Before his streaming eyes. Lewis Carroll, “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” Sometimes enlightenment comes … Continue reading
Today’s disgruntled political thought.
I am SO tired of election postmortems, from both sides. It’s arguing over who attacked the old man while he is lying on the sidewalk bleeding out. There’s a time and a place, right? And this is not the time … Continue reading
Viva La France!
Viva la France! While not my favorite European country (Spain holds that honor) I have always loved France. And the French people have now justified my belief that, on the whole, they’re smarter than Americans. (Yes, I know, I’m being … Continue reading
Ohio.
May 4th has come to be referenced in popular culture as Star Wars Day. (“May the Fourth be with you.”) The day holds a deeper, darker, and more important significance, though. On May 4th, 1970, twenty-nine members of the Ohio … Continue reading
The smell of hope.
I have been buying spices from Penzey’s for years. Originally, the Rocket Scientist would have layovers in Minneapolis when he had trips to D.C., and he always brought back spices Penzey’s and clothes from Lands’ End. Then a Penzey’s store … Continue reading
Keeping despair at bay.
This is going to be one of those most cliched of blog posts: a post about how hard it is to blog right now. My impassioned rant about Bernie Sanders notwithstanding, I struggle to write these days — not that … Continue reading
Bernie Sanders: Self-Appointed Progressive Gatekeeper.
I really wish I could not write about Bernie Sanders. I would love for the self-aggrandizing not-a-Democrat to just crawl back up to Vermont. He’d do a lot less damage to the Democratic Party and, more broadly, the progressive movement, that … Continue reading
Signs.
Today I went to the March for Science Silicon Valley in San Jose. I had a great time. I had also gone to the Women’s March in January. The vibe there was fierce, and angry. Today it was determined and … Continue reading
Today’s political musings, in very bad free verse.
It isn’t as though it was ever easy. The things in the rear-view mirror always appeared larger — and clearer — than any of us ever want to admit. We’re human. Humans crave certainty. We crave surety and simplicity, and … Continue reading
Gallimaufry.
Gallimaufry…. isn’t that the BEST word? That’s because I have the BEST words. I sometimes even use them. (I bet Donald Trump doesn’t know this word. Hell, I had to Google it.) ******** It’s finally happened — I’ve been … Continue reading
Logic, schmogic.
An open letter to the privileged Texas Senator I heard on NPR today. You are not very bright, sir. The NPR story was about a Texas county sheriff who has taken the position that she won’t turn anyone over to ICE … Continue reading
The story that just. will. NOT. die.
Standard disclaimer: See sidebar. These are my views, not those of my former employer, for whom I am in no way authorized to speak. I am writing from my experience working for an elections division, a worker bee who got … Continue reading
The Wild Winds of Fortune 