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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Tag Archives: mental health
Existential questions.
How do you know when you’re broken? How do you determine whether this is your psyche demanding a few days (or months) of letting go? Or when you have become a Good German? Or a Soviet comrade? When is it … Continue reading
Another week, another shooting. My heart breaks for Aurora, Illinois. But before anyone mentions the failures of the mental health system, consider that, according to the Washington Post, the shooter had worked for the company for twenty years, and had … Continue reading
Oh, Baby.
[MASSIVE spoilers for Rosemary’s Baby. I’m not sure it would matter — I think even if you know what is going to happen it would still scare your socks off — but in any case you have been warned.] Over … Continue reading
God help us. Especially people like me.
In the wake of the Parkland shooting, Donald Trump has suggested bringing back mental institutions. Dear God. Mental institutions were, in some cases, horrible places. And if Trump had his way, you could “nab people like [the shooter] because… they … Continue reading
Lies, damned lies, and mental illness.
Donald Trump has never, as far as anyone knows, been diagnosed with a mental illness by any professional who has first-hand personal experience, although there is a lot of armchair diagnosis currently being done by professionals. It’s understandable, given some … Continue reading
An open letter to Lawrence O’Donnell.
Dear Mr. O’Donnell: I have waited a few days before writing this letter, hoping that I would become more eloquent or the words you spoke on Tuesday less upsetting. Neither has happened. Although I do not watch your show all … Continue reading
The crazy lady hands out mental health advice.*
I don’t speak in public. I occasionally engage in other expressive conduct (I’ve walked out of church sermons in protest), but I haven’t spoken. Until yesterday. I attended one of the many rallies against Charlottesville at city hall. As I … Continue reading
Stigma.
In my Facebook feed today, a friend innocently used the word “bipolar” to refer to God — specifically the erratic, capricious, and vengeful God worshipped by fundamentalist Christians. She meant no harm, and when I spoke up, she immediately recognized … Continue reading
A letter I really should send.
Dear Professor: You may wonder why I stalked out of class today. It wasn’t for a doctor’s appointment – I had one, but not until later. Nor was it because my medicine was making me nauseated, like I told you … Continue reading
Sigh. Again.
I am beginning to sympathize with honest policemen. What with all the cops who have been implicated in killings over the past few years, it must be hard to be a good cop. I have never doubted that they are … Continue reading
Why this matters….
The distinction I made in the last post (evil as opposed to mental illness) matters a great deal. In a discussion in my Facebook, a friend said “People in their right minds don’t kill other people. Period. Whatever you want … Continue reading
Let’s get one thing straight….
On Facebook, I have seen people insisting that Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who shot nine people in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church had to have been mentally ill because “no one just walks into a church and shoots … Continue reading
Mental illness & gun violence: we need to be careful, here.
It has been several weeks since the Connecticut shooting, and I taken the time to reflect. My thinking has evolved from my early knee-jerk reaction (how crazy was this guy?), which I think is a good thing. On the page … Continue reading
Facts can be inconvenient, sometimes.
You know, all this insistence on the truth can sometimes get in the way of what I want to say. I was going to write a post about how responding to the Aurora and Wisconsin mass shootings with calls for … Continue reading
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