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: really cool things
Yesterday
I spent yesterday on a boat. I saw the frigate birds and Nazca boobies soar and wheel over Kicker Rock, and a blue-footed booby perch precariously on a nest halfway up its nearly sheer cliff-face. I saw the maelstrom churning … Continue reading
If it was good enough for Darwin…
Notes from San Cristobal, Galapagos: San Cristobal was the first island Darwin landed on in the archipelago. That almost makes up for not being able to see more penguins, since the penguins live on other islands that are at least … Continue reading
Poem for today while I cruised through the Beagle Channel
I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white … Continue reading
Notes from our foreign correspondent*
This year: South America. One advantage that having a scientist spouse who goes to conferences in interesting places is that sometimes I get to tag along, which is why I am on Tierra del Fuego. Ushuaia, the small town I … Continue reading
In Jeopardy.
Several people have asked me what I think of the current Jeopardy! champion, James Holzhauer. After all, I got run over by the great Ken Jennings, so I should have some perspective, right? I usually compared Jennings to the 1927 Yankees. This … Continue reading
Why the MCU movies are so good (no spoilers)
I keep thinking that I have posted this before, but I can’t seem to find it (maybe on Facebook?), so… The reason that the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies are so good is the acting. Exhibit 1: Robert Downey, Jr., … Continue reading
“What do you want, a bloody photograph?”
While Railfan* and I were discussing the Inquisition, I remembered my favorite document of that era, the transcript of Poalo Veronese’s trial for heresy for a painting of the Last Supper. It strongly resembles a Monty Python sketch.** The very … Continue reading
My own festival.
If I win the lottery, in additional to staying in fine hotels and visiting national parks (sometimes at the same time), I want to rent a theater for a week. I want to have a film festival. Beyond just the … Continue reading
The Film Registry turns 30.
It seems impossible that the Library of Congress National Film Registry is 30 years old. Yesterday, they released their annual selections for the National Film Registry. It’s important to note the criteria: films must be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Some … Continue reading
In October, I saw an exhibit of Rene Magritte’s work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It was a lovely and thought-provoking show, and as is my wont I bought a mug. (Note to family: yes, I know … Continue reading
My new hero.
Last week, Fox News “discovered” actor Geoffrey Owens, who had been on the Cosby Show, working as a cashier in a Trader Joe’s. Fox did a predicticably nasty little piece. They picked on the wrong guy. First of all, the … Continue reading
Woodstock revisited.
I have a whole lot of thoughts about the Olympics (among them, if ski jumping is amazing, which it is, then snowboard big air (which is ski jumping with a snowboard where you turn corkscrews in the air while you … Continue reading
Small miracles.
It has been a day. I had to have a minor diagnostic procedure this morning, after which I was going up to San Francisco to meet a friend to go see the Walker Evans exhibit at SFMoMA. As I was … Continue reading
“Against one perfect moment, the centuries beat in vain.” Sir Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time. A wood bench on a sidewalk overlooking La Jolla Cove. Seventy-one-degree weather. Warm late afternoon California sun and a cool gentle Pacific breeze. Toddlers and teens … Continue reading
Who?
I have not been a Dr. Who fan all my life. I first saw the series during the beginning of the Fourth Doctor, when the Rocket Scientist and I would go to his parents for Sunday dinner (they would give … Continue reading
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