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: movies
We are what we watch.
Yesterday, I saw a fascinating documentary on Netflix called These Amazing Shadows, about the Library of Congress National Film Registry. I would highly recommend it to anyone. The Registry is not the AFI list of best films. Thankfully. Yes, there … Continue reading
Bits and pieces.
There is no day so bad a pint of Lagunitas Brewery Imperial Stout won’t make at least a little better. School starts tomorrow (okay, later this morning). The Red-Headed Menace is pulling his first all-nighter, writing a six-page paper on … Continue reading
The perils of knowledge.
Being the wife of a geologist, and having been subjected to many lectures on vulcanism during vacations in the Northwest, makes it very difficult to suspend disbelief during the end of Return of the King.
Odds and Ends
The Rocket Scientist is back from his tour of the Southern Hemisphere: Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand. Now he only has South America to go to have a complete continental set. It’s nice that he’s back. Now I don’t have … Continue reading
Oscar Predictions.
It is half an hour before the Oscars — I left this too late. But here are my picks for major categories: Picture: Argo Director: Ang Lee for Life of Pi Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln Actress: Jessica Chastain for … Continue reading
We interrupt the scheduled blogging for this announcement…
Ben Affleck got ROBBED. We now return you to the normal Wild Winds of Fortune schedule.
Les Miserables: A Review.
I have never been a fan of Les Miz on stage.* It’s bombastic, overblown, and repetitive. I originally had no desire to see the movie when it came out, even though I generally go see every movie musical that arrives … Continue reading
Silver Linings Playbook.
In my quest to see as many potential Oscar contenders as possible this year, this evening I went to see Silver Linings Playbook. I’m not quit sure how I feel about it. It has been rated quite highly: it got … Continue reading
Skyfall.
The Rocket Scientist and I flipped a coin over which movie we would go to see tonight, and I lost. So instead of going to see Daniel Day-Lewis be grave and presidential in Lincoln, we went to see Skyfall. I … Continue reading
We few, we happy few…
Happy St. Crispin’s Day.* *It is also the anniversary of the Battle of Balacava.
Hysteria.
On Saturday I saw the movie “Hysteria,” which was ostensibly about the invention of the electric vibrator in Victorian England. It was a cute, slight, and rather obvious little movie, with the ending inevitable after the first ten minutes. But … Continue reading
Self-Help movies?
The Bible for mothers-to-be for over the past two decades (I used it for all three of my pregnancies), What to Expect When You’re Expecting, was recently made into a “heartwarming” and critically-panned romantic comedy. It’s not the first time that … Continue reading
The Jedi way.
I have always thought that the process of creating Jedi laid out in the last three Star Wars movies (I always count them from release date) was far from ideal, bordering on child abuse. And now I think I can … Continue reading
Movie men
I love movies. I don’t get to see as many as I want, or as many as I used to. Seeing movies on Netflix just isn’t the same; and as for watching on my smartphone — no. I watch the … Continue reading
What’s next? Chutes and Ladders? Twister?
During the Superbowl, NBC showed an ad for the upcoming Battleship movie. This led to a discussion in my Facebook* about what board game might next be adapted for the screen. I was proud of my suggestion of “Candyland,” deeming … Continue reading
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