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: Who I am
Random thoughts.
I realize that my posts the past few days have been rambling and somewhat incoherent — certainly not my best work. (See previous post on things I am thankful for: hydrocodone.) Writing does give me something other than watching television … Continue reading
Clarence? Are you there?
While reviewing all my posts to compile my “Pat’s Gratitude Posts,” I realized that I had never finished the assignment given me by my therapist to find fifty reasons the world was a better place because I was in it. … Continue reading
Doing good.
I have finished my intensive, two and a half day training, and start work tomorrow, on a project that will take the next several months. I am now a Covered California Certified Educator. Hurrah! Just to define terms, Covered California is … Continue reading
College daze.
I am working with a placement agency. (Yes, I have a job, but it cannot hurt to keep options open.) They required me to submit a .pdf of my college transcript. Looking at it carried me back to one of … Continue reading
Storytelling.
I am working on two different yet similar writing projects currently. They present me with a dilemma. Each of these pieces require me to tell my life story. They will be for different audiences, and therefore will have different emphases, … Continue reading
Still not there yet.
I am still trying to come to grips with the Steve Landsburg piece on letting people die enough so that I can write a cogent analysis of it. Part of the issue is that I am busy doing other things, … Continue reading
Today is my birthday. But much more importantly, it’s Daffy Duck’s birthday. As I have gotten older, I have grown to really appreciate Daffy. Bugs knows all the answers, is always right, and always wins in the end. Daffy doesn’t … Continue reading
Memories of Boston.
I thought of writing this yesterday, then thought it might be better to wait a day until my thoughts cleared. Another act of terrorism on American soil. Domestic, international… nobody knows yet and in the short term it doesn’t really … Continue reading
I do not think I am the droid you are looking for. Sadly.
I did a skills test earlier this week for a position at the Coolest Place Ever. After I turned in the computer portion of the test, they handed me Tom Rath’s Strengths Finder 2.0 with instructions to take the assessments … Continue reading
More PowerPoint to me.
A few years back, I had occasion to send someone a PowerPoint presentation about themselves (long story). I made two versions: the first, which was not animated and which I sent; and the second, which was animated, which I did … Continue reading
I need advice.
Last night I went to a panel discussion about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It was absolutely fascinating. One of the panelists was someone I knew when I was an undergraduate*, a man who is one of the most … Continue reading
Who am I? What am I doing here?
I have eight job applications I have to fill out this evening, and I am sitting here writing this. I am frozen. A friend lost her job today. She is a wonderful, smart, funny woman, but more relevantly in this … Continue reading
Now if I can just win that stupid Powerball thing…
Remember when I promised a list of the U.S. hotels* I want to stay at when I win the lottery? This is it. I chose hotels I am personally familiar with; there are many just as exclusive places — certainly much … Continue reading
My new bucket list.
Since I am close to finishing my art museum list, and inspired by Ken Burns’ series on the National Parks, I am creating a new list. There are fifty-eight national parks (fifty-nine if you count Pinnacles which will be one … Continue reading
Goodbye 2012, and good riddance.
I sit here on the last day of 2012, looking at the past 366 days. Thank God that’s over. It’s been a bad year. None of my immediate family or closest circle of friends died, and no one ended up … Continue reading
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