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
Song for the day.
‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.When true … Continue reading
More realistic problems.
Looking at my last post, I have to face the fact that the self-flagellation I engage in is a luxury. I don’t have to worry about living on a few dollars a day.I don’t have to decide between food and … Continue reading
I wish my brain would just shut up, sometimes.
[Warning: this post is going to be a whine. I am blogging this because it’s too long for Facebook and I want a reminder of the first part of the post. I am disabling comments because, while reassurance is always … Continue reading
This is so completely true of me.
“I am not a morning person in the same way that the stars are not fruit-bats.” Neil Gaiman.
I love you.
Rachel Kay Albers on why she never plays hard to get. I agree with her completely, and I do as she does, with one notable exception: with romantic partners, unless I was very sure that I knew how they felt about … Continue reading
My name is Pat, and I am powerless over…
I have just spent time reading over all my “Gratitude Posts.” (See sidebar.) I feel pretty good. I write acceptably well, but there tends to be a lot of overlap in the lists. This is not surprising, since I wrote … Continue reading
I wish you joy.
On Tuesday, I went to Grace Cathedral to walk the labyrinth. Something I was involved in had just ended on Monday, and between that ending and my job assignment being completed, and just life generally, I felt in need of … Continue reading
Rorschach.
I used to sing in the car all the time. Somewhere over the past year I stopped, turning instead to the dulcet tones of NPR, letting my right brain slumber undisturbed. But recently I started again. I have always had … Continue reading
Randomness.
It is amazing how small things can change my opinion of people. The man at the next table in Starbucks who was loudly (if intelligently and emphatically) correcting a colleague (or more likely a subordinate) just looked over and smiled … Continue reading
"Sensibility" and me.
I love Pride and Prejudice. It is one of my favorite books, and I reread it often. I do not have the same depth of emotion about Sense and Sensibility, however: in fact until two days ago I had never … Continue reading
Still waiting for Clarence.
In this post, I tried to identify fifty things that I could say were ways that I have made the world a better place. I could only find 28. I have been working on finishing this list lately. I can … Continue reading
Gratitude posts.
As part of my recovering from my awful April — more accurately my awful mid-March to late April — I have decided that there were a lot of posts that I needed to look at from time to time to … Continue reading
Love.
Love is giving a gift that you know someone will love, even though you really don’t, and even though you know that you will regret it. Soon, and for a long time. The Rocket Scientist loves me.
This is who I am.
In a job workshop yesterday, we were encouraged to write down all the roles we fill in the world. In my inimitable style, I decided to be as complete as possible, beyond any point of reasonableness. I am: A woman.A … Continue reading
Understanding Vincent.
My friend Cathy is in town. On Sunday, we went to Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz. Fortuitously, we arrived shortly before sunset, and were able to watch the sun sink into the west over the horizon. It was … Continue reading
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